Darth Maul - Star Wars The Black Collection 6" scale pictures

Just some fun with the new Darth Maul figure...

A Tale of Two Vaders

Hasbro's new The Black Collection of 6" Star Wars figures seems to be my gateway drug back into Star Wars figure collecting. The 90's Power of the Force line is what roped me into the obsessive hobby in the first place, but I gave up on Star Wars years ago, with hyper-detailed 1/12 scale figures by companies like NECA taking in the brunt of my collecting dollars. Of course, now that looks like it's all about to change: Star Wars has returned with a vengeance. And it's not just The Black Collection, it seems. A ton of really neat new Star Wars figure merchandise has hit recently, and I couldn't resist two really different versions of my favorite baddy: Lord Darth Vader himself. First up is the Giant Size 31" behemoth I stumbled across at Wal-mart.

Ok, this guy really does top out at exactly 31" tall. I've seen the Man of Steel and Dark Knight giants, but was never really taken enough to bite. Vader here is totally different. He looks awesome! The sculpt is brilliant. The mask has lots of sharp angles and edges and the outfit itself combines plastic sculpt (wrinkles- check out the torso) along with soft goods cloth cape and skirt parts. It all fits together really well for a striking look. Vader even sports a chain clasp at the neck!

I was most surprised to see who made this big guy: JAKKS Pacific, makers of some of the most disappointing figures I've ever come across! Well, JAKKS knocked this one out of the park! My only real issue is with the proportions. Vader's head seems a little too small when compared to the body, and his right fist also seems a bit small, as does his lightsaber hilt. These are small issues. The "big one", is his crotch piece- it's enormous. That doesn't really sound like it should: theres an armor piece that runs from the belt clasp downwards that just dominates the entire lower half of the torso. It doesn't impede anything, and isn't too noticeable most of the time because of the skirt pieces, but it does tend to jut out if the legs are pulled back significantly.

Giant Vader has a terrific, clean paint job. The chest and shoulder pieces are especially great. Articulation isn't much to write home about: cut neck, shoulders, wrists and hips (7 points). You won't get anything dynamic, but this is one big plastic statue, so even raising his grasping left arm/hand and turning his head a little changes the look a bit. I think an elbow joint and an interchangeable hand/fist would have done wonders, but Giant Vader does what he is supposed to especially well: look imposing and really really big!

The other Darth Vader that I picked up is the much smaller Playskool Jedi Force Star Wars Heroes Vader with saber-slashing action. There are 3 new figures in this line: Darth Vader, Prequels Obi-Wan and Captain Rex. Each features a play action where squeezing their legs together with swing their right arm up and down at the shoulder. This means no leg articulation.

The sculpt on Playskool Vader's mask is very different from Giant Vader's. It's much more flattened and wide, plus the eyes are painted red. He also sports a cloth cape and skirt, along with minimal articulation: cut neck, wrists and shoulders, along with hinged elbows (7 points). No dynamic poses here, but kids will have a ton of fun swinging that saber hand by squeezing the legs (I know because my 7 year old never seems to tire of it!). Playskool Vader is fun and different enough to be worth getting. He's more kid-friendly but retains his inherent Vader evil coolness. And at $8 he didn't cause too much damage to the wallet.

Both of these Darth Vaders are neat figures in their own right, while being unique enough to be worth adding to the collection. I wish Giant Vader came with an ignited lightsaber that he could hold, while also wishing that Playskool Vader's lightsaber could be removed- that sounds weird, I know, but it would give each some additional looks. But all in all, they are both great interpretations of an iconic film baddy...

The Dark Knight - Medicom MAFEX Batman Figure Review

At this point, there have been a LOT of Dark Knight versions of Christopher Nolan's Batman released in various scales and price points. The Movie Masters 6" line is what originally brought me back into toy-collecting after a long hiatus, and for a long time those were the best I thought Batman could get. That line has grown, with plenty of groans and glitches, but in the mean-time we've added Hot Toys and Play Arts Kai to the roster. Now, along comes Medicom with a new take on the Dark Knight. How did it turn out? It may well be time to sell off those Movie Masters figures!

I honestly didn't know what to expect with this figure. I pre-ordered him 6 or 7 months ago, sight unseen, from a site that advertised him as highly articulated, and that's about it. I'm a sucker for the Dark Knight, so I went ahead and pre-ordered. Flash forward 6 months, and I get an email that my figure is about to ship. I actually considered cancelling - I had just gotten the Play Arts version (and wasn't all that impressed, but that's a different story), and was pretty doubtful that another version could offer anything new.

Medicom's Dark Knight comes packaged in a window box with some nice artwork of Batman in several action poses on the back. You can see everything nicely, but this isn't a figure you want to keep in-package. The figure and accessories are sandwiched between plastic trays inside, and there's even a small clear plastic baggie-type thing under his head. You get Batman, his grapple gun, the EMP launcher and 3 extra hands. All told, he has 2 fists, 2 splayed hands and 1 gripping (right) hand.

You also get a nifty, clear plastic Robot Spirits style display stand. It's really useful for action poses- not one of those stupid discs with a foot post in it. That said, there's a couple of things that are missing. I personally would have included another hand with splayed fingers and a batarang sculpted between a couple of them, for throwing poses, and one with those little bombs sculpted in the palm. I also might have included a second, vinyl cape that could be switched out for the cloth one for those who don't like cloth, or even added some wire to the edge of this one to allow the cape to be posed a bit more dynamically. Finally, a second head either unmasked or with the infrared goggles would have made this guy complete, and made any other version completely unnecessary.

As advertised, Medicom's Dark Knight has outstanding articulation. There's a ton of joints allowing for great posing options, and it's actually the articulation that really won me over with this guy. The head's balljointed, and is on a balljointed neck. The two work together very well to allow him to look up, which is terrific if you own the Movie Masters Batpod. He's perfect on that. He doesn't have as good a range of motion looking down, though, which is disappointing for those scowling, glaring poses from on up-high. The shoulders are ball-jointed with a swivel embedded inside. They're really loose, though, and fall out very easily. They pop back in pretty easily, as well, but it can be frustrating. Double jointed elbows and knees, ball wrists allowing for easy swapping of the hands, and really tight rocker ankles are all good. The articulated toes don't allow the foot to lie flat, though; they are always pointed upwards (moreso on the right foot than the left). There's a ball waist with lots of tilt and another under the rubberized chest piece, so he can crunch and lean to your heart's content.

The weapons fit well in Batman's hand, but I can't get the EMP posed two-handed like the back of the package advertises. I tend to be horrendous at posing, so I think it can be done, but only with the butt of the rifle propped over Batman's shoulder, not resting against it. One of those in-out shoulder swivels like NECA included with their Gears figures might have accomplished the job, or I need to sit down with a bit more patience to get it to work. The loose shoulders really get annoying, but everything else about the articulation blows the Movie Masters version out of the water. Oh, almost forgot! The hips have a nifty addition: the post actually moves up and down, so you can slide the hip joint up higher, or down lower, depending on the pose you are looking for. This allows for those side kick poses, while reducing the gap in regular standing poses. It took me a bit to notice it, and another little while to get used to it, but it works pretty well once you do so.

The sculpt on Medicom's MAFEX Dark Knight is nothing short of terrific. The details from head to toe are integrated well, and work with a simple paint job and complex tampos to (again) make this guy nearly perfect! I say nearly, because of one thing: there's something "off" to me about his head sculpt. It's too round, and too big for my tastes. The prototype pictures on the package show a grimmer mouth (that can tilt down appropriately), while in-hand this guy's rounded noggin just looks too "soft" to me. Otherwise, he's brilliant, even down to the tiny mesh-tampographing done on his armor to make it look like that "carbon weave whatever" that Lucius Fox mentioned.

I tried to replicate all of the promo pictures from the package back, with varying degrees of success. I could come close with most of them (except the EMP pic), as shown here.

I was initially very disappointed in this guy. The face/head sculpt threw me, and he carries a pretty hefty price-tag, at about $40. That, and the fact that his arm fell off right away didn't get us off on the right foot. But once I started messing around with him, I really began to enjoy myself. I tend to not have enough fun with my toys: they get posed in one way, then find themselves on a shelf forevermore, only occasionally to be noticed again, it seems. Not so with MAFEX Dark Knight. He's tons of fun to pose and mess around with. Yes, the joints are loose, but I think that's intentional, to allow for posing. And the stand really helps. He looks good with the other Movie Masters lineup, and he's probably the last 6" scale Dark Knight Batman I'll ever need. I actually like the cloth cape, as it doesn't weigh him down and it's done well-enough to allow for lots of posing (and it won't get in the way on the Batpod). It's attached pretty tightly, so I don't think I'd try to switch it out with a Movie Masters plastic one, but I suppose it could be done.

Medicom's MAFEX Dark Knight is a really cool figure. You won't find him at Target or Wal-mart. He's a great little import-piece, and has so much to offer, that he's definitely worth a look. If you can get over the price tag (hey, you may be able to sell-off those Movie Masters versions, if Mattel's plastic hasn't deteriorated, leaving a ghostly white film over portions like mine have, to make up some of the costs for this guy), you probably won't regret getting him. I know I don't...

Miss Tessmacher - JAKKS Pacific TNA Deluxe Impact Wrestling

Miss Tessmacher joins the ranks of JAKKS Pacific TNA Knockouts in Series 10. She's built on the same body as Series 9 Gail Kim, with notable paint differences, the addition of kneepads and (of course) a new head.


Tessmacher is one of my favorite Knockouts, and I was really looking forward to this figure of her. Unfortunately, the best I can say is that it's "ok".

HITS:

• The articulation is good, standard fare for a female wrestling figure.
• The card back shot of Miss Tessmacher is great.
• The paint is mostly clean and sharp...mostly

MISSES:

• Her head seems too big for her body- there's a bit of a candy-apple thing going on here
• The face sculpt doesn't come close to doing this Knockout justice
• Her teeth are way too white- even more so in person
• There's a weird dark spot on mine's forehead. I don't think this would be a common QC issue, but you may not want to buy sight-unseen
• I don't like the hair sculpt- too thick and pronounced

Miss Tessmacher is a passable figure that could have been lots better. The big head and face paint issues really hampered my impressions of her. It's really disappointing. I only hope that Taryn Tyrell fares better when her turn comes around...