Blue Iron Men

Yes, you read that right: BLUE Iron Men. More often referred to as Stealth Ops Iron Man, I know, though one of that 3 3/4" pictured above, front & center is really a Fusion Armor Iron Man I got back in June. I recently found a couple more blue Iron Men, which led me to opening the Marvel Select Stealth Iron Man by Diamond Select Toys I got way back in January, realizing there was a fun photo opportunity awaiting me  :D

As I said, I found these two just the other week: 6" Legends Series Stealth Strike Mark IV Iron Man & 3 3/4" Iron Man 2 Comic Series Stealth Operations Iron Man. A local K-Mart was still clearancing out all 3 3/4" Comic Series Iron Man 2 figures, so I got him for south of three bucks. Those Legends Series Iron Man figures go for about fifteen or sixteen bucks, but they rock in many ways.  We'll take a look at these first  :)

The star of this blog post is the Legends Series Stealth Strike Mark IV Iron Man. He has a few too many interchangeable hands, but he has some GREAT articulation, and a precise looking sculpt with nice details. He looks almost ...real!  The red paint apps on his chestplate make it look like the suit is "on".  Aside from the double jointed knees & elbows, he has a hinge-swivel joint under his head, a very expressive upper abdominal joint, and the ball-hinge hips with a swivel. And I was surprised to find the interchangeable hands (3 pairs) have a hinge joint! Nice! There is some paint slop in places on the figure, but due to his dark color, this isn't much of an issue. You might want to choose carefully if picking one up at TRU, Wal-Mart, or Target.

Like the 3 3/4" Fusion Armor Iron Man I have, this one comes with a firing projectile/launching repulsor blast that keeps flying across my room  :D  ... I like a toy that fires a projectile- built for play!

The bargain bin Stealth Operations Iron Man I picked up on the same day for under three bucks was nothing to sneeze at either- most of these 3 3/4" Iron Man 2 figures were rock solid and this guy is no exception. Stealth Ops Shell Head comes with the same 3-part armor cards like the others in the series, that fit in the slotted tray on their bases, detailing different portions of the character's armor. He also comes with the same hilarious looking repulsor blast made of translucent yellow rubber that Silver Centurion & Guardsman do (tee hee hee!).

Stealth Ops has the exact same sculpt as the Iron Man 2 Comic Series Classic Iron Man (below/left), which I love- this is what I think of when I think of Iron Man- a purely Bronze Age rendering of the mighty metal Avenger! This is the Iron Man of my youth  :)   The sleek, modernized shell head next to Stealth Ops Iron Man in the photo to the right is an Iron Man 2 Concept Series Fusion Armor Iron Man. His styling is more like the Mark IV armor featured in the movie, and he is a beauty!

Roll Call! From left to right: Concept Series Fusion Armor Iron Man,  Comic Series Stealth Operations Iron Man,  Comic Series Classic Iron Man, Comic Series Silver Centurion, & Movie Series Mark V Iron Man.

And lastly in this titanic post, the Marvel Select Stealth Iron Man by Diamond Select Toys I got at the beginning of this year & never opened! If memory serves me correctly, I scored this guy on eBay last January for $13.44, shipping included. Not bad considering these go for about $20.00 retail. While the packaging for these is unnecessarily large, they look great in the box. The artwork featured on the left side panels of these Marvel Select packages are killer! This one was in dandy shape- almost didn't want to open  it, and now several days later I can't bring myself to pitch the box  :D

Marvel Select action figures are the equivalent of DC Direct action figure: the sculpt & paint are the focus as opposed to articulation. I have a few of these, and they do look great. This figure, also released in his classic red & gold colors, received a lot of criticism for the pronounced ball-shaped hinge/swivel joints in his hips knees, ankles, & elbows, but more distracting I felt were the bottom of his leggings placed a little too far from the top of his feet- it makes him appear as though he's pants are to short. The metallic paint flaked under his right arm almost immediately upon removal from the packaging as well, due to the plastic coated wire holding him in place.

While his articulation is limited, it's not as bad as the Marvel Select Mark VI I had. He has a cut joint at the waist at least, and his head is on a ball-joint that allows a little movement. I really like his color, more cyan blue than my other blue Iron Men. Exaggeratedly slender, I understand the sculpt is based on the extremis armor from the pages of Invincible Iron Man.

His base came in two parts that fit via adjoining pegs just like the pegs that fit into the holes in his feet, so I guess you could use them separately as well. The top portion is sculpted & painted to appear as the propulsion & smoky back draft of Iron Man's takeoff. It leans out at a somewhat odd angle if you ask me, but he hasn't tipped over. Will it drop later, or worse, warp due to this? Only time will tell, but he looks pretty cool right now  :D

So there's a closer look at my fledgling Blue Iron Men collection- hope you enjoyed it!

*Check out The Iron Man Armory online!

Have a GREAT Weekend!

Hulk: Skaar, Son of Hulk

While I had not read Planet Hulk or World War Hulk, I wanted to get to the core of this character first after finding the very cool Marvel Universe Skaar this past summer. I was completely unaware of this character, and resolved to read about him as soon as I could find a copy at a decent price- couldn't do better than $3.99 on Amazon, kids!

By the time I'd read this 200 pager, I had become aware of the Hulk being shot into space by Iron Man, landing on a far off planet where he becomes king and saves the people, his pregnant wife being killed as the planet erupts in destruction, and Hulk returning to Earth to exact his revenge. Well, something like that anyway. So when the story began with this creepy baby born into a lava pit, I knew where things were going  :D

The editorial blurb:

Born in fire. Raised by monsters. Destined to smash! On an alien planet shattered by war, no one is stronger than Skaar, the savage Son of Hulk. But as a Fillian warlord, an Imperial princess, and a mysterious Earthman spread chaos through the wastelands, will Skaar save the puny survivors - or eat them?! Another epic fever dream from Greg Pak, writer of Planet Hulk and World War Hulk - featuring the return of fan-favorite Hulk artist Ron Garney! Collects Skaar: Son of Hulk #1-6, Savage World of Skaar and Hulk Family.

A lot of the story of Skaar's early infancy to his coming of age were told in flashback, and this was mildly confusing- I wasn't sure exactly what point in time we were through some of it, but I got the general idea. I read some reviews that complained about this observance, one in particular who had read Planet Hulk & World War Hulk, and realized having not read those was not the issue. Aside from that, I was fascinated by the book's art depicting the savage world that gave birth to this violent creature. His main nemesis is a brutal warlord Axeman Bone out to kill every child born in order to stamp out the "old power" drawn from the planet that Skaar's mother possessed, believed to be the Sakaarson, a figure of apocalyptic legend.

I liked author Greg Pak's creation, the world of Sakaar, though it was nothing new- he claimed to have gotten the flesh of the idea from reading about the real lives of gladiators in ancient Rome, Ghengis Khan, as well as contemporary literature on the art of war. Conan the Barbarian came to mind naturally. But hey- some of the oldest stories are the best, right? Told over & over again, to the next generation, then the next and so on...  I plan on reading Planet Hulk & World War Hulk some time in the future, and maybe some of the following tales where Skaar catches up with Bruce Banner, which I got a glimpse of in Seven the Hard Way when he stomps Wolverine's butt into the ground, then impales him on a tree.  See how Marvel got me all wrapped up in that? Damn   :D

* See my post on the Marvel Universe World War Hulk & Skaar action figures!

More Later- Read Your Comics!

Wolverine Origins: Seven the Hard Way & Romulus

I found Seven the Hard Way & Romulus from the Wolverine Origins Series on Amazon for south of seven dollars after buying that Marvel Universe Greatest Battles Wolverine Vs. Silver Samurai 2-pack at the end of August. Instead of a reprint of Wolverine #2, which the cover advertised, the said action figure set included one chapter from the Seven the Hard Way book (the one with Silver Samurai, of course). While I felt let down by this, I resolved to find the source of this chapter, and get the rest of the story. Well at least I got some of the rest of the story- in realizing this Romulus character had a lot to do with it all, I picked that book up while on line, quickly realizing the whole tale has been collected in TEN trade paperbacks! That almost made me regret having discovered the story arc   :D   I might eventually get some more of these as time & money allow, because while I've read some negative criticism about this series, I genuinely did enjoy them.

While Doug Braithwaite did the covers for both, Scot Eaton did did the pencils inside Romulus (Marvel, 2009), which were superb. Bravo! He did an awesome fight scene between Omega Red & Wolvie, and another with Romulus himself, the latter leaving our hero unconscious on the floor at the end of the book. This book sees Wolverine realizing Romulus' plan to pit Wolverine against the like of Omega Red, Sabretooth,  & several other villains, all in order to stage a confrontation between Wolverine & his son Daken- the winner to be Romulus' successor, the future of  the next generation of Weapon X.

Daken and a lot of these other characters were all new to me..After the Winter Soldier kills Wolverine's wife Itsu, Romulus cut baby Daken from his mother's womb and later brainwashes the boy, as he did his father for most his life. Daken grew up to take his father's name as part of the Dark Avengers in the "Dark Reign" story arc. This was all news to me, my return to reading comics having only begun a year ago, and I read a lot of DC stuff during this time- Marvel is an entirely other HUGE universe I've lots left to catch up on *sigh*...

Seven the Hard Way follows behind Romulus, Wolverine seeking seven allies to take the fight to Romulus and avoid fighting Daken to the death, fulfilling Romulus' wishes for Woverine's death & finding an heir to the power he's accumulated over the decades of villainy. Bruce Banner and son Skaar, the Silver Samurai, Cloak, & Dagger all appear in this book. No one is eager to become tangled in Wolverine's problems either, Skaar nearly killing him when he won't accept Banner's initial refusal, Silver Samurai attempting the same when Wolverine seeks training for the powerful Muramasa blade. and the mysterious Ruby betraying him after he broke her out of The Raft, a prison for super villains. Deadpool is shown in the ending page, his part in the plan to be revealed in the following book and conclusion to the series, The Reckoning, I assume. There is a Wolverine Origins: Deadpool book earlier in the series that may be worth looking into as well.

Doug Braithwaite did the pencilling here, Bill Reinhold's inks & washes lending a painterly touch to the art. Some might not be a fan of this departure from more conventional comic art styling, but I thought it was different and a unique change of pace, some of the splash pages appearing more like a fine art painting or illustration. I enjoy this approach from time to time, and thought the artwork was great. I liked author Daniel Way's storytelling & dialogue in both these, Wolverine's exhausting journey to absolution made palpable through all the torturous conflicts he's put through, maimed and/or nearly killed several times and in a variety of awful ways through the two books- pretty gruesome! 

As I've said before, my return to reading comics having only begun a year ago, I've lots left to catch up on. My point isn't to present conventional review of these comics I report on here at the Super-DuperToyBox, but rather to share in my journey & perhaps receive suggestions and/or opinions from some of you. I'm not just trying to gather the world's largest collection of plastic over here after all- I'm generally interested in the stories behind the action figures we collect. It's the books & comics that make the whole thing an experience! I'm hardly qualified for critical analysis of this or any other type of literature, and I never liked doing a book report, but I'm very intrigued and, of course, having FUN with them.  :)

Some comics blogs I like:
Again With the Comics
Bronze Age Babies
Bully Says: Comics Outta Be Fun!
Continued On 2nd Page Following
DC Bloodlines
New readers... start here!
Trade Waiting Tales
What Was That Issue Again?
The Idol Head of Diabolu  (all Martian Manhunter, all the time!)
Comics Bronze Age
Steve Does Comics
Marvel Genesis

Marvel Universe: 16" Masterworks Sentinel

What can I say about this super-fun toy? Wow! I fell in love at first sight when I found out about it. A SanDiego Comicon exclusive of this was released just this summer in a different color scheme, packed in a giant blister card designed like the 3 3/4" Marvel Universe figures. Rumor has it that this one will also be released soon, but I didn't want to miss a chance at getting this, so I threw down for him as soon as I saw him at Toys 'R Us over a month ago. While I'm not into Transformers and stuff, I feel love for giant robots is a universal thing among toy collectors  :)

This retail release of the 16" action figure didn't come with a giant blister card, but in a beautiful window box with a fifth panel door on the front..

Sentinel's articulation is like that of many of his 3 3/4" counterparts:  he has ball-hinge shoulders, a cut/swivel joint at the bicep & forearms. While there's no upper abdominal crunch, he has a cut joint at the waist, upper thigh, & just below his double-jointed knees. His hips are a ball-hinge, his head on a pretty expressive ball joint, and his ankles allow only a slight back &  forward, as well a side-to-side rocker joint. Like everyone else, I would have liked some articulation in the fingers, but he does seem to hold the smaller Marvel Universe figures easily.

Sentinel's eyes light up and he says 17 or 18 phrases with sound effects when the button on his chest is pressed, which is my cup of tea  :D   My favoite is the one with the crowd screaming in terror- creepy! Sentinels are the longtime antagonists of the X-Men,  introduced in issue #14 in 1965. The 30 foot tall, flying robots fire energy blasts, and become more dangerous each time the X-Men face them due to their tactical thought capabilities, enhancing their counterattack. Developed by Dr. Bolivar Trask to protect  humanity from the Mutants, the robots turned on their creator, kidnapping him and Professor X after being introduced during a live televised debate between the two. Dr. Trask realized his mistake when saved by the X-Men. Later Dr. Trask's son Larry would be slain by resurrecting his father's creation, unaware of his own mutant genealogy which the second group of Sentinels sensed.

This retail release of Sentinel includes a 3 3/4" Wolverine as well, which looks like the same one included in the Giant Size X-Men box set to me. He's not one that I have so he's a welcome addition to the other (laughs) four Wolverines I already have  :D   He has a decent paint job & standard articulation: he has ball-hinge shoulders & swivel-hinge elbows, cutting the need for a bicep swivel. He also has a hinge-swivel under his head so he can look up. Again, I prefer the ball-hinge hips featured here on Wolverine as opposed to the new ball & socket- they're more dependable & a better all-around range of movement. The soles of hit boots were carefully painted black, which struck me as somewhat deluxe.

And finally, a group shot of several of the Marvel Universe figures I have collected this summer: a.) World War Hulk & Skaar  b.) Dark Hawkeye   c.) Ultron  d.) Dr. Doom  e.) House of M Spider-Man  f.) Sub-Mariner  g.) Wolverine & Sabretooth 2 pk   h.) Darkhawk  i.) modern Thor  j.) Thanos & Skrull soldiers  l..) Jean Grey  m.) Cyclops  n.) Steve Rogers  o.) Silver Surfer

*All model review of this and other Sentinel figures by Roshan at MUReview.Net!

*SDCC Sentinel review by DJ at MUReview.Net!

More Later- Make It Fun!

The New 52: Justice League #1 & Batgirl #1

I wasn't planning on jumping into the New 52  DC Comics reboot as I'm more of a trade paperback kinda guy- they are a better value, and I'm a little miffed about the price of these. What happened to "Drawing the line at $2.99", DC?? Anyway, I'm always reading a pile of comics, being fresh back into them in the last year, and have been catching up on the 2 decades of comics I missed, the Silver & Bronze Age origins published before & right after I was born, and the work I missed while narrow-mindedly reading only Batman comics in high school. The shelves of books I've been reading in the past 12 months would blow your mind- I've quickly become a serious student of comic books. While other peers my age have been going back to school, I've expanding my knowledge of the history of comics- something I've always loved. But I thought I'd at least get a taste of these becuase it looked like fun and I'm the sporting type, and I was never offended at the idea of a reboot of the DC Universe. In spite of the public outcry, this seems to be going swimmingly for DC.

The Bubbs was lukewarm on Justice League in deciding what to follow among the New 52 title, but I'm really into the whole supergroup vibe, and so I'm feeling like I will be following this for now. I really like Jim Lee's artwork, and enjoyed author Geoff Johns' work on the Blackest Night books. As usual, I was late for the dance on the whole damned relaunch, but stumbled upon a lone copy at The Fantasy Shop- the clerk told me she loved it, and so did I. But hey- I dig on Justice League, so...

 The heroes moments of discovering one another are a lot of fun, and intact remain a lot of the character's personality traits: Hal Jordan's egotism & impatient bravado, Batman's fearlessness, deductive mind, & skepticism,  and for the brief moment introduced at the end, Superman's sheer power & confidence. Hal almost can't believe the existence of Batman upon discovering he's tracking the very same unauthorized extra terrestrial in his designated space sector. While he's following the Dark Knight detective around asking questions, Batman is casing the dangerous visitor while figuring the Green Lantern out from the ring up, which is unknowingly removed from Hal's finger by Batman himself at one point.

So far there have been no origin flashbacks, thankfully, and there really does seem to be a renewed sense of  discovery in these powerful and "unknown" heroes. I get a tingle thinking about some kid reading about these characters right here in this book for the first time, and have done my best to think fresh in this way while reading. And that's no easy feat, even for an open minded artistic type such as myself, recently "reborn" into comics, harder yet for the cynical fanboy that was never down with the reboot.

Before meeting him, Batman has already expressed a distrust of the alien Kal-El to Hal, who whisks him away to Metropolis on a green jet construct produced by his power ring in search of the mysterious Superman. Hal's arrogance & lack of subtlety are quickly doused with disdain by the god-like Kryptonian. The last page below is one of my favorites, heralding further conflict with the two Earthlings that are about to discover the Man of Steel. What do I think of the new costume? It's fine, whatever... Look, if they're gonna do a reboot, they had to tweak the costumes. Like BubbaShelby said, the red shorts were a nice visual break from a design standpoint, and Chris Reeve in that red & blue outfit will always be the vision of my childhood superhero. That said, I love Jim Lee's figurative work, and all the thin section lines throughout the bodysuit. This looks cool...

Later the same day I found a pile of Batgirl #1 at a Toys 'R Us on the same day- it was $2.99... why the difference?? Lookit that cover by Adam Hughes- outstanding!!

And the splash page is pretty good too, though there seems to be something slightly off, or "squeezed in about the perspective on the right leg/foot to my eye. The old figure drawing student in me would have put a bent knee there, which is what my eye initially registered anyway. Previously unknown to myself, Ardian Syaf did some otherwise serviceable penciling in this book. I'll  be honest, it wasn't my favorite- after veiwing Jim Lee's masterful command in the Justice League #1, Syaf's pencils looked average, the panels somewhat crowded, and the figures a little rigid on some pages. Batgirl's pretty face is drawing perfectly every time however, lovingly rendered like a childhood memory.

Right out of my old Killing Joke TPB I had in high school, Barbara's violent past with the Joker is remembered in flashback. By now you've heard that instead of becoming Oracle, she is rehabilitated and carries on as Batgirl, where this retconned history of our heroine picks up from. Fresh into her return as Batgirl, a rejuvenated Barbara Gordon faces off with Gotham's masked "Brisbay Killers", saving a their intended prey & surviving by the skin of her teeth. But when Batgirl answers to one of her father's texts alerting to an emergency at Gotham Hospital, the mysterious "Mirror", who asks his victims why they survived previous brushes with death before murdering them, shakes our girl's confidence pointing a gun at her spine. Batgirl freezes freezes recalling the fateful day Joker sentenced her to a wheelchair, one of the Brisbay killers she just brought in and some cops are murdered by the Mirror, and the police blame her for his getaway. It was a rough return for our heroine, and it looks like a long road back to her glory days as Batman's star pupil, as Barbara Gordon is the next victim shown on the Mirror's list- someone Batgirl will need to save if this is all going to work out.

More Later- Make It FUN!