Star Wars Black Series No 14 Clone Commander Cody Hasbro 6" Figure

I completely forgot to photograph this guy in his packaging, so thank you Dorkside Toys for the image!

So we're going to be looking at the last of the clones that have been released in the Black Series - Commander Cody. For me, this guy was highly anticipated for 2 reasons: 1st - this is a great looking character design and I was excited to see him brought to the Black Series; and 2nd - this hopefully means that my favourite clone will be brought to the Black Series: Captain Rex!

Cody comes with 2 weapons, and, unsurprisingly, they are exactly the same guns that we've seen with the other 3 clones.

I'll quickly run down the articulation on Cody first. His head is on a ball and hinge and he can look up and down a decent amount and his head fully rotates. His shoulders are also on a ball and hinge but the shoulder armour hinders the arm from moving up, his arms still rotate right round. He has bicep swivel, double jointed elbows, and hinge and rotation at the wrist.

The ab rotation takes the place of any waist rotation - this ab articulation does not really let Cody lean forward or back but this is mostly due to the armour/belt. His hips are on a ball and hinge but again, the armour doesn't let the legs move too far forward, back or out, but it does still work. Cody has double jointed knees, hinged and rocker ankles.

So Cody's body is the same as the other clones, the differences are the colours, the shoulder armour, the back armour piece and, of course, the helmet.

The weathered look to the mustard paint on Cody's torso and left thigh looks great, as does the grey on his arms. The antennae on Cody's helmet and shoulder are all a softer plastic meaning you shouldn't need to worry about them breaking. The visor on his helmet looks great too, and has a neat white line up and over it.

There are a few parts which also has a nice gold paint applied to them. There's a band on his right arm, 2 belt pouches and a strip on his back pack.

This guy, so far is easily my favourite clone so far, but I stand by what I said - if Captain Rex makes an appearance I don't doubt he'll take that title.

We're getting even closer to Force Friday! Anyone else hitting up any midnight openings? I'll be trying for sure!

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DC Direct Series 5 Green Lantern Sinestro

Apologies for the packaging photo! I ordered Sinestro online and this is how he arrived, his card all over the place.

So continuing with a look at my budding Green Lantern collection, next up is Sinestro! Sinestro comes with a base

This base is really nice! I love that it's done in a green translucent plastic and includes the GL symbol.

And Sinestro also comes with a shiny metallic green power battery. There's a translucent piece of plastic through the middle of the battery which brings some light through, this is a really nice touch which makes the battery an excellent accessory.

Sinestro himself looks fantastic. But the lack of articulation is a real pain. I think that's a fair compromise for such a nice looking figure though, and let's be honest, these figures are aimed at the more adult collector.

A quick run down of the articulation then. Sinestro's head looks down, not up, and left and right. The shoulders are on a ball and hinge, there's a bicep swivel, a single jointed elbow and wrist swivel. The hips kick forward a little and there's a single joint at the knee. That's it. No waist or ab articulation, no ankle pivot, limited hip movement. It's a shame, but like I mentioned, Sinestro looks amazing.

Sinestro's suit is a vibrant metallic green and mat black with gorgeously sculpted musculature and line work.

The face is sculpted perfectly. Sinestro looks extremely satisfied with himself which is a strong look for the character. He has his signature larger head and pointy ears. His moustache is neatly painted and he has sharp metallic green eyes.

I love Sinestro as a character and this figure is such a fantastic representation of him as a Green Lantern. Now to find him in his Yellow Lantern suit...

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S.H. Figuarts Iron Man 3 Iron Patriot

I've been meaning to write about this figure for a while seeing as I've had it for several months now!

SH Figuarts do great work and are well worth the money to have imported from Japan. The articulation, accessories, paint application and sculpt are all top drawer on SH Figuarts figures and this Iron Patriot is no different.

Firstly, Iron Patriot comes with six repulsor effects that can all be attached to his palms or bottom of his feet.

He also comes with his minigun that attaches to his back, which also comes with a blast effect that attaches to it.

And as far as hands go, we get 4 different pairs. There are closed fists, blaster hands with pegs to attach the repulsor blasts to, blaster hands without pegs, and flat palms.

Iron Patriot himself is just a class act.

The paint is gorgeous and metallic, with flecks throughout adding to the realism. This figure looks metallic though it's not - the feet are die cast metal though to keep the figure balanced and to stop it from falling over.

The paint is also incredibly clean and neatly applied.

Iron Patriot's minigun fits nicely into one of two slots on his back. The gun is also articulated so it can sit flat against his back or angle it over his shoulder ready to fire.

The articulation on Iron Patriot is great. The head looks up and down and left and right. His shoulder armour is articulated so the shoulders aren't hindered at all. The shoulders have a ball joint inside and out so it's almost like a butterfly joint giving his arm a great range of motion. Elbows are double jointed and the wrists are articulated. There is an ab crunch and waist swivel.

There are articulated flaps at his hips so that his legs aren't hindered when moving. His hips have double joints, again almost like a butterfly joint so there's a great range of motion forward, back, and outwards. There's a thigh swivel, double jointed knees, articulated flaps at the front and back of the feet, ankle pivot and hinge and toe articulation.

This figure is one of the jewels in my collection, I absolutely love it. It's almost flawless as far as I can see - the only 2 things that are missing for me are: the eyes and arc reactor look as though they should light up, but I guess if they did this figure would cost even more! And secondly, I wish it came with it's own flight stand - that would make it.

If you can afford this figure, I'd say it's well worth picking up. Of course you can get about 3 Marvel Legends for the price of this one figure, but I'd recommend this over those all day - especially with the prices that some of the rarer Marvel Legends can hit.

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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Stockman-Fly

We're finally able to pick this new figure up in the UK - I ordered mine online, but I have seen this figure in my local Smyths toy store. I really liked how much build up Stockman got before finally being mutated into a fly and the mutation scene in the show was pretty great itself!

Stockman-Fly comes with the one accessory in his chocolate bar. It's sculpted in a chocolate brown plastic that has "choc" and "log" sculpted onto it, as well as some wrapper and a bite taken from it. It's a nice little piece and goes with the character.

I'll immediately get into the biggest flaw in this figure: the articulation. As usual, the basic range of Playmates' TMNT figures that aren't turtles get a minimum amount of articulation. Stockman's head is on a ball joint, his shoulders are on a ball and hinge, as are his wings, his waist swivels, and his hips swivel his legs back and forth and outwards... and that's your lot. No elbow, wrist, knee, or ankle articulation at all. A bit poor but this is a great looking figure and one of the better looking villain figs from this line.

The paint is good on this figure, but again a little lacking in places. Stockman's skin is a brown and he's wearing his pink sweater, blue jeans and tan shoes. There's black paint on his sculpted tuft of hair that's left on his head, and his wings are really nicely sculpted in a translucent green plastic. The barbs that are sticking out of his clothes are the main annoyance on the body. These would have looked great with just a small application of brown paint.

The real highlight of the paint and sculpt on this figure though are Stockman's big bug eyes that are moulded in that great translucent green plastic that his wings are done in, but then painted in a shiny metallic green that really make them pop.

There are aspects of this figure that, if corrected, would make it into an excellent piece. But sadly Playmates - to save money - won't be able to change these practices. Conversely though, these figures are kept at a pretty reasonable price and here in the UK I'm sure Smyths are selling some of their older TMNT stock off with a 25% discount, so if you're missing some characters, it might be worth a look in!

Overall I'd say this is one of the better villain figures we've got from this line and I'd recommend him for collectors of this line or kids that are into the show!

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Star Wars Saga Legends Shock Trooper

Toys R Us were selling a bunch of the 3.75" Star Wars figures at half price recently, so I went ahead and grabbed a few. I'm going to start by looking at the Shock Trooper I got.

I love the design of both Clone Troopers and Stormtroopers. But I especially like the clones when they've got a splash of colour on them as I'm a big fan of The Clone Wars cartoon.

As a 3.75" figure, he only has the typical 5 points of articulation - His head turns, arms go up and down as do his legs. This little figure is also nicely sculpted and the red detailing is all neatly painted.

The Shock Trooper also comes with a blaster rifle, which sits nicely in his hand.

I'm glad I got to add this little guy to my growing Star Wars 3.75" figure collection, stay tuned to see more!

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Star Wars Black Series 6" Greedo

Back into looking at Hasbro's 6" Star Wars Black Series and I'm kicking off with Greedo! The universe's most ineffectual bounty hunter!

First thing that you notice about this figure is the lack of accessories. Greedo comes with a removable waistcoat (though why you'd take it off I don't know!), a removable belt, and his pistol. What else would he have though?!

Greedo however is one of the nicest looking early figures in the series simply because of this simplicity. He has everything we see him with in Star Wars and he looks great.

Greedo's face and head sculpt are particular high points on this figure. Great big blue silver eyes, on that green head with the antenna, elongated mouth and ridges and bumps make Greedo look very screen accurate.

His jump suit is great too, nicely painted with wrinkles, dirt and creases running through and over it.

Greedo can hold his blaster really nicely, fitting in his hand with one of his long figures holding the trigger. It also sits nicely in his leather look holster. The blaster itself is a lovely small piece painted in silver with a nice black wash making it look used.

Greedo's articulation is what we've come to expect from the Black Series. His head turns side to side and tilts down a little. His shoulders move up and down, his elbows bend, and his wrists turn. Greedo has a torso swivel, his hips move forward and back and he has a thigh cut. He has a double joint at the knee and his ankles bend and pivot.

The jumpsuit is a nice light green with yellow stripes down the side. His waistcoat is a darker mustard yellow but sadly doesn't quite have the same dirty aesthetic as the jumpsuit. It's still a great looking toy though, and I'm glad I was able to add the original bounty hunter to my collection!

Stay tuned for more Black Series reviews! Go Figure!