Action Figure Review: Split Cycle Superman from Man of Steel by Mattel

     Before I get into the review, I want to think Action Figure Man over at Action Figure Imagery for sending me these figures. I won their February 2015 contest and received this figure and one of the smaller Guardians of the Galaxy two packs. I appreciate Action Figure Man's generosity in running these contests pretty frequently and giving out prizes! Thank you so much!

    Man of Steel. I liked it. I liked it quite a bit actually, as it turned out to be one of my favorite films of 2013. I've always found Superman to be a Mickey Mouse: A recognizable and popular character whom people love that has done little to nothing noteworthy. Sure, I love the first two Christopher Reeve films and I enjoyed Lois and Clark when it first came on (I was pretty young), but there has been little else Superman related (other than his appearance in Batman-centric stories) that has interested me). Man of Steel changed that for me, although I think the things I enjoyed about the movie probably alienated Superman fans. I will say something we probably all agree on, though: Mattel's Man of Steel was pretty lackluster. Let's be honest: Superhero movie toylines have just gone down hill. While we're living in a time when superhero movies are box office gold and quite decent overall, Hasbro and Mattel keep giving us pure and utter trash. Seriously, many of the figures from the recent Marvel and DC movies truly look like they could be discount retailer material. For Man of Steel, Mattel did offer their "collector" focused Movie Masters line, but even those ended up fairly week. Today I'm looking at what was probably the best figure to come out of the Man of Steel smaller scale toyline: Split Cycle Superman. Ready for a look at this figure? Then join me after the break...

Action Figure Review: AT-DP Driver from Star Wars: Rebels by Hasbro

     One of the things that you can always count on in the Star Wars universe is that the armored troops will have some awesome visual designs. Today I'm looking at another figure from Hasbro's Rebels assortment: The AT-DP Driver. Also known as Imperial combat drivers, AT-DP drivers pilot a variety of the new vehicles features in Rebels including the All Terrain Defense Pods that are employed on the planet Lothal as part of the Imperial security forces. I don't have an AT-DP yet but I did manage to find the driver on the same day that I picked up my Jedi Temple Guard. The Rebels figures have been pretty tough to come by, at least in my experience, so I was glad to find this one. Ready for a quick look at this figure? Then join me after the break...

Action Figure Review: Jedi Temple Guard from Star Wars: Rebels by Hasbro

     
First things first: This figure is not from Star Wars: Rebels. He's from The Clone Wars. It even says so on his packaging, which is almost the same as the packaging for the Rebels characters other than the fact that the Rebels figures have the Rebels logo on the front. Basically, Hasbro is mixing together figures from both Star Wars TV shows and the six films in the newest incarnation of the Star Wars: Saga Legends collection which most fans are just referring to Star Wars: Rebels. Secondly, the Jedi Temple Guard is a very cool character. We saw these guys hanging around in two episodes of the fifth season of The Clone Wars and one episode from the sixth season, and it seems like a lot of fans have been anxious to get them in toy form. Of course, it's a bit disappointing that these guys ended up in the minimally articulated Saga Legends line rather than in the more articulated 1/18th scale Black Series assortment. Who knows if we'll ever see these guys redone as better figures? I'm finally going to try and stop complaining about the Saga Legends limitations and just look at this figure as it is. Ready for a look at one of the guys who guards the Jedi? Then join me after the break...

Action Figure Barbecue: I Have a Logo!

     I have a logo of my very own now and it's all thanks to Matt over at The Toy Box! A few days ago Matt was having fun designing some logos for a few other toy blogs and he very kindly created one for Action Figure Barbecue. I love it! Not only does it capture the casual (yet flame grilled) flavor of my site but it also pays tribute to classic action figures. I'm so excited to have this on my site! A very special thank you to Matt at The Toy Box, which is one of the best action figure reference sites I know of. Seriously, the put together some great features covering almost every toyline you can imagine. I use them as a reference quite often when I'm researching toylines for writing reviews. Of course, they also spearheaded Toy Bloggers United. 
Seriously. They love toys.

Anyways, want to know why my site is called Action Figure Barbecue? Then join me after the break and I'll tell you...

Action Figure Review: Predator (Thermal Vision) from Predator ReAction by Funko

  
  Last fall I stayed at a hotel in Asheville, NC that was within walking distance of Comic Envy, a pretty nice and well organized comic shop that I've visited once or twice before. While I was there I happened to find the newly released Predator figures from Funko and purchased the masked version of the Predator. Anyone who has read some of my reviews of NECA's Predator figures knows that I'm a huge Predator fan. I'd wager that the movie is on the list of my top ten to fifteen favorite films. I'm neither a hardcore collector of Predator merchandise nor a completionist of Predator action figures, but if I see something cool I'm inclined to pick it up. So, when I saw Funko's Toys 'r Us exclusive "Thermal Vision" Predator variant, I had to pick it up. I was captivated by the bright colors and the sheer novelty of the toy. Of course, a minute or two after picking this up, I started thinking to myself: "Wait? Why are we seeing the Predator in thermal vision? Thermal vision is what we get when we see from the Predator's perspective." You know what? Don't let that ruin this toy for you. Maybe the Predator is hanging out with other Predators. Maybe the Predator is standing in a mirror. Maybe he's taking a selfie. Does a sherbert colored Predator have to be justified in order for it to be awesome? Read more about this figure after the break...

A New Batgirl Review: Batgirl from Headstrong Heroes by Monogram Masterworks

     As you probably already know, I'm a huge fan of Batgirl. It's gotta be Barbara Gordon, though. Betty Kane, Cassie Cain, and Stephanie Brown are certainly worthy and interesting heroes, no doubt about it, but nobody tops Babs in my book. While I'm always picking up new and interesting Batgirl products, I also do lots of online searching for older stuff I don't have, particularly statues, busts, and action figures. A month or two ago I learned about this bobble head from Monogram Masterworks. It was was released in 2004 under their Headstrong Heroes line which was billed as a line of "Dynamic Bobble Heads," probably due to the more action oriented body sculpt. I watched a few online listings until I found one for a pretty good price for one new in the box (probably under $20 bucks shipped) which I jumped on. A few days later she arrived at my door. Unfortunately, I did have some quality issues with this bobble head. It wasn't due to the shipper, as the figure was safely packaged and find before I removed it from the package. It seems that perhaps the materials have broken down some overtime. As you're watching these pictures, I'll note a few areas where I had to do some repairs on the figure. Ready for a closer look at this bobbling bat babe? Then join me after the break....

The Facts:
Height: About 8 3/8ths inches from the base to her ears


Articulation: Spring attached bobble head (broken)

Accessories: None


Year of Release: 2004

The Positives:

* The sculpt on this figure is really nice. The head looks a bit oversized since this figure is technically a bobble head. Since the attachment for the spring on the neck that gives the bobble head it's bobbling motion broke, I had to create a new neck with Sculpt-it. This keeps the head on securely, but it makes the head look a bit oversized since it is now closer to the body. Regardless of that, it's a solid sculpt and captures the classic Batgirl costume.

     The base of this bobble head is really nice: It's the batsignal with a "Batgirl" name plate. I love when extra environmental elements like this are incorporated in a statue or action figure as it gives the final piece a diorama like quality. I'm definitely a fan of that. Batgirl looks great perched atop the batsignal. It's just a recognizable and fun aspect of the statue. The sculpting is nice as well with quite a few cool little details. It also reminds me of one of my favorite Batgirl statues from my collection: The Batman: The Animated Series Batgirl statue where she's lounging on top of the batsignal. Considering that Babs isn't really linked to the signal in any significant way other than being part of the Bat-family, it's interesting that it was chosen.

 The Negatives:

*I mentioned the breakage issues, and that's coming up, but first I want to talk about the paint. The paint applications themselves aren't bad by a long shot, but the paint itself is kind of...tacky? I'm not sure if that's the right word but after handling this piece I found blue traces of blue paint staining my fingertips. (Before I realized what was causing this I thought that maybe Tobias Funke was stalking me.) The darker paint also seems to be encroaching on the space of the yellow paint, which is a bit bothersome and entirely uncalled for. This has got to be the case of the paint simply breaking down over the years, although this piece is only about 11 years old.

     Let me talk about the breakage issues I alluded to earlier. As I mentioned above, this figure came new in the the original window box. It was safely packaged by the seller I purchased it from and it looked great. Upon opening it, though, the head fell off. It appears that whatever attached the spring to the head had disintegrated. When trying to work with the statue the right ear on the cowl just snapped off and a chunk of the left edge of the cape cracked off. Once again, I think this is a case of the materials breaking down over time. I'm not sure what the statue is made of, but it seems to be problematic.

     After sitting down to fix the neck and glue the cape piece and ear back on, I'm happier with the statue. It is a nice piece and it's a real shame that it seems to have aged poorly. Being that it's not new, I really have no frame of reference for if this is a widespread problem or not. As a collector of Batgirl stuff, I still wanted this on my shelf as part of my display even with my repairs. For anyone besides the most hardcore Batgirl collectors, I'd recommend avoiding this piece unless you plan on keeping it in the box. That might help to preserve it, although I can't guarantee it. It's tough reviewing older stuff sometimes but, considering the breakage issues I faced, I'm giving this statue a Crap and a 1/2. Serious Batgirl collectors who don't mind fixing their toys need only apply. You deserve better, Babs!

If you're interested in checking out my Batgirl collection, I've got some of it posted right here on Action Figure Barbecue!

Action Figure Review: Thunder from Big Trouble in Little China ReAction by Funko

     While Lightning has the most recognizable special move and Rain has the coolest weapons and battle face, Thunder is quite possibly my favorite of the Three Storms. Played by Carter Wong, a guy who is so freaking awesome that he trained the Royal Hong Kong Police Department in martial arts and made a ton of movies with titles like When Taekwondo Strikes, Snaky Knight Fight Against Mantis, and Killer of Snake, Fox of Shaolin, Thunder is an incredible bad guy who just oozes confidence and charisma. He also gets so pissed during Big Trouble in Little China that he causes his body to expand and explodes! And yes, it is as awesome as it sounds. Anyways, to finish up my coverage of the first series of Funko's Big Trouble in Little China ReAction line, here's my review of Thunder. You know, over the past two weeks I've not only reviewed six Big Trouble in Little China figures and watched the movie but I've watched countless clips from it on YouTube, listened to the soundtrack, watched the TMNT episode "A Chinatown Ghost Story," and searched through prop and reference photos. I'm son such a BTiLC kick that last night I dreamed I was in the basement of the Wing Kong exchange with Egg Shen, Wang Chi, and Jack Burton while Egg was giving everyone cups of the Six Demon Bag. I woke up during the elevator ride down. Maybe it's a good thing that there's only six figure in this first series instead of eight, otherwise who knows what would happen to me over the weekend...