BOB SHARE

I was at the local weekly toy "flea" market last week and guess what had hit the streets?  All right, so its in the title of this review but hey, I had to set the stage somehow, right? ;P

Well, Dave from Davestoylet had his usual table/booth set up at China Square Central and besides the whole host of the latest loose DC Universe figures, packaged GI Joes and MOTU Classics figures, he had his newest offerings: Toys R Us Exclusive Green Lantern Movie Masters 6" figures of Hal Jordan, Rot Lop Fan (gotta love that name) and Tomar Re!

But instead of trying to sell me the figures, he tosses me one of the Hals and asks me to review it--I jump at the chance because these havent been released.  So here it is, my first ever "sponsored" review, a loose but exclusive movie Hal Jordan!



Like: The Ryan Reynolds likeness.  This is not to say I like Deadpool/Hannibal King/Van Wilder as Hollywood Hal Jordan (that remains to be seen), but rather that theyve done a good job of making the figure look like the actor.

Like: The way they painted his eyes.  It looks like they do the green of his mask first, then apply a black coat in his eye sockets, before painting the eyes white. And as those of you who customize figures/paint models/miniatures know, his makes the eyes really stand out.

Like: His Leg/Hip Articulation.  Its similar to the DC Universe Swivel/H-hinge joints but tighter and more seamless.

Thats about as high as his shoulders go

Dislike: That his swivel/hinge elbows have 70-80 degrees of hinge bend at most.  Obstructed by the upper arm sculpt.

Dislike: That his shoulders can only be raised to less than 90 degrees.  But like his elbows, they swivel all the way around but are prevented from being raised by sculpt, this time of the torso.

Like: That his ankles can point very well, almost 90 degrees from their "neutral" positions.

Like: The texture of the figure.  Theres not a surface that doesnt have some sort of pattern on it.  I like it because it sets the movie Hal apart from the comic Hal.  And Id say judging from the pictures of Hal from the movie stills, the sculpt is pretty spot on!
Like: The shiny paint. Its a good shade and not too bright, which wouldve just hurt your eyes looking at Hal.  As it is, the suit has an excellent sheen.

Dislike: That the paint is not entirely movie poster accurate.  Hal seems to have a matte finish on his whole suit in the posters and in the trailers.  Only the "lines" on his suit are lit up by bright green light. So while the shiny green paint for the lighter parts of his suit are great to look at, it isnt supposed to look that way.  They shouldve painted these areas a flat green and then done the grooves in shiny green. Oh well, perhaps it didnt cost out.

Dislike: That like the Batman Movie Master figures, hes made in 6" scale but is smaller than the 6" DCUC figures.  No mixing and matching for you!  :(

RATINGS
Aesthetics: 8/10 - Looks like the movie Hal Jordan, but Im not quite sure I like the suit with its weird alien grooves.  In the movie poster these appear "lighted up" but on the toy its sculpted on and not highlighted by paint at all.  Still, while it doesnt look like what most fans want Jordans movie suit to look like, it does look pretty unique.  Perhaps theres a chance for a custom here to turn this guy into another alien Green Lantern to go with DCUC figures, one similar to humans but more compact...

Poseability: 7/10 - His points of articulation are plenty but most are severely hindered.  Besides the shoulders and elbows mentioned above, his knee bend is also limited, but not as much as the aforementioned arm joints.
Fun: 7/10 - On his own, theres only so many ways you can pose him because of his hindered PoAs.  The arms are especially important because Green Lanterns need to be able to point their rings anywhere they want.  But in this case, its all below the belt for Movie Masters Hal.  Perhaps if you had the rest of the movie line to go with him hed be more playable.

Value: 6/10 - While he hasnt officially been released to stores yet, hes out on the street.  It looks like hell be part of a at least two 2-packs, one with Abin Sur, and one with Tomar Re.  But it looks like hell only come with a Lantern--no constructs.  It remains to be seen what Abin (looks like he has an ab crunch) and Tomar will be like, so its hard to judge the value of half a 2-pack, but on his own Jordan looks like hell be as vanilla as they come.

Overall: 7/10 - Hal Jordan ends up being a good toy but only just.  While the tooling and detail theyve put into this figure is enough to make him a superb buy, youll find that hindered joints and a lack of accessories hold him back.  Itll probably be about two more months before this figure is officially released, but Dave from Davestoylet managed to get his hands on some loose figures.  So if you like what you see here or if youre a die-hard Hal Jordan fan and have to get this as soon as you can, contact Dave at (daves.toylet@gmail.com), or if you live in Singapore, you can even call him or drop him a message on his cell: +65 96941973.

Not so fearless after all...

Ah, yes.  The ultimate nemesis for the most Powerful Man in the Universe--Skeletor!

The best part about getting this 2-pack is being able to split his card-mate, Power Armor Lex Luthor, and him with the Rangerlord!

As it happened, I managed to snag the DCSH Lex for a reasonable price out of a really tiny specialty store.  So when I heard that this particular two-pack hit the streets, I was lukewarm about it.

But thats the good thing about hunting in packs, even if the Rangerlord and I only make it a "2-Pack" (get it? Haha. ;D).  So he wanted a Power Armor Lex and I couldve use an ol Bonehead to go with The two-pack He-Man!  Yay!

So is he a worthy adversary for Eternias Champion?  Click on to find out!






Like: That hes super well articulated like He-Man.  Hes my second figure (and probably only other I might get) from this exclusive Masters of the Universe Classics line, but I can already see from him that the standard bodies Mattel have chosen to use all have 23-25 points of articulation, making him fantastically flexible.  Now ol Skeletor may not be as physical a warrior as He-Man, what with all his mastery of the dark arts, but he will, from time to time, need to engage our fave hero in swordplay.  His wonderful articulation will thus come in handy.

Also, as a master of various forms of nefarious sorcery, The (Crime) Artist formerly known as Keldor can use his poseability to wield his staff with style as he blasts away at the good guys, which brings me to my next point:

Dislike: He only comes with a yellow power sword.  Now whats the deal with that?  All right, all right, he does come with a Lex Luthor whos got 4 different colored kryptonite pieces.  And Skeletor does only use this glowing power sword in the DC/MOTU crossover comic book that comes with the pack, even when casting spells.  But would it have hurt to give him his power staff?  But I suppose the good thing to come out of it is that the sword is a nice "glowy" yellow with a shiny gold center.  And if you put the sword in the two-pack He-mans hands, it actually matches with his gold bracers!


Like: Skeletors face.   The head sculpt is awesome and really looks like a skull with chipped areas on his cheekbones and scuffing here and there.

And the paint is great! Its a simple paint job that works really well and I like it better than the original release because of this.  Instead of a yellow face with green "shading," theres a flat yellow.  Instead of purple eye sockets (with red eye-glows) and a purple nose cavity, theres black eye sockets and a black nose cavity.  His teeth are also highlighted by the black gaps in between instead of what looks like no or little wash for the original.

The flatness of the head really lends more to a floating skull effect than his first release and looks like its eerily glowing within its hood.  Somehow Skeletor and He-man in these two 2-packs have proven that a simpler paint job can lead to a better, brighter effect so that the figures pop more.

Like: The brighter purple used for his harness.  Also, the crossbones on his chest are painted a shiny purple instead of just purple in the initial releases.  The studs along his chest straps, shoulders and skirt are also the same shiny purple.  Once again, simple and elegant. :)

Like: That his joints are nice and tight.  I did have the problem of loose hinges on He-Mans ankles, but Skeletor has no such problems!.

Like: His toe nails.  Or toe claws.  They really lend to the overall "evil" factor of this figure.  Also a special mention for the "fins" on the back of his forearms, which are indeed 80s classic accurate. :)

Like: His head has a full range of motion, even fuller than He-Mans.  Where the hair on the back of He-Mans head restricts his upward motion a little, Skeletor can look up really well because hes only got a hood on. (And all his hair was burnt off at one point of other during his origin, one would imagine. Heh.)

RATINGS

Aesthetics: 9/10 - Skeletor is really all about the scary face.  And in this version, it really takes the cake.  A seemingly disembodied face with pits of endless darkness for eyes, and evil smiling teeth.  Those are the stuff of nightmares for kids who grew up in the 80s.  Also, hes got a spiffy new harness, as well as a nicely glowing power sword that continues to grow on me each time I take him out and pose him around.  And come on, purple and blue?  Those are like the prettiest colors in the spectrum of evil.

Also, I cant wait to get my hands on some of the 200X weapons.  Like He-Man, I think hell look really badass when he gets a hold of that life-like looking ram skull staff and those ram-horn-hilted swords that split in two!

Poseability: 9.5/10 - Hes articulated exactly the same as He-Man (and most other male MOTUC figs) with better head motion.  And once again, the points which impress me the most are the hip ball joints/swivel combo.  They really give Skeletor life (the irony) through allowing him various world-dominating wide stances.  The ab crunch and the feet also deserve special mention--the abs because the 80s figs never had them and were thus stiff as board, while the ankles are also tremendous improvements over the original and the 200X figures (which had no ankles, none at all.)
Fun: 10/10 - As evil as he claims to be, Skeletor is a fun guy.  Really.  First, he has this really corny voice.  Its high and nasal and simply corny--just brilliant for imitating.  Secondly, The dude bungles up majorly in every episode of the cartoon.  He bungles up in both crossover comics from the two-packs.  Its like evil is his part-time job.  The best part?  He blames his minions all the time.  So what does this all mean?  Well, hes fun to practice your ventriloquism on and will be comedy gold in any action figure comics that I might come up with.  I reviewed He-Man in my previous post, but even at the time I couldnt help busting out Skeletor for a bit of a laugh. (See the comic at the end of the previous post but this time, read Skeletors parts out loud in his nasal voice. ;])

Oh and one more thing--looking at the bio on the back of the packaging, it says Skeletor was once Keldor, who is the half-brother of King Randor.  The king is of course father of Prince Adam, who is He-Man.  This means that Skeletor is He-Mans uncle!  Isnt that just delightfully fun?

Value: 8.5/10 - One accessory.  One accessory?  Well, He-Man got two (his axe and shield), while Lex Luthor got 4, yes 4 chunks of kryptonite.  Skeletor should at least have his Havoc Staff, but considering Superman got the shaft (0) in the accessory department (in the 2-pack with He-Man), ol Skull Face didnt really do that badly. And when you throw in the unique gold power sword, all that wonderful articulation and detail on the figure in addition to the great paint job,  I cant really complain.Add to that the fact that hes half the prcie of the initial singel packed releases and youve really got value for money.

Overall: 9.5/10 - You cant have He-Man without getting Skeletor.  And as Sam Jacksons character says to Bruce Willis hero in the movie Unbreakable, the only reason the hero exists is only because of the evil arch-nemesis.  Therefore, without an evil bastard like Skeletor running around and causing trouble, the Sorceress would never have called upon Prince Adam to take up the mantle as the Champion of Eternia.  So does that mean that without this wonderful Skeletor toy we wouldnt have a even more wonderful He-Man? Nah.  But He-Man needs an evil shelf-mate to beat up on, and they dont come any more evil than the master of, uh, evil himself, Skeletor!

I would say, though, that accessories aside, this Skeletor beats the original releases hands down and I can safely say Im glad I was a cheapskate who lucked out when this version of ol Bone head hit the shelves!

*And if youre a Skeletor lover (like Trap Jaw), or if you love good reviews check out ol Boneheads 200X revamped look at Wes GRogans Is It Fun? and his Fire Armor version at Noveltys Toy a Day!

Ive been wanting to get my hands on this guy ever since the announced they were going to make him.  But a combination of so-so reviews--the lack of accessories, the switchable plates instead of a revolving chest cylinder, and his limited articulation kinda threw a spanner in the works for me.  For the same price Id be able to get figures like Mer-Man, COunt Marzo, Keldor, and Prince Adam, all of whom came with a ton more stuff.  So I held out until...

Two weekends ago at the Singapore Toys, Games and Comics Convention (STGCC fer short), I finally gave in at a good price.  I have to confess, he was my favorite He-Man growing up because hed never lose his armor--the original He-Mans harness would always snap at the catch on the back and as a result, Id have a regular half-naked guy as my hero.  Not a good deal.

As it turns out, BA He-Man was a fave among lots of MOTU fans too, except the Rangerlord.  But we can forgive him because he gave in to his MOTUC urges and added original He-Man to his Man-At Arms at STGCC.  (Dont worry bro, its a decision you will not regret.)  ;)  :P  :D.

So how did Battle Armor He-Man fare when he was put up to the Chase Variant review panel? (Thats me.)  Find out after the jump!
Like: That the armor looks bulky and heavy but just the right size for our favorite hero. The detail on it is exquisite. The plates snap in nicely, the dusty silver plastic used to mold the breastplate feels like no other plastic Ive ever felt.  And it really looks like metal!

Like: Despite the bulky armor, theyve left enough space for He-Mans ab crunch to work--somewhat.  He can crunch forward great but arching back is not the best.  Its there, but just not the full range that you ca get from an unarmored figure.

Dislike: That its actually a half breast-plate that he has.  He-Mans is given a blank ab torso and is painted silver so it looks like hes wearing a full breast plate.  While not at all disappointing on BA He-Man, this means you cant really make anyone else wear it without the poor sod looking like hes wearing a tank top (Get it?  Get it?) with a bare midriff.

Similarly, if you put someone elses armor on him, like say He-Ros, hell look silly with a two-tone torso.  Unless Mattel come up with some other form of silver armor...
Dislike: For some reason BA He-Mans eyebrows are painted a little high. Its not just on my figure, but on quite a few Ive seen in stores--yet another reason I didnt splash out straight away for him.

Dislike: That his head is mostly limited to a swivel because of the armor.  Granted, Mattel set his head a little higher than the regular He-Man, but his blond page boy locks still get in the way.  As a result, he can look down but not straight up, and his head can tilt slightly to the left but not to the right.

Like: That with all the weapons and accoutrement, he looks like a walking arsenal of death, especially to Skeletor and gang, the Snakemen, and the Horde.  Give him all those things and put him on Battle Cat, now theres a sight to behold! (Ah, but if only I had one Battle Cat!)

RATINGS
Aesthetics: 9/10 - Battle Armor He-Mans strong suit!  And as well it should be, because thats what this line is great for.  Also, with the Four Horseman at the helm of designing these babies, theres little doubt that hed turn out well.  The focus of this figure is his armor and it turns out perfectly.  I really like the smoky steel texture of the breastplate.

The interchangeable plates are also really well done.  Its too bad about his eyebrows and his otherwise standard He-Man colors because perhaps if hed just been painted a little different, (say blonder hair or even sculpted with a different facial expression) hed be near perfect.  But as it is, hes still a very pretty looking figure and will stand out on your display, especially if youve got him riding that elusive Battle Cat!
Poseability: 7.5/10 - BA He-Mans got standard MOTUC articulation.  But two PoAs are hindered by the magnificent armor and its a pity that they are the two most crucial joints for some life-like posing: the ab crunch and of course, the head. :(

In addition, the figure suffers from the loose ankles that many of the figures are prone to.  Fortunately, the problem will be corrected in the new figures as of this month. Unfortunately for those of us whove gotten the figures up to now, most, if not all of them have or will have loose ankles once posed around a bit.  So while this guy is able to achieve many great poses, hes likely to fall over quite a bit while you attempt to balance him.


Fun: 8/10 - The original 1980s release focused on the revolving chest barrel action feature.  Well, thats missing here.  The only good reason I can think of for not improving and re-using that feature for this version is cost.  It would cost more for a new torso as opposed to re-using existing bucks and giving him new snap on armor with fancy plates.  Despite the fact that it wouldnt be a one off torso piece just for BA He-Man (theyd be able to re-use it for BA Skeletor), Mattel went they way of profits.

Having said that, it doesnt mean this figure is not any fun.  Sure, its not as exciting as probably one of the action features of the whole MOTU toy universe, but its still a pretty novel idea to be able to switch around the plates.  The problem is: which plate to display him with...
Value: 7/10 - Besides his battle axe, I suppose having just his cheat plates as accessories really added a little insult to injury.  Yeah, while we were still licking our wounds about not getting the action feature, we realized that he wouldnt come with his Power Sword either.  The irony is that the bio on the back of his packaging talks about how his Battle Armor is due to He-Man unlocking the more secrets of the Power Sword.  So did he suddenly realize that the metal from the Sword of He would better suit him melted down and reforged into a breast plate rather than as a weapon? And that, oh by the way, there was some spare metal left so lets forge that into an axe?  Ah well, Im sure a lot less attention would be paid to the lack of the revolving chest if he had just come with more stuff.

Overall: 8.0/10 - Hed be awesome if he had either more accessories or less hindrance to both his ab crunch and head.  I think the former would have been more easily accomplished but wasnt done, and there was some effort made to correct the latter.  But in the end, there was no real commitment to either, unfortunately.  Hes still a good figure, but still a far cry from the classic He-Man.  (But hell still kick any baddies a$$ though.  Especially Mer-Mans. ;P)