MARVEL SELECT - Black Cat

Marvel Select's first Black Cat figure comes with some very cool accessories, and a nice diorama piece. With it you get a diamond necklace, a plastic necklace, a bank safe, and fake money. The figure is nice itself with limited articulation. However I a more of a fan of 6" scaled figures. As you can see in the pics Marvel Select's Black Cat is a bit more detailed in the face than the Marvel Legend version from Toybiz.

The figure itself is great for display purposes only. You can not put her in fight poses like you can with the Toybiz version. So it all depends on your style or taste for figures. If you love figures that look fantastic than Marvel Select Black Cat is definitely for you. If your looking for around 20 or so points of articulation than you'll be somewhat disappointed. 

Now on to the accessories. Of all the accessories she comes with, the diamond necklace,the diorama and the safe are my three favorites. The diamond is super cool and really does look real. As you can see from the pic, the flash from the camera is reflected upon it, giving it a shining glimmering like effect. Very cool. I love the fact that the safe opens and closes. The regular necklace is okay and does kind of look real from a distance, but it is nothing compared to the diamond necklace in my opinion. As for the money piece, I feel that a different shade of green might have made it look more realistic. I think it looks cool from a distance but up close it does not look too impressive once you see the plastic sheets of dollar bills stuck together.

The diorama is excellent even though it's only half of a wall and floor. As you can see in the following pics, you can pose your 6" figures with it and have them act out scenes. Here I was pretending having Spider-Man/Peter Parker visiting Mary Jane at her new apartment. I love how the window easily opens and closes. This is the back of the diorama piece. I am showing you two different versions of the same picture, one uncropped and one cropped picture. 

The following pic is the inside of the diorama piece. This is what you'll see when you purchase Marvel Select Black Cat mint in package. 

FINAL  THOUGHTS

(1) ARTICULATION - This category is not a high point for this figure.Very limited articulation. However it does not take away from the great sculpt of this figure.

(2) STANDABILITY - Black Cat has no trouble standing if you pose her correctly.

(3) WHAT I LIKE BEST ABOUT MARVEL SELECT BLACK CAT ? - I want just judge the figure here, but everything that came with it. What I like best about the whole package are the safe, the diamond necklace, and the diorama piece.

(4) WHAT I LIKE LEAST ABOUT MARVEL SELECT BLACK CAT ? - Nothing. There are no complaints from me about this figure or the accessories it came with.

(5) WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN DONE TO MAKE MARVEL SELECT BLACK CAT BETTER? - It would have been nice if the safe was die-cast metal instead of plastic. The die-cast would make it look like a real safe. However I'm not bothered by this though, it still looks neat in plastic but I just feel it'd look better as die-cast.

(6)  GRADING  SCALE - If judging only the Black Cat figure itself, I give it a 9.0. The minus is for the very limited articulation, however I think it looks way better than the Marvel Legend Toybiz version. But judging the figure plus the accessories she comes with, I give the whole entire package a perfect 10. Cool figure and even cooler accessories. 

(7) FINAL  ANALYSIS - Overall the Marvel Select Black Cat is a great action figure for display purposes, it is the accessories themselves that steal the show. When I purchased this figure at a local comic book store, I was more excited about the accessories than I was the figure itself. As I proved with the diorama piece, you can make scenes with both the front and back of the piece as the above pics illustrate. The diamond necklace is so cool to look at and very young kids might enjoy playing with the safe. It too is also a great display piece for your action figures.

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE CLASSICS - Sy-Klone

Sy-Klone was one of my favorite characters and action figures as a kid. The vintage 1980's version was known for its spin feature. This updated MOTUC Sy-Klone does NOT spin, which kind of takes away the nostalgic feel from the eighties. When I opened him up I was disappointed that the spin feature was gone, but grew to like the figure anyway. I'm assuming the reason the spin feature was not available is because Maybe Mattel figured that action features are for kids, not for adult collectors. They figure most adults display their figures rather than play with them. As you can see in the pic, Sy-Klone comes with two accessories. His yellow shield and the circular red piece that fits on an attachment on his lower back. This red piece pays homage to the redesigned MOTU Sy-Klone figure from the early 2000's .

Sy-Klone's sticker is more secure this time. It will not peel off like the one on the old 80's vintage figure. Also if you pay close attention to Sy-Klone's chest you'll notice a radar beam that moves across his chest when you move the figure around. This is a very cool special effect and kind of makes up for the missing spinning action .
                 Even though Sy-Klone can't spin anymore, ( at least this figure,not the character) , you can still put him in spinning poses just like the following four pics.

As for his bio, Mattel went with his Mike Young Productions origin instead of the old Golden Books origin where he was a circus acrobat and was some kind of way given his tornado powers to him by Spydor. I like that origin better than I do the Mike Young one because the Golden Books origin is proof that Sy-Klone had some athleticism before he got his powers. I like the idea of him being somewhat of an athlete with acrobatic skill better than I do of him being just a regular guy.
 One thing I do like about this new bio however is that it states that Sy-Klone added the radar himself, not anyone else. So at least this tidbit of information shows that Sy-Klone has advanced intelligence, rather than just being a normal guy with no special skills whatsoever.

                                           FINAL  THOUGHTS
(1) ARTICULATION - The basic/standard MOTUC articulation. In homage to the vintage figure, there's a spin dial on the back of his belt but it does not move.
(2) STANDABILITY - Sy-Klone has no trouble standing up. Thankfully the added accessories to his back ( the blue backpack like attachment and the red ring ) does not make him top heavy.
(3) WHAT I LIKE BEST ABOUT SY-KLONE ? His radar sticker with the moving radar sticker as I mentioned earlier is a nice special effect. The sculpting is nice and I like the fact that he can still be placed in spinning poses .
(4) WHAT I LIKE LEAST ABOUT SY-KLONE ? The spinning feature is gone. What was his trademark as a toy in his previous toy versions is no longer there. My only complaint about this figure.
(5) WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN DONE TO MAKE THIS FIGURE BETTER ? Add the spinning feature. As they use to say in some Marvel Comics "Nuff said".
(6) GRADING SCALE - On a scale of 1-10 I give Sy-Klone a 9.0 . Would've given him a perfect 10 if the spinning feature was back.
(7) FINAL ANALYSIS - Overall this is a great figure despite missing his classic action feature. Fans have the option of leaving the red ring on or off, depending on rather you prefer his 1980's look or the early 2000's look. The radar is extremely cool and I've always liked his yellow shield. I also think that Sy-Klone is one of the most colorful characters in MOTU, with some very nice shades of blue. I'm also glad the 4 Horsemen kept his lean physique and not make him overly buff. After all he is a character based on speed and quickness, therefore these type of characters should always be lean in stature. If you don't have him already, Sy-Klone is still worth adding to your collection despite the missing spinning action.

TransFormers -Dark of the Moon MECHTECH WEAPONS SYSTEM - Cyberfire Bumblebee

This particular version of Bumblebee is a variant , a neat looking one at that. Plus I purchased him at a very good price, only five dollars from a local Family Dollar. Here are two pics of the front packaging.

The reason I took two pics is because I want you to see all the details of the packaging. I hate how the flash in my camera blurs out some details. Anyway, back to the toy itself. As you can see it was only 5 dollars as I mentioned earlier, a great deal for a great toy. The packaging itself looks cool. I love the pic of the Earth and the space background.
   When removing Bumblebee out of the package, you can easily open and close his car doors as you can see in the following pics. All of his windows have a nice translucent orange tint to them.

And as with every Transformer, you always get their physical stat chart, along with a brief bio and sometimes pictures of other figures in the line as these pictures prove.

Bumblebee's gun has a mechanism that you can press with your index finger, allowing the gun to extend and contract. I think however, that this feature was made to please kids and not us adult collectors. After all, it is an action feature. Also, the gun securely fits into both front holes on both of his arms.

One of the things I love most about these particular TransFormer figures is that I love how the eyes glow on these figures when they are placed under very good lighting . Take a look at Bumblebee's glowing eyes in the following pic, just like in the movies. This in my opinion is a very cool effect.

Here are a couple of comparison shots. I have Bumblebee standing next to Arcee from the TransFormers Prime Series.

And here are the instructions, in order, on transforming Bumblebee into vehicle mode.

And here are the instructions on how to transform him from vehicle to robot. 

FINAL  THOUGHTS

(1) ARTICULATION - My only complaint about the articulation is that his head does not look upward. Other than that the articulation is perfect. You can move his waist, hands, etc. with ease.

(2) STANDABILITY - Bumblebee stands very well with no trouble of falling over.

(3) WHAT I LIKE BEST ABOUT CYBERFIRE BUMBLEBEE ? - When in car mode, I love the tinted orange windows and that he can be rolled across a smooth surface just like a regular toy car. The doors are fun to pose when you open and close them. The design itself is also pretty neat. As for the robot mode, I love the glowing eyes when placed under good light, and how firmly his gun fits into the sockets on his forearms. Plus he has no trouble standing and he just downright looks cool in both modes,vehicle and robot. 

(4) WHAT I LIKE LEAST ABOUT CYBERFIRE BUMBLEBEE ? - My only complaint about this figure is his head articulation in robot mode, that he can not look upward. Despite this small negative he is still a great figure.

(5) WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN DONE TO MAKE THIS FIGURE BETTER? - A larger size scale would have been nice, maybe like 10 or 12 inches. However, a bigger Bumblebee would equal a bigger price tag. So maybe this scale is okay if you want to save money. But if you don't mind spending the extra dough for a bigger figure, you have that right too.

(6) GRADING SCALE - On a scale of 1-10 I give Cyberfire Bumblebee a 9.9. The minus is for the lack of upward head movement when in robot mode. 

(7) FINAL ANALYSIS - Overall I love Cyberfire Bumblebee. He has a cool design with the yellow and black trim, and he is a perfect mixture of die-cast metal and plastic. If you love die-cast metal toys mixed with plastic, than I suggest you pick this one up.