Spider-Woman falls into the category of Marvel heroes that I don’t know much about.  But I am very satisfied with her Marvel Universe figure, which is part of the 1st wave of 2011.  The figure is a typical female body with spiderweb ‘wings’ added to the arms; which are pliable enough that they don’t impede the articulation.  I’m really feeling the approach they used, it works really well.  I’m also thrilled that they’ve used a more rubbery plastic for the hair; allowing for some articulation of the head.  So often with longer haired female figures the head is locked in one position; not so with Spider-Woman.

I spent about 30 minutes of my day today at the Lego store feeling mini-figs in an attempt to complete my series 3 collection.  I’ve now moved to using a combination of feeling and the dots to discern the contents of the package.  I already miss barcodes and I’m afraid of the system Lego will develop for series 4.  But for today’s spotlight, lets take a brief look at the fisherman.

The fisherman is the sort of thing that makes me stand in the Lego store for half an hour feeling packages.  The figure is everything you would hope it to be and is completely satisfying.  The obligatory orange overalls, a fluffy white beard and a blue knit cap make the fisherman’s outfit.  He is accessorized with a fishing pole (with line) and the catch of the day.  I really like how Lego included an actual line with the figure and how you can ‘catch’ the fish.  Its a great touch to a rather inexpensive figure; the sort of thing that keeps people coming back for more.

Let’s be honest here; the events in the Spider-Man 2099 comic book were not significant enough for me to remember anything about them almost 18 years later.  So then, why did I buy the Marvel Universe Spider-Man 2099 figure?  Two reasons, there was a sale at Toys R Us when I found the newest wave and I thought it looked pretty good.

The figure itself is a great representation of the character, down to the webby thing on the figure’s back.  I’m interested in seeing how this version of Spider-Man sells, collectors will surely be familiar with the character but how will kids and parents respond?  Will they pick it up since it’s a Spider-Man; despite it looking pretty different from the web-slinger? Only time will tell, I suppose.

Part of the Star Wars Vintage Collection ‘Return of the Jedi’ wave is Wooof, an update of the vintage Klaatu figure.  Wooof was one of Jabba’s guards at the Sarlaac pit.  He died when Luke reflected one of his laser blasts back at him with his lightsaber.  Sorry, Wooof. Wooof is a great example of how good a modern Star Wars figure can be.  Everything is just about perfect, which makes for a pretty short spotlight.  Wooof does serve as an example of a place where soft goods really “works” on a figure; the skirt here really looks great.  Customizers will want to note that Wooof’s helmet is removable, with a fairly generic head underneath which could be a great starting point for customs.

Despite popping up at the end of 2010, Captain Marvel is from the first wave of 2011′s Marvel Universe line.  Reflecting the new year the card design has been updated; now featuring a silver SHIELD logo in place of the HAMMER logo. Also new for 2011 is the elimination of the file card, which bums me out.  This makes it easy to find figures from this first wave while other waves get cleared out.  Mar-Vell is sporting his classic red and blue costume, his blond hair blowing in the cosmic breeze.  On their first attempt, Hasbro hit the ball out of the park on this figure; he’s just about perfect.  Which is good, as Captain Marvel is no Spider-Man and I think it’ll be awhile until we see a second version of him.

And here’s a bit of trivia True Believers – “The Death of Captain Marvel” was Marvel’s first graphic novel.

Is this the definitive Gamorrean Guard figure?  I’m not completely sure yet.  The sculpt is top-notch as is the deco.  He is as well armed as you’d want a green pig-like palace guard to be.  And he’s wearing a big puffy fur skirt.  Wait, what?  Yep, a soft goods “fur” skirt cover’s the figure’s middle section.  My opinion on the figure keeps flip-flopping; at one moment I’ll look at the whole figure and say – “wow, he’s pretty awesome” and then the next I’ll focus on the fur and think – “Gee, that sorta ruins it”.  I wouldn’t mind seeing a version down the road where a plastic skirt replaces the fur, just to see if it works better, but for now I’ll have to settle.  Any way you look at it, this version is far superior to the POTF2 guard.

Welcome to AwesomeToyBlog’s newest feature (sort of) – a daily spotlight on something from my collection.  Some posts will be short, some might be longer; all depends on what the figure brings out.  I’m kicking it off with Marvel Universe Thanos, who I picked up just prior to the holidays.  His wave was one of the tougher ones to find, many trips to Target were required.

Thanos is the perfect example of what I like about Marvel Universe.  In just under 5 inches, Hasbro captured the essence of Thanos; the sneer, the physique, the Infinity Gauntlet (or not, he has swappable fists), it’s all perfectly Thanos.  He was worth the many trips to the store.  Thanos is also a great example of how Marvel Universe has improved as a line; he’s a sturdy and well built figure.  Many of the early figures felt floppy and fragile, that’s largely a thing of the past.

The Master and Axon

Series: Doctor Who Classics

Release Date: 8/2010

The Doctor Who Classics line continues with its newest Exclusive release; a Jon Pertwee era 2-pack featuring Roger Delgado’s Master and an Axon.  This two-pack comes boxed and runs $40, typical of the Doctor Who Classic releases.  Underground Toys has been on a roll with the classics line up as of late and these two figures show why this is quickly becoming my favorite toy line.  Lets get into the good and the bad of this set.

The Good:

• The package – Putting these figures in a box instead of blister carding them was fantastic.  The ‘diorama’ background with the Axon spaceship really works well with the figures.  The graphic artist did a fantastic job on this one.  If you’re a non-opener, this set will look fantastic on your shelf.
• The Master – I may be showing bias here, but the Master makes this 2-pack with the coin.  This is the Master as he was first introduced, and at his finest.  The sculpt is fantastic and the likeness among the best that Underground Toys has produced.  The figure is adequately articulated and includes his TCE.  A fantastic figure and will serve well as the 3rd Doctor’s #1 villian.

The Not-as-Good:

• The Axon – Don’t get me wrong, the Axon isn’t a bad figure.  It just isn’t great.  Or really an Axon.  The Axon started out as a build-a-figure for Wave 2 of Doctor Who Classics; but he wasn’t an Axon.  He was a Krynoid, from a 4th Doctor series.  When the build-a-figure was dropped from Wave 2, the Krynoid went on the shelf (the prototype picture was featured on AwesomeToyBlog some months ago).  Now, in real life, the Krynoid costume was derived from an Axon costume in storage – and this gave Underground Toys the opportunity to pull the Krynoid figure off the shelf; deco it orangey-pink a nd call it an Axon and release it with the Master.  Unfortunately, there are 2 drawbacks with this.  The head looks off; looks too Krynoid and not enough Axon; you can counter some of this by turning his head around…but then it looks like his neck has been broken.  Also the figure doesn’t feature and knee or elbow articulation; likely an artifiact of being a build-a-figure with a smaller budget per part.

Summary:  What the Axon figure lacks in awesome (I mean its a good figure, just not great) the Master more than makes up for.  He’s really fantastic.  As such, this set is really fantastic and is another great addition to the line.  Some fans are unhappy with the line being “exclusive” and carrying a higher price point; but if the releases continue to be of this caliber and quality I won’t be joining them.  This set is still available from Entertainment Earth (or Forbidden Planet if in the UK) and is well worth picking up.

Bombshell with Combaticons

Series: Transformers: Power Core Combiners

Release Date: 7/2010

Power Core Combiners is one of the new themes running through Transformers which borrows heavily on past “gimmicks”.  Take a bit of ‘Scramble City’ combiners, a bit of Micromasters, a bit of Energon Optimus Prime and a bit of minicons and you get Power Core Combiners.   You have one central Transformer (in this case) Bombshock and 4 vehicle drones which can combine to form a larger robot; Bombshock as the core and the drones as the limbs.  The system is very interchangeable with the ability to swap out the core robot or use drones from different sets.  Its a great concept with a ton of flexibility and opportunities for fun.  Keep reading for my detailed thoughts and some pictures!

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After months of Star Wars drought a flood new Hasbro product is sweeping the country!  Among the new product is Hasbro’s latest mega-vehicle, the AT-AT.  I’ll be honest, I’ve had mixed feelings about the vehicles at the $100+ price point.  While I love the Millennium Falcon, I only got the AT-TE because it was heavily marked down and skipped the Clone Turbo Tank entirely.  How does the AT-AT stack up to the others?  Based on first impressions; it is an incredible toy and worth the retail price.  After the jump let’s look at the good (well great) and the bad of Hasbro’s latest huge vehicle.

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This figure evolution will take a look at two figures of Princess Leia in her Hoth apparel.  On the left is the Power of the Force 2 figure and the right is the new Vintage Collection figure.  One of the interesting things about this comparison is that the PotF2 Leia really didn’t feel dated until photographed with the Vintage Collection figure.  In essentially every category the new Vintage figure trumps the PotF2 one.  The Vintage collection figure has 12 points of articulation compared to the 6 on PotF2 Leia.  The scale of the Vintage Collection is also closer, with the figure being considerably smaller than the PotF2 one.  The sculpt and deco are also superior on the Vintage figure; with Leia’s outfit being made up of several off-white tones, compared to the mono-white PotF2 figure.  Also interesting is that while both Leia’s have a rank badge sculpted on the vest – the PotF2 one remained unpainted ad just blends in on the vest while the Vintage collection has multiple paint-ops on just this small portion of the figure.

I’m being pretty harsh on PotF2 Leia here, but its time to remember that she was released in 1999…that’s 11 years ago and Star Wars figures have changed significantly in that time.  The new Vintage Collection can safely retire your PotF2 Hoth Leia and serve, perhaps, as the definitive Hoth Leia.

Icon Heroes sent over several pictures of the regular edition of the Lion-O staction figure.  The mini-statue is due out late August.  This version differs from the San Diego Comic-Con version in that it has the extended Sword of Omens along with a forest environment base.  Details on where to purchase will be out soon.  See below for a gallery with the pictures…

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The 7th Doctor’s TARDIS

Series: Doctor Who Classics

Release Date: 5/2010

Yesterday was the 4th Doctor’s TARDIS and now we leapfrog to the 7th’s.  I think today’s spotlight is going to be shorter than yesterday’s since its pretty much the same.  This TARDIS included a repaint of the 7th Doctor figure; this time in a darker jacket.  Since the figure is 95% the same, I’m not dealing with him in this spotlight.

So – 7th Doctor’s TARDIS. Well the box says “Curse of Fenric” but it really isn’t (see here – its really more Logopolis).  Again the TARDIS has nothing inside it, a black piece of cardboard would be nice.  This TARDIS does have one extra feature – a little phone behind the door in the door!  Its very specific to “Delta and the Bannermen” – but also very cool.  Again, I could complain about a $50 exclusive not measuring up, but I’m not going to.  I love it, its great, give me more!  I’d love a B&W Hartnell one!

A contact at Diamond sent me a note about 2 Medicom exclusives for the 2010 San Diego Comic-con.  Coming this year are:

-Tron Bearbrick in blister (a la the Tomy 1982 AF release) – no image available yet
-Alice in Wonderland Alice & Mad Hatter UDF: Chess Set decos.  See a picture after the jump.

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The 4th Doctor’s TARDIS

Series: Doctor Who Classics

Release Date: 5/2010

Building on yesterday’s spotlight on “An Unearthly Child” First Doctor, let’s turn an eye to the 4th Doctor’s TARDIS.  This TARDIS also included a 4th Doctor figure, but since it’s 100% the same 4th Doctor that’s already been released, I’m ignoring it.

So – classic TARDIS.  On one hand, I totally love it.  I mean, its the TARDIS, like I watched on PBS.  It is way better than the Dapol TARDIS, and it is undeniably a 4th Doctor era TARDIS.  But on the other hand, for a $50 toy which includes a duplicate figure, there’s a few nitpicks.  Firstly, the box says this TARDIS is from “Planet of Evil”; but this TARDIS really isn’t accurate to that episode.  You can see details of the problems here, but it would have been better to just label it a 4th Doctor TARDIS.  Also, open the door and there’s nothing there.  Granted its sorta screen accurate, but an image of the classic control room would have been cool or a black backdrop would have been ok as well.  Finally, the sound effects kinda suck.

Ok, so that last paragraph turned into me whining, but really…I do adore this TARDIS.  This is a toy (and actually all of Doctor Who Classics) that I’d never thought I’d have.  It really is too bad that these were so hard to get a hold of.