Search this site

The Iron Patriot from Avengers Endgame was released in the Autumn of 2019 as part of the 3rd wave of Avengers Marvel Legends figures for that year. This third wave was made up in its entirety of MCU figures, mainly from Avengers Endgame - but also allowing the Hasbro team to infill or re-release some characters from earlier movies such as Vision from Civil War and Heimdall from Infinity War. Packaging 4/5 The Iron Patriot packaging uses the blue theme colour as seen on all the MCU Avengers Endgame releases to date. One big point of difference is the logo, which on the previous two waves has simply been the Avengers logo in the purple/blue colouring. On this figure we finally have the full Endgame logo. Artwork at either side of the box shows the Iron Patriot in a muted colour scheme with a blue haze rising up at the base. We get a better look at him on the back as he sits alongside the briefest of background text. "Proud and powerful, the Iron Patriot is heavily armed, high-tech, and ready for battle" The entire wave contains parts to built a Thor figure from Endgame and the checklist of this sits on the reverse of the box under the text and artwork. The Iron Patriot contains two Thor heads for use on the BAF - one with sunglasses and one without. When unpacking the figure you will find two inner trays, one containing the figure and BAF parts and a second behind it containing the weaponry. Paint & Sculpt 4/5 My first instinct was that this figure was a simple repaint of the War Machine figure from the earlier Avengers Hulk BAF wave. This is certainly not the case, and while there are some re-used parts the figure is predominantly new with an updated paint job to what we saw onscreen in the final battle with Thanos. The sculpt on the figure is excellent, capturing the bulk and height of this new Iron Patriot Suit. The head sits squat in the shoulders and includes the usual armour lines as well as the eye pieces with their red rim and white lenses. The body is similarly detailed and is cast in a metallic blue plastic which does suffer, as do a lot of Iron Man and similar figures using the same technique, with blemishes and swirling in the plastic. Paint on top of the plastic base colour is applied well and very neatly considering the various lines and parts of armour and weapons it has to cover. More detailed designs like the airforce star on one shoulder and the FF 2718 designation on the other are done using decals. Looking at what we see on screen, and the final figure, my one criticism is the colouring is too bright and could have actually done with being more muted and it certainly would have benefitted from a dark wash to both weather the figure and add more depth to the sculpt. If you have both versions of this armour side by side you can see that there are very few parts that are a direct re-use. The head is carried over, as are the shoulders, upper arms and hands. The torso, waist and lower arms are all new (or at least tweaked). The legs share the lower legs but have new upper thighs and feet. All of the weaponry changes, with the War Machine coming with two gun arms and a shoulder cannon. The Iron Patriot has two alternative shoulder cannons and a pair of missile units. Accessories 3/5 While the figure is imposing enough, Rhodes also comes armed with some serious weaponry to clip onto the figure. We have a pair of shoulder cannons that are cast in the same blue plastic - albeit quite a bit softer - with red and silver details added. And a pair of missile racks with a number of individual sculpted and painted silver missiles within the racks. Like the figure these are well cast and are painted well. There are no instructions with the figure, but it does not take too much working out that the four pieces line up to four holes on the back of the figure. The upper holes are for the cannons, and these can be slotted in either way but based on most reference photo's I can bring up, the circular part should be on the outside of the figure. The lower holes are larger and for the missile racks. There is only one logical way these can be inserted. It is disappointing that neither of these accessory parts are themselves articulated. While they can be rotated within their socket, that movement is minimal. It would have been good for a pivot or hinge on the guns at least to open up some more movement. It is however positive that Hasbro did make these removable so you can have some choice over the configuration or your Iron Patriot and the weapons. Articulation 2/5 Despite his bulk, Iron Patriot has 18 points of articulation (excluding the weaponry). Head : ball joint with pivot neck Body : torso ball joint Arms : ball joint shoulder, bicep swivel, single rotating elbow, wrist pivot Legs : ball joint hips, thigh swivel, double joint knee, ankle rocker The bulk does however have a bearing on how much articulation and posing you can do. The arms are only a single joint at the elbow, despite having a bicep swivel, and that bend is less than 90 degrees. The shoulders too are blocked from being raised by the armour panel. This shoulder panel is cast in a very soft plastic, almost like that used for a cape and it squashes as the arm raises. This looks odd but is also stil restrictive as the piece will only compress so much before upper arm movement is blocked. The positive on the arms is the wrist, which pivots to a full 90 degrees allowing a good pose of Rhodey firing the wrist weaponry. Legs are more mobile with a good range on the hips as the body thins lower down. The double jointed knees will allow for kneeling if you wish - but more for wider stances and firing positions. The issue with the legs sits in the ankles which are blocked at the front by the sweep of the lower leg armour. With no way to bend the feet forward and flatter, the figure does have a tendency to rock back on its heels - particularly with all that upper body weight concentrated on the back of the figure. Even with his bulk, Iron Patriot is not easy to stand unless you have him leaning forward slightly. Summary There is no getting past the fact that this is the figure we should have had originally, but I am impressed this is not just a repaint, but there are loads of new parts to make the two versions quite different up close. This Iron Patriot version is well decorated, but is a wash away from perfection - something I say about very Iron Man derived figure to date in the Legends line. Articulation is OK, and I can forgive a lot of the restriction due to the bulk of the figure - but it would have been nice to free up those ankles to allow him to stand more securely. And some hinges in the shoulder weapons - as we've had on earlier War Machines - would have also been a nice touch. For a big figure release that is not a BAF, Iron Patriot ticks a lot of boxes, He is just perhaps missing an Endgame Rocket Racoon designed to swing off his shoulders in battle? I score Avengers Endgame Iron Patriot a 3 out of 5. See More MCU Marvel Legends Figures Figure Hacks If you are expanding your ranks of Quantum Suit Avengers from Endgame and can look past both the inaccuracy of the silver suit and the fact it is not as "bulky" as Thor from Endgame - then I can confirm that the two BAF heads included in Iron Patriot are a fit for the Quantum Suit body.

The Marvel Legends War Machine action figure from Avengers Endgame was released in 2019 as part of the Hulk BAF wave. Other figures in the wave included Shuri and Rescue from the MCU as well as comic book figures of Rock Python, Union Jack, Beta Ray Bill and Loki. The War Machine was the one figure in the wave not to come with a Hulk BAF part. Packaging 3/5 War Machine is part of the 2nd wave of figures based around Avengers Endgame. The packaging uses the purple and blue hues of the first wave. Like the first wave the logo is simply a purple Avengers logo with no mention of Endgame. The artwork on the side panels and rear of box is not from the movie. This colour scheme was never used on screen. It was based on concept art provided by Adi Granov and was updated to the Patriot scheme for the final movie - Hasbro by this point would have already had the figure in production. The rear of the box carries the checklist of the other figures in the wave and a very brief bit of text "When the fate of humankind is at stake, there is no mission too great for U.S. military officer James "Rhodey" Rhodes, a.k.a. War Machine" Paint & Sculpt 4/5 This is a big hefty figure, half a head taller than a normal human Legends figure. Like all Iron-Man armours, the lines and panels are clean and well cast in the base colour of the figure - dark grey in this case. Over this are painted silver panels and parts. Painting is neat with no obvious errors. The central arc reactor, numbering on chest and the winged star are all applied as decals - very neatly. With the final touches in red on the chest and around the eyes of War Machine's helmet. The proportions around the waist are perhaps a little too slimming, particularly if you do look at Granov's original artwork for War Machine. A second version of this armour was released in 2019 in the Iron Patriot colours we actually see on screen. On the face of it, this figure looks like a re-release with a new colour scheme but if you have both versions of this armour side by side you can see that there are very few parts that are a direct re-use. The head is carried over, as are the shoulders, upper arms and hands. The torso, waist and lower arms are all new (or at least tweaked). The legs share the lower legs but have new upper thighs and feet. All of the weaponry changes, with the War Machine coming with two gun arms and a shoulder cannon. The Iron Patriot has two alternative shoulder cannons and a pair of missile units. Accessories 2/5 War Machine comes with three clip on heavy weapons. The first two are identical heavy guns that slot under the lower arms. These are cast in a crisp grey plastic to match the figure but have zero paint application. They slot into sockets fitted under War Machine's arms. There is then a shoulder cannon, also cast in grey plastic with no further paint apps - despite a bunch of detail on the cannon that would have looked awesome if enhanced with paint. We do get a spot of red paint at the firing end, but it is so dull and hidden it is easy to miss it. This uses a ball joint type connection with the ball on the cannon slotting onto a socket on the right shoulder. The ball joint allows the gun to swivel side-to-side until it clashes with the head. Sadly it cant tilt back like previous War Machine's as the ball pops out with any movement backward. Articulation 2/5 Despite his bulk, Iron Patriot has 18 points of articulation (excluding the weaponry). The bulk does however have a bearing on how much articulation and posing you can do. Head : ball joint with pivot neck Body : torso ball joint Arms : ball joint shoulder, bicep swivel, single rotating elbow, wrist pivot Legs : ball joint hips, thigh swivel, double joint knee, ankle rocker The arms are only a single joint at the elbow, despite having a bicep swivel, and that bend is less than 90 degrees. The shoulders too are blocked from being raised by the armour panel. This shoulder panel is cast in a very soft plastic, almost like that used for a cape and it squashes as the arm raises. This looks odd but is also stil restrictive as the piece will only compress so much before upper arm movement is blocked. The positive on the arms is the wrist, which pivots to a full 90 degrees allowing a good pose of Rhodey firing the lower arm cannons. Legs are more mobile with a good range on the hips as the body thins lower down. The double jointed knees will allow for kneeling if you wish - but more for wider stances and firing positions. The issue with the legs sits in the ankles which are blocked at the front by the sweep of the lower leg armour. With no way to bend the feet forward and flatter, the figure does have a tendency to rock back on its heels - particularly with all that upper body weight concentrated on the back of the figure. Even with his weight, War Machine is not easy to stand unless you have him leaning forward slightly. Summary War Machine is another figure that has suffered with being produced too early and then being cut or heavily modified for the movie. However, that doesn't stop it being a very cool looking figure completely in keeping with the rest of the MCU. The sculpt and paint work is great, apart from the weapons which seem to have been forgotton. Articulation is not brilliant, with some odd features like the squashing shoulders and a shoulder cannon ball joint that doesn't actually move too much. I score the Marvel Legends War Machine action figure a just above average 3 out of 5. See More Marvel Legends MCU figures action figures, reviews, review, articulation, hasbro, marvel, legends, 6-inch, avengers, endgame, war machine, colonel james rhodes, rhodey

The One:12 Michael Keaton 1989 Batman action figure from Mezco was first revealed at Toy Fair 2019. Almost a year later, and pre-orders are about to open on the figure with a countdown now live on Mezco for the pre-orders to open as of Wednesday the 15th January 2020. From the holding page we know the figure will retail at $110 and is due to ship between August and October 2020. Batman will also be a Mezco Exclusive, so available only via the Mezco online store. The good news for UK collectors (and others worldwide) is that Mezco now offer full international shipping. Set an alarm for 6pm UK time on Wednesday the 15th. action figure, news, toys, reviews, action, figure, blog, checklist, collectors, mezco, one:12, collective, batman, michael keaton, 1989

NECA have released full colour images of the packaging for their 7 inch scale Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle action figures from the classic Turtles in Time video game. "Series 1 of our Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time Action Figures will come in packaging inspired by the game's classic arcade cabinet art! You can expect Leo, Donny, Foot, and Slash to ship out to retailers next month." The figures use the videogame styling as seen on other NECA retro video game action figures with brightly coloured and pixelated paint schemes. The first wave gives us Donatello and Leonardo. There is also a Foot Soldier and the evil turtle from Dimension X Slash - who appeared in the SNES version of Turtles in Time. Our hero Turtles and the Foot Soldier come packed with hoverboards and flight display stands. The Turtles also come with the appropriate weapons - Swords for Leonardo and Bo Staff for Donatello. The Foot Soldier has while Slash is armed with his sword. It is worth noting that while the paint jobs are new, all the figures with the exception of Slash, have been released previously in the TMNT animated series line. Slash is likely to end up in that line too in the future with a muted paint job. The figures are window boxed with the packaging using images from the original Arcade machine cabinet. They are due to start to ship out to stores from February 2020. "Following up on our first arcade game-based TMNT figures, we turn to the second Turtles game! From the classic 1990s Turtles in Time video game, we’re excited to offer a new line-up of 7” scale action figures. Series 1 includes Donatello, Leonardo, Slash, and a Foot Soldier. Donatello, Leonardo and Foot Soldier come with signature weapons and a brand new hoverboard with display stand that can be used for even more poses. The evil mutant turtle Slash comes with sword accessory. All feature special deco that recreates the pixilated look of the video game and come in individual window boxes with graphics from the original arcade cabinet." action figure, news, toys, reviews, action, figure, blog, checklist, collectors, NECA, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Turtles in Time, video game, arcade game, SNES, Donatello, Leonardo, Foot Clan, Foot Soldier, Slash

For those that missed out the first time, NECA have confirmed a re-release of their Bill and Ted 8 inch action figures from Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure "Back By Popular Demand! Featuring the likeness of Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves from Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (The Movie), the 8" Cloth Action Figure Bill & Ted 2-Pack will be back in stock in May 2020!" The set, in NECA's 8 inch scale with soft good tailored clothing, includes Bill S. Preston esquire and Ted "Theodore" Logan and their most excellent guitars. They come in window box packaging which can be assembled into the Phone Booth that takes them on their most excellent adventure! Watch out for the Wyld Stallyns coming back into stock around May 2020. action figure, news, toys, reviews, action, figure, blog, checklist, collectors, bill and ted, neca, excellent adventure, ted theodore logan, bill s preston esquire, wyld stallyns

NECA are gearing up for the release of their Halloween 3, Season of the Witch, 8 inch action figure 3 pack of Trick or Treaters with a glorious new gallery of images. This follows on from a tease of the packaging reveal last week. The set includes the three Trick or Treaters, each with interchangeable heads - one the standard Silver Shamrock mask the other the triggered version. The set includes Trick or Treat bags for each of them, and there is also a lenticular. The TV accessory is doing the rounds having been sculpted initially for a 7-inch Freddy Krueger Set. "No tricks today, only treats! Please enjoy this updated gallery of the Halloween 3: Season of the Witch 8" Scale Cloth Action Figure 3-Pack! You can expect these figures to be available in February." The set will be boxed and the rear of the packaging will be designed to look like an 1980's era mailaway advert for the Silver Shamrock masks. The set should hit stores in February “It’s almost time, kids! The clock is ticking!” From Halloween 3: Season of the Witch, this set of clothed action figures includes the three iconic trick or treaters from the 1982 horror movie. Each is dressed for a night of fun and each comes with two interchangeable heads: one in the distinctive Silver Shamrock mask and one displaying the effects of the triggered mask. These articulated figures stand approximately 6″ tall and also come with trick or treat bags and a TV set accessory with lenticular effect. Window box packaging. action figure, news, toys, reviews, action, figure, blog, checklist, collectors, halloween, neca, trick or treat, season of the witch

Vice Admiral Holdo, from Star Wars The Last Jedi was released as an action figure in 2019 as part of wave 20 of the Star Wars Black Series, phase 3. Holdo was part of a wave that also included Han Solo Mudtrooper, Dryden Vos, Padme Amidala, Mace Windu and the B1 Battle Droid Packaging 4/5 Vice Admiral Holdo is number 80 in the 3rd phase of Star Wars Black Series packaging, the numbering being displayed on the red side spine and back of box. The packaging features an impressive Gregory Titus illustration of a stern looking Holdo which is then repeated on the rear of the box along with a short piece of background text. As is usual with most Black Series figures, there is no reference to the movie this figure is from (The Last Jedi). The figure is given her full title as Vice Admiral Holdo. "Commanding officer of the Resistance cruiser Ninka, Vice Admiral Holdo has been a trusted ally of General Leia Organa for years. Holdo radiates a quiet confidence with her measured words, but will it be enough to light the encroaching darkness?" Paint & Sculpt 2/5 Holdo is a figure that is probably stigmatised from the off by both her look on screen and the role she plays in The Last Jedi. Looking past this, what we have here is a very very good likeness for Laura Dern - complete with intricate pink hairstyle. The face print technology is excellent and the paint application for the hair gives it real depth. Hasbro chose to go the Soft Goods route with the dress Holdo wears, and this is perhaps not as successful as the head. It simply hangs too flat and needs something to give it shape and definition. Ironically round the back is a wonderful hanging section cast in rubbery plastic. Something like this to shape the dress at the front would have looked so much better. If for example you look at the sculpt on her neck and had carried that into the torso while also shaping the flow of the soft goods this could have been a much better figure. The arms too are sculpted plastic (thankfully) and include some very detailed sculpting on the bracelets and the rings Holdo is wearing on both hands. The overall colouring of Holdo's dress is too bright and pink for me, and if you look at reference photo's it should have been more muted. Accessories 3/5 Holdo comes with one accessory, her Defender-5 sporting blaster. This is cast in a black plastic with painted silver barrel and side lines over the trigger. The weapon fits into Holdo's right hand where a flexible trigger finger slots into place. Articulation 4/5 There is a fully articulated body under the soft goods dress, 16 points in total. Head : ball joint pivot neck Body : torso ball joint Arms : ball joint shoulder, single rotating elbow, pivot wrist Legs : ball joint hip, thigh swivel, double joint knees, ankle rockers The soft goods and the back draped section do not encumber the figure a little bit, so its tricky to get Holdo to kneel without hiking up her skirts unceremoniously. The arms are OK, but considering the poses Holdo throws in the movie, some double jointed elbows would have been great here - even at the expense of some of the leg articulation. Summary Vice Admiral Holdo does demonstrate the limitations of soft goods and how a combination of both would have likely delivered a much better figure. The head and hair are incredible and she is very photogenic, but there is no definition from that point onwards and she could be wearing an old sock rather than a dress. I score the Vice Admiral Holdo action figure from wave 20 a just above average 3 out of 5. See More Star Wars Black Series Figures action figures, reviews, review, articulation, hasbro, star wars, black series, the last jedi, vice admiral holdo,

Review : Han Solo and Tauntaun Star Wars Black Series (Hasbro) Wave/Series : Deluxe Release 2015 (Phase 2) Released : Summer 2015 Price : £39.99 - £44.99 Following the original Deluxe releases of Jabba the Hutt and the Speeder Bike, Hasbro moved on to a Hoth theme for 2015 releasing Luke and Wampa and the set we are looking at here, the Han Solo and Tauntaun. This set created a lot of noise when announced, but kind of whimpered in stores. Particularly in the UK, very few retailers picked this up with many still stocked with the 2014 Deluxe figures, particularly Jabba. The other issue was the decision to pack this with a Speeder Bike initially in a 3 piece case. It was then tweaked with Wampa replacing the Speeder. This would have also unsettled some retailers who had already had to deep discount Speeders to clear their shelves for new stock. I personally saw this on shelves twice - once in Toys R Us, and once in an independent. This has led to a bit of a demand for these sets and as I write this review the secondary market price is starting to creep upwards. Han and Tauntaun arrives in the phase 2 blue line box. The packaging is 12" across and 9" high and sits about 5" deep. The front of the box is a full window to display the figure, and this window wraps over to the top of the box. In the top right of the window is a cut in image of Han in that grey lined art that is used on all Black Series releases. Down the bottom on the pane is the Star Wars Black Logo, the box set name in electric blue and the usual Hasbro logo and age rating. Both sides of the box are flat black. Round the back is another grey line illustration of Han on Tauntaun and on top of this is a short paragraph about the scene in Empire and that famous quote "And I thought they smelt bad on the outside" Out of the box and Han and his ride are locked into the usual inner perspex tray. To the side of Han are a couple of accessories, which we will cover later. Let's look at Han first, and he stands at 6 1/2 high - his height bolstered by the hood of his coat. Facial sculpt is a good likeness for Han, but other than eyes and eyebrows there is no paint applications to bring out that likeness - not even the lips are painted and there is no attempt at all to weather Han to look as though he is out in the snow and freezing. The head sits inside the hood, which is then a separate piece which can be pulled off thanks to a slit in the rear. Underneath Han's head is made up of a wrapped scarf around either side and a Rebel officer hat on top. These are sculpted with a quilted texture, and considering in the main this is hidden you wonder why? Paint wise, the hat and scarf are a flat beige colour, Down to the coat and that is nicely done with a quilted shoulder section, and then paneled parts with the associated rank insignia on the chest and various pockets and pouches on the chest and the shoulders. The coat is coloured blue, which is in itself controversial. But in the spirit of remembering the Han 3.75" Kenner figure of my youth it isn't something that bothers me. What does sadly bother me is that coat has absolutely no paint detail outside of the insignia. With all the detail in the coat a darker wash would have been nice - and more so some snow effects to weather him. The arms end with a wrist length glove, and this is two tone in colour with a darker brown on the wrist and a lighter hand colour - sadly there is some sloppy brown paint that has been caught on the paler glove. And yet in direct contrast the back of the glove on the left hand has a panel built in which is neatly painted in yellow without a hint of bleeding into the surrounding area. The same belt we saw on the original New Hope (orange line) Han is used again here, with brown leather and silver buckle. The legs are a flat grey colour (again no weathering) and include the quilted design on the knees. The boots are done with the strapping picked out in a lighter colour. There is no doubt Han is a nice looking figure, but it is a good sculpt held back by poor paint. Most of the paint is neat enough, but it is too flat and too clean and needs some extra work to bring out the beauty. Articulation has to be spot on with a figure that rides an animal or bike of some kind - and we will see how Han fairs a little later. For now let's look at the various points of articulation. Han starts off with a ball jointed head which thanks to the separate hood piece can move around quite a bit. The shoulders are ball jointed and move around quite easily. The elbows are a single joint and then rotate on the same joint. The hands then rotate by means of a joint where the glove ends. There is no chest joint - which is unusual for a "riding" character. It does however have a waist swivel, and this is achieved by keeping the coat as two pieces, the lower section a more rubbery material. The belt however doesn't quite hide this joint as planned, but the figure does rotate his torso quite a bit to each side. The legs start with hip articulation, and thanks to that flexi-skirt of the coat they look like they can get into a riding position well enough. Beneath the hip is a thigh swivel and then double-jointed knees. The figure ends with ankle rockers in the feet. All of this means Han stands really well, and can pose pretty well too in firing stances or action poses. Han comes with three accessories. The first, the blaster, fits easily into the right hand and when not in use it goes into the holster and can be secured by an over-strap. The second piece is the binoculars that Han uses on Hoth. These are a hard plastic and sculpted to hang from Han's shoulder. I don't think these hang well enough as designed, and I would have actually liked to have seen a soft flexible strap and the ability to put these into Han's hands so you can pose him scanning the horizon. The final piece are the eye glasses that Han wears when riding. Putting these on is a chore sadly. You have to remove the hood first off and then ease the glasses over the peak of the cap. Once in place the hood goes back on, but this ultimately means that the hood more often than not pushes the glasses down as it goes on leaving them round his chin. Slimmer fingers will have a better chance. Once you do position the glasses successfully, they aren't a great look as they are clearly over-sized and don't sit naturally. Considering all the various design bits to achieve all of this, surely two heads would have been easier? OK, over to the Tauntaun. And the first thing I noticed was how light he was when I picked him up. I kind of thought he would be a heavier "chunk" of plastic, but actually feels very hollow. It's not dog chew-toy level, and the figure is solid enough, but it lacks the weight I was expecting. Hold on to that point, it is important later. Tauntaun stands 9 1/2" high at his tallest stance. And like Han he is really well sculpted. The fur is pretty well done, as are the horns. The claws on hands and feet are a bit soft, but this is more likely a safety requirement. The whole thing looks to be made up of two parts and their is a visible joint down the chest of the Tauntaun. A couple of straps are sculpted into the main body of the Tauntaun, but the rest is a separate piece. The saddle and all its baggage is excellent, packed with pockets and blankets and ending in a pair of silver stirrups. As seems to be a theme now, the Tauntaun sculpt is let down by the paint. Again, its not bad or messy - it just doesn't go far enough to bring out the detail or make the Tauntaun look like it has just trudged through the Hoth wastelands. The frustration is that the horns are brilliantly done, so it isn't a case of not having the ability to paint and add depth to a figure - its a choice not to. Many have also pointed out that the Tauntaun looks to be wearing lipstick, and indeed the lips are a tad too dark but it doesn't look as bad as it could. Around the head there is also some paint apps to darken and redden the eye sockets and to bring out the bumps across the head. Articulation on the Tauntaun is about 7POA. The head is jointed and can look to either side. The front arms and the legs feel like they are on a peg so simply rotate inside the hollow body. To support the legs, the ankles are then on a pivot joint, and this helps the Tauntaun keep its feet flat to the floor. All of this means you can vary the look of the figure to a degree, and there should be some range of posing for the Tauntaun either as stood still leant right back, or with head forward and tail raised as though running. And here is the kicker, and where the weight comes in. No matter how I tackle getting the Tauntaun to stand, he is top heavy and only stands unaided with the tail on the floor - so in the resting back stood position. The stability is worsened still when Han is added as he adds more weight up front and causes more unsteadiness. With Han riding the Tauntaun just about stays upright, but the pose is hardly dynamic and you will need some aids to get a better look. I am not a designer or engineer, but I think adding a tiny bit of weight inside the tail would have resolved all this? Han sits reasonably well on the Tauntaun, but like the Biker Scout before him his rear end doesn't really come close to touching the seat. You will need to rotate the hands to have Han hold the reigns, and that works really well. Unlike the feet which don't seem to want to go into the stirrups at all, let alone allow you to plug the foot into the peg hole within the stirrup. Don't take all this as negative, as with a bit of patience you can get some awesome looking poses out of this set - it just seems to want to do everything to stop you. Well maybe not split the belly open and shove Luke inside. Han & Tauntaun is a great deluxe release, and fits in well with the corresponding Luke and Wampa. He and the Tauntaun are really well sculpted and neatly painted. They lack any detail on the paint to bring out that fine sculpt, and there is no attempt at all to weather the set to the Hoth landscape they are seen in. The binoculars could have been better, and the glasses/hood mechanism should have been swapped out for an alternative head. The set has more positives than negatives, but is far from perfect, and I score it 3 out of 5. Buy from AMAZON UK Buy from AMAZON US Buy from FORBIDDEN PLANET

Despite appearing in numerous films, there has only been one Nick Fury figures to date in the Marvel Legends line. Thankfully a new one was released as part of the 2019 Captain Marvel wave, albeit a de-aged Nick Fury from the 1990's. Fury arrives in the Captain Marvel wave alongside two versions of Carol Danvers, Yon-Rogg, Talos the Skrull and comic book figures Gargoyle and Genis-Vell. Packaging 3/5 The Captain Marvel movie figures have a predominantly gold colour highlight, used on the backing card for the figure and the character name plate under the movie logo. To the side of the box the artwork doesn't really have an accented hue and is a simple image of the de-aged Fury with his arms crossed in his shirt and tie. What is odd with this image (other than it being mirrored on the other side) is that it is not accurate to the figure who is delivered in his suit jacket? The same jacketless Fury is shown on the back of the box along with some basic background text. "In the years following the Cold War, Nick Fury wrestles with his sense of purpose within S.H.I.E.L.D. When Nick crosses paths with Captain Marvel, they become Earth's only hope of stopping a Skrull invasion." Paint & Sculpt 3/5 The Fury headsculpt is obviously based on the de-aged look for the movie. It is a good likeness to what we see on screen, and uses face print technology. This means the eyes in particular are very lifelike, and the face is shaded around the nose and eyes. The outfit is a suit and tie affair, but it doesn't use the existing Coulson/Stark suit, which is a surprise! The shirt cut around the neck is odd, as if Fury is wearing a T-shirt underneath his shirt. This is certainly not what we saw on screen when Nick meets Captain Marvel. And the paint of this shirt neck is not great with the white paint bleeding into the neck piece. The jacket and tie are rubberised extra pieces and are cast in their base colour and not painted. This means the tie is plain dark grey and not striped. It is interesting to see the gun strap is sculpted under the jacket - although completely hidden. An unjacketed Fury, as seen on the box art, would have perhaps been more interesting. Accessories 2/5 Nick is armed with a generic handgun which is cast in black plastic with limited detail. It fits into his right hand where a trigger finger can be slotted in place. Unlike the original Nick Fury, there is no working holster under the jacket - even if it is sculpted. Accessory two (or 2nd character in the box) is Goose the cat - strapped up in his feline Hannibal Lecter chains and mouth guard. This is a static piece with no articulation and it is pretty well painted with ginger variated fur, cats eyes and silver chains and mask. Goose can't stand up, and is designed instead to be held up by Fury. The left hand of Fury looks sculpted to lock into a grip sculpted into Goose's fur. Sadly the hand doesn't grip enough and after a number of tries I gave up. The right hand can do the job by forcing the fingers out - but that will cause damage and issues going forward for the gun grip. In the end if you want the Goose holding pose you will need blu tac or similar. Articulation Fury comes in with a full 19 points of articulation, with a surprise inclusion of the upper torso T-joint. Movement is good on all joints, and they are all tight and well poseable. Head : ball joint neck with pivot Body : torso T-joint and waist swivel Arms : ball joint shoulder, bicep swivel, double jointed elbow, wrist pivot Legs : ball joint shoulder, thigh swivel, double jointed knees, ankle rocker Even for a "man in a suit" there is plenty of posing options for Nick including kneeling and shooting - with more dynamic options possible if you utilise a display stand. Nick stands perfectly fine, with the only issue the one mentioned earlier around not being able to hold up Goose - as they had planned - with the left hand. Summary This is not perhaps the Nick Fury we all want for our MCU collection, but that is more down to choices made at Hasbro not to give us a more contemporary eye patch Nick re-release. What we get is a fairly decent replica of Nick as seen at the start of the Captain Marvel movie - albeit the figure has this weird undershirt going on. Articulation is spot on, and with the exception of the stripes on the tie the colouring of the outfit is good. The issue is that there were perhaps better outfits to choose, and even options to do a jacketless version and unveil the sculpted gun vest underneath. The big miss is the ability to hold Goose the cat as was originally planned, the left hand just is not up to the job and needs to be a harder plastic and with a tighter grip on that shaped section on Goose's neck. In the absence of many figures for Captain Marvel, this is a good attempt but one that scores an average 3 out of 5 with perhaps a "could have done better" comment. See More Marvel Legends MCU figures action figures, reviews, review, articulation, hasbro, marvel, legends, 6-inch, captain marvel, nick fury

The next Warner Brothers DC movie arrives in February 2020 and is the long awaited Birds of Prey and the return of Harley Quinn. The first action figure from the movie has been announced by SH Figuarts and will be of Harley Quinn in gold dungarees. The figure will feature two head sculpts. One is laughing, while the other has her lollipop stick in her mouth. There will be alternative hand options, and if the shots we saw at Tokyo Comic Con in November 2019 are accurate, one of these is holding her lollipop. You can also swap out her feet and replace them with a pair of roller boots. And of course she comes with her hammer. The Harley Quinn action figure from Birds of Prey is due to land in March 2020, about a month or so after the movie hits cinemas. action figure, news, toys, reviews, action, figure, blog, checklist, collectors, SH Figuarts, DC, Movie, Birds of Prey, Harley Quinn, Tamashii Nations

Randy Falk has tweeted these images of a brand new 8-inch scale Halloween II figure 2-pack featuring Dr Loomis (Donald Pleasence) and Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) in her hospital gown. These 8-inch "retro" figures are a sculpted head on highly articulated body with soft goods tailored clothing. "The nightmare isn’t over... Halloween 2 (1981) 2 pack featuring Dr. Loomis & Laurie Strode" Loomis and Laurie pose beautifully in the images with the 8-inch Michael Myers figure, another new release planned for 2020. Loomis has what looks like a lighter accessory while Laurie Strode is carrying a revolver. A number of stores have gone on to list the pre-order for this confirming the contents as including two revolvers, interchangeable hand and a Pumpkin based on the original movie poster art. The set is down for a May 2020 release. "Based on their appearance in the classic 1981 sequel, each figure stands approximately 8″ tall. They come complete with pistols, an interchangeable hand, and a pumpkin based on the movie poster artwork. Figures are highly detailed and fully poseable featuring the authorized likenesses of Donald Pleasence and Jamie Lee Curtis. Window box packaging recreates the look of Haddonfield Memorial Hospital."

With all the news from NECA about their new 8 inch Dr Loomis and Laurie Strode action figures from Halloween II, I completely missed the news that a Halloween II Michael Myers 8-inch action figure is also being released in 2020 to complement the set. Loomis and Laurie Strode will be a 2-pack release. Michael Myers will be a single release. Michael looks to be coming with his knife (obviously). The head is sculpted and the body is a generic highly articulated body, over which will go tailored soft good clothing. Loomis and Laurie are down for a May 2020 release, we would assume this would land at a similar time. action figure, news, toys, reviews, action, figure, blog, checklist, collectors, NECA, Halloween, Halloween II, Michael Myers