I was going to start GI Joe week this Friday, but I've decided to push the official start of Joe week off to Monday to coincide with the fact that GI Joe the movie opens next Friday. What prompted this little time shift? Doctor Who of course! We here at Infinite Hollywood simply love the good Doctor and can't help but review the figures from Character Options when we get them. In fact back in March we dedicated the whole month to Who and since I haven't gotten a single new Who since then, I figured now that I had some new Whos, I'd give them a go.

Today I'm reviewing the First Doctor, because what better place to start then at the beginning, eh? The First Doctor was portrayed by William Hartnell way back in 1963. Back then he wasn't the "first" Doctor, he simply was THE DOCTOR! In fact fans of Doctor Who back in the early 1960's probably had no idea that the Doctor Who program would still be on the air 40+ years later and they definitely couldn't have known that we'd be nearing the eleventh version of the character.


The Doctor arrives in his TARDIS fresh from SDCC 2009!
You see what makes the character so unique is that the Doctor can regenerate into a new form (and actor) if he's nearing his death. It's a special thing that Time Lords can do to cheat death. That's part of what makes getting this figure so special. It's not like getting an Adam West version of Batman, for all intensive purposes this is the same man that David Tennant plays now. This is the same guy as Tom Baker or even, gasp, Sylvester McCoy. But sci-fi fans back then had no idea the Doctor could change until he did it and became the second Doctor in 1966... But that's tomorrow's review so let's stick with the first guy, shall we?



Packaging:
I mentioned in plenty of my Doctor Who reviews back in March how incredible the packaging to the Doctor Who figures are. The Doctor Who Classics packaging isn't as fancy as the regular figures, but the incredible part isn't so much the design but how versatile it is. As an example, the First Doctor here comes packaged with a Dalek so his bubble is twice the size of the Second Doctor's package. It's sort of strange to see a company like Character Options adjust the size of their bubbles as need be while for years we've heard Hasbro and Mattel complain that they can't make "giant" figures because they need them to fit on the card.



Apparently Character Options doesn't subscribe to that philosophy. The package itself is a typical clamshell, but it is fairly attractive. A nice feature here is that there were two versions of this figure, a regular color version (the one I'm reviewing) and a black and white version. Both were exclusive to San Diego Comic Con and both include a SDCC sticker with number... But the cool part is that the packages are also variants with the color version having color photos and the black and white having monochrome different pictures.



The back of the package gives a great little bio of both the Doctor and the Saucer Command Dalek (since this is a 2 pack even if the First Doctor is the star) as well as pictures of both. That's the one area I've criticized the packages in the past is that they didn't give bios, but this one does. Kudos to that. If you're interested in what number I have, it's #123 which is pretty low. Out of a possible 3,000 worldwide.



Once you crack the clamshell open (I recommend cutting 3 sides so it opens like a book) you'll find a standard inner shell with quite a few twist ties and tape holding the figures in. Be careful getting the Dalek out because he has both his eye stalk and plunger arm taped in. The Doctor has several twist ties holding him in but CO deserves a lot of credit because I've never had one twisted too tight or twisted to the point where I had to cut it. It's a hassle to get through all the twist ties, but they're some of the best put on in the business.

Articulation:
William Hartnell spent most of his early life as a circus acrobat and actually trained Bruce Lee in several styles of martial arts, so it's an absolute must that his figure have no less that 45 points of articulation. I believe it was the fourth episode of the series in which he did a triple backflip off the TARDIS killing a Cyberman... Ah wait, none of that is true. The truth of the matter is that Hartnell's First Doctor was the most frail of any of the incarnations of the character.



I have no idea how old Hartnell was when he started the series but he looked 65ish, which can't be true since he was only 67 when he died. Needless to say he looked OLD. He even walked with a cane, so articulation isn't exactly something that needed to be loaded down on this figure. That said, Character Options has really upped their articulation in recent years and Hartnell can bend and twist in places that the real one likely never could. At least not while he played out hero from Gallifrey.



The Doctor has a cut neck, cut shoulders, upper arm swivel, wrist swivel, waist swivel, Who Crotch® (Similar to a DCUC figure), thigh swivels, hinge joint elbows and knees. That's more than enough points of articulation to get this figure into any position he ever did in the show. For what it's worth, Hartnell was surprisingly spry at times during the original broadcasts so he can definitely put those points of articulation to use if you want him to.



No Who Crotch® for the Dalek though. The Dalek has all the same basic points of articulation for a Dalek, which is wheels in the back, rotating front wheel, an eye stalk that can move up and down, a cut head and ball jointed arms. I've heard some people complain that the arms don't move because of the paint (which has been an issue with the classic Daleks) but mine move just fine. However if they do stick on you as my original batch of classic Daleks did, remove the arms and stick a small paintbrush end or a drill bit (NOT THE JAGGED END) into the hole and jimmy it around until it frees up.



Sculpt:
What a beautiful sculpt this turned out to be. I don't know if it's perfect, but it's damn sure close. It really captures the likeness of William Hartnell. My GF thinks the first Doctor looks a bit creepy and if that's the case, she confirms this figure is creepy too. Hartnell did have a bit of a ghastly appearance to him and that definitely shows through. The face likeness is quite good with subtle wrinkles throughout and the Doctor's patented half smile, half sneer on his face.


Creepiness in tact!
The rest of the sculpt is as equally impressive with seemingly a whole new body. If there is some reuse here it's worked in well. Perhaps my favorite part is that his ring is sculpted on the right hand. When I first saw pictures of him I was a bit bummed that he didn't have his ring and figured they just reused some previous hands, but nope he has his ring on his right and also one on his left. INCREDIBLE!



His coat, pants and vest are all nicely done. He even has his necklace monocle deal. Even the shoes have a nice design to them. Top to bottom you can tell a lot of love and care was put into designing this figure. Something I notice a lot with the Character Options toys. It's pretty rare to see them take any shortcuts and so many American toy companies could learn a thing or two from these guys.



Paint wise he's very well done too. The only area where the paint suffers is on the face, where he does appear to be sort of Turner colorized. It certainly doesn't look too bad and they have a ton of subtle details such as around the eyes to really give him that sickly First Doctor look, but that is probably the only area where it's not five star. Of course Hartnell only appeared in color in the Three Doctors special in which he was so ill he spent the entire show trapped in a little triangle cube. So they didn't have a lot of color footage to work off of.

Scale on these is pretty good though not 100% accurate. He's shorter than the younger Doctors as he should be, but he's not in perfect scale. For action figure scale though, he's fairly spot on. I should also mention that Richard Hurndall did a great stint as the first Doctor during the special The Five Doctors and this figure could just as easily be him as well. The two actors looked a lot alike.



The Dalek is a Dalek. The likenesses on these guys are superb. This is the Saucer Command Dalek, known for the little saucer on his back. Some folks have had enough Daleks, but I never get tired of them. Comparing him to the other classic Daleks he's definitely quite different looking even without focusing on the saucer on his back.


Dalek Butt...
My Dalek has a tad bit of slop on his paint, but that's strictly on his blue balls (there are no lady Daleks). Those little orbs are probably hard to paint for man or machine. The rest of his paint is very nice and even those errors are few and far between. I have heard a handful of grumbling about them, so it's something to watch for. Of course no one is buying this set for the Dalek anyway, so it's probably a moot point.



Accessories:
Daleks don't need accessories so naturally the Saucer Command version doesn't include one. The good Doctor does come with his cane though. I'm not sure they could have packed him with anything else anyway. I don't believe he ever used any other real trinkets and gizmos as some of the later Doctors have.



Additional Notes:
I realize some people may wonder what the big deal is about this figure of an old dude, but it's really pretty special. Consider this, Hartnell was dead by 1975. His appearances on the show although many, were over by 1966. A lot of time has passed and this guy never got his crack at action figure fame. Getting a truly great figure of the First Doctor is literally over 40 years in the making. He's never had another action figure and he deserves it.


The First Doctors meet?
Thankfully Character Options did Hartnell proud with this one. Despite it's limited availability it's a simple must have for Doctor Who enthusiasts. Hartnell's version of the Doctor is rarely on anyone's top lists, but he was the first and no one can ever be another first.

Value:
I paid $35 for this set, although they retailed for around $40. I suspect you'll find them in the $40-$50 range for some time if you act now. That's certainly not a great value at all. However there are a few things to consider. This isn't a Ben 10 figure. This is an old geezer from 40 some odd years ago. It'd be like getting a Petticoat Junction figure now. The demand simply isn't as great as Twilight figures, so these are made on a limited run. For that aspect, the value isn't so bad. Plus CO made this a two pack, including a brand new exclusive Dalek. Even if most of us have plenty of Daleks, you can't knock them for giving us a little more bang for our buck.



So a near perfect 5 inch figure of a rare character is definitely worth quite a bit. Considering Hasbro charged $25 for it's GI Joe two pack, I think this is a solid value. I pay about $12-$14 for most new Who figures anyway, so with the limited run factored in this is a fair price. Obviously the whole line couldn't cost this much, but for these exclusives I'm giving them a break.

Score Recap:
Packaging - 7
Sculpting - 8
Articulation - 8
Accessories - Cane
Value - 8
Overall - 8 out of 10

It's the First Doctor! Without him there is no Doctor Who. So you have to give credit where it's due. Doctor Who begins with this man. You need him. This isn't a phoned in figure. It's one of Character Options best. Major kudos needs to be given to Character Options and Underground Toys for making this guy at all.


Someone changed the TARDIS desktop!
We've got Doctor Who lined up all weekend, with the Second Doctor tomorrow and the exclusive version of the Sixth Doctor on Sunday. It's a full weekend of SDCC Doctor Who fun! Plus next week starts GI Joe week! So come here every day! Tell your friends!

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Sorry about the lack of updates yesterday but my modem just completely stopped working. Nothing changed, nothing happened, it just died. I was playing some poker online, then went to go watch some TV and I come back to find a computer that won't access the internet. Thankfully I found an old modem I had and spent a few hours hooking everything up once I decided my other one was toast, but it presents a bit of a problem because this new (old) modem can only run one computer and no wireless. It's better than NO internet, but I still have issues.

Anyhow, the last time I ran one of these "Best Shows on Television" articles the show got canceled. So hopefully I'm not jinxing this show to Terminator's fate. The show I'm here to talk about is still in it's infancy but it's rapidly becoming a great dramedy I can enjoy with my girlfriend.

The show I'm speaking of is Showtime's Nurse Jackie. DirecTV gave me Showtime for free this past year and while the package of channels is largely a bust (Seriously Showtime sucks, aside from the occasional skin flick which lost it's cool in 1997, there isn't a ton on the stations) I have found that a couple of their shows are entertaining. I decided to give Nurse Jackie a shot because there hasn't been much on during the summer.



Nurse Jackie in a nutshell is Rescue Me with nurses. It stars Edie Falco from Sorpanos fame in the head role as Nurse Jackie. The show has a ton of parallels to Rescue Me (The single best show on TV, BTW) in that the characters are likeable but heavily flawed. The show also mirrors the FX classic in the sense that the show feels very real with real situations that no doubt arise, but it's clearly a TV show as some of the things that happen are pretty impossible or at the very least rare occurrences.

One of the nice aspects of the show is much like the aforementioned Rescue Me, the characters look real. No one in this cast is particularly attractive which brings it above shows like Grey's Anatomy and ER where everyone is a cover model. I think this show's main demographic is women with most of the characters being females or homosexual, but that's not to say that men aren't well represented on the show. In fact on the whole program the two most honest and kind people are actually men. Of course those characters also both happen to be the romantic interests of Edie Falco's character. Her husband and pharmacist lover, respectively.



That's where the show's strong suits are. Nurse Jackie is a nice lady, but a bit of a hard ass and yet she's brutally flawed. She has a good husband at home, but still feels the need to have sex with the hospital's pharmacist. She can't grasp why her oldest daughter is beginning to unravel despite the fact that Jackie is never home to show her the attention that a child needs. Her lover has no idea she's married and she freaks out when he starts trying to have a real relationship with her. Oh and then there's her nasty addictions where she snorts crushed vicodin.


Dr. Cooper is the pretty boy hot shot, who grabs boobs when he gets nervous.
There's something great about a show that presents real people even if through the lens of a false reality. Nurse Jackie is a fun show and definitely could be something where you could get emotionally invested. It's not as good as Rescue Me and it certainly hasn't been as tragic or emotionally powerful, but the traits are there. It's a good show for you fellas to watch with your lady friends or even on your own. Highly recommended to fans of Rescue Me or good comedy/dramas.

I'm not sure it's worth ordering Showtime for, but if you have Showtime, this is a decent reason to keep it.

This was not at all the figure I had planned to review today but since I'm parting with my Marvel Legends Iron Man, I figured I had better get this figure review in while I still had time to contrast the two. So without much scuttlebutt I bring you the Marvel Universe Iron Man. This is actually the third Iron Man in the series. The first was a more modern armor and the second was a "stealth" variant.



Today's review is of what is basically "classic" Iron Man. This is the first time he's been in this costume in 3 3/4 scale to my knowledge and it's certainly the best he's looked since the old Mattel Secret Wars line. At least in my humble opinion.


I am Iron Man!

See that's one of the reasons I purchased this figure. For years the Secret Wars Iron Man was one of my favorites and then one day I lost him. I'm not sure if he got packed away in a box, stolen or what but he just disappeared. I'd been contemplating buying a new one for some time now but when the Marvel Universe line was announced I just knew they'd make a new one and sure enough, THEY DID!

Packaging:
I've pretty much said all that needs to be said about the Marvel Universe packaging, so at the risk of sounding somewhat redundant I'll just hit the highlights. It's an attractive package, the Frank Cho artwork is stellar. The one thing that does stick out is that although this is a classic Iron Man, Cho makes the picture look very modern.



Once you get inside he has a nice shell that protects him and one single rubber bang holding him in. Remember to just clip that band because it's nearly impossible to break and you could damage your figure in trying to do so. Iron Man's feet are stuck through the plastic which I thought was going to be a pain to get out, but he slipped out incredible easily. That's an improvement over some GI Joes I've tried to free. What's the deal with sticking their legs through the plastic anyway Hasbro?



Articulation:
The articulation continues to be good on these figures and I think it really suits Iron Man well. His head can really offer up a lot of emotion with just a few simple turns on it's ball joint. The swivel wrists are perfectly worked into the sculpt so that you can't see them and they help add some expression to the posing. Single hinge elbows and double hinge knees are always nice as well.



I can't really think of any articulation points he needs. Obviously a swivel thigh could come to mind, but I'm not sure what it would add to the figure other than to take away from the sculpt. Other folks might disagree. I'm just not a huge fan of the thigh swivel, especially at this scale. On larger figures it can be more useful.



The full run down: a ball jointed head, ball jointed shoulders, hinged elbows, swivel wrists, ball jointed torso, the standard Joe T-bar ball joint hips that they've been using since 1982, double hinge knees, and rocker ankles.



Sculpt:
Being that this is "classic" Iron Man, he's basically my favorite version of Iron Man. This is how I remember Iron Man growing up and this is how Iron Man looked in the majority of the comics I read growing up. Of course I also read a lot of comics from the 1970's as a kid and Tony Stark tended to wear this outfit then too, with minor differences throughout the years.


A History of Iron Mans!

Everything about this sculpt is spot on in my view. Some have complained that the torso looks too long or that he's too lanky, but I think he's fine. Maybe you could shave a couple centimeters off the torso but since that's one of the longest parts of your body I'm cool with it. Especially when compared to the Marvel Legends Iron Man from Series 1 that everyone seems to think is so great.



Looking at the two, I feel this Iron Man is just leagues better. He doesn't suffer from the gorilla arms or the squatty body style of the other. If he's a little long in the torso, so be it, because in the end it all works out. In fact the only area of the sculpt that I think is weak is the neck if only because it makes his neck look a tad long.



The paint work is really nice with a candy apple paint job that just blows your mind when you see it. This isn't even the same red as the first Iron Man. It's something really fancy and looks like one of those customs that's been painted with expensive paint. It shines and sheens something incredible.


With the Marvel Legends version...
There is one minor flaw in the paint, being that where the boots and hands connect the arms and legs are cast in a slightly golder color than the rest of the body. If you look at the pictures closely you can see what I'm talking about. It is noticeable in person, but the camera's flash brings it out more. So don't be too bent out of shape about it.



I'm certain we'll see this mold used again, so obviously a logical variant would be to release these in a more traditional yellow and red as opposed to gold and red. I definitely like and prefer the gold and red though and I appreciate the fancy paint job. It's really nice.

Accessories:
Iron Man is one of those characters that doesn't leave a lot to accessorize with. I suppose he could come with a bottle of booze, but that wouldn't go over well with the kiddies. So he comes with the same "blast" that the previous Iron Man did. It works well enough, hooking around the wrist to simulate the blasting effect. Some folks have crapped on these, but I think they're worthwhile accessories.



This version is slightly darker than the other one. I had a lot of fun posing this guy with his blast and using him to do funny stuff with the blasts. If you make photo dios I could see these plastic blasts helping in a lot of different ways.



He also comes with the typical Fury Files card and info sheet. Nothing we haven't seen before and nothing too spectacular or fun this time around. But it's Iron Man, what else is he going to come with? Even the Marvel Legends version didn't know what to give him, so he got that Stark Enterprises advertisement thing.



Additional Notes:
Iron Man is probably the most popular superhero in the United States right now riding off the back of his incredible movie last summer. Sure, Dark Knight made more money but it was Iron Man that everyone talked about. This figure is bound to be re-released in different decos and forms but this one is a must have for fans. I can't wait until the Secret Wars Thor comes out so I can complete my Avengers.


Crossover Noogies!

Value:
These guys continue to cost $7.99 with no break in sight. Hasbro got some flak from fans for saying they couldn't control the price that retailers set and I tend to agree. Hasbro has a MSRP but that's it. If GI Joes cost $6.99, I think it's fair that the Marvel guys cost $7.99... Is it as good of a value? OH HELL NO! But these are good figures and if you want a good Iron Man at this scale, pay it.



Score Recap:
Packaging - 7
Sculpting - 8
Articulation - 8
Accessories - Laser Blast, Paper Accessories
Value - 7
Overall - 7.5 out of 10

Hey he finished with my patented 7.5! I've given a lot of those to figures in these scale. That's more of less like 3 stars in my system. He's a good figure and he's a lot of fun. He looks great in a variety of poses and he's become my definitive Iron Man. I'm sure another better Iron Man will come along soon enough as we saw some great Iron Man 2 sculpts at SDCC, but until then this is my go-to Tony Stark.




I suspect we're going to get a lot of Iron Man characters in the next couple of years and that's alright with me. I'm just glad we got this one nice classic Iron Man to tide me over for a while.

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What's so darned easy peasy? Scoring Hasbro's SDCC exclusives! I was able to purchase pretty much any of the SDCC off of Hasbro's site without the fuss, muss and headache that San Diego Comic Con usually brings.

Of course, you know, I'm a tad bit perturbed that other websites actually got the San Diego Comic Con exclusives for FREE as a gift from Hasbro. It's not like my website isn't popular enough we got nearly 30,000 hits last month AND on top of which it's not like Hasbro people haven't read this blog, so I do feel a bit left in the dust when it comes to Hasbro love.

However just because Hasbo isn't showing me the love, doesn't mean I'm not showing them the love. This past Monday (as in yesterday) the Hasbro San Diego Comic Con exclusives arrived on Hasbro's site, HasbroToyShop.com... Originally I didn't think I'd be able to score these guys and I was ready to accept that fate. Low and behold, the site ran smoothly, the exclusives are on there in a pretty good number and they've limited you to buying four.

Needless to say I've purchased the following:



The Destro two pack I've mentioned wanting before and I thought for sure I wasn't going to get it. So being able to buy it off HTS was quite a surprise. Of course the $25 price tag hurt a bit, but it was this set that sold me on the exclusives.



I also picked up this Marvel Universe 4 pack. I wasn't entirely sold on this one, but once I had Destro in my cart I figured I needed that Red Skull. As you can see in my Ebay auctions below, I actually SOLD my Marvel Legends Red Skull to end up with this set. HOW'S THAT FOR COMMITMENT HASBRO?! I'm not sure if I'll end up regretting that since Skull is just a mashup of Indiana Jones Vogel, but I love WWII villains, so whatever.

At the end of the day I'm very pleased that the Hasbro exclusives were so easy to get. Two years ago I scored Pimp Daddy Destro off of Hasbro Toy Shop but missed out last year on Hooded Cobra Commander. Now I come back getting my two most wanted releases. Of course there are other exclusives on the site that I would have like to have gotten like Soundwave, Black & White Captain America or the deluxe Baroness, but I'm not made of money Hasbro!

Next Monday it's Mattel's turn at bat and I fear anything but easy peasy from them. Let's be hopeful though. In the meantime, Hasbro people if you are reading this, remember to hook ol' Newton up next time. I actually REVIEW figures on this site and not just make fun of them. I'm certain your SDCC freebies could be going to better places, like here. I guess you needed someone to shill the fact that you could get these so nicely off of your website.

Tune in next Monday to see if I'm able to buy anything off of Mattel's site. Oh and check out my Ebay auctions to help me afford all this crap.

Your old pal Newton is in dire need of some cash right now and is selling some of his collection of crap. So now is a great time to get some DC, Marvel and other goodies for good prices. Check out what I have below, with more being added throughout the week.

Super Smash Brothers (Wii)
Marvel Legends Face Off Captain America & Red Skull
DC Superheroes TRU Exclusive Batman
DC Superheroes TRU Exclusive Robin
Marvel Legends Iron Man
DCUC TRU Exclusive Lightray
DCUC TRU Exclusive Orion

Here's the latest toy review roundup courtesy of Articulated Discussion. Some good ones in there this week.

Just remember to come back here for toys, games and more as well!

Click the toy's name for a link to the review! External links open in a new window. 

DC Comics


Salaak, Green Lantern Series 2 - Articulated Discussion


Wave 8 Figures, DC Universe Classics - Past Generation Toys

GI Joe


Baroness, SDCC Exclusive GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra 12" - Articulated Discussion


Baroness, SDCC GI Joe Rise of Cobra 12" - Kastor's Korner

Destro, GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra - Turquoise Version

Heavy Duty, GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra - Infinite Hollywood

Lady Jaye, GI Joe 25th Anniversary - Turquoise Version

Night Raven w/ Air Viper, GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra - OAFE

Snow Job, GI Joe - battlegrip.com

Snow Serpent, GI Joe - battlegrip.com

Wave 1, GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra - Kastor's Korner

Marvel Comics


Iron Man Mark I, Hot Toys - mwctoys.com

Secret Invasion Set, Marvel Minimates - OAFE

Masters of the Universe


Man-at-Arms, Masters of the Universe Classics - ActionFigurePics.com

Star Wars


Battle Rancor w/ Felucian Rider, Star Wars - OAFE

Transformers


Cheetor, Transformers Universe - cliffbee.com

Dune Runner, Transformers Revenge of the Fallen - Turquoise Version


Optimus Prime, Transformers Revenge of the Fallen - cliffbee.com


Ravage, Transformers Revenge of the Fallen - OAFE

Other


Aslan, Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian - Articulated Discussion

Asterius, Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian - OAFE

Jason Vorhees, Cinema of Fear Series 4 - Poe Ghostal

Sgt. Avery Johnson, Halo 3 - OAFE

Star Trek Movie Figures, Star Trek - Kastor's Korner

Tuma, Bioncle Glatorion Legends - OAFE

Retro


Lord Zedd, Power Rangers Super Legends - Infinite Hollywood

Pizza Tossin' Leo, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Dork Dimension

Peter vs. Giant Chicken, Family Guy - Poe Ghostal

San Diego Comic Con should be a good time. Hearing all the new toy news should be exciting. But I am finding myself more distraught than overjoyed. It's not that SDCC isn't delivering the goods when it comes to toys. In fact there is a virtual cavalcade of goodies coming our way. Whether you collect DC, Marvel, 3 3/4, GI Joe, Mego, even Doctor Who, you've gotten a ton of great announcements about this year and the year ahead's toys.

To me though, that's where the problem is starting to come in. Take Mattel's Masters of the Universe Classics line as an example. When it was first announced that you'd be able to buy one a month at $20 I thought it was the perfect line for me to start collecting. The figures were a bit pricey, but they were coming in a fashion that I would be guaranteed the figure without the hassle of the chase and they'd come at a pace I could keep up with.

That's exactly what I expected last year at this time, but fast forward a year and Mattel has announced a subscription plan where I have to sign up to get an exclusive figure. Then "bonus" figures seemingly every month which include other figures I'd like. No longer is this the easy one figure a month collection I got myself into. Of course part of me is happy to see the line expanding. This means I'll get so much more cool stuff...

But it also means I'm going to pay a lot more money. At $30 a pop for a figure, plus deluxe figures like Battle Car costing $40 it begins to add up quick. Especially with Mattel's shoddy MattyCollector distribution in which I have to pay separate shipping for items not in the subscription. It starts adding up QUICK.

I currently actively collect, JLU, MOTUC, GI Joe, TMNT, Doctor Who and Marvel Universe. I love these lines and I do occasionally pick up other toys from other lines if they tickle my fancy. I collected DCUC for a few waves but I don't think I'm going to get back into it. It's just too costly.

When I first started collecting GI Joe again they cost $5... Soon $5 became $6 and then $6 became $7. Between army building, vehicles, accessories it all began to add up. SDCC brings it's own headaches with exclusives and variants which all fetch premium price tags and that's not just GI Joe, it's every line.

JLU just announced like 50 some odd figures. That's in addition to the 15-20 I still haven't managed to track down. I pick and choose on GI Joe, but any army building I do there negates anything I might skip over. Doctor Who isn't a line where I feel the need to rush to buy everything but even they have started to force my hand with exclusives that cost a premium price.

Something has to give sooner or later I fear. I plan on picking up the Ghostbusters line, because I've always been a fan of the property. There goes another $30 a month and knowing Mattel they'll find a way to screw me on that too. Not that this is all directed at Mattel, everyone is getting me. Hasbro is doing some incredible things with the GI Joe line, how can I refuse them? The simple answer is, I can't. I never expected to buy more than a few movie GI Joes, but now I'm working on a collection!

I want to give up on DCUC totally and probably will, but there are a few figures of those that I'd really like to have. Marvel Universe is such a great line, but it's very costly. I am not sure how long I'm going to be able to keep up with their prices.

What to do, what to do? That's the collector's lament after SDCC. It's a lot of excitement for sure, but is anyone else out there feeling the crunch? Or am I the only guy out there with his wallet cringing at all the awesome stuff that could be headed our way? In a lot of ways I miss the old days when there really was only two or three lines to collect.

Pictures have surfaced of the new exclusive Jon Pertwee third Doctor from Doctor Who figures. These figures from Character Options look incredible. While I'm not going to be covering much from SDCC, because there is simply too much new stuff coming down the line, I can't help but cover these. As you know at the SDCC the first and second Doctors were just released.




While I prefer the head sculpt of the one with the Dalek, I do prefer the look of the other. They may share the same head sculpt, but the picture makes it appear slightly different.

Either way both will be mine! For those who have never bought a Doctor Who figure before, these will have articulation, but for whatever reason the prototypes never do. Don't be fooled as I was for many years. These are supposed to be available later in August, via all your various usual online Doctor Who stores. They're exclusives so get them while their hot!

So the first photos of the new Freddy Kruger have surfaced. From the upcoming A Nightmare on Elm Street remake. The movie is due out on April 16th, 2010 and stars Jackie Earle Haley as Freddy Kruger. It looks surprisingly good.




Unfortunately it looks almost identical to Robert Englund as Freddy. I was hoping that they'd take Englund's advice and redo Freddy, make his outfit different. Englund suggested they make him into a janitor with a ball cap. I liked that idea as it showed promise as a real reimagining instead of a retread.

Speaking of Robert Englund, I still don't know why it is he couldn't play the role but apparently he thinks he's too old. He recently spoke about the new film and had some interesting things to say:

" I think because Jackie’s not real big, you know, I like the idea of his kind of energy and size. I always saw Freddy as kind of like an angry junkyard dog. I think there is something about Jackie’s size that will really lend itself to a kind of impishness and that kind of energy that I hope they let him bring to the role. I hope they don’t completely mirror the original. I think it would be smart of them to maybe change the wardrobe a bit. You know, modify the claw and glove a little perhaps, I think if they’re going to have the fun of remaking it. I think of any of the recent remakes, whether it’s “Friday the 13th,” “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” or “The Hills Have Eyes,” of all of them I think that the “Nightmare On Elm Street” original probably lends itself more to the new technologies that are available now with CGI and special effects just because of the inherent nature of the plot with the dream sequences and the nightmare sequences that take place in that kind of surreal fantasy nightmare world. We need special effects and CGI to create those worlds. I remember we ran out of money on the first one and certainly we would have liked to have more money for those sequences. They were a little handmade for us at the time. So I’m curious and kind of looking forward to it."



Is there anyone more humble and classy in the business than him? I am actually looking forward to the new Nightmare movie, if only because it has a lot of potential. Freddy is an awesome character, but Robert Englund will always be the clawed madman to me. Still, things look good so far, but it's only one picture so it's a bit hard to accurately judge.

Most of this website focuses on the "born in the 80's" perspective view on pop culture. That means things like GI Joe take center stage and Pokemon has no place here. However, one property that hit towards the mid to late 90's but still caught the attention of some of us 80's brats was Power Rangers. To me and most, Power Rangers hit after most of us were growing up and couldn't care less about the show but we did take notice on a few things.

Ask anyone who fits the typical 80's mold and they'll probably tell you three things about Power Rangers, first, Kimberly the Pink Ranger was HOT. Second, the Green Ranger was pretty cool and third (which ties into this review) Lord Zedd was a awesome bad guy.

Power Rangers hit at a strange time and more of less changed the landscape of kids television. While for the most part cartoons were already dying out with GI Joe and Transformers drying up (coinciding with the fact that most of us kids were entering our teens, thus had less time for cartoons and toys) that opened the floodgates for Haim Saban to pump in an import show called Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Aside from the wacky name, early advertisements for the show made it sound really cool. I even have the Fox Kids Club magazines to prove it!

However, when the show hit, it wasn't exactly what I had expected. I was led to believe that this was Godzilla meets Ultraman meets Voltron meets Transformers... Instead it was bad dubbing and cheap suits. I quickly ignored Power Rangers.



When Lord Zedd came around though, all that changed. I can distinctly remember when I first got hooked on the Zedd Power Rangers. Lord Zedd debuted on a prime time Power Rangers special. I had barely seen the Rangers aside from a little glimpse here or there, it wasn't my thing. However my younger cousins were into it. At a visit to my Grandfather's house I just happened to catch this prime time special and Lord Zedd debuted.

Immediately Zedd hit me as awesome. Not only did he have a cool menacing look, but he beat up all the Power Rangers on his first night. He upgraded their enemies and even banished Rita Repulsa. Lord Zedd instantly seemed way too cool to be on Power Rangers and got me hooked on the show. I know I'm not alone in this. Zedd was so fearsome in fact that parents were outraged and flooded Saban with letters and phone calls to take him off TV.

Lord Zedd was actually too badass for television. Thankfully Saban didn't take Zedd off of TV, but they did tone him down. Lord Zedd was eventually tricked into taking a potion from Rita and calmed down and married her. Even once Lord Zedd was toned down, he was still really cool and gave me another reason to drool over the Pink Ranger. I'm inclined to talk more about the awesomeness that was Zedd including his hilarious brother in law Rito Repulsa, Goldar's comparisons to Destro or his personal Zord Serpentera. This serpentine Zord was so massive that it could literally crush the Ranger's Zords underfoot and had the power to destroy whole planets. However, Serpentera's distinctive flaw was that it used up energy so quickly that it could only be used for short periods of time.

However, I have a toy review to get to, so just know that Lord Zedd was cool. He had that Cobra Commander, Skeletor or Megatron quality about him and that's why even though I am a far from a Power Rangers fan, I loved the Zedd era of the show. So that's why today I'm reviewing the "Super Legends" version of Lord Zedd.

Packaging:
The packaging for these Super Legends figures is a interesting bit. It's a standard cardback but it's very large and very bland. That's to match the original packages of Might Morphin Power Rangers figures. However, these were released alongside Power Rangers Jungle Fury figures, which means they looked out of place. When I saw this figure on the shelf you could tell the stocker clearly had no idea where to put the toy, because this package looks nothing like anything else that was on the shelves at the time.



The back of the package is plain and advertises the Jungle Fury figures as well as the other Super Legends figure, the Green Ranger. I give Bandai credit for making the package reflect the original show's figures though, even if it probably led to a lot of these being shoved in the wrong spots. It definitely made them stand out.

Articulation:
The last Lord Zedd was released in 1994, which makes me feel REALLY old, but in 14 years a lot has improved in the way of articulation, so has this figure improved? Yes and no. Zedd actually lacks one articulation point that his previous figure had, but overall he's got more to offer. The original Lord Zedd could turn his head, but this one has no head movement. A ball jointed neck would have made this guy the Bee's knees.



The rundown is as follows, he has ball jointed shoulders (sort of a pin-post style), hinge elbows, true ball jointed legs, hinge knees. That's not much, but it is a considerable improvement over some of the other Power Ranger offerings. Their articulation has always been all over the place. I remember some of the early Power Rangers fingers having the first I had ever seen of articulated fingers, while others only had a couple of cut joints.



So while these aren't up to standards set by other toy lines, this is quite adequate for Lord Zedd. It's not like the guy ever did much anyway. Stand around and point his staff. It's hard to fault them for only including a handful of moving parts. Plus he's more versatile than his 14 year old counterpart. PROGRESS!

Sculpt:
The best part of the figure is the sculpt. No, it's not a Four Horsemen classic. However it does look a lot like Lord Zedd. Certainly a better Zedd figure could be made, but they really captured the face and body of Zedd well. I never thought the original Zedd figure was so way off model until I looked at it next to this guy. His skin is nicely muscled and his brain is exposed and well curved.


Looks right from the side.
The metal skeletal structure is represented as well, with one minor exception which I'll get to in the paint section. He also has his vein hoses in all the right spots. The original figure had them more random, which in a way looks better, but this is more show accurate. Zedd wears his skeleton on the outside it would seem. The face mask is really what's important and that has been done perfect. I do think the Z on the top of his head could be a bit better though. The original figure actually has more accurate Z placement on his "crown".



For whatever reason, on the old show you would see Zedd from the side a lot. So one of the incredible things about this figure is that from a side perspective he looks just like he did on the original program. It's a minor thing that only true fans would notice, but it really makes this guy feel right. However one not so cool note is that Bandai uses metal screws that do sort of stick out and are obvious. Thankfully they fit right in with Zedd's design but I know it could be ugly on other characters.



The paint is actually really well done except for one area, his back. The back of his torso isn't painted. That's a real letdown because it's sculpted all well, but none of it is painted. I can't imagine that they really saved much money by not painting the back of his torso. Thankfully the backs of his legs and arms are painted.


14 years of Zedd!
Overall the figure's sculpt is good. The original figure albeit off model, also had a very menacing sculpt. That makes this figure better, but not perfect. Somewhere between the two is an ultimate Lord Zedd.

Accessories:
Zedd comes only with his staff. Since that's all he really needs, I can't complain. However, I don't have his original figure's staff handy but I believe it too was more accurate. Zedd's staff had a diamond tip shape at the bottom and that is missing here. You won't notice it and it doesn't matter in the grander scheme of things, but for perfectionists it is to note.



All said, the original staff may have been more screen accurate but this one is sculpted much better. The staff works well in his hand and because it doesn't have a tip at the bottom it's easy to slide into his grip. I do wish he had swivel wrists so that he could hold his staff sideways. There are even two smaller indentations for grips on the staff that look like it was made for it to be held sideways, but he can't do that.



The original Lord Zedd figure featured a slightly goofy but somewhat accurate light up feature. That was always a bit of bummer on the original figure because although Zedd did glow a few times on the original show, it really wasn't needed on the figure and hurt that figure's sculpt. Thankfully that accessory isn't present here.



Additional Notes:
I really like Lord Zedd. Both the figure and the character. Coming in at a little over 5 inches he fits in perfectly with the original Power Rangers figures and is about the same size as his original figure. I actually have never owned a Ranger, so make of that what you will. He does look cool commanding some evil space aliens though.


Lord Zedd at the International Bad Guys & Tractor Trailor Expo.
Zedd would fit in with just about any toyline as a villain. You don't have to be a Power Rangers fan to enjoy this guy. It's a shame that these Super Legends figures are so hard to find. If you're looking for another villain to add to your classic villains shelf this guy couldn't hurt.

Value:
I believe I paid $7.99 for him, which is a decent value. Lord Zedd ranks right up there with my all time favorite villains so I'm glad I picked this one up. Hell, it goes to show you something when the last time I bought a Power Rangers figure was 14 years ago when the original came out. The character is worth the price. However he's hard to find and expect to pay about $15-20 for him on Ebay. An enterprise so evil that Zedd himself could run it!



Score Recap:
Packaging - 7
Sculpting - 7
Articulation - 7
Accessories - Staff
Value - 7
Overall - 7 out of 10

Lord Zedd is awesome. Having a figure of him is awesome. Zedd is one of only a handful of Power Rangers characters that is completely American. Basically, most of the Power Rangers stuff is just dubbed over Japanese crap. In essence most of the American redub characters suck. Zedd though is completely all American and he was actually the coolest character in the damned show's history. How's that for ironic?


Lord Zedd... Nuff Said.
Lord Zedd is pretty cool because he appeared in 8 versions of Power Rangers including both movies (I still contend the original movie would have been much cooler if it'd been about Zedd instead of Ivan (Sn)Ooze), hell he even had a son who appears in some of the current Power Rangers shows. You definitely need a Lord Zedd. Buy him to support America! Embrace everything Lord Zedd... Except that one scary fan fiction porno where Zedd has his way with the Pink Ranger. What? You know you read it. Just try and forget it and focus on the awesomeness that is ZEDD!

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