McFarlane Toys Halo 4 Series 3 Spartan Thorne

The newest wave of the McFarlane Halo figures have dropped at my local Forbidden Planet and my first pick up from this newest set is Thorne.

The back of the packaging shows the other figures that are available in this latest wave.

It looks like I missed out on getting Jul 'Mdama sadly. I don't have any Covenant figures in this scale and it'd be nice to give my Spartans an enemy to fight.

Also available in this wave are Commander Palmer and a red Spartan Soldier. Sadly, Palmer is supposed to be a female character but having had one in my hand in store, it's a re-use of a male Spartan body in Palmer colours. A real shame as I'd have loved to have had her... I might still pick her up of course. The Spartan Soldier that comes in red seems to be pretty widely available here in the UK, but I believe it's a Walgreens exclusive in the US.

Right, let's get on with looking at Thorne himself.

Firstly the only accessory he comes with is an assault rifle. This is sculpted really nicely and painted in black with highlights in a metallic gun metal grey and a flat grey making the rifle look really good - especially when posed with Thorne.

Thorne himself is a really nice royal blue with silver highlights. There is also a very nice silver dry brushing over the figure giving his armour a battle worn and weathered look which I just love. The gold that has been used for the visor isn't very metallic but I think it works well for the figure - for me, it gives it a more realistic look. The paint on his hands is incredibly clean. His fingers have blue padded areas and there's a pad on the back of the hands which also has the silver dry brushing.

And as is standard with McFarlane Spartans - he has a peg hole in each leg that you can attach his rifle to.

The articulation is something I really like in these figures, mostly because they're ratchet joints and they feel good and secure. The head is on a ball and hinge joint meaning it can look up a little, down, left, right, and there's a nice neck pivot. the shoulders, elbows and wrists are all on a ball and hinge which gives for a good range of motion, but the elbows and shoulders are hindered by the armour. There's an ab crunch which let's you balance Thorne easier, but it doesn't give you a great range of motion.

The hips are a downer, kicking back and forth is about the best that Thorne can do. There's a ball and hinge at the knees and ankles, there's toe articulation and the toes also pivot.

I absolutely recommend this guy if you're a fan of Halo. I like the poses you can get him into, the colour of his armour and the paint apps, and he looks great with other Spartans.

There's been some anger against the price rise for the McFarlane figures, especially as these Halo figures come in a 5" scale, but I still think these figures give you good bang for your buck. And as these things never get re-released the secondary market prices are crazy, so yeah, grab them while you can!

Go Figure!

Batman Arkham Knight Scarecrow

I spotted this Scarecrow figure in Forbidden Planet, passed on it, but eventually caved and returned to pick him up. This is from DC Collectibles and is sculpted by Gentle Giant. The others in this first wave are Batman, Harley Quinn, Arkham Knight (who is released later this year) and, if you live in the USA you're lucky enough to also be able to pick up Red Hood from GameStop.

I loved Arkham Asylum (apart from the final Joker battle. It was fine, but a bit weird). I really didn't enjoy Arkham City, for me the open world took a lot away from what made Asylum so good.

Funny story about City: I traded in City as I, foolishly, bought it brand new. The guy at the store said (without a hint of humour or sarcasm) "didn't you love this game?! Swinging through city made you feel just like Spider-Man!" I just looked at him for a few long seconds and said "I bought it to feel like Batman though". He stared at me and said nothing. I don't think he fully understood what had just happened.

I didn't even buy Origins. But Knight is looking pretty good, and if these figures are anything to go by, I have higher hopes.

In packaging I loved the look of this figure. I loved the detailing, the sculpt work, and the overall look of Scarecrow - I was ready to be disappointed when he was out the box.

The only problem I initially had with this figure was the fact that I couldn't get this guy to stand! But after a while I got him to stand on his own wch, for me, made this figure even better.

Scarecrow comes with a brilliantly creepy mask which, I'm going to assume, is what his goons will wear in game. Pure speculation on my part though.

Articulation on Scarecrow is really pretty good. Firstly (and this is great!) Scarecrow's hood is attached to his head so it doesn't really hinder the neck movement which includes side to side and a little bit of tilt. The shoulders move up a little, my Scarecrow can't get his arms to 90 degrees, there's a bicep swivel, elbow bend and his hands turn 360 degrees.

Scarecrow has waist rotation, his hips move out, there's a thigh cut that rotates, single jointed knees and the feet move up and down at the ankles.

So there's not bucket loads of articulation but there's a good amount and the sculpted details and paint work really make this guy worth your money.

From the front, Scarecrow has fingerless gloves on both hands, and his right hand has his fear toxin injecting needles on the back. The detailing in the wrist piece is excellent too and painted with a nice metallic dirty grey. He's also wearing a knee brace - either he loves Stone Cold Steve Austin or he had a bad time being left alone with Killer Croc.

You can also see all of his extra vials of fear toxin (or blood?) on his chest and shoulders with pipes leading all around his torso, along with stitches, belts, buckles and pouches. And a personal favourite of mine: his boots are untied and the tongue of his right boot is hanging down.

From behind there's not quite as much going on, but it's still very cool. There are oxygen tanks which feed a pipe under his left shoulder and go straight into his mask. The tanks are nicely detailed and pained with very neat silvers and greys, you can see all the stitches in his hood and down his coat and you can see the split in his coat too.

Lastly, I just want to pint out how absolutely great Scarecrow's mask is. It's creepy, brilliantly sculpted and painted, and conveys a lot of character.

I would highly recommend this figure if you're into the games or you just collect figures from the Bat books. Here in the UK you should be able to get him sub £20 and I really do think he's worth every penny. He's creepy and sinister looking and I'm really happy to have him added to my Bat collection.

Go Figure!

NECA Alien 3 Dog Alien

The newest Alien wave from Neca has brought us Kane, Bishop, and the only figure I was really interested in, the Dog Alien from the much maligned (and in my opinion, much underrated) Alien 3.

In packaging, the xeno is in a foetal position with the tail wrapped around him - it looks very cool!

Out of the packaging, this is a huge and gorgeous looking Alien. I really think Neca knocked it out of the park with this guy. When he's not crouched, this is a seriously imposing xeno!

The colour is really great looking on the Dog Alien. He's a solid black but has an amazing brown paint over it that really brings out the detail. The skull is mostly clear which looks amazing, and has some smokiness at both ends.

The little inner mouth is a light grey, and his teeth are white.

Articulation is great on this Alien. His head rotates and tilts, his shoulders are on a ball and hinge joint, as are his elbows and wrists. He also has a torso crunch and swivel.

His hips are on a ball and hinge joint, double jointed knees, another joint in his calf (giving him a double jointed leg)and then he has a ball and hinge joint in his ankle. Lastly, after all of that, his tail is almost 12" long, swivels, and has a bendy wire in it. It's brilliant as it ends on a bad ass looking spike (which is a softer plastic).

This gives the Alien a great range of motion, but the best thing about this figure is that it comes with a stand - which in the writing of this review I have managed to break...

The stand makes posing this figure much easier (really hoping this glue holds...) and means you can get him in some great terrifying poses.

The stand though, is really quite brittle. Be really careful with it!

I am really happy with this xeno though, I really think Neca did a brilliant job in capturing the horror in Geiger's design here, with the shininess of the paint giving him a slimy look and all the sculpted details are immaculate. If you're into Alien or were thinking about picking this guy up, I would say go for it if you get a chance. I have a feeling this xeno might become quite difficult to come by.

Go Figure!

DC Collectibles Justice League New 52 Superman

I really like the majority of the DC New 52 costume re-designs and I'm glad I like Superman - he's one of my favourite DC superheroes. So picking up a New 52 Superman from DC Collectibles was a no brainer really, since I've got into more of the DC Collectible stuff - more on that soon...

Out of the box, this is a really nice figure. The real let down is articulation.

The articulation starts out quite well. His head rocks side to side, turns and looks up (a little) and down. The shoulder is on a ball joint but the range of motion here is obstructed because Supes is so buff! He has a bicep swivel, and his elbow bends. Because of the design of his suit, there's no wrist or hand movement at all. Or waist or torso articulation. Superman's legs move forward and back and his knees bend. That's your lot unfortunately.

I guess what Superman lacks in articulation he makes up for in looks.

The face sculpt is really nice, giving him a young optimistic look. I love that DC Collectibles have painted his eyes (nice and neatly too)a nice bright blue. Superman's hair is a nice sculpt too, painted in a nice rich black - no Superman S curl though! Honestly though, I don't miss that. I really like the sculpted lines through his suit making it look like almost like an armour.

The suit is a really nice blue with the iconic red and yellow S shield on his chest. The shield is a good big size too and neatly painted. No red briefs this time on Superman, his undies are on the inside. His belt is red though so that breaks up the blue of his suit until his red boots.

Superman's cape is a soft rubbery plastic that drapes nicely over his shoulders. He has a nice black S shield on his cape too. I really like the design of this cape and think it's translated really well to toy form. The wrinkles are all sculpted really nicely and it looks like it's I motion which is great.

As much as the posing is limited with Superman, he's still a very cool looking figure and I'm really glad to add him to my collection!

So that was my 100th blog post! I have a lot more to come so stay tuned!!

Go Figure!

Kid Robot The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror

Having a look in Forbidden Planet in London, I came across these blind box Minifigures. These were released last year and I picked up three then when I saw them in my local FP. I've always fancied a couple more but I didn't want to order them online, so when I saw them, I gladly picked up another couple.

Like I said, I already have three: Cat Marge (my least favourite), Doughnut Head Homer, and Mr Burns as Dracula (my favourite from the three).

Out of all the figures, my most wanted were Mr Burns (nailed it), Maggie as an alien (my favourite of the Simpson family), Kang or Kodos, zombie Krusty, or Groundskeeper Willie as Freddy Krueger.

Opening these guys up you find the shiny Kid Robot bag.

And my first opening gave me Zombie Krusty! With his very own partially eaten brain!

Look at him! He's such a good looking little piece! His tongue is even lolling out of his mouth which is a great little funny addition. Not a great amount of articulation on this figure - his head turns and his arms go up and down - but the paint job and great sculpt is what makes this guy worth having.

Next up I was lucky enough to open...

Kang? Kodos? Serak the Preparer?! Either way, this guy is my new favourite. Brilliantly sculpted with amazing paintwork, a brilliant accessory, and a plastic see through dome makes this a fantastically fun likeness to the aliens from The Treehouse of Horror episodes.

All together, they're a pretty great looking bunch of figures.

I'm very glad to have found a few of my most wanted, and maybe in the future I'll be lucky enough to find the others I want!

Go Figure!

Living Dead Dolls Figurines Series 2 & 3

Kicking off SHOCKTOBER (see what I did there?) I thought I'd take a look at a couple of horror blind box toys - namely the Living Dead Dolls Figurines.

The blue box is series 2 and the red box is series 3, and I picked them up for pretty cheap at Forbidden Planet. These guys are 2" horror mini figures that I've always liked the look of, and I love me some blind boxes, so I went ahead and picked up one of each.

These toys are from Mezco, and the Living Dead Dolls have been going for a good few years now.

You can see on the back who you can possibly get, with the likelihood in percentages underneath

Out of Series 2, I was hoping for the red Walpurgis or maybe the black Schitzo.

And out of Series 3 I was hoping for the 4% Ember (I'm a sucker for translucent plastic!) or Dee K.

Inside my series 2 box was a silver blind bag, with the logo on the front

And inside that shiny bag?

Grace of the Grave! I wasn't too bothered about getting her, but actually seeing her in mini fig form? She's quite a creepy little toy! It's the "over the shoulder looking back" look that does it. A nice simple sculpt and paint job, until the face. The face has several small bullet holes sculpted in, with trickles of blood running from each of them. Some nice shading on the hands too, and some almost rusty red/brown highlights on her robe. A really nice little piece.

Again, the same silver bag inside the red Series 3 box

And inside this bag?

Posey! A mini fig made entirely of translucent plastic! She even has an accessory.

A small white rose, with bloodied petals. Nice and gruesome!

This is a beautiful little figure. Nicely sculpted again (worth noting that neither of these are articulated), and some nice painted highlights, like her eyes, blood, and white detailing at the fringes of her dress. The thing that really makes Posey pop is the light white dry brushing they've given her, which gives her a nice ethereal look. I'd be tempted to pick up more these but in no real rush.

Stick around for more horror and Halloween related goodness through the month of Shocktober! Go Figure!