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Action Figure Friday - Ravishing Rick Rude

Action Figure Friday returns!

The action figures still aren't yet unpacked but Ryan was clever enough in his packing to know where they all are hiding.  Today's selection was especially easy to find because this dude does not like to blend into the crowd.  Action Figure Friday presents to you, Ravishing Rick Rude!

[I'm only going to reveal him a little at a time because there are all sorts of treats in store for us!]

Over the last two months Ryan has been inexplicably infatuated with the WWF.  And not the one with the pandas.  He's been choosing Wrestlemanias exclusively as his Netflix picks and apparently he's been working the internet trading circuit hard because I keep seeing new wrestling figures trickle in and I swear he didn't have any as of January 2008.  I sort of remember the WWF early scene as a youth, but mostly I remember my best friend at the time, Betsy Hanna, was IN LOVE with WWF and Hulk Hogan in particular.  I think I bought her these for her birthday.  It was especially adorable because Betsy was about 5 feet tall and a cute little strawberry blonde - not your typical viewer I would guess.  I also mostly remember the Bushwhackers.

Anyhoo, I don't remember Ravishing Rick Rude quite as well.  Two pieces of his outfit, however, are very appealing to me and I would probably wear both of them. 

There are the yellow and black lace-up boots over aqua leggings:

 

And the red sparkley cape (which I would probably wear as a bathrobe.  Or maybe as a cape):

 

In case you couldn't already tell by the above shots, Mr. Rude is a little full of himself.

Example A: Glitter lettering exclaiming ravishingness.

 

Example B: Boots stenciled with double confirmation of ravishingness:

 

[Whoops!  I forgot to take a photo of the other boot.  Guess what it says?  Hint: See cape.]

Example C: Ca-razy lettered spandex pants!

 

[At first I thought these were a shout-out to sitar legend Ravi Shankar but I quickly caught my error.]

So, are you ready for the full package??
BOO-YAH!

For some added statistical value as well as another exciting pair of awkwardly tight, even for spandex, spandex, here is his Wrestling Card (sold separately from the figure):

 

 

Fun fact: Robbinsdale, Minnesota is also the hometown of the unfortunate director of Joe Dirt. Hmm..does something about that town inspire hairdos?  In addition, it is conspicuously home to *NINE* other professional wrestlers.   I guess if you're born in Robbinsdale you're a bit predestined for semi-greatness.

 

This figure is a bit of a conundrum.  On one hand, Rick is a douchebag.  On the other hand, the figure does a good job of proving this with extremely close attention to detail.  I think I'm going to have to split the difference.   Three tentacles.

 

Action Figure Friday - Drinky Crow

Today's Action Figure Friday takes us to a place we have not yet visited: Coolsville.  Here Ryan gets to showcase his hip take on figure collecting with an indie vinyl figure instead of one of those superhero type deals.

I present to you, Drinky Crow.

I guess my first take on this crazy ol' bird is an uncertainty on whether he's black or blue.  As a crow, you might guess black and in the shadows you'd be correct.  In daylight, however, he's very apparently of the violet family.  Perhaps the black and blue illusion is a subtle reference to the exploits of Drinky Crow in the alleyway after one too many whiskey shots.

In case you are expressing confusion over the fact that this bird looks charming and sweet and where, exactly, does all this talk of "drinky" come into play?...The true Drinky Crow comes to life when you pop in his second set of eyeballs and load him up with his special jug o' moonshine.

Now he's the sauced rascal that you've grown to love (or will grow to love) from the Maakies comics!

I just did a little internet research to see if "x"/drunken eyeballs were available in human form.  So far, no luck, but here are a lot of really creepy contacts if you are looking for an alternate.  I think the "Hyalo" or "Sinner" could really create that inebriated look if you just didn't feel like putting all that time and effort into actually getting hammered.

From the front view I think he looks a little like a headless bird wearing a hoodie.  Can you see it?  It's nothing major, just a small observation.  Actually, I think a blue hoodie with yellow piping around the edges of the hood would be pretty sweet.  Perhaps once my new/old sewing machine gets into place in our new house...

Wrapping things up, I love the way the vinyl feels in my hands...all smooth-like and light.  You know I'm always a fan of interchangable body parts as well. Topping things off, he really represents his comic clone well.  Four and a half tentacles!
 

Action Figure Friday - Colossus

Talk about pressure!  Ryan informed me as he handed me this week's figure that this guy was the entire reason he started collecting Marvel Legends.  I suppose that means he likes him and I should too.  Conversely, it also means I have this figure to thank for the approximately 1.45 billion Marvel Legends that currently spill over into Ryan's workspace.

We'll see what comes of this week's review: Colossus!

 

Now, I do have a very soft spot in my heart for Colossus in general. Is it from reading his heroic mutant tales in the comic books, you ask?  Well, no, it's because he has treated me very well through the years in the board game Marvel Super Heroes.  [Quick aside: that link takes you to a game review that gives Marvel Super Heroes a 6.3 out of 10.  Outrageous!  That game is a solid 9.]

If I pull the Colossus card Ryan knows that he's in trouble, even if he has a Thor! (And yes, I'm currently taping my glasses back up and putting in my pocket protector).

The face of this Colossus is quite intense and steely - much as I would expect a Colossus to look.  I think they did a really good job of making him look made of metal but not making him all roboty at the same time.  There is some serious artistry in making metal mutants not look like the Tin Man.

I know it's not specific to this particular figure, but I do think Colossus's pointy shoulder pads are a little dated.  1980s, much?  In a way, though, it makes me think he could be a great workout video instructor.  He can really rock some crunches!

I'm reminded now of the workout video I used to do in my teens.  It was this Jane Fonda number.  In doing the research on that, I also found this: http://www.cedmagic.com/featured/aerobicise/new-workout.html and learned that PEGGY LIPTON was in my workout video!  I can't believe I used to do knee bends with Norma from Twin Peaks!  What a day! Also, see that lady with the visor in the right side of the photo?  She cracked me up.  I remember she had a special leopard outfit during the second segment of the tape.  I bet she had some mean shoulder pads when she wasn't in the gym.

Anyhoo, back to Colossus...

I'm pretty drawn to Colossus in general and reviewing this figure does make me want to read more stories with him.  I'm a sucker for the tough, giant, softies.  I like his metal and I like the way he is intricate, yet simple.  Still, his muscles are a teensy bit too rippling for my liking.  Three and a half tentacles.

Action Figure Friday - Jorg Sacul

Before we get to our action figure today, this is a friendly reminder to vote for the new animal you want to see in the June Berkley Illustration release. Today is the last day for voting so check it out below.

And now, from a galaxy far far way (via Indianapolis), I present to you, Jorg Sacul:

This debonair x-wing pilot was a special edition release at Star Wars Celebration Two in Indianapolis circa 2002. We've been to two Star Wars Celebrations.  These are like Trekkie (or Trekker if you want to get in a semantics battle) Conventions but they are on a national level and the people worship Skywalker instead of Kirk.  Overall it's pretty fun and there is something exhilarating about seeing various Chewbaccas walking around with you.  Plus Billy Dee Williams in person!  I think these conventions are the only times I've seen Ryan willingly get up before 7am. He was probably in line for this machismo fella around 5am. Did his wait pay off in his wife's reviews? We shall see...

So, did you figure out the secret of the name yet?  Does this guy resemble anyone you know?  I'll give you a hint I learned from Nancy Drew: hold up a mirror to his name!  Uh, but don't do it to his first name.  And the last name is still a little fuzzy with that backwards "C".  Anyway, it's George Lucas, silly!  Although, shouldn't it really be Groj?  Or Egroeg Sacul?  I'm docking points for that.  It should clearly be Egroeg.

I don't know what Ryan has going with the Hollywood studios, but it does seem like a lot of his figure picks are good tie-ins to blockbuster summer movie releases.  We had Batman, Iron Man, and now, by association, Indiana Jones.  I wonder if Egroeg will don a fedora and whip next?  Jeez, if I had Groj's money I would make myself into every action figure!  Once Ryan and I tried to make customized figures of each other but the project never quite took root.  I do remember that my base doll was a Xena and Ryan's was a Ken.  It must have had glasses so it was probably nerd Ken.

I've always been a fan of the x-wing pilot orange.  It's not exactly camoflauge but it does command a room or cockpit! I haven't compared this newer edition costume to the old-school figures but from my estimation it's a pretty good resemblance and sculpt.  I think the likeness of George is decent as well, though he seems more realistic from a 3/4 profile than straight on. 

I've never understood the wedgie strap of the X-wing pilot uniform. They have to do battle with the Dark Side while sitting with a strap up their butt? Well, I don't know...maybe that is some kind of strategy to make them work harder or maybe it helps with shooting accuracy. It's good to know that Egroeg is willing to put up with it too.

For some reason when I sat Jorg Sacul down I just really thought he looked like he should be at a picnic.  He can keep his grapes in his helmet!  It's good for an x-wing pilot/movie mogul to chill out sometimes.

Jorg Sacul gets three and a half tentacles.  Egroeg Sacul would have received four.

Action Figure Friday - Clash Of The Titans Perseus

...And we're back!

Today Action Figure Friday presents to you...Perseus from everyone's favorite 80s semi-animated movie about Greek mythology: Clash of the Titans!

This one is tough because I have so many things I would like to say about the movie in general and Bubo the owl and Ray Harryhousen (I love you!) but I'm going to try to focus really hard and just talk about this hunk of plastic. And by hunk, I mean hunk.

Look at that sword wielding power! Medusa is so shaking in her snakes right now.

Kudos to the sculptor of this figure because I actually think the Harry Hamlin likeness is very strong.

They got the eyebrows, the nose, and the hair (as close as they could get in hard plastic - it would have been fun to have a "real hair" version too with the feathering).  And, wow. I didn't realize that Perceus was so pouty. He's very sassy. Being a big fan of Veronica Mars season one (anyone with me?), this face evokes some other feelings in me as well - feelings that I will not share at the risk of spoilers. Actually, I've only seen Harry Hamlin in Clash of the Titans and Veronica Mars so all my emotions toward him are very conflicted. I will continue this dialogue in my head now so as not to babble about a show that I imagine few of you lovely readers have seen. But might I suggest adding VM Season One to your Netflix queue? While you're at it, put Clash Of The Titans on there too if you haven't seen it in a while or at all.

There is virtually no articulation in Mr. Perseus which is fine with me.  He can kick, he can turn his head, he can bend at the waist, and he can swing his arms. Sure, I mean, you'd really think that the son of Zeus might be able to do knee bends but apparently he isn't having any trouble keeping those thighs in shape. He has good genes, I guess.

His accessories include a gold sword and a foxy shield with an eagle imprint. You can also buy separately his winged horse (that's Pegasus for those in the know, wink wink) and Ryan actually does own that but I didn't photograph it. I thought I was obeying some kind of self-imposed law of action figure review by only including what comes with the figure but now I kind of regret that decision because the Pegagus is glorious.

I really like this Perseus both for his vintage appeal and his sexy good looks. Four and a half tentacles! And five tentacles for the unseen Pegasus! (Is that allowed?)

Action Figure Friday - Vintage Mosquitor

Hoorah!  I've been waiting for the day when I get to review one of Ryan's He-Man toys! Let me give you a little back-story on these as I have two strong waves of nostalgia from Masters Of The Universe.

First of all, like many a child of the 80s, my brothers and I had some very superb specimens. While I recall that we largely pledged allegiance to the Thundercats (can anything top the trials of Lion-O???!), He-Man was not too far behind.

The second wave involves the times when I first met Ryan. It was back in college and he was 21 years old and had his own room for the first time in his life. He took advantage of this and every inch of his room was covered in toys and posters but his window had the most glorious display of He-Man figures I'd ever seen. I don't know if it was all the He-Man or just Ryan himself but fate had it so that we've been together almost every day since I first saw that display. I don't think it hurt our chances when he saw this TV tray I had in my own collection:

Now, jump to present day and this installment of Action Figure Friday. Today we take a look at Mosquitor!

Truthfully, at first glance I wasn't as familiar with Mosquitor as I am, say, your classic Stinkor. But my visceral memory of pushing that button to churn his chest blood definitely brought some feeling back.

Obviously they had to switch out the classic He-Man body shape given to almost every other MOTU character ever to accommodate the blood-chest feature. As a result, Mosquitor has a classic "long torso". I can attest that having this long torso can been difficult to dress being long in the midsection myself. I've also heard that Lindsey Lohan has a long torso and has to choose blouses and swimwear accordingly. [Reminder to self - Google LiLo to get tips on dress fitting.]

Some other keys talking points of Mosquitor would be his spiffy square moon boots and the general shape of his chest cavity.  It looks like it's either a "W", an eagle silhouette, or a bat.  None of those makes a ton of sense to me, though if he was prone to hanging upside-down the "W" would certainly be more relevant.  Actually, in that case the bat would make more sense too.  Don't bats eat mosquitoes?  Oh, okay, I get it.  Mosquitor is trying to throw them off by identifying as one of them.   

I'm not remembering at all this weapon that Mosquitor wields. It has some type of dragon pig hybrid in it and I'm racking my brain trying to think of how this might relate to blood sucking. 

You know what? This figure is actually really gross. Churning up a blood factory for sport? Someone thought this would be fun for children?  I wonder how many kids went on to be doctors, or vampires, because of their bloody Mosquitor obsessions.

For full effect of the blood sucking action, I would like to present my first interactive videos ever. I think I'll be shopping these around to some festivals so see them here first!

In all, Mosquitor is a solid Masters Of The Universe figure with bonus interactive features. Four tentacles!

Action Figure Friday - Hulkbuster Iron Man

Okay, what *is* this?

That was my initial reaction when this figure was set down in front of me to review.  My second thought: this is ridiculous!  My third thought: is this some version of Juggernaut?  [That's a little shout out the nerdier readers out there except you probably think that I'm crazy for suggesting such a thing to begin with.  So really, that reference wasn't necessary at all.]

This is Hulkbuster Iron Man.  So, yeah, I get it.  You should be big to take on The Hulk.  But really - do you have to be?  I'm going to have to  check with Ryan but it seems like a crafty and creative foe could just as easily take down the Hulk with speed and/or trickery a la Jack and the Beanstalk and about 3000 other fantastic stories.  I don't know for sure but I do know that this figure is a little hard to handle - save for one special feature that I will get to in a second.  And yes, I fully admit that I don't know the backstory of this figure and there could be very logical reasons for why he is like he is.  But I'm just going to approach it like I'm here to review the figure, not the story.

What is up with this airplane he is flying on?  Or is it a hooverboard?  Because if so, I much prefer the Marty McFly crafted style.

I don't like how the scale of it is confusing. I can't tell if the entire figure is supposed to be bigger than an airplane or if the platform is just strangely puffy. It also reminds me a little of the Playskool Star Wars toys. Something about the sizing and design just seems really inconsistant.

A lot of his joints are pretty hard to bend. For instance, even though I see a hinge in his elbow I can't make his arms straight and I think I'd have to sleep on the couch for a week if I pulled too hard and broke it so he will forever remain of bended arm. The bended arm certainly does lend itself to the high-five again, though. Maybe he and T Hawk should be basketball watching buddies.

The special feature I like is the pop up head shield to reveal operator Tony Stark hidden in the controls of the suit.  I like this for three reasons.  A) It makes me laugh to pop open the head and see a mustachioed so-and-so inside; B) I like secret compartments in general; and C) It really reminds me of Ryan's drawing "Big Sur-prise" and that drawing always makes me laugh.

This feature is enough for me to pull the rating back up to two tentacles. Lose the hoverboard/airplane and he gets another half point.

Action Figure Friday - Alex Ross Justice Batman

Ahhh. Sigh.
I'll get this out of the way now...I love Batman. I mean, I LOVE Batman. I would marry Batman. Batman is the best superhero that ever was. I'm sure there are at least a couple dozen nerd websites dedicated to discussing the wonders of Batman. Now, I haven't read any of them but I'm sure they would all cover these major talking points:
A) He is a regular human and gains his superpowers through hard work.
B) He is ultra super uber smart and crafty.
C) He is dashing and debonaire.
D) He has a rich and complex emotional present and past.

I like virtually every Batman movie that's been made, save for that one. Ahem.

Oh, what's that you say? I'm supposed to be reviewing an action figure? Ah, yes. Well, in case you haven't guessed - it's Batman!

Specifically this is an Alex Ross Batman. I know there are more specific details to the line name, etc. but I don't find much time to concern myself with such things. I do know that Alex Ross is an amazing artist and his figures should be no less amazing. They aren't. That is to say, they are not less amazing. That is to say, they are, in fact, amazing. I like how this Batman is smooth and how his muscles aren't too bulky. Muscles can be a real deal-breaker for me in action figures and luckily I have not been displeased with a muscle yet.

We all know how hard Batman/Bruce works for that six pack so you can't argue that it's out of place. I also very much like his grey suit and the stylized bat logo. His cape seems of proper length. No one likes a short cape, after all.

The backside of the figure has a secret compartment for the batarang accessory. A handy feature indeed and it's also not a bad view, am I right ladies?

Lastly, under the proper lighting conditions, he really looks life-like as The Dark Knight.

Dreamy. Five tentacles for sure.

Action Figure Friday - T. Hawk

I could pretty much see this one coming.
Even though I would consider myself a "cool" wife, I have one big Achilles Heel when it comes to "guy" culture - I don't like Street Fighter. Ryan knows this quite well. I don't particularly like video games that are solely about fighting one-on-one with an opponent (I'm also talking to you, Mike Tyson's Punchout). I'm more of an adventure game type. Why don't I get to review the Zelda action figure? Or how about a nice Tron figure? I *love* Tron figures!

No? Okay, so this week's action figure review is T. Hawk from Street Fighter. I can very safely say that I've never seen this gentleman before in my life. I don't really pay a lot of attention to Ryan's Street Fighter shelf. You'd think that a larger-than-average muscle man in a white tassled vest with war paint on his face might have caught my attention, though...strange.

I have been informed this is his "variant white costume". I say "kudos" to any fighter type who is confident enough to wear his whites out to the battle arena! He must be pretty good at what he does. The tassels move too, so I suppose bonus points for that. I can only wonder if he cut off his sleeves and cropped his vest for fashion or if they were somehow destroyed during the roughhousing. Either way, I like the way he decided to rock the cuffs as wristbands.

For the record, this dude is heavy. I could probably start using him for the upper body work-out part of my aerobics DVD. Typically I don't prefer a lot of muscle definition but for some reason I'm not as annoyed at T. Hawk as I am at some of his cohorts. Maybe it's because his muscles seem proportional for a man of his size. Maybe it's because his hawk friend is staring at me and controlling my mind.

This T. Hawk figure has also been given the option of interchangeable hands. I can only assume that one set is for punching and the other set gives mean high-fives. His nails are very well manicured (and they have a serious leg up on those of yours truly).

In all, I'd give T. Hawk three tentacles (out of the five in my tentacle rating system). He's actually very lucky as I thought any Street Fighter member would automatically bottom out in my scale. Thanks for proving me wrong, T. Hawk. Now can you kindly tell your bird to stop staring at me?