Marvel NOW: Moon Knight

I"m not sure when I heard Marvel would be launching Moon Knight under it's NOW! imprint, but was delighted to see it appear recently. My knowledge of the character's past continuity is very limited, but curiosity about him linked to early childhood memories, having first seen him in Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #22. While I reminisced the 1978 issue in a post here last summer, I have not kept up on the nocturnal vigilante, who is often criticized as the poor man's Batman, the comparisons obvious. With little exposure to this somewhat second-tier hero, comparison to his handling in the past is a futile pursuit here. I will say this continuation of Marc Spector's journey as the Moon Knight has a spooky feel, haunted by the spirit of Khonshu and his resulting dissociative identity issues. Unfamiliar with the events surrounding his disappearance prior to this reintroduction, I am truly experiencing the character wax anew.

Moon Knight's first appearance was in Werewolf by Night #32, 1975 (included in the second edition of the said Marvel Essential TPB I've been reading), and the character hopped from book to book before getting his own title that spans five volumes, scattered between 1980 and 2011. Awhile back I'd found the first Moon Knight Special Edition from November 1983, and eerily found the second, December issue while picking up the first Marvel NOW! issue. Cool. The second Special Edition is pretty juvenile, but the first kinda has things going for it... like a story. These were reprints of  Moon Knight's appearances in The Hulk!, whose star bumbles stupidly through the beginning of the second issue- this kills the mood, then we get a serial killer, axe murderer in a clown mask. I prefer the cover on the first as well, which like the second folds around onto the verso, revealing his nemesis. Very dynamic! The art inside had some solid, traditional comics illustration by the celebrated Bill Sienkiewicz. 

The NOW! relaunch is dark but smartly dry ghost story, haunted by a skeletal avian apparition, post-Donnie Darko. The shadowy art is creatively arranged and cinematic in feel. Showing up in the first issue to confront the villain in a white suit continued the theatrical characterization Moon Knight evokes. I will keep reading to see how things progress from this interesting reappearance. What is your favorite run/volume of Moon Knight? 

Above: 4" Marvel Universe Moon Knight I scored in 2011.

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Legends Winter Soldier Capt. America

I've been reluctant to pick up many of the new Amazing Spider-Man and Captain America Legends series figures largely due to the recent price hike. I realize inflation of materials plays a large part in this, but twenty seems too much. While it may seem blasphemous to some action figure fans, I've always considered the Legends line second Marvel Select aesthetically in most instances, and the joints on some of the recent Hasbro Legends flimsy. Their bragging rights for best articulation even seems challenged by Diamond Select lately. And while Mattel's 6" DCUC line had a more obvious sameness to their buck, their quality seemed more consistent than Legends, at least after Hasbro took over for ToyBiz in 2007. That said, I sometimes can't resist a good Marvel Legends figure like this Winter Soldier Capt. America, which has a lot going for it. 

Like the Marvel NOW Legends Cap I reviewed in January, this Winter Soldier Cap has somewhat floppy/loose hinges in the double-jointed knees, but it doesn't hinder his stability significantly. The figure's articulation is really great, including hinged wrists, added swivels in the boot tops, rocker ankle joints, and a very expressive hinged ball-joint in the neck. In addition to a waist swivel, Cap enjoys an abdominal joint with exceptional range, leaving few poses he is incapable of.

The BAF part is one of Mandroid's legs, a figure I don't care about because I already have that basic figure in the much cooler Iron Man 3 BAF, Iron Monger...

His sculpt is outstanding, realistically proportioned as this is a movie series figure, and detailed down to the fabric weave in his uniform. The paint details are understated in a tasteful way, highlighting the sculpt in the chest emblem and armor sections and buckles in the belt & torso region. Printed diminutively on the right and left shoulders are the S.H.I.E.L.D. logo and American flag, "Rogers" below. I've heard murmurs of Cap's shield being too large, and while it measures larger than the others at 2 1/2" in diameter, it looks great to me. Removing the hand is necessary in getting the wrist through the second one, which is still  tricky. There isn't an option for mounting the shield to this figure's back - I'd have preferred the peg & clip-flip setup that Steve Rogers & Marvel Now Cap were outfitted with, but this is still better than the clumsy adjustable straps the Avengers Cap came with.

This newest Cap came not only with an interchangeable head sculpt, but two unique alternate hands. Gripping hands would have been more useful in handling the edge of the shield or a gun, but I appreciate the need to change things up.

The Winter Soldier Cap's style was obviously inspired by the Super Soldier Steve Rogers outfit. I love the Steve Rogers figure, particularly the photon shield my variant came with, so having this Winter Soldier Capt. America figure was high on the priority list. I like the head sculpts on these immensely, and do feel they caught the likeness of actor Chris Evans decently in the new figure. Steve Rogers is still my favorite, but the Winter Soldier Cap has his own appeal- Hasbro didn't drop the ball here, but they charged us more for him.

Winter Soldier Capt. America with Marvel NOW and Avengers Captain America...

I'm looking forward to the movie this weekend, Marvel has been rockin' the big screen with these new movies, and it seems there's no end in sight! Check out my Boyish Wonder Pinterest for more action figure pics!

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Framed Marvel Solicitation Posters!

Picked up another 2-sided Marvel Solicitation poster recently, and it reminded me I never got around to getting frames for these, several of which I posted on back in November. I've been enjoying Iron Man since his Marvel NOW! relaunch in 2012, and enjoyed several issues of Wolverine and the X-Men as well. In the end I opted to show the Superior Spider-Man issue #17 promo (with Spider-Man 2099!) and Guardians of the Galaxy, two other books I've followed since the Marvel NOW! imprint took over my life. I've read far more titles, more consistently from Marvel than DC ever since, the latter of whom also rebooted their title catalogue in the New 52 imprint. Regardless, after having regained some footing back into reading comics by trade paperbacks, the relaunch of each respective title got me into the weeklies. While on the subject of decorating, I never showed of the Thor metal poster I picked up this winter at 1/2 price... nice, eh...? 

If you haven't checked my Boyish Wonder Pinterest, head on over! I worked all week pinning what's started to resemble a "Super-DuperToyBox: Greatest Hits" of my collections & photography. It's been fun going back through the last 3 1/2 years of photography and seeing some of my collection that's been stored for awhile!

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State of the Blog: 600 Posts Later.

I started this blog on Oct. 7th of 2010, and just posted my 600th post! It's not typical of me to draft a State of the Blog, but this hallmark time, and the recent retirement of a fellow blogger gave me pause to think, so here are a few random notes...

You may have noticed the frequency of my posts cut in half in the last couple years- the recent upward trend of my career accounts for a great deal of this. I work far more nowadays, but my business acumen has been sharpened, my realm of experience expanded, and professional contacts multiplied significantly. I have other hobbies that take time as well, including live & recorded music with multiple bands/songwriters throughout the years, fine arts painting, and my endless dabbling in photography and video- the latter two informed & expanded by working on this blog, one of three I write on as time permits. I'm busy.

My posts take time, research, and at least my best effort at writing. While I'm not going to win any Pulitzer Prize with my prose, I've rarely compromised on quality or my efforts to improve. Lazy blogging annoys me slightly- I take pride on all things I work on, and if it takes longer it just does. I don't understand when people apologize, and am not sorry if I don't get back at it for two or three weeks because I'm working on my career stuff, recording & performing music, working on some painting, or just hanging with the loved ones. It's been said that to be truly great at something, all else must be sacrificed- I'm not a believer in that statement. I want it all. I enjoy wearing different creative hats and believe they inspire one another. Variety is the spice of life.


I let all come here, and try to keep things fun for all to enjoy. I think that discourages a lot of negative feedback, and hopefully provides a nice refuge from the fear-mongering and manipulative corporate interest our dysfunctional media feeds us every day. Any registered user can comment, and are only moderated if the post is over two weeks old. I don't subject new comments to that ridiculous word verification either- I hate having to do that, and can't read half of them anyway. I'm not worried about lack of comments, and won't need any suggestions on what more you'd like to see here. This is my toy box and we're playing with my toys. I love sharing with you! Thank you for coming to this happy place! I removed all monetization for your browsing pleasure because I think it's a scam, and you didn't come here to watch a commercial.

Good luck to my friend on all his new endeavors! As for me, I'm gonna keep on truckin'- I'm not sure when I'll reach the end of the road as it were and don't care. I seem to slowly attract more page views as time goes by, and after posting something like 10,000 photos, my photography comes up  a lot in search engines. While it's true the blog platform may now be an antiquated social media, I enjoy it's longer format, Twitter's shorthand inadequate playground for my abilities. That said, I did recently start a Boyish Wonder Pinterest at the suggestion of our belated blogger. I will use it to supplement the Super-DuperToyBox, and will post things there that may not appear here.
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Total Heroes Sinestro & Green Lantern

I'll admit that I wasn't blown away by these new Total Heroes action figures by Mattel, but I liked the Superman I reviewed recently well enough, and I rarely pass on a Sinestro action figure, especially in his black & yellow Corps uniform. I've seen there will be a Total Heroes Batman Beyond as well, a character I feel the same about collecting. And I couldn't pass on a Green Lantern to go with him while I was there on the premises with both in hand, so here we are   :D

As I said before, these are not DCUC-grade action figure, but have their own appeal. Styled less realistically than Mattel's late DC Universe Classics line, in more of a chunky, "animated" version with less articulation, Mattel was able to hit a price point more attractive to big box retail. Similar to the recent Batman Power Attack figures, the Total Heroes have a few additional points of articulation at only a dollar more. The waist still swivels, and there are additional swivels in the elbows and wrists, as well as hinge-swivel shoulders and hips for lateral range and hinged knees and ankles. Pretty simple, but serviceable.

The Lanterns didn't come with a power battery, but constructs instead, both in the form of hand weapons cast in translucent plastic matching the colors of their respective spectrum. The figures grip the accessories securely- they're appropriately exaggerated and goofy...

Total Heroes Sinestro & Green Lantern with DC Universe Classics Wave 3 Sinestro and 2010 Wal-Mart Exclusive GL 5-pack "90's Hal" Green Lantern...

Total Heroes Sinestro & Green Lantern with 4" Justice League Unlimited Sinestro and Green Lantern, another highly stylized line of action figures from Mattel...

Total Heroes Sinestro & Green Lantern with 2" DC Action League Sinestro and Green Lantern...

And finally, Total Heroes Sinestro & Green Lantern with 8" Retro Action Sinestro & Green Lantern, another Mattel Action figure line that was modeled after my favorite childhood Mego dolls...

Mattel stuck to the same buck on all these Total Heroes action figures, and while it would be nice to see a different body, particularly a female, I'm doubtful it will be produced. The previous 5" Justice League got a Wonder Woman packed with 6 others in a Target exclusive, there wasn't a single carded release. Where's the love, Mattel? And one final gripe is that Green Lantern was shown with metallic green paint in promotional images, which didn't materialize onto the final product. That withstanding, the applications are pretty clean on these, and at ten bucks I didn't feel bad picking some up- they're fun! 

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Tech Glider Robin

I've seen a lot of these 4" Mattel Batman series in retail lately, including the Action Wing Batman modeled after Azrael/Knightfall Batman, but very few of these Tech Glider Robin figures. I thought he'd be a good choice just to see what they're like.

Mattel produced 4" figures like these in recent past, styled after the Batman Power Attack evergreen line. Like the new 6"  Total Heroes, and 2013 5" Justice League toys, Mattel seems to be trying to hit that ten dollar and under category to keep capitalism alive, now trending toward a "greatest hits" list of characters across their action figure lines.  I'm a Boy Wonder fan myself, and rarely pass on another for my collection, especially one with a soft goods cape.

 Robin's glider is two pieces, the underwing adjoined to the top by a metal disc that can be shifted/engaged for "flight". The handles peg onto the underside for the figure to grip onto, and can double as combat batons. I like the color and sculpt of the glider, as well it's multi-purpose function, in spite of it's fast food premium-like quality. Not award-winning by any means, but a fun extra for the kids.

Among my collection of Boy Wonders, Tech Glider Robin is most like my Kenner Turbo Glider Robin, of course, in both size & accessory. The Turbo Glider Kenner produced back in 1992 is superior in many ways, employing a chest harness that attaches to the figure and larger sail with detachable missiles... 

The Kenner Robin is more realistically proportioned than the Mattel figure, with more paint apps and double layered, removable cape...

Tech Glider Robin with 4" Power Attack Batman and 6" Mattel Power Attack series Strike Shield Robin- the 4" Batman doesn't have elbow & knee joints, but makes a decent partner to this Robin, whose sculpt is very much like the 6" counterpart...

Tech Glider Robin with my 5 1/2" Mattel DC SuperFriends Robin, a personal favorite...

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