McFarlane Digital Silver Age Joker review

The Joker needs no introduction, I assume. You know his history of being Batman's greatest nemesis, the many live-action actors and voice actors who played him, his rivalry with the Dark Knight, and the fact that he has a hot girlfriend in the form of Harley Quinn. At this rate, it's like describing how blinking works. While plenty of McFarlane Joker figures were made in the past, none of them really won me over; not even the Heath Ledger version won me over because it felt lacking in terms of accessories and likeness. So now we have the Silver Age version for a standard DC display, and I'm happy to have it be reviewed after covering other Batman villains.

Here we have The Joker in hand, who is a retool of a Three Jokers version of himself from an earlier wave (possibly the Clown); this means he has the appropriate shade of purple, he has a distinct flower, as his colors are fresh out of the laundromat. The proportions fit the character, making him somewhat spindly but still human somewhat if that makes sense. In other words, the build for his shoulders make more sense on him than on most Hasbro Marvel Legends. The coattails are also a nice touch, and even if they're not going to be poseable, at least that beats having them be cloth. The two big issues mostly revolve around the lack of pinstripes for the pants and the miscolored joints. The former is somewhat annoying, but the latter is baffling since I thought painless joints from some Hasbro Marvel Legends (like She Hulk) would have that issue. Though this was an issue with some pinned joints, it wasn't as commonplace.

His head sculpt is perfect, even if he could be a little whiter from the makeup. Maybe a closed grin would be great for an alternate display but it still works. His articulation includes a double-ball neck joints, front and back movement at the shoulders, hinges for outward arm movement, bicep rotation, double-jointed elbows, and double-purpose wrists that can rotate at two pegs, with the connection at the forearm allowing the hands to hinge either vertically or horizontally. The torso includes a diaphragm joint and dumbbell waist, hips can move front and back as well as in and out, slight thigh rotation is included, knees bend with double-joints, and the feet can rotate, hinge, and pivot. Finally, the toes can bend for natural walking poses. One of his alternate right hands is meant to hold his cane, with an almost The Mask-esque head on the tip.

He also has a pair of alternate right hands with accessories molded in place, from an evil fish he meant to sell as part of an old comic story (which was expected from the Silver Age) and a set of index cards...oh wait, are those supposed to be playing cards? Where are the paint apps, Todd?! Even the cards that came with the Cowboy Logan/Sabertooth set had those painted!

His chase variant features him in a black suit reminiscent of the Alex Ross art, and I almost want to get that version since it compliments him so well. He looks like he's attending the funeral of the Batman. Crime has no punchline without him, after all.

For a comparison with a version of Batman in black and gray, which is my preferred version of the character for how well it matches the BTAS look. They make for quite the perfect design and personality contrast, huh? Overall, the Joker makes for a solid figure; though I hate that he has the off colored joints and has no details on his cards, it is still a reuse that I recommend given more effort was put into recreating that Silver Age look than any Jokerized repaint.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Transformers Studio Series TFOne B-127 review

I'll be honest and say that never has a version of Bumblebee made me wish he would have his voice box removed sooner than Transformers One's B-127. While I love Keagan Michael Key, I never liked how his character is another trope where they try to repeat Benny's mannerisms and lines that DESPERATELY try to be the hottest meme for a few days, from "BADASSATRON" trying to be the next "SPACESHIP" to his comments on his battle mask and knife hands being comparable to the dialogue in Forspoken and Viewfinder and their shitty Joss Whedon writing styles. I know people would say he's comparable to Donkey from Shrek, but he worked since he was written by people who knew how to be comedic rather than corporate millennial writers who probably agree with anything their followers in Tumblr or BluSky would say. You could say Bee is to me what G1 Wheelie was to the horribly aging manbabies of the 80s, but I don't hate him 100% since he has a cool design apart from his Cabbage Patch Kids looking ass face (the helmet is fine, and the box art looks better). With all that said, here is my review on Studio Series B-127, aka Bumblebee. Their names will be interchanged.

Here we have B-127 in his vehicle mode. It's a variation of his altmode shown in the opening of the Bumblebee movie, which was itself inspired by his design in the War for Cybertron games. I was always a fan of this design in those prior TF media entries, and I appreciate seeing it in a smoother aesthetic as a blend between him being a hatchback like in G1 and Animated and a sports car like in the movies and Prime. Apart from how gappy it is around the middle section, at least it is minor and there aren't any obvious robot parts visible (Prime's forearms and Megatron's entire chest). I especially appreciate the pinned wheels, which almost looks like futuristic cymbals in a way. The shade of yellow is more on the golden side, which is somewhat accurate to how he appeared in the movie; that being said, for a smaller Deluxe, I was hoping he would either be painted gold or at least have be painted like the Buzzworthy version of B-127 was.

Bumblebee's weapons can store on the top and sides of the altmode, with the weapons meant to come out of his forearms almost looking as if they were transformed out of his body.

For a vehicle mode size comparison, here he is with Optimus Prime and Megatron. Seeing all three as Deluxes almost reminds me of the 2010s Deluxes for the WFC game, though in a somewhat better scale this time. 

Transformation is mostly similar to what the Prime Changer was like in the mainline. Though not exactly 1:1, but it does work given the character designs. They both end up chunkier than the CG model, though it isn't too bad for the limbs compared to the torso. Though not as bad as the chest on Gamer Edition WFC Bee, the front section could either be smaller or more compact so as not to look like it's mistransformed (even if it isn't). Otherwise, the rest of the figure does a respectable job at looking like the design in the movie.

His head sculpt is a lot more in-line with the usual Generations aesthetics rather than the TFOne-specific facial details you'd expect from something either comparable to the TFP/RID15 faces or Cabbage Patch Kids. And thank God for that since I don't like his face that much out of the cast. I do, however, like that he has a bit of a movie influence to his head. With his allegedly inaccurate Tracker blaster in-hand, Bumblebee's articulation includes ball joints at the neck, shoulders, and hips, swivels at the biceps, thighs, and waist, and hinges at the elbows, knees, and ankles. Be warned that the hips can bump into the upper body due to the way they're sculpted.

This Bumblebee also comes with his knife hands, which attach to a pair of inaccurate yet still character-specific blasters that replace the hands. I bet he would have said "OH YO WHAT THATS SICK A GOT GUN HANDS THAT I JUST SUMMONED WITH MY KNIFE HANDS AND BATTLE MASK WITH MY FRICKIN MIND" before Orion Pax goes to his volume settings and muted his dialogue. Oh and he has no battle mask, which kind of sucks since I do like the design even if the last time a Deluxe did that was so-so (2018 VW Bumblebee, specifically).

For a size comparison, B-127 of course is shorter than both faction leaders. This makes me wonder how Elita-1 and Sentinel will scale given how Hasbro chose to make the main quartet all Deluxes. Bee is an A-Level figure like his G1 counterpart, meaning that he should be easier for fans to get than other Deluxes for the year. Will that be as problematic as SS86 Bee warming pegs and getting discounted? Who knows, especially with the future that toys will be facing thanks to both Hasbro raising prices to combat tariffs and focusing less on toys because of wannabe gamer Chris Cucks. At least it's better than Devastation Prime.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Jada Toys Street Fighter II Cammy review

Cammy's history goes as far back as being the clone assassin created by Shadaloo as a replacement body for M. Bison; she grew to hate the man she shares DNA with and eventually left her past behind. She became more willing to assist others, even Chun-Li, the woman she was designed to be the opposite of. Admittedly, she struggles to avoid her aggressions as well as close the gap between childhood and adulthood, but she can accomplish that in a way. She takes the spotlight for this next Street Fighter review!

Here we have Cammy in-hand, with a green leotard and a few camo paint apps on her thighs. Though there is no separate etching to separate the one thing covering her busty thicc torso, it is sculpted in green while the flesh tones are painted on. There is thankfully more consistency between those areas and the limbs. She does have the red triangle sculpted raised in relief, so the chances of making this figure nude are much more difficult. Not like that would stop people because the musculature of her abs and arms, combined with the cup size and how thicc her thighs are, will be more than enough to keep people happy. No, she will not go into the jar so shut the fuck up and don't even think about doing that. At least the bare body parts don't look disjointed, which is a common complaint that Glenn Webb RIP said before on female action figures when they get more joints. That being said, we do have some cake competition between her and Doomsday with such defined booty cheeks. And I just had cake last week for my birthday (the food cake, fyi).

Her head sculpt is on the doll side, though that's mostly to do with the way her character was designed. It does look a little funny, but most of the faces can be off at times. With her alternate screaming head, alternate hands, kicking effect part, and butt on display, her articulation consists of double-ball neck, twin pigtails, shoulder rotation, bicep swivels, double-jointed elbows, wrist swivels and hinges, a double-ball diaphragm joint, ball-jointed hip movement, thigh swivels, double-jointed knees, boot swivels, ankle hinges, and pivot rockers.

For a size comparison, here she is with M. Bison. They will have an awful reunion, I'm sure. Like with all other Street Fighter figures I reviewed, this is a good one, even if I kind of wish the face would look a little less weird and the leotard would have some separate sculpting from the bare skin. I hope we get a blue turtleneck variant. Until then, HANDS OFF THAT JAR

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Marvel Legends Retro Venom & Carnage review

We're no strangers to symbiotes on this website. You know their names, colors, and abilities, and so do I. Another review is what I'm thinking of, even if you probably read or watched coverage on these figures from any other channel or site. I just want to tell you how I feel about these two, so I gotta make you understand that this Never Gonna Give You Up parody is going nowhere. I'm sure you're familiar with Venom at this rate in Earth-616 history, but Carnage is fairly new even with a review on his Sonyverse counterpart last year. The comic versions of the iconic symbiote and his spawn unite for a retro-themed review, with one hailing from Walmart and another from Target.

Let's start with Venom as always. This figure is a retool of the Amazon exclusive Symbiote 3-pack version that came with Riot and Agony. The base body is reused from Omega Red, which was also reused for the Animated Series version of the character. This build is bulkier and more on-line with how Venom is usually depicted than the 2016 Absorbing Man wave version or the Knull 2-pack version. Though cast in black plastic without any shading or color beyond the white of the symbiote and on the hands, the sheen of the black plastic does work somewhat for a character who is meant to be made up of black slime. The proportions work generally well, though the head is a bit higher up than normal while the shoulders are lower than they should be. The joints are pinned though having them be black along with the rest of the figure doesn't hurt the look much. Of note are the forearms with more sculptwork beyond the usual musculature found in the rest of the toy. 

His head sculpt is new to the figure, and it is very McFarlane esque with that grin and eye shape. The teeth could be better painted in the middle, but they work fine enough. I do feel the eyes could be a little closer to each other, even if it's not as bad as the lenses on Maximum Profit Spider-Man. The articulation is standard for the Marvel Legends line, with a (limited) double ball neck joint, shoulder rotation, outward arm movement, butterfly joints, bicep rotation, double jointed elbows, wrist rotation, inwards wrist hinging, a diaphragm joint, a reverse ab-crunch, ball-jointed hips, thigh rotation, double-jointed knees, and ankles that hinge as well as pivot. He comes with an alternate head reused from the 3-pack with differently-shaped eyes and a wild tongue as well as clawing hands.

For a comparison with Spider-Man and some other Venoms, here he is with the recent Secret Wars version of the webhead as well as the Marvel Select and King in Black versions of the monstrous symbiote. Select and KiB are taller because the former is from a separate line and the latter is a retool of the Sonyverse Venom made in 2020, hence the toes from that design but with holes meant for bat wings (and tendrils for a reissue to go with 2021 Carnage). The new Venom's height works fine for regular Earth-616 continuity, but his height varies from artist rendition to story-specific events 

As for Carnage, this figure is a reuse of the 2020 Venompool wave version of the character, only with a new head meant to represent a more ferocious version of the character. The black on the body is not just painted separately but also raised in relief, which I GREATLY appreciate in an era where the average Hasbro Legends figure has their details painted on rather than sculpting it thoroughly. Though the paint apps are not perfectly aligned to the sculptwork, it's still done competently on my copy at least. The small tendrils poking out of the forearms and calves are nice to have and thankfully flexible enough to not impede with articulation, and even they have some paint apps on them. The asymmetrical claws are also a treat, and they fit the more bloodthirsty nature of this symbiote.

His head sculpt aims to be more modern and animalistic than normal, and while it is sculpted and painted nicely, I wish we had the option to swap out the head with a more classic version with the black teeth. The articulation is mostly the same, though the ab crunch and waist swivel combo is used and he has boot rotation. I really hate how gummy the joints are on my copy, especially with the skinnier build and me worrying they could shear off that easily. Thankfully, he can use his axe and knife and/or stabbing weapon with easy. He also has extra tendrils that go on his back, making him even more aggressive than his father symbiote.

Here they are sandwiching Spider-Man as one would expect these two to do in a battle. The scale with the RYV body next to this Venom also works fine if you prefer Spider-Man to be a little closer to the 90s bulk (though it is't 1:1). Carnage is shorter than he should be, with him being slightly over 6'1" in-universe and requiring to be taller than Peter Parker. Maybe a shorter Spider-Man would be your choice for better scale between these three, but it depends on what you're after. Regarding recommendations, both figures could use more accessories, though they are still good versions of the characters to get if you never got comic Venom and Carnage in your collection. I say they could use more accessories since reusing parts could allow for more opportunities to have an extra head or two as well as various hand options.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (for both)

Transformers Age of the Primes Red Alert review

When I think of Red Alert, I don't think of the paranoid Sideswipe repaint. I think of the Unicron Trilogy alternative to Ratchet. Best known for losing a hand and being a second-hand man to Optimus Prime, this medic prefers to assist his allies than directly fight in the war. While not necessarily afraid of battling the Decepticons, the severe damage he had made him reflect on what he and his allies went through these past few years. He would eventually get a new design after retiring during the events of Energon and upgrade even further into the Cybertron Defense form, but those are stories for another day. Let's take a look at his Armada design in the Age of the Primes line for this review!

Here we have Red Alert in his ambulance mode. It's a lot more like an SUV meant for search and rescue than a normal ambulance, though it could be in reference to how futuristic some Armada vehicles modes tend to be. Some say it looks like a Nissan Patrol from around the same time period, and I could see the resemblance even with the modifications. I love the use of clear red plastic on both the light bar and the windshield; they pop marvelously amongst the white and go well with the red on the sides. We have a bit of clear red for the turn signal lights, and some gunmetal gray as well as silver to accentuate the rest of the alt mode along with the blue and yellow.

In general, the altmode looks spot-on to the way it was depicted in the show, though the Red Cross signs are replaced with more generic ambulance logos. I wish the rims were painted since we've had plenty of Transformers in recent years with those added details, and they could easily be bronze to match the old toy.

For a size comparison, here he is with Optimus Prime and Red Alert. Though Optimus's truck mode doesn't have much height to him, this is still a more reasonable scale that matches the cartoon. Makes me want to get a Smokescreen ASAP...along with the other characters in the show. Armada's cast wasn't that big, so it would be ideal to complete along with the Beast Wars and Animated characters.

Transformation is fairly straightforward with the hood-chest-door-wing design that was carried over from the old toy and the show. The joints for the elbows and knees are incredibly stiff, however, so be ready to deal with those tolerances. The robot mode feels even more retro than a lot of G1 character designs with a similar part layout. It could mostly be with how little changes with the front of the altmode and backpack, not to mention the kibble around the lower legs. Most of the time, character models would be streamlined to animate them better, which was something done in older Transformers media, though RID and the Unicron Trilogy stuck with tracing from the toys themselves. Said toys tended to have gimmicks integrated into the designs, which resulted in unique silhouettes like Hot Shot's and Demolishor's. Red Alert was also designed to resemble older Power Rangers Megazords at the time Armada was in development according to Aaron Archer. I could see that from the way the Lightspeed Rescue Megazords and maybe some of the Turbo ones were designed, being more man made than most of the lineage at the time. Oh, and since the renders lied that there would be a left hand, be sure to have the nozzle attached to the left arm. You get two, and they're stored in the kibble slapped onto the calves. 

His head sculpt is heavily based on Robocop, right down to the visor and the way his lips are sculpted. One equally badass detail is the inclusion of LIGHT PIPING! In an era where Transformers have their eyes painted, seeing a figure with clear plastic implemented in the head is always a treat. I bet Thew had an orgasm. His articulation consists of a ball joint and neck hinge combo, rotation at the shoulders, outward arm movement, bicep rotation, double jointed elbows, and rotation at the right wrist. The waist swivels somewhat due to the backpack being in the way, the hips are on universal joints, the thighs rotate, the knees bend, and the ankles can hinge and pivot.

His shoulder cannon is deployed manually since all Armada updates since 2008's Universe Hot Shot have non-functional Minicon ports. Sadly, even at this price point, he can't be reunited with Longarm, and I will be annoyed if we get a repaint of a Deluxe character that comes with him, Swindle, Wind Sheer, Sparkplug, and Leader-1. The cannon is removable, and it has its own dedicated nozzle that almost looks like it could be a claw. It comes detached from the figure likely to remind fans that it can be removed like on the old toy. Sadly, his chest doesn't open to.shoot out any discs like on the old toy, though that's to be expected.

Here he is with Hot Shot and Optimus Prime, two characters who were playable in the Armada game alongside him. The scale is much better this time around than with the old toys, and much closer to the cartoon. Still, with how short Red Alert is for a Voyager, was including Longarm hard to do? I bet a Generations Selects repaint featuring his Powerlinx colors will include his partner. Until then, Red Alert is a good figure, though I feel his missed opportunities would annoy some collectors. While some would wish the lower legs would make pseudo repair bays, I'm more disappointed that he doesn't have Longarm to make up for his shorter height. Good luck getting him before the tariffs fuck things over!

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐