Review and Commentary (and lots of opinion :-)
mar...@netcom.no.spam.com
I've finally gotten around to attacking the toy room. While I've been
accumulating junk....uh, adding to my collection, I haven't been keeping up
with the displaying/decarding of it. Every so often I'd throw some more
stuff in the room, close the door, and hope that the magic toy elves would
somehow sort it all out, display it, log it, and remove the trash.
Unfortunately, either there's no such thing as toy elves, or they just don't
like me. I realized that if I added much more stuff to the room without some
organization, I was running the risk of spontaneous fusion, which would be
very hard to explain to the neighbors.
So I attacked the toy room, and while the war isn't over, I can see which way
it's going to go. And meanwhile, down in the trenches, I actually spent some
time looking at the figures I was displaying, and well, here's the review.
I started out with a whole pile of Star Wars. I don't know if it's just me,
but I just can't get excited about them anymore. I used to rush home and tear
open each new one I would *finally* find, but I think finally the difficulty
in finding them has worn me down. I read here on rtaf that a new wave is out,
and the adrenaline rush just isn't there.
That said, I did enjoy opening these. Leia in Endor Celebration wasn't bad -
the face is not as ugly as old Monkey Face, the first Leia. Lando in General's
Gear is just another Lando, yawn. Just not enough variation from the first
cloaked Lando. Lak Sivrak - well, he came with two guns, and I'll be darned
if I can remember him ever having a gun in the movies. Oh, wait, there's
a law that all boys' figures have to come with guns. Never mind.
The one I liked the best of this bunch was the Endor Rebel Trooper. I liked
all the folds and detailing in his outfit. On the minus side, the back pack
is cheesy - you can see the hollow side from the front. And the pocketbook
gun just doesn't hang right. But he just looks like a grunt, and well, that's
what he is. I'm finding that some of my favorite figures from Star Wars aren't
the aliens, they're the grunts.
Next stack to be attacked were the 4 Leia 2-packs. On the whole, I like these.
Also on the whole, I think they're overpriced. (Star Wars Merchandise?
Overpriced! Never! <--- note heavy sarcasm) Since I opened them right after
opening a bunch of other figures, one thing struck me - they are *smaller*
than the single packed figures. I stood up Endor Leia from the two packs with
the single pack, and she's not only half a head shorter, she's slighter -
she's not as wide. Which means while these Leias are more to scale with the
rest of the single packs, the Han and the Luke that came with the two packs
look like midgets.
Out of all the Leias, I like the Ceremonial Leia and the Bespin Leia the best.
I thought the cloth outfits worked better on them, and that they were just
nicer representations. It looked to me like another new face mold on these
Leias, and I liked it - it's still not a particularly good likeness of Carrie
Fisher, but it's kind of a sweet face.
The Princess Leia Collection was being shipped under the Kenner/Girls aegis,
and I've figured out why: few to no guns. The Bespin Han Solo has a gun, and
Wicket has a spear, but that's it for the weapons. Ceremonial Luke's in molded
on. I'm not complaining - I hate those damn guns, they fall, get lost, and then
try to figure out whose is whose.
One other cheesy accessory was Ceremonial Luke's medal. Trying to get it to
lay right under his cloth jacket was a challenge - it just didn't fit right.
Then I thought about it - of course it wouldn't fit right, I'm sure it was
borrowed. Through most of the movie, he's wearing the same karate suit, until
he exchanges it for the X Wing jumpsuit. You have to wonder what the launderer
who saw the old karate suit was thinking: it had been rolled around in the
sand, been through a bar fight, sweated in during Force practice, dragged
through a garbage pit, and probably smelled like it. Records were probably
set for speed when it was tossed out. So now this guy comes back, he's blown
up the Death Star, he's got to go dressed in something, and he hasn't got
anything to wear. Literally. So what does he do? Borrow something. Of course
it's not going to fit well, and there you go.
Moving right along, next on the hit list was Ecliptor from Power Rangers In
Space. (Which always makes me think of that classic Muppets sketch, "Pigs
In Space". But I digress.) This figure is the first one in a long time that
made me stop, look, and say "Whoa. This is COOL." I have no idea who he is
other than apparently a bad guy, but he's sharp. He's sleek. He's black with
angular flat surfaces outlined in this otherworldly green. He comes with a
black and silver sword. And he looks COOL.
Is he perfect? No. The green outlining is only on the front. The cloak, which
is plastic, black lined with red, comes off way too easily. But this is
minor stuff, and he stands and holds his sword at the same time.
I've had the Lady Death figures for awhile, and finally got around to opening
two of them, Lady Death and Purgatori. (I'm saving the Lady Demon for a
specific occasion, and anyone want an Evil Ernie?) Purgatori first. She's
got sharp edge and a pointy spear. I like dangerous toys :-). Second impression
is my, she's spathic(*). I didn't have any trouble standing her on her
stand - there seemed to be a good fit between her foot and the peg. I just
wish I could figure out just *how* she's supposed to hold that spear. I kind
of propped it up between her back and her wing, and it looks fine.
Lady Death...what hasn't been said? It's a figure, it stands up, it looks
cool. Again, the stand helps a lot. But I had one helluva time getting her to
hold her sword - it didn't want to go through the hole in her hand. I set her
up next to Ecliptor, and you know, they make a nice couple, both with their
swords in the air, just challenging the neighbors to say something about their
lawn.
The more I looked at Lady Death and Purgatori, though, the more I realized
something was wrong. I finally realized: their legs are too long. I know that
in comics that they're drawn longer than normal, but these are completely
unnatural. (One might argue that Lady Death is, too, but again, I digress.)
It's the reason I don't like the LODK Catwoman, or a number of the LODK
figures - those legs look WRONG.
Finally, I got around to opening Heavenly Fire Angela. *Yawn*. It's my last
Angela variant - while I like translucent figures, it's just...Angela. Same
old mold. Same old staff. Sillier sword. I may retract this if they do
Iridescent Puce Paisley Angela, but probably not before.
(*) spathic: Having good cleavage. Said of minerals. (American Heritage
Dictionary.)
Marcia.
1:1
--
Marcia Bednarcyk. ADDRESSES: mar...@netcom.com
(remove the X's for real addresses) mar...@calico.litterbox.com
I do not do business with any business who ignores group charters and norms.
Jeff Herrold
Marcia -- great reviews!
>
> Unfortunately, either there's no such thing as toy elves
Na-uh! Are so! right?
> Lak Sivrak - well, he came with two guns, and I'll be darned if I can
remember him ever having a gun in the movies.
I'll be darned if I can *remember* him in the movies. Worse than the usual
instant vanishing screen time, wasn't this guy actually *replaced* by a CGI
alien for his .5 seconds of screen time, in the new release? Or am I just
remembering wrong?
> And the pocketbook gun just doesn't hang right.
Those rebels never learned how to accessorize!
> Second impression is my, she's spathic(*).
SECOND great word I've learned today -- earlier, I thanked Jeremy for
"Fershlugginer."
> something was wrong. I finally realized: their legs are too long.
Hmm, actually (puts on art student hat from days since past), they're all
proportionate, at least in terms of the artist shorthand, where the three
lengths from shoulder to hip, hip to knee and knee to toe are all equal. I
think the legs look extra long b/c of those out of control stiletto heels
(so *that's* why women wear those things!).
- Jeff
"and the square of the hypotenuse -- ah, ferget it."