HOT WHEELS - Indianapolis 500 100th Anniversary Indy 500 5 Pack

Even though the name of this site implies to action figures, in general it also applies to anything toy related period. As mentioned in this blog's description. Today I am reviewing over a Hot Wheels set from a few years back. There are some cool looking vehicles in this set and you may want to go to Ebay or Amazon to purchase yourself a set after you read this review. And of course, reviews of vehicles will be different from reviews of action figures. When it comes to vehicles, categories such as articulation and balance issues do not apply. When it comes to Hot Wheels or any miniature car line I just focus on two traits. They are ( 1) how cool looking a vehicle is and (2) the best features of each vehicle.
 There are five vehicles in this pack. First we look at a vehicle called Old # 3. All vehicles will be shown from various angles, left, right, front, back, etc.

The words Indianapolis 500 are neatly painted on the front hood of the car. Although yellow is not one of my favorite colors I still think this is a neat looking vehicle. The car's most noticeable feature is the exhaust pipe on the right side. The pipe is die-cast metal just like the car, as are most Hot Wheel cars or all are a mixture of die-cast metal and plastic parts.
Next up is a vehicle called Chevy Camaro Concept.

This car kind of reminds me of Kitt from the tv show Knight Rider. All it needs is a flashing red light up front and removal of the paint decals in my opinion to be an exact duplicate of Kitt. I love this car. It is nicely done with the Indianapolis 500 100th anniversary logo painted on both passenger and driver doors. I think one of its best features are the transparent yellow tinted front and back windshields. By there being no windows for the passenger and driver sides you can easily peep into the car seeing the dashboard, steering wheel, stick shift and seats.
Next up is a lime green colored F-Racer.

Lime green is one of my favorite colors therefore I think this is one of the coolest vehicles of the pack. This F-Racer is one of those rare Hot Wheels vehicles that has the head of what appears to be a driver. Not many Hot Wheel vehicles have passengers or drivers. I love the design of the wings on both the front and back.The F in F-Racer stands for Formula or sometimes Formula 1 for those of you whom may not have known.
Next up is a vehicle called Greased Lightnin .

This car is kind of odd looking with its unique shape but cool looking at the same time. I love the light blue color of the car and the gold painted exhaust pipes. Reflections can be seen on the pipes and the gold pipes emit a nice shine when exposed to bright light. The yellow tinted windshield is also a nice feature. The odd shape of this vehicle gives it a futuristic feel.
Finally up next is a vintage style fire truck titled Old Number 5.5 .

This looks like one of those old fire truck engines from the 1930s. The types where you'd see old vintage photos of dalmatian dogs sitting in the passenger seat next to a fire man . I love everything about this vehicle. The feeling of nostalgia when viewing it, the ladders, a nice paint job with a neat shade of red, the engines,etc. Firemen tools can be seen on the back if you look very closely and there is even a fireman's hat. The silver parts such as the engine provide reflections and a nice shine under bright light.
Out of all the vehicles in this pack, this is not a racing vehicle by any means. However it is one of the nicest looking vehicles in the pack and probably the most detailed with its unique features I mentioned of earlier.
The following pics are photos of the packaging.

MIB ( Mint in Box ) collectors may be interested in the black and white vintage photos of the Indianapolis 500 pictured on the right side of the packaging. There are some pics that appear to be pictures of some of the cars in this set. Overall I am pleased with every car in this set. This is my first Hot Wheels review and it will not be the last. I plan on reviewing many more Hot Wheel sets in the future. I think Hot Wheels are perfect for both adults and kid collectors. Most adults may buy these cars for display purposes, whereas kids will have fun playing with Hot Wheels because all Hot Wheel vehicles roll fast and smoothly across smooth surfaces. Every car in this set has a mixture of die-cast metal and plastic parts. If you are a Hot Wheels collector I highly recommend this set for your collection.

WWE Elite Series 21 AJ Lee and Basic Series Best of 2013 Kaitlyn

I've decided to do something different here for a change. Instead of reviewing over one action figure I'll review two at the same time. Mostly I'll do this with the WWE Mattel figures. Since there are so many of them, rather it be basic figures or elite. Today I'm reviewing two WWE female wrestlers, or WWE Divas as they are sometimes called. Action figures of the divas AJ Lee and Kaitlyn. AJ is from the Elite series and Kaitlyn is from the Basic series. The differences between Elite and Basic figures are extremely noticeable. Not just between the female figures but all figures.For those of you whom may not be familiar with this line, I'll explain the differences between Elite and Basic right now.Elite figures have slightly more articulate parts and are more detailed visually sometimes. Elite figures also come with more accessories and feature brief bios of wrestlers on the back of the packaging, whereas Basic figures do not. Hence the lower price of Basic figures. Basic figures normally cost around 10 dollars plus whereas Elite figures may run up to 16 dollars or more. Also I think that the basic figures are aimed at lower income individuals or families. Therefor you get a lower price but also lower quality and less goodies such as accessories. Whereas the Elite figures are perfect for those of us that don't mind spending a little extra dough for action figures.
 I think that was kind of Mattel and smart for them to think of people of all income levels. Good marketing strategy on their part too. Now on to the figures themselves. First up is AJ Lee.

AJ is neatly sculpted with a new set of legs different from previous WWE female figures. If you pay close attention her upper thighs are more muscular than any female in the line so far, including both versions of Beth Phoenix. I am glad that the women figures are no longer sharing the same body parts anymore.
As for her accessories, the majority of them are removable unless you take a pair of scissors and cut them loose. AJ comes with two knee pads, two wrist bracelets and one necklace.She is nicely detailed with painted black fingernails and pink lipstick. And she looks to be ready to do battle with her open fists. Plus I love her shoes and her green checkered outfit.

As for the first pic of the front of the packaging, I had already taken AJ out of the box before I came up with the idea of taking pictures of figures while they are still in the box. Sorry about that. After I take pictures of the boxes or scan them, I usually throw most of the packaging away. Some packaging I may keep and others I may not, that's how I am as a collector when it comes to packaging. Since AJ's legs are thicker and sturdier than previous female figures, she can easily pull off lifting and holding poses.
Now on to Kaitlyn . I think the figure is pretty cool, and her hair may play tricks on your eyes, although I mean this in a good way. In dim lighting, the streaks in her blond hair look black. But once I placed her under a bright LED flashlight the streaks look dark brown instead of black. See if you can notice the differences in the following pics. The full body shot was taken without the LED flashlight but the up close pic was taken with the extra light.

I love Kaitlyn's green eyes, they just stand out at you like cat eyes. Good job Mattel on the eyes and the hair streaks. She is not as detailed as AJ Lee, no makeup at all, lipstick or nail polish. But as mentioned earlier, this may be due to the differences in quality between Elite and Basic figures.If you want this version of Kaitlyn, then you must purchase her in the series labeled Best of 2013, as shown in the pics below.

FINAL  THOUGHTS

(1) ARTICULATION - Even though Kaitlyn is packaged with the Basic line figures, she has the same articulation as Elite figures. Basically every joint is movable on both of these figures, with the exception of an ab crunch and limited up and down head movement due to the sculptured hair. 

(2) STANDABILITY - There are no balance issues with either of these figures. 

(3) WHAT DO I LIKE BEST ABOUT THESE FIGURES ? For AJ- her jewelry and brand new legs. For Kaitlyn- her hair, green eyes, and her leather and vest outfit.

(4) WHAT DO I LIKE LEAST ABOUT THESE FIGURES ? Limited head movement. No ab crunch on either figure.

(5) WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN DONE TO IMPROVE THESE FIGURES ? Softer hair for better head movement. The female figures deserve an ab crunch just like the elite male figures.

(6) GRADING SCALE - On a scale of 1-10 I give both of these figures a 9.0. Both are still cool even without the ab crunch. However with an ab crunch along with softer hair would have raised the score to a perfect 10. 

(7) FINAL  ANALYSIS - Overall I am pleased with both of these action figures of AJ Lee and Kaitlyn. Also if you look closely at Kaitlyn's arms, they just like AJ's legs seem pretty muscular. Compared to the previous WWE female figures. I even noticed what look like veins on Kaitlyn's right shoulder. Excellent attention to detail by Mattel. I definitely recommend you add these two divas to your WWE Divas collection. 

Would you like a Marvel Legends action figure of FireStar ?

Here's something different from a review. Instead of a review here is the first poll conducted for this blog. For those of you whom may not know who Fire-Star is, you may want to go to Youtube and type in Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends. Looking back at this old cartoon may help you decide if you want a Marvel Legends action figure of this character. Since Spider-Man and Ice-Man are already in Marvel Legend form, be it Toybiz or Hasbro, all we need is Fire-Star to complete to complete the trio.On this Halloween day, it would be a treat and not a trick to have her as an action figure.
   

Here's a link to a POLL created where you can vote to have Fire-Star made into a Marvel Legend.

CLICK HERE TO VOTE

First FREE Figure to be won in CONTEST

Here's a look at the first figure to be won in the first contest. A mint in box Tomorrow Never Dies 007 Elliot Carver figure. This figure is from a 6" scale James Bond line made by a toy company called Exclusive Premiere. The figure debuted in the late 1990s.
                               As for the contest, you must become a member of this blog to win free figures.
The trivia questions will be done here on the blog and the answers to the trivia questions must be posted in the comments section under the question. Whoever sends the first correct answer is the winner.
             I am hoping to start the first contest in January 2014. I am waiting for more members to join the blog before I start a contest. So if you are interested in winning free action figures than you must join this blog. I refuse to start a contest if there is little to no interest by not joining.
                         Back to the figure. I have two of them. One for myself and the other for the contest.
My figure is the one pictured out of the box and the one for the contest is MIB ( Mint in Box ).
                 

MAX STEEL - Boomerang Blast Max Steel

Sometimes you may bump into an action figure that you know nothing or very little about. This happened to me when I purchased this Max Steel figure. I never knew these figures ( The Max Steel toy line ) existed until I saw them at a local Wal-Mart. Never heard of or saw the cartoons either. However I decided to purchase the figure because of the following reasons.It looks cool, I like toys/figures with flashing lights, since it's in 6" scale the Max Steel figures fit in well with other 6" lines that are well known such as Marvel Legends,etc. , and the price was decent being under 10 dollars. As you can see on the packaging that this particular Max Steel figure is a variant known as Boomerang Blast Max Steel , by Mattel.

As you can see on the back of the packaging his action features are illustrated. The main selling point of the figure is that if you twist his midsection upward to his right, he is supposed to be able to toss the rubber boomerang like items that he comes with. Plus the emblem on his chest flashes with blue light. The blue light flashing is my favorite feature. It looks really cool when flashing in dark settings. Also on the back of the packaging is a short miniature bio , along with a website url address for the Max Steel franchise, and various other figures in the line.
Max comes with three accessories plus an instruction sheet. The accessories are a big blue sword and two boomerang pieces.

Like I already mentioned earlier, the real selling point about this figure for me is the chest emblem flashing with blue light. There are two ways to start the flashing. You can move his midsection upwards toward the right, or just simply press the chest emblem with your finger. The sword itself does not glow or flash, however when close to his chest the flashing light seems to give off the effect as if the sword too is glowing. As the following pics illustrate.

The compartment on Max's back has several purposes. You can store his sword along with his boomerang weapons separately, plus you would need a flat head screw driver to remove the cover to replace the batteries whenever or if ever the day comes that the original batteries have lost all of their power.

When taking Max out of the package, if you want to pose him with his sword in hand, you may want to pose him with the sword facing downwards toward the ground. I say this because this stance better balances him, making him stand better. If you pose him with the sword facing upwards the extra weight of the sword may make him just a little top heavy, but not by much.

And as I also already mentioned, Max fits in well with various other 6" scale toy lines, as you see here.

                                                        FINAL  THOUGHTS
(1) ARTICULATION - Articulation is very limited. The head moves left, right and all around. The left arm moves up and down. Right arm moves slightly but is about 98% non articulate. The palm of his right hand lifts up so you can insert the boomerang weapons. And his midsection moves upward towards the right. That's all there is to the articulation.The legs have no articulation.
(2) STANDABILITY - Standing this figure is somewhat tricky . Max stands well on hard surfaces such as wood, but when standing him on something soft such as a sheet of notebook paper takes a little bit of a balancing act on your part. However, he stands best when you pose him with his sword facing downwards.
(3) WHAT I LIKE BEST ABOUT THIS MAX STEEL FIGURE? The blue flashing lights, his sword, and sculpt wise I like that his hair is sculpted rather than painted on to his head.
(4) WHAT I LIKE LEAST ABOUT THIS MAX STEEL FIGURE? Very limited articulation however it does not take away from the coolness of the figure.
(5) WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN DONE TO IMPROVE THE FIGURE ? More articulation.
(6) GRADING SCALE - Depends on how you grade everything. What I mean is, if I was grading just the figure only, I'd give it a 7.5. But combine the figure with his weapons along with his action features gives it an overall score of 9.0. The minus being for the very limited articulation.
(7) FINAL  ANALYSIS - Overall I am pleased that I purchased this figure. And is it just me or do the Max Steel figures kind of have somewhat of an anime feel and look to them? Especially Max. He kind of reminds me style wise of the Young Justice figures also by Mattel. Plus I think the figure is somewhat cool looking, because blue is one of my favorite colors anyway, which is why I enjoy the flashing glowing light so much. Although these figures are aimed at kids, us adult collectors may enjoy mixing them in and displaying them with our other 6" scaled lines.

Star Wars Black Series One - Luke Skywalker

Finally, after all of these years, dating back to the Kenner Star Wars figures of the late 1970s , Star Wars action figures have made it to the 6" scale thanks to Hasbro. And Luke Skywalker happens to be the first figure in the new Star Wars Black series. These figures are hard to find in regular stores like Wal-Mart or Target. You may have to visit a local comic book store, which is where I purchased this version of Luke. I am pleased with everything except the price. The $ 24.99 price tag is a little steep, but the purchase is well worth the money spent. Even the packaging is worth keeping, all you have to do to open the figure from it is to cut the tape at the top of the box and pull upwards. Unlike other toylines these figures can be opened without damaging the box.

As you can see the packaging even makes notation of the figure that was purchased. I think this is a neat feature for those collectors that like to keep their action figures MIB ( Mint In Box ) . 

I was also a little surprised that this version of Luke Skywalker, the X-Wing pilot version was chosen over Luke in his original outfit. The figure is very well articulated, and looks just like Mark Hamill, the actor that played this character in the early Star Wars films. It is nicely detailed, it even has a mole near his right nostril.

Even though this series is classified as 6" scale, Luke falls a tad short of 6 inches as you can see in the above pic. However, do not be disappointed by this, I was not. And the reason why is because even though the line is in 6 inch scale, does not mean that Luke has to be six inches. Since the actor/ character was of shorter stature than most others in the films, it would be wise for a Luke Skywalker figure to be this height, otherwise he and say someone like Han Solo or even Darth Vader himself would end up being the same height as Luke. I love how Hasbro is staying true to character / actor height. Similar to Marvel Legends and the WWE Mattel figures staying true to the height of characters even if it means going just a little off scale.

As for accessories, Luke comes with three. His famous blue light saber, a pistol and his X-Wing fighter helmet. I guess you could say the recording looking device on his chest could be an accessory, but it is attached to him and is not removable. The cord is bendable and so are the leg straps. 

Of the three accessories, the Light Saber and the helmet are my favorites. I wish the light saber could glow in the dark, however you can add a glowing effect to it by placing it near a well lit lamp. The handle is very detailed and has what looks like buttons on it that can be pressed to turn the saber on or off. 

As for the helmet, I love the goggles being made out of a clear see through hard plastic. No moving parts however the chinstrap and goggles does the helmet justice. 

For you customizers out there, there is a clear plastic piece that covers the helmet when you remove Luke from the package. I've decided to take a picture of it just in case some of you may want to use the piece for customizing when you purchase this Luke figure.

The pistol is very well detailed and it may fit better in Luke's right hand than his left, because his right hand has what looks like a trigger finger. I on the other hand prefer to have his sword in his right and the pistol in the left hand. It just looks better this way to me. 

In the following pics, Luke is compared in scale to a couple of 3 inch Star Wars figures and the final pic compares him with other 6" scaled figures from other lines. 

FINAL  THOUGHTS

(1) ARTICULATION - Excellent articulation. The joints are very tight. At first I was nervous about moving his head up and down, worrying about maybe breaking something. I finally gave it a go and everything moves well, despite the tightness and stiffness of the joints.

(2) STANDABILITY - Luke stands really well with no balance issues. However the bottom of his boots have holes in them, for those of you that may want to put him on figure stands from other lines.

(3) WHAT I LIKE BEST ABOUT THIS LUKE SKYWALKER FIGURE? Hard to say, because there are a lot of features to like. The sculpt, the articulation, the details in the face, the gear on his uniform, the accessories. 

(4) WHAT I LIKE LEAST ABOUT THIS LUKE SKYWALKER FIGURE ? Nothing. I could not find anything to dislike about this figure. 

(5) WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN DONE TO MAKE THIS FIGURE BETTER ? A glow in the dark light saber would have been nice to have, and still would be. 

(6) GRADING SCALE - On a scale of 1-10, not only does Luke get a 10 but everything he comes with does. The accessories, the packaging , etc . 

(7) FINAL  ANALYSIS - Overall I am pleased with Luke SkyWalker. He is an excellent action figure with cool accessories. I am also glad that Star Wars action figures have finally come to the six inch scale. Now we can finally pose Luke Skywalker next to other super hero icons such as Spider-Man, Bat-Man and SuperMan. The packaging is so well done that collectors can neatly put the figure plus all of the accessories back in the package and make it look as if it never was opened. This comes in handy just in case someone opens their figure but later changes their mind deciding to have the figure MIB .