Mario (Super Mario)
World of Nintendo (Jakks Pacific) - Series 1-1
Rated 3.80 stars by RMaster007
In addition to Sonic, Jakks Pacific has been putting out a good Super Mario line, with great sculpts in two different scales, and plenty of accessories. The line started off as a general "World of Nintendo" line, focusing on various series, until Jakks realized Mario was the biggest seller and prioritized that. The figures drew me and my brother in from day one, and we got a few of them in its first year or so, and we've held onto most of them. The World of Nintendo line followed a mostly uniform motif, but with different colors and stock art for each property. Mario had a red cardback motif, but the back was the same across figures, showing off the figure and articulation, alongside the figure's height (something we don't see on post-WoN release). The figure is easy to open and out, and...[See More]

Shadow (with Rings)
Sonic the Hedgehog (Jakks Pacific) - Basic Series
Rated 3.90 stars by RMaster007
Anyone remember Sonic Heroes? I've played a bit of it, and reviewing these Jakks figures has made me want to pick it up again. I've already talked about Team Sonic, and next is Team Dark: Shadow, Rouge, and E-123 Omega. Shadow is meant to be the "dark" counterpart to Sonic, except it didn't take long for him to go from bad to good, and the only dark part about him is his appearance. He has a more stern expression, with a frown that looks like a thin smile from some angles. The paint for the face is fine, but there's some bleed from the muzzle onto the eyes, and it's quite noticeable. The quills on the sides curve up rather than down, and there's also various red highlights on the head, all of which sports clean edges. At the usual height of 4" tall, Shadow's black fur is complemented by...[See More]

Daria & Jane
Squads (Mondo) - Basic Series
Rated 4.50 stars by RMaster007
Unlike the dumpster fire it is now, MTV was the home to plenty of music videos and iconic series. Beavis and Butt-Head is one everybody remembers, but it also managed to spawn a spin-off in Daria, revolving around one of the few sane people in Highland moving out and experiencing the usual struggles of adolescence. While different in tone from its successor, it's relatable topics and well-written stories made it just as popular, but it hasn't gotten much in the way of merchandise. Last year, Mondo sought to change that with a two-pack of figures, as part of their new "Squads" line. Mondo figures tend to have attractive box art, and Daria is no exception. Done by Pam Wishbow, the front flap has a very pop art-esque illustration of Daria and Jane, surrounded by all sorts of junk. The style...[See More]

Sonic (with Star Spring)
Sonic the Hedgehog (Jakks Pacific) - Basic Series
Rated 4.00 stars by RMaster007
For someone who rarely plays Sonic games, I've been a big fan of the merchandise the franchise has gotten. Hell, I even own a bubble bath bottle (it's amazing what you can find at thrift stores), but the action figures are what I most enjoy. I've grown up with the Toy Island, Jazwares, and Tomy lines, but I got very few of them when they were out. Then we got Jakks Pacific, who has been putting out an expansive and well-made line for a few years now. Rather than cover each wave, since I don't think I've completed any of them, I'll be covering them in batches, starting with the main three heroes: Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles. Jakks has kept the packaging motif pretty uniform for the line, with the cardbacks featuring a blue background, a yellow ring behind the bubble, and a render of Sonic...[See More]

Tatsu
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - 1990 Movie (Neca) - Basic Series
Rated 4.90 stars by RMaster007
The NECA TMNT movie line has become a slow burn as of late, as they've been going through all the key characters at a steady rate. The main cast of the first movie has been made into figures, with the exception of Tatsu. There were many requests for Shredder's second-in-command, but supposed issues in securing the actor's likeness prevented it. Eventually, NECA was able to sort things out, and at long last, he's joined the line. Unlike the two-packs, the single-packed movie figures have made use of some unique packaging art, and Tatsu's has a sketchy red motif, with his portrait on the front. Out of all the movie Ultimates, this one is the best one, with a more menacing-looking box that stands out from the rest of the singles. There's only a single tie in the tray, thankfully, and...[See More]

Helena Shaw (Dial of Destiny)
Indiana Jones - Adventure Series (Hasbro) - Basic Series
Rated 2.50 stars by Wes68
While I did not like Dial of Destiny, I will set my thoughts on the film itself aside for now. Is Helena Shaw a bad figure? No...its just she is painfully boring. Like Voller she is a pegwarmer in a line that isn't short on pegwarmers. Is anyone really clamoring for a Voller figure? A Helena Shaw? Not really. Not when the line is missing so many other figures of characters people would actually want. There is a reason this figure has ended up by the case full at Ollies. The likeness is ok again helped by the face printing tech. Her shirt, boots and pants are well sculpted. But in terms of accessories? She is pretty light. She has a backpack and a repackaged light from the Dial of Destiny Indy. There is a reason she was packaged with one of the Temple of Doom Shrine BAA pieces in that...[See More]

Punk Rock Donatello
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Super7) - Ultimates!
Rated 4.40 stars by RMaster007
First they did the regular turtles, then they did the "Disguise" sub-line variants, so what was Super7's next step? Rock 'N Rollin' Turtles. The originals had the turtles each representing a different genre of rock (and one of them rap), and since Super7 loves their music figures, it's not much of a surprise they'd do them. What was surprising was that instead of Undercover Don, S7 jumped right to Punker Don. Was it because they were already doing a turtle in a trenchcoat (Raphael) or they just found the punk getup more visually appealing? I guess we'll never know. Donatello must've been working on a hair growth formula, or at least a wig, because this version of him's sporting a rockin' mohawk. The original prototype for the figure (read Rad Plastic to see it) had a thinner and wilder...[See More]

Robotic Bebop
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Super7) - Ultimates!
Rated 4.55 stars by RMaster007
It's been over a year since Super7 integrated Robotic Rocksteady into their TMNT Ultimates line, bringing back an unexpected deep-cut that was originally released around the time the OG Turtles line shifted away from new characters and started doing variants. Before him, wave 7 was slated to include Bebop's metal doppelgänger, but for some reason (likely having three huge figures), the wave was pushed back, by a lot. It finally came out a few months ago, and now it's time to see if it was worth the wait. Like Robosteady, Robobop's head is a blockier version of the regular Bebop, and Four Horsemen recreated it in a larger scale near perfectly. The eyes on the original were cast in a translucent red plastic, either encased in the back of the head or sharing a piece with the mohawk. That...[See More]

Demon Hunter
World of Warcraft (Hero Toys) - Basic Series
Rated 5.00 stars by Wes68
Fans of Warcraft have been eating pretty well as of late. There have been Warcraft figures before, but none have quite hit this bar of quality. There was the DC Unlimited line that came out years ago which had some pretty solid figures of various named characters. Many of them came from the Comic like Valeera Sanguinar, etc. But then things just seemed to stop. Recently McFarlane picked up the license and has produced static posed statue-like figures. These tend to cost $30 or so at retail but are not really what many fans want. Part of the problem is that the figures try to represent multiple classes in one figure. If you are a fan of the games chances are you are going to be disappointed that the night elf rogue/druid is a mish-mash of design elements. People don't care about a...[See More]

Lisa
Simpsons (Jakks Pacific) - Basic Series
Rated 4.45 stars by RMaster007
Jakks Pacific's Simpsons line only hit stores back in the summer, and already we have plenty of figures and products. The second wave of 5" figures came out last month or so, and they've been slowly but surely hitting major retailers. One of the figures in the wave, Homer, is just a restock from the previous wave, but the other three are new: Lisa Simpson, Krusty the Clown, and Moe Szyslak. First up is Lisa, another instance of a character nearly getting a Super7 figure only for it to be cancelled and Jakks do them instead. She also already received a smaller-scale figure before this larger counterpart, but the 5" scale version looks a little off. The face appears a little wider than it should be, and like Homer, it was a pretty rough transition. I assume most fans won't have as much of...[See More]