Transformers Prime: First Edition Arcee review

Arcee's gone through a history of becoming a motorbike a bit more often than she has a pink and white car. The trend began in Energon when she was the queen of the Omnicons, the MV1 and ROTF designs had her as a motorbike, and she was a motorbike in TFP. I like that idea since it makes her able to have more unique appearances in subsequent cartoons. However, both Cyberverse and the Beewun movie made her a recreation of her G1 self. I feel that my favorite Arcee is the TFP incarnation, due to her kickass history and her relationship with Cliffjumper. With TFP becoming 10 years old next year, I feel it's time to go back to the series with this First Edition figure! Don't worry, I'll take a look at some of the other TFP toys, too.

Here we have Arcee in her bike mode, and it's quite a nice rendition of the character's altmode! The darker blue mixed with the accents of silver, black, translucent blue, and even the subtle hints of pink from what will become the robot shins make this motorcycle mode look pretty slick compared to some of her previous incarnations that were bikes. Yeah, some will say that Chromia is blue and Arcee should be pink, but I prefer this deco more, especially when it fits the altmode AND the personality of the TFP Arcee. Even the wheels have a bit of paint applied, down to the trim close to what would be the rubber tires. If there is one issue I have with the toy, it's that there's some slight paint missing from the blue outline where the headlights are.

Arcee's weapon storage for her blades makes the altmode almost look like it had some custom side panels added, which I kind of feel works than if they were attached to the front of the bike mode.

Arcee's transformation is fairly involved for a bikeformer, though not quite as frustrating as the ROTF Deluxe. The real problem comes from how tight the feet can be when trying to hinge them, or when you're trying to move around the windshield and handlebars of the bike mode in the back. Also, the chest and back don't quite tab in as securely. Still, it's pretty neat how the rest of the toy works.

Arcee's robot mode looks pretty close to the CG model. While not as clean in the kibble department and could use a bit more paint for the arms, she's a dead ringer, IMO. I say that because the CG model does look sleeker than this toy, which has massive shoulder armor, a big chunk of bike kibble, and a wasp abdomen on her butt. The front headlights becoming the breasts does seem kinda funny, and it reminds me of the fangirls of Lightning McQueen flashing their headlights as human fangirls would with their shirts. Still, they're not that big on the model.

Headsculpt has some noticeable lightpiping, which does feel kind of neat considering how no one else got to 

Arcee's articulation is outstanding for a Deluxe, though there are is a small number of setbacks to be aware of. Head is on a ball joint, shoulders are on ball joints that can swivel front and back, though not as well with the shoulder pads deployed. They can also move out, bend at the double joints, swivel at the bicep, and hinge at the hands. There is a waist swivel, hips that move freely on ball joints, thigh swivels, and fairly deep bends at the knees. While there are no ankle hinges or pivots, the feet are fairly large enough to keep the figure in a pose.

The blades that stored on her bike mode can now serve as the weapons of her robot mode. They plug in from underneath the forearms, which does seem like a pretty neat way of giving her weapons beyond her sword. The only problem with the blades is that the arms aren't blue enough to match up with their colors, and the other side of the blades is missing its paint.

There were some repaints of this mold, one of which is the NYCC version of Arcee. It's a G1-themed repaint that came with a taxi-colored Bumblebee and figurines of Jack and Raf that wear I 💖 New York on their shirts. IDK why, but this deco kind of creeps me out. Not only is it ill-fitting for this Arcee, but it also feels like if Japan made a sexualized robot maid that just so happened to be colored like Arcee.

Takara had a Lucky Draw type of contest for a blue-chromed Arcee figure, which does mean even more Chromia jokes. It's almost like if TFP Arcee had the chrome colors of a Beast Wars character's metal parts (or if she was a Transmetal herself).

Finally, here is the TFCC Transmutate figure, which was from a reality where she did not become the horrid protoform that was beyond repair. This version of the character was still flawed with the one aspect of the emotions not able to correspond the same way that her fellow Maximals would to the rest of the world. The deco isn't as nice as it was on the original Arcee's blue, but a bit better done than that gaudy G1 colors version.

Overall, this Arcee is a phenomenally done take on the TFP incarnation, with the only issues that set it back being the arms, backpack, and some sides of the weapons missing paint. While it may never scale with the other TFP figures, it works nicely as a stand-alone action figure in my opinion, especially when put next to figures like Masterpiece Movie Bumblebee or G2 Sideswipe. She may be pretty pricey online, but if you see her for a good price, I'd recommend her.

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

Marvel Legends Captain America (Civil War) review

Captain America's MCU incarnation doesn't jive well with me as much as he used to. He started off feeling like how Cap normally would with the 2011 First Avenger movie before he became less and less exciting for the rest of the films. Many like Winter Soldier more, but I don't like it as much since it began the Stucky dynamic that I hated a lot. He was alright in Age of Ultron, but I grew lukewarm on him from Civil War to Endgame. At least it's not as bad as Soy Hulk and Fat Thor. Maybe Cap's action figures can win me over, right? Let's find out for ourselves in this review of the Civil War Marvel Legends figure. Actually, look at the image before we go any further and look for the differences.

Here we have Captain America out of the packaging, and you can immediately tell that this figure is a repaint of the single-release Civil War Cap, with "battle damage" added on parts of the figure, though the left side gets it more. Looks well-proportioned, does look like the suit from the movie, and it's also nicely sculpted for the most part. The back doesn't have the damage, though I'm sure Cap got beat up more in the front than in the back. Maybe if Iron Man blasted him, we'd get that stupid America's Ass joke earlier. The hands did lose some flesh paint from where there's sculpts implying exposed flesh, so that's a weird thing already.

Cap's head sculpt does look like the Movie Cap, though thanks to the damage Iron Man did to him, his A is not as prominent. The likeness to Chris Evans does look good overall.

Cap's articulation's fairly substantial as a standard Marvel Legends figure. The head can look left and right on the ball joint as well as up and down on the neck hinge. The shoulders can move front and back and in and out. There is a bicep swivel, and there are double-jointed elbows; both hands can swivel and hinge in and out. The torso has an ab crunch and the waist can swivel. The hips can move front and back, in and out; there are thighs swivel, there are double-jointed knees, lower leg rotation, the feet hinge front and back as well as pivot.

Like almost every Captain America toy ever made, he comes with his Vibranium shield. It's nicely painted to look scorched from Iron Man's repulsor blasts, but it also has some scratches to show how worn out the paint is.

You can't quite have Cap look like he's about to do the signature shield throw that the character outside of the MCU has done for years, though effect pieces for versions of the character like the Secret War Cap from 2016, the Vintage Wave Cap from 2018, and the 80th Anniversary Cap do exist.

This damaged Cap comes with Steve Rogers's head, which looks less like Chris Evans and more blonde Jeremy Renner. While not screen accurate, it does look less friendly in terms of the face. I'd say this figure can work well for a man in a suit, or if you dislike Chris Evans, you can pretend someone else wore the outfit and pretend Chris remained playing as the Human Torch!

This figure does not come with an Ant-Man BAF as it instead came packaged with a battle-damaged Iron Man and a Spider-Man figure (which had the concept art accurate Spider-designs instead of the one used in the film). No Winter Soldier in this set, though I guess Hasbro was like Disney and wanted to put Spidey in it because he could finally hang out with Iron Man and Cap...boy, how naive were we with the bastardization Parker got.

In terms of previous uses, this is the Winter Soldier movie's STRIKE Stealth Uniform; this Cap had the inaccurate Steve Rogers head AND remolded parts. The wave he was from had the SHIELD Mandroid as its BAF.

The next repaint to have come out for 2015 is the Age of Ultron version of Captain America. It did feature the same engineering that was carried over from the previous version of Cap, but obviously resculpted/recolored to look like the American flag's colors. Same hands, same head, the only difference is now he has a leg for Thanos, but not the MCU's Thanos. Civil War Cap just made the suit's colors darker, remove a few paint apps, and lose the alternate hands and head. He also came with a head for Giant-Man.

This Cap is based on his appearance from Infinity War, with a bearded face, dirtier colors, and a Wakanda shield since he gave up his proper shield when Tony Stark whined about how it belonged to his dad (and people bitched about the BvS Martha line because...???). This figure also has the rolled-up sleeves, and a peculiar alternate hand that looked like it was meant to hold a gun, which this Cap doesn't come with. This Cap also has a piece for a Thanos BAF, and it's the ugly lavender Thanos that looks really sunbleached.

The Civil War Cap was reused for a 2-pack with Crossbones. The heads are much closer to their actors, and the paintwork does look a bit better.

And finally, the Worthy Cap Walmart exclusive figure, which bothers me that fans charged it for way more than it has any right to. It's got a nicely done suit, a good likeness to Chris Evans, and even Thor's hammer, Mjolnir, which was an iconic aspect of Endgame. It's the definitive Captain America figure to get in the Legends line, though it's only because of how average some of the previous versions were.

As for this Cap, he's fine. I guess I was a bit too harsh on the other toys I reviewed this week, and perhaps this guy can be worthwhile since the mold is good, though you may want a cleaner Cap. That or getting the Endgame Cap.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Spider-Man Classics 6'' figure review

The last Spider-Man we took a look at was quite good, yet I preferred having more alternate parts and a bit of a shinier deco than what the Retro Tribute version had. Also, I'm a sucker for the McFarlane design of the character, so I was hoping to buy a version of the character that was more fulfilling than what the previous Spidey I reviewed had. Also, this one was made by Toy Biz, the original company that did Marvel toys before Hasbro took over. People still praise Toy Biz highly despite most of their figures either aging or not fitting in with their modern collection. Perhaps that won't be the case with the Spider-Man Classics figures, right? Let's find out in my review of Wave 1's Spider-Man!

Here we have Spider-Man in-hand, and I have to say, I feel mixed so far. The sculpt work looks quite good, and I do appreciate some of the paint added on the figure to represent the web lines and the creases of the fabric. That's sadly let down by how the figure feels in terms of quality. He's joints feel loose at the waist and ankles, which you can tell in the second pic as he has a bit of a hard time standing up. He also looks like he's always leaning on one side because his diaphragm joint can't be strengthened. Instead of using joints that feel like they ratchet softly, they used smoother joints for the poses. Sure may seem like it's better if you want more fluid movement, but the materials made for the figure aren't quite as strong as ABS for those joints. As for the diaphragm joint, it's not on a ball joint to my knowledge, as it's on somewhat of a spring-loaded joint. It does stay in a pose, but it's not quite able to remain straight. And the neck looks a bit wonky when seen front and center. Also, the right leg looks like it's bent at a weird angle, and it can't be fixed due to the legs not having any real way of being removed like you could with a Hasbro Marvel Legend.

The face sculpt does look like the McFarlane mask, though one of the lenses does have a tiny paint mistake. Still, it's my favorite part of this toy.

Spider-Man's articulation was groundbreaking when the Classics line first came out. After the simple 7-9 points of articulation, this toy has 30 points! The head can swivel on two joints at the neck, though the swivel works better. The shoulders can move front and back and in and out, but they curiously can be pulled slightly. Why that is, I have no idea! There are double-jointed elbows, and both hands can swivel at the forearm, they can hinge in and out, and the middle & ring fingers can bend to go from a karate chop hand to a web-shooting hand. The torso has a diaphragm joint that's hard to keep in place at times, and the waist can swivel. The hips can move front and back, in and out; there are thighs swivel, there are double-jointed knees, and the feet hinge front and back, but instead of ankle pivots, there are toe joints. Articulation's amazing for an early 2000s toy, but the joints feeling loose despite being mint on card 19 years later baffles me.

The toy comes with a display base that resembles a brick wall with what looks like either the Spider-Signal or a spider-web with giant lenses added to mimmick the mask. On the bottom is a camera that's held by the webbing. Early Spider-Man Classics figures came with these display bases, and it looks simple but effective in my opinion.

You can either display it as if it was a normal stand, or you can use the clamp and have it held by a nail on a wall so you Spidey can look like he's sticking on the wall!

Want to know my biggest issue with this toy? The head pops off too much! No, it's not meant for swapping heads, but as a toy that was NEVER opened out of the packaging, this was really annoying to deal with. Sure, it comes back on, but I know that much like how weak the joints are, I know it won't be able to remain on the peg as it should. This pic below sadly represents how I feel with this figure.

Hasbro's Marvel Legends figures may not have the same nostalgia value that Toy Biz's lines did, nor are they worth 20 dollars compared to what the older Legends went for back then, but at least they felt a bit better in hand with the tighter joints. I know there are some weaker Legends figures out there from Hasbro, and as much as I like the sculpts Toy Biz put out for their molds, I prefer what Hasbro's done compared to Toy Biz, as the sculpts feel nicer and the paint nowhere near as smeary as before. Are they perfect? No, but while they've done some meh figures, they've also done a tremendous job with a lot of their characters. Toy Biz deserves its flaws to be mentioned than for it to be seen as the only good company to have made Legends figures. So if you can't tell by the rant, I don't really recommend getting this figure unless you want to have every Spider-Man toy ever made. Also, if you do open it, you better get one with the comic because some releases will have a mini-poster that feels like a bit of a tease.

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

Marvel Legends Iron Man (Mark 43) review

Iron Man's the kind of hero that never has a definitive suit in the MCU. Sure, he's always had a red and gold look, but the armors keep adding more gold in some spots, the arc reactors keep changing, and there are always different ways to suit up in every subsequent movie; I prefer when he had the suit up from the robotic arms or the suit-case become the suit than crap like Nanotech. It was fine enough for when he went from Mark I to III, but the rest of the MCU just made the changes feel negligible at best. Nowhere near as impacting as the TASM series giving Spidey a new, better-looking suit or Batman getting the kevlar upgrade in The Dark Knight. How does the Marvel Legends side of things fare for Iron Man? Let's see with this Age of Ultron variant of the armor.

Here we have the figure in the front, side, and rear views. It does the job well enough on being a run-of-the-mill Iron Man suit, with the metallic gold paint and metallic red plastic. The shoulders do stand out a bit for being gray, though they are supposed to look like that. Part of the hips should be gray, though not entirely gray like the shoulder joints are. The armor itself looks pretty skinny, which was something that made me wonder how it'd fit over his body without restricting blood flow or even crushing his bones. Then again, without a physical suit to reference when viewing the proportions, neither do the people that design these suits.

The helmet looks fine, but the eyes don't quite line up with the outline put for them. Also, they look pretty faint in the gold paint, and they should be a little bit more vibrant. Also, the paint isn't quite well-done.

Articulation is pretty good for an armored character. The neck is double-jointed, with the head looking left and right on the ball joint, and a hinge for looking up and down. The shoulders can move front and back and in and out. There is a bicep swivel, a double-jointed elbow, and both hands can swivel on their peg as well as hinge in and out. The torso has a diaphragm joint, which can function the same as the waist swivel and ab crunch. The hips can move front and back as well as in and out. There are thigh swivels, double-jointed knees, and the feet hinge front and back as well as pivot side to side.

This figure had some accessories that are missing with me. No alternate hands, so he's stuck with the open right hand and closed left hand; instead, he came with an alternate head with the mask lifted up, as it was a way for Tony Stark's face to be revealed. As for the likeness...bleh. The other accessory is a leg for the Thanos Build-A-Figure. Alternatively, you could be living in the UK and was lucky to see a re-release of the same toy for a wave of Avengers figures that came with parts for the Hulkbuster. Considering how we've gotten better Iron Man figures AND a Thanos that's repainted as well as fully-assembled for Walmart last year/a Hulkbuster that came in a two-pack with a Hulk figure for fans to have bought at Target, this toy is rendered useless unless you have to have it for an addition to the Hall of Armor display.

Here is the original use of the mold, the Mark 42 suit from Iron Man 3. It's noticeably got more gold on him than he normally does, and he still didn't come with alternate hands. His BAF piece belonged to Iron Monger, which is the comic build this time instead of the 2008 Movie design. This is also not worth getting unless you're a completionist.

Overall, this is an okay figure. It's nicely done for the most part and can be neat for a display, but if you want a better done Iron Man, get one of the more recent versions.

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