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FLICK TRIX - Street Hits Hard Bikes

I purchased this set at a local Big Lots. It was discounted at $5.00. I'm confused about what year this toy came out in. The only date I saw listed on the packaging was 2011. However I'm not sure if that's the date of the toy's release or the date of the actual real bicycle being distributed . You get two neat toys when you purchase this Flick Trix set . A realistic looking die-cast bike and a bus stop bench. Plus you get a neat looking diorama background piece. Also there are extra accessories available for the bike.

First I'll go over the diorama piece. It is a real photograph . In order to not destroy it when you open the packaging you must carefully remove these clear plastic strips from the back of the display. I've taken pics below to give you an idea of what I'm referring to .

As you can see I was completely able to remove the clear plastic strips without damaging the art piece. As mentioned earlier you'll have to carefully remove those strips from the back and slide them through the slits. Once this is done feel free to use the piece as a background for any action figure.

Depending on where you display a figure, the display as you can see is not without its flaws. I did not even notice the two holes midway near the bottom until I posted this above pic online. Plus minor scratches from those strips can be seen. The holes were more than likely there to hold the bench in place along with the bike. Now on to the bench. I think it is nicely decorated. If you want to sit six inch action figures on it you can. However six inch figures' legs may be too long sometimes, therefor you would have to sit many of them with their knees bent .

As you can see six inch figures can definitely fit on this bench, its just not a perfect fit. As you can see as I've already mentioned you would have to adjust the figure's posture for an almost perfect fit. The bench looks as if it is more suitable for five inch or maybe even four inch figures for a perfect fit. However I still like this bench, some nice artwork on it and it is a very neat diorama piece accessory.
Now on to the bike. It is nicely done as it is a mixture of die-cast metal and plastic. If you look carefully, the bike looks like a real bicycle.

There is a lot to like about the bike. The realism of how it looks like the real thing. Working pedals and wheels. The seat is adjustable. The writings you see displayed on it. Very cool and very well done. The only thing that seems to be missing is a kickstand . The extra accessories come packaged in a clear plastic bag.

Of all the accessories, the one I find the most useful is the miniature screwdriver. This tool allows you to adjust the bike's seat and change handle bars if you want to. The bike itself is more suitable for children action figures, since it is under three inches high. However some G.I. Joes would fit nicely on it. As you can see it makes a nice little ride for figures such as Carl Grimes from the Walking Dead series.

                                            FINAL  THOUGHTS
( NOTE ) Since this toy set is not literally an action figure, the following Final Thoughts used for action figures will not all apply to this set. In other words, categories such as articulation and standing ability does not apply here.
( 1 ) WHAT I LIKE BEST ABOUT THIS SET ? The bike and the bench.
(2)  WHAT I LIKE LEAST ABOUT THIS SET ? The bicycle not having a kickstand.
(3) WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN DONE TO IMPROVE THIS SET ? Have the diorama background piece be free of the slits and holes at the bottom.  Give the bike a kickstand.
(4) GRADING  SCALE - On a scale of 1 to 10 I give the whole set a perfect 10. The bike, the diorama piece, the accessories, and the bench all collectively deserve a 10 I think. Individually , the bike a 9.5. The minus is for the lack of a kickstand. The bench a 9.5. The only downfall is that I wish it was a little bigger so that at least three six inch figures could fit on it. The diorama background piece a 9.5 with the only disappointment being the slits and scratches. The accessories deserve a 10 because they had variety of how you want the bike to be displayed.
( 5 ) FINAL  ANALYSIS - I mainly purchased this set for the bike and the bench, especially the bench because these type of accessories are a rare find. The background piece and the tool accessories for the bike are nice bonuses. If you want one of your action figures to own a bicycle, especially children action figures, I recommend this set for you. Need some extra props for scenery displays ? Then the bench would be nice for a park setting or sidewalk scene. Need a background to display some small action figures? That feature is available too. I'm glad I purchased this product because you get so much for such a small price.

CONGRADULATIONS TO THE FIRST CONTEST WINNER JOHN GAITHER !!!

John was the first person to correctly guess " EVERQUEST " in his second comment . Congrads John , EverQuest is the correct answer. The female character's name is Vahlai Ka' lzal . Here's a link to her on Amazon.com  -  Ever Quest Vahlai action figure . You must sign in to Amazon.com to view the contents of the link.
               This is Vahlai from EverQuest

Although she is not the figure John has won. She was part of the trivia question. John Gaither is the winner of the  007 Tomorrow Never Dies Elliot Carter action figure.

John I will need to know where to send the figure. My e-mail address is actionfigureman100@gmail.com  .

Congrats again and God bless!!!

WWE MATTEL : Basic Series Tamina Snuka and Ricardo Rodriguez

Here is a review of two figures from the WWE Mattel Basic series. Tamina Snuka is listed as figure number 59 in the series and Ricardo Rodriguez is listed as superstar # 65. ( NOTE ) To end confusion these two action figures do not come together, they are two separate figures. I just chosen to review them together. First I'll review Tamina since she is listed at # 59 coming before Ricardo's # 65. Tamina is a nice new addition for your divas collection in what appears to be somewhat of a new upper body sculpt. Unlike most of the female figures in the line, Tamina appears to have a more muscular build in her upper body.

As you can see this is Tamina's first figure in the line, as she is just slightly a little over 6 inches. In real life she is the daughter of WWE Legend "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka. If you have a WWE Legend Jimmy Snuka in your collection than feel free to purchase Tamina so that you can display her next to her father, just like I did in the pic below.

Even though Tamina 's outfit is a nice shade of red with black trimming, the most standout feature in her attire is her boots, or shin guards in my opinion. If you look closely, the shin guards are nicely sculpted onto her boots, looking as if they may could come off however they do not.

For those of you that like variety like myself, Tamina's hands are posed differently. Her right hand is a closed fist, good for punching poses. Whereas her left hand is an open palm, good for lifting maneuvers such as power / body slams . Most of Tamina's hard plastic hair is over her left shoulder, therefore it is easier to turn her head to the right than it is to the left . Tamina Snuka comes with no accessories but the figure alone is definitely worth adding to beef up your WWE Divas collection.
Now on to Ricardo Rodriguez. He comes with one accessory which is a microphone. The microphone is already in his hand when you purchase him . He also is one of the first few non-wrestler characters in the line. Here's hoping that we see more non-wrestler characters in this line in the near future. I think this line may need more managers, valets, referees, ring announcers, commentators, etc . to be included with the wrestling figures. Other than the microphone I think the other unique feature involving Ricardo is his bow tie . Plus it's not a normal looking bow tie at that.

The first thing you may notice about the microphone is that there is no writing on it, no WWE logo at all. It is just a plain normal looking microphone. Which in my opinion is good or bad depend on how you view the situation. Good in that this allows you the option to display the mike with any action figure, not just WWE Mattel figures. The bad is that if you wish the WWE logo was displayed on the mike, your best bet might be is to look back at some of those old Jakks Pacific figures as a lot of those figures came with WWE labeled microphones.
Of course the most fun thing about figures with microphones in my opinion is displaying them as if they are interviewing someone. Below are two pics of Ricardo supposedly interviewing Tamina Snuka. In the first pic the figures are displayed in reference to Ricardo asking questions. The second pic Tamina is supposedly answering his questions.

                                                  FINAL   THOUGHTS
(1) ARTICULATION - The women figures in this series are more articulate than the male figures. Just about every basic body part is movable with the exception of no ab crunch on either figure, as all Basic WWE Mattel figures have no ab crunch. Plus Ricardo has no outward leg movement, just up and down,back and forth mobility.
(2) STANDING  ABILITY - Both of these figures stand very well with no balance issues. Tamina's shin guards tend to add a little extra stability in her stance.
(3) WHAT I LIKE BEST ABOUT THESE FIGURES ? I like Tamina's shin guards and her boots. Also a nice outfit and I like her muscular build, something quite different and unique from some of the other divas with the exception of the first Beth Phoenix figure, which has a similar build. As for visuals with Ricardo, I like his shoes I think they are nicely done. The suit is nice, the slick back hair and his microphone allows him to be displayed in good interviewing situations .
(4) WHAT I LIKE LEAST ABOUT THESE FIGURES ? There is nothing that I dislike about either figure.
(5) WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN DONE TO IMPROVE THESE FIGURES ? On Tamina, softer hair for better head movement. For Ricardo , if the jacket was removable so that you can put it on other figures would have been nice. For both figures an ab crunch would be nice however the ab crunch was not meant for the Basic figures. Plus for Ricardo an extra interchangeable hand that allows him to hold the microphone like a sword, would have been neat for displays of interviewing tall figures such as Big Show, Undertaker, Kane, etc.
(6) GRADING  SCALE - On a scale of 1-10 I give Tamina a 9.5. The minus is for the hard plastic hair somewhat restricting head movement. Ricardo gets a 9.5 also with a minus for no outward leg movement.
(7) FINAL  ANALYSIS - Overall I am pleased with both of these figures. However I added them both to my collection for different reasons. Tamina to boost my WWE Mattel Diva collection. I don't want to miss out on any of the female figures, since there are not as many of them as the male figures. Ricardo because it feels good to add a suit and tie guy to the collection, a non -wrestler. Plus I wanted a figure that I could use for interview displays, and Ricardo fits that bill .  Rather you are a WWE Mattel Basic or WWE Mattel Elite collector, or both, I highly recommend these two figures for your collection.

CONTEST # ONE - WIN this FREE ACTION FIGURE by correctly answering the Trivia Question !!!

( NOTE ) YOU MUST BE A MEMBER OF THIS BLOG TO WIN THIS FIGURE !!! Become a blog member first, then answer the Trivia Question .

THE FIRST CORRECT ANSWER WINS THE FOLLOWING FIGURE ...

AND NOW HERE"S THE TRIVIA QUESTION ...................................

Do you know the name of the line this figure is from? Here's another look............

GOOD LUCK !!! FIRST CORRECT ANSWER WINS THE ABOVE MENTIONED JAMES BOND " TOMORROW NEVER DIES FIGURE !!!! EVERYONE GIVE YOUR ANSWER IN THE COMMENTS SECTION BELOW .

MARVEL LEGENDS - Rocket Raccoon Series - Wrecker

Wrecker is a pleasant surprise to purchase and add to your Marvel Legends collection for several reasons. One is you'll be purchasing the leader of the Wrecking Crew, as we get closer to completing one of Marvel's elite villain teams. Second he is a physically powerful villain with a powerful weapon . It's always good to purchase characters with special weapons, allowing some nice fight poses with their weapon . Overall the figure is neatly done with good attention to detail. You can see the wrinkles in his jacket, and his facial expression fits him perfectly, with a psychotic angry look on his face. The facial expression on Wrecker's face in my opinion somewhat illustrates what his personality is like in the comics.

As you can see on the packaging , the variant for Wrecker is one of his henchmen , Bulldozer, whom we have yet to see at the time of this writing. The term Hasbro now uses when referring to variants in the Marvel Legends line is "running change". When you remove Wrecker from the packaging you'll find out that he's quite a tall figure, just a tad bit over seven inches, almost eight inches tall.

My favorite luxury of having figures with weapons is the option or options of how to pose them with their weapon / weapons. Should they hold the weapon with one hand or two hands / both, left hand or right, etc. The possibilities are almost endless.

Since Wrecker's crowbar is not that long of a weapon, I think it looks better having him hold it with one hand rather than two. Unless the weapon is real long, it just does not look right holding a short weapon or one that is not very long with one hand in my opinion . Speaking of Wrecker's crowbar, it is made of hard plastic and is nicely detailed with scars , dents, and bruises. This is very neat , kind of showing us a glimpse of what that crowbar has been through with all the fights and battles Wrecker has been involved in. Plus I like the fact that the crowbar is made of a hard plastic, rather than a soft bendy rubbery type. Since it is a hard weapon, hard plastic makes sense.

Other than his weapon, Wrecker comes with two build-a-figure pieces for Rocket Raccoon . Rocket's head and his gun are available with Wrecker. Along with an instruction sheet for assembling Rocket Raccoon together. ( NOTE ) I thought that all of the instruction sheets were the same. But when I looked back over the one that came with Jean Grey it showed where the parts she came with goes. I'm sure the same bodes for the other figures that come with Rocket Raccoon pieces. I threw the instruction sheets away after I scanned them. Sorry, my bad. I want let this same mistake happen again, or with Bulldozer when I review him in a future article. When he arrives that is. The instruction sheet for Rocket Raccoon with Bulldozer should be the same one that comes with Wrecker, since they are variants of each other.

As I mentioned earlier, one of the luxuries of having an action figure with a weapon, especially any weapon that is not a gun, is the luxury of multiple fight poses and attacks. With guns the posing options are somewhat limited, because only shooting poses are available. Whereas with swinging weapons, such as swords, axes, hammers,etc. or in Wrecker's case crowbars, swinging weapons allow for some very neat attack and strike poses.

As you can see Wrecker can use his crowbar to swing at his foes, choke them , etc. This is fun and I enjoyed displaying these figures in these fight poses. Speaking of fighting , Wrecker the comic book character has gone up against a lot of Marvel's top heroes. I know there's still a lot of you that miss having Marvel Legend figures come with comic books like they did in the Toybiz era. So to make up for that, whenever I review a secondary character such as Wrecker I'll tell you maybe one or two issues that you may want to check out featuring the character at their best. The following are two issues that contain Wrecker that you may want to purchase, Iron Man #251 Acts of Vengeance! and The Mighty Thor #171.

Seeing how tough the character is may make many to want to purchase the Wrecker action figure. As you can see he even gives the likes of Iron Man and Thor a run for their money. Two top Avengers at that which makes it even more impressive.

                                                      FINAL    THOUGHTS
(1) ARTICULATION - The only point of articulation that is a letdown in my opinion is that his collar restricts his head from looking up. Everything else is perfect.
(2) STANDING  ABILITY - Despite being somewhat top heavy Wrecker stands very well with no balance issues.
(3) WHAT I LIKE BEST ABOUT THIS FIGURE ? The bulkiness of the figure makes it fun to put in powerful attack poses such as hitting and using his weapon. I love how his jacket is sculpted with attention to detail such as wrinkles, along with his collar. The crazy man psychotic look on his face is a plus. And I love his crowbar. It is neatly done with the reasons I mentioned why above in this article.
(4) WHAT I LIKE LEAST ABOUT THIS FIGURE ? I could not think of anything that I dislike about this figure.
(5) WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN DONE TO IMPROVE THIS FIGURE? A softer collar on his jacket would have allowed his head to look upward.
(6) GRADING  SCALE - On a scale of 1 to 10 I give this figure a 9.9 . A nearly perfect action figure. The minus is for the collar restricting the head to look upward.
(7) FINAL  ANALYSIS - When I saw Wrecker at a local Wal-Mart I was excited to purchase him for the following reasons. The thought of completing or nearly completing an elite team, be it a hero team or a villain team, provides a sense of closure when trying to complete a certain team. He is a cool looking action figure, I think his purple and green color design is neatly done. Plus it feels good to add a powerful tough character to your collection such as he, since he has fought and nearly defeated some of Marvel's best super heroes. You too will be glad to add this leader of the Wrecking Crew to your Marvel Legends collection.