Favorite toy of the day

NECA's "The Night He Came Home" Box Set Dr. Loomis.

Favorite toy of the day

NECA's Sin City Series 2 Shellie (black & white variant).

Favorite toy of the day

NECA's "The Night He Came Home" Box Set Michael Myers.

Favorite toy of the day

Hasbro's Girls of Gotham Talia.

Favorite toy of the day

Toybiz's Marvel Legends series nine Dr Strange.

Favorite toy of the weekend

Mattel's JLU Target exclusive Black Canary.

Favorite toy of the last two days

Toybiz's Marvel Legends series eleven Taskmaster.

Favorite toy of the day

Toybiz's Fearsome Foes Lizard.

Favorite toy of the day

Toybiz's Fearsome Foes Vulture.

Favorite toy of the weekend

Toybiz's Fearsome Foes Rhino.

Sunday Toy Run

Stores Covered:
-Walmart (out-of-town #1)
-Walmart (out-of-town #2)
-Kay Bee Toys
-Walmart (local)
-Toys R Us
-Target
-Suncoast
-Spencer's Gifts
-K-Mart

Interesting Stuff Found:
-Hasbro's GI Joe Sigma Six (Kay Bee)
-Hasbro's Evolutions: Clonetrooper to Stormtrooper(good quality this time! At out-of-town Walmart #2)
-Toybiz's Marvel Legends Fearsome Foes giftset (out-of-town Walmart #2)

Bought:
-Toybiz's Marvel Legends Fearsome Foes giftset (out-of-town Walmart #2)
-Mattel's JLU three pack: Aztek/Superman/Sinestro

Favorite toy of the day

Mattel's Justice League Mission Vision Darkseid.

Thursday Toy Run

Stores Covered:
-Toys R Us
-Suncoast
-Target
-Walmart(local)

Interesting Stuff Found:
-Palisades' PalZ Buffy Halloween four-pack(overpriced)

Bought:
-Target Exclusive JLU Three Packs: Orion/Green Lantern/Martian Manhunter & Bizarro/Batman/Wonder Woman

Favorite toy of the day

DC Direct's Superman/Batman: Public Enemies Batman(with DCD Robin).

Wednesday Toy & Mail Run

Stores covered:
-Walmart(local)
-Walmart(out of town #1)
-Walmart(out of town #2)
-Kay Bee Toys
-Toys R Us
-Target
-Suncoast
-Spencer's Gifts

Interesting Stuff Found:
-Star Wars Evolutions: Clonetroopers to Stormtroopers(crap)
-Jedi vs Separatists Battlepack(crap)
-Imperial Throne Room Battlepack(okay)
-Jedi Temple Attack Battlepack(crap)
-Target Exclusive JLU threepacks(awesome)

Bought:
-DCD Superman/Batman Public Enemies Batman
-DCD Contemporary Teen Titans Robin
-Target Exclusive JLU Three Pack: Black Canary/Superman/Green Arrow



USPS
-Bill's Toys & Games


Received:
-Mattel's Justice League Mission Vision Darkseid
-Johnny Lightning's Star Trek Romulan Bird of Prey

Christy Hemme Review!

Jakks Pacific's WWE DIVA Christy Hemme action figure, exclusive to All-Cool-Gifts.com



Sculpt
Very good. This is apparently the Jakks stock body for female figures, and it's not bad. It's rather tall, over 6", but it looks good. Nothing special there, but the head sculpt for Christy Hemme is *excellent*. Female faces are exceptionally hard to do well, especially in a mass market line, but here Jakks has given one of the more attractive face sculpts I've seen on a figure outside of McFarlane or some figure from Japan. The level of detail on the face is very nice(if you get one, look at her teeth!), and the hair sculpt is one of the better ones I've seen. One problem is her forehead looks a tad too spacious, her hairline a little high, but I think that's a problem of manufacturing rather than of sculpt.



Paint
Good. Here again there's a difference between the head and the body. The head's paint applications are flawless(though I'm told they got her hair color wrong), on the body itself they're good, though there's some *slight* bleed from her clothes on the skin. By slight I mean less than a millimeter. The paint is very basic anyway, just some red on her sports bra and shorts, plus the makeup detail on her face. They seem to be relying mainly on the flesh colored plastic.




Articulation
Good. Well, let's say it. She's no Marvel Legends. Not every figure has to be, and frankly I don't want every figure *to* be as heavily articulated as ML. She has a ball neck, ball shoulders, bicep swivels, hinged elbows, wrist swivels, mid-palm hinges(?!), waist swivel, swivel hips, hinged knees, hinged ankles. I count 18 points of articulation. She could use ball hips and mid-calf swivels to be perfect, but as it is she's very posable.



Accessories
Excellent. I actually didn't expect any accessories, and they provided her with some interesting ones. A wireless microphone, a water bottle(which she can't hold) and a working in-scale folding chair. I assume these are reused accessories from other figures in the line, but it's still nice. She also comes with a cheap cloth skirt that is removable, but that seems mainly to be about saving poor children from seeing women in shorts for some reason.



Overall
Very good. This is the first wrestling figure I've owned since I was a kid, and I'll be honest, I bought it because I thought she looked hot. That said she's a pretty fun figure, a bit cheap feeling(but no less than the regular line I assume), but otherwise a good buy.

Favorite toy of the day

Toybiz's Lord of the Rings Gothmog.

unFavorite toy of the day

Toybiz's Marvel Legends series 11 Ultron.

Mailbox Toy Run

USPS
-Krypton Collectibles
-All-Cool-Gifts.com


Received:
-Toybiz's LOTR Gothmog (Krypton)
-Toybiz's LOTR Boromir Captain of Gondor (Krypton)
-Toybiz's Marvel Legends 9 Bullseye (Krypton)
-Jakks WWE DIVA Christy Hemme (All Cool Gifts)

ML 10 Sentinel Review!

Toybiz's Marvel Legends series ten Build-a-Figure Sentinel!



Sculpt
Excellent. You're going to read the word "best" fairly often in this review, and we're going to start here. Every cable, every metal plate, the textures, the proportions, EVERY SINGLE DETAIL of this figure is sublime. There is nothing to dislike here.



Paint
Excellent. Wow. Not sure what's plastic, and what's paint on this figure. Every part of him is covered with a weathered-looking metal sheen.



Articulation
Excellent. As much articulation as a regular 6" ML, he isn't limited by a skirt like Galactus is, and is thus that much more of an action toy. He has a swivel/hinge neck without much give on the up/down motion, ball shoulders, shoulder-pad hinges, bicep swivels, double-hinged elbows, ball wrists, ab swivel/hinge, ball waist, ball hips, thigh swivels below the ball hips, double-hinged knees, limited articulation ankle swivels. So around 25-29 POA.



Accessories
Excellent. I rate these by what they need, and frankly as an accessory himself the Sentinel is good enough without any accessories, but Toybiz gave us a pair of tentacles for him anyway. They're exactly the same as those that come with Omega Red, but I won't quibble.



Overall
Excellent. Best figure ever released in Marvel Legends? YES.

ML 10 Angel Review!

Toybiz's Marvel Legends series ten Angel action figure.


Sculpt
Good. Angle uses one of ML's most overused bases, previously seen with Deadpool, Silver Surfer, Vision, etc. You can identify this base by the giant ball shoulders, the lame armpit hinges(I call this up/down type stupid, because they're terrible). However Angel is one of the best uses of this base. They used a different upper torso on him, but the rest is essentially the same. The wings are the defining aspect of this character, and the figure lives and dies by how they're rendered. Thankfully Toy Biz did a beautiful job. Nicely detailed and BIG they look great on him, and elevate and okay figure to a good one. His face is somewhat bland, and for some reason the sculptor decided to cast Brad Pitt as his version of the character, because the resemblance is more than casual. If anyone ever does a licensed Brad Pitt figure, find out who sculpted this, because it's more faithful than most laser headscan-based sculpts.



Paint
Very good. One of the reasons this base body never works out well is because it feels a bit cheap unless the plastic is high quality and usually the paint is skimped on in favor of colored plastic. This time however the figure seem to be entirely painted, and be made from a stronger form of plastic to account for the wings. The red tone and it's black detailing is very nicely done, and even the retarded Toybiz obsession with blue shading on white costumes, which is abundant on this figure, is actually decent-looking in person. The face is well painted, and the detailing on the wings is well rendered as well. This figure had the biggest single paint flaw of series ten, a blob of white paint on the lower right leg(photoshopped out in these pics). However it doesn't seem fair to give this a lower review for a freak mistake.

Articulation
Excellent. One of the pluses of this body base is that it's articulated as all hell. Angel even boosts this due to his wings, a hard effect to articulate on a figure. Toybiz managed to come up with a brilliant new joint* to use for it, a ratcheted hinge sculpted onto his back. Here's how he breaks down: neck hinge/swivel, armpit hinges, ball shoulders, bicep swivels, double-hinged elbows, mid-forearm swivel cuts(at the glove line), wrist hinges, knuckle hinges, wing ratchet hinges, ab hinge, waist swivel, ball hips, thigh swivels under the ball hips, double-hinged knees, mid-calf swivel cuts(at the boot line), ankle hinges, toes hinges. I count it as thirty five to thirty nine POA depending on how you base your count.



* - I've been informed they used a similar joint in the 5" days, though with weaker plastic and the design failed. Thanks to Fwoosh chatter GhostRider for the info.

Accessories
Good. He comes with his wings, a flying stand(which he alone in all of ML10 actually needs), a piece of the Sentinel, and a comic book. Since this is the last review of a regular ML10 figure, I should not that these flying stands are a new design than that we've seen previously. They're made of thicker plastic on the stalk, and better, thicker knobs. They're not indestructible,

Overall
Very Good. What look like a pretty dull figure turned out to be rather fun. Toybiz showed their knack for reusing an outdated sculpt and getting a lot of mileage out of it. Their innovation with the wings was a master stroke, especially considering the flawed attempt they made with they X-Men Classics Archangel figure's wings. Due to his size with wings on he'll probably be relegated to the back of people's displays, but not due to his being a poor figure.

ML10 Black Panther Review!

Toybiz's Marvel Legends series ten Black Panther action figure.



Sculpt
Excellent. Along with Mr. Sinister this figure is the star of the wave. The sculpt, based on the armature of ML8 Ultimate Captain America, is extremely finely detailed. He's got a ripped physique, as he should. He has a nice pebbled texture that make it seem as if his costume is made from an animal hide, an inspired touch. Another dynamic and modern figure that shows just how far Marvel Legends has come in just a few years.

Paint
Okay. Okay, this figure is mostly unpainted and is naked plastic. He does have some costume detailing that's painted, but that's fairly standard for any toyline. There's an unattractive purple wash that's mainly apparant under a camera flash, but only to the naked eye on his boots. On my figure anyway.



Articulation
Excellent. A real action toy, he poses extremely well, and is a lot of fun. His POA are: neck hinge/swivel, front/back armpit hinges, ball shoulders, bicep swivels, double-hinged elbows, mid-forearm swivel cuts(along gloveline), wrist hinges, individual fingers articulated at the knuckle, ab hinge, waist swivel, ball hips, thigh swivel under the ball joint, double-hinged knees, calf swivels cuts(at the boot line), ankle hinges, toe hinges. I put the count at a whopping 39 bit I could see by some standards it being consided as 43.

Accessories
Good. He comes with a cape that pegs at the front, a flying stand, and a comic book.



Overall
Excellent. Black Panther comes out of this wave clearly one of the best MLs ever made. Why are you still reading this?! Go hunt him down!

ML10 Mystique Review!

Toybiz's Marvel Legends series ten Mystique action figure.

Sculpt
Good. A simply sculpted female figure, not much personality apparant in the sculpt, they seem to be relying on the oddness of her coloring to sell the figure. The sole intricate detail on the figure is her trademark miniskulls belt. Still, it's done well. Her facial expression is a bit hard to see because of the dark plastic, but you can see enough to see she's one of Toybiz's prettier female faces.



Paint
Decent. Not much going on here either, she's basically three colors, blue, white, and red. The blue is mostly plastic, the red of her hair looks like paint, and the white is a mix of paint and plastic. The hair is the worst paint-wise of the figurem they mixed too much black into it and it gives it a dirty look. Also there is much evidence of Toybiz's annoying habit of slathering a blue wash on white parts of figure.




Articulation
Very good. Mystique is one of the least articulated MLs for a long, long time, but in her case this is a good thing. Eliminating horrifically ugly swivel cuts across muscles that have plagued all their other female figures to date. The package says 27 POA and I see: neck hinge/swivel, ball shoulders, bicep swivels, double-hinged elbows, wrist hinges, knuckle hinges, boob swivel, ab hinge, ball waist, ball hips, double-hinged knees, hinge ankles. I count 24 but they maybe be counting the ball waist and shoulders as two, which is fair.



Accessories
Good. As with the rest of ML10, she comes with a piece of the Sentinel and a flying stand, which is somewhat unnecessary. Instead of a comic book, she comes with a posterbook.

Overall
Very good. Mystique's not one of my favorite characters, but with this figure Toybiz has answered every single one of my past complaints about their female figures. Bring on the Scarlet Witch and X23!

Favorite toy of the weekend

Toybiz's Marvel Legends series eleven Taskmaster.

Mailbox Toy Run

USPS
-Silver Snail


Received:
-Toybiz's ML11 Taskmaster, Ultron, and Wonderman
-Toybiz's ML5 movie Blade

Scale Comparisons

ML10 Mr. Sinister Review!

Mr. Sinister action figure from Toybiz's Marvel Legends series ten.



Sculpt
Excellent. The best-sculpted figure of the wave, and possibly the best of the entire line to date. He's a bit taller than he should be, but he lists shape-shifting among his powers, and there's just so much personality in every millimeter of him. It's not surprising to learn that this figure was sculpted by the same artist who made the sublime Black Panther figure. Like them, this figure is dynamic even in a vanilla pose.

Paint
Excellent. A lot was said that this figure lost it's metallic armor sheen between the prototype stage and production, but on my figure at least that's not the case. There's some paint wear already on the red diamond on the front of his armor, but that's mostly my fault I think.



Articulation
Very good. Nothing fancy here, mostly standard. There's a giant flaw in the choice of articulation however, that keeps this figure from being perfect: a mid-forearm cut. There's plenty of room along the glove line to do it. This oversight severely limits his arm poseability. In any case, here's what he has: neck hinge/swivel, good armpit hinges(the bullseye front/back kind, not the awful Deadpool up/down one), ball shoulders, bicep swivels, double-hinged elbows, wrist hinge, individual fingers articulated at the knuckle, ab hinge, waist swivel, ball hips, thigh swivel at the balljoint, double-hinged knees, mid-calf swivel cuts, ankle hinges, toe hinges. I put the POA count at 37, but it could be up to 41 based on how you count them.

Accessories
Good. As with all ML10, Mr Sinister comes with a piece of a Sentinel and a flying stand. Being so tall however, he doesn't need one, and looks silly using it. And as with all MLs, he comes with a comic book featuring him. He comes with a stringy cape pegged at the back of his neck, and it looks good and hangs well.



Overall
Excellent. The best Marvel Legends to date? If not, he's pretty damned close. Best ML of series 10? Definitely. Going in, he was my least-wanted figure of the wave, and now I can't get enough of the guy. A case of a figure making me a fan of the character.