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.

MARVEL LEGENDS - Rocket Raccoon Series - Jean Grey

This version of Jean Grey is based on the work of comic book artist Jim Lee. It is also one of several different versions of Jean Grey the character as an action figure throughout the years in the Marvel Legends franchise, dating all the way back to the Toybiz days. She is also one of three figures that you have to collect in order to complete the Rocket Raccoon build-a-figure . Although I am not a fan of variant figures of characters that already have action figures of themselves, this figure does not disappoint despite being a variant.

As for the packaging, as you can see there's some nice artwork on the front, back, and interior . As for the bio descriptions, I miss the old Toybiz style bios with the grading scales of certain categories, such as strength, intelligence, etc. Since there are so many deadlines to beat, my guess is that there is not enough time to add all that extra information about a character, so Hasbro must have eliminated this process because it is too time consuming.
 As for the figure, the pic you see of Jean above is how tall she is when you remove her from the package. This stance is exactly how she is posed in the package. You can adjust her leg pivots to make her exactly at six inches tall rather than being slightly below it. I'm still wondering just like many fans will Hasbro ever put an ab crunch on the female figures. Also when you remove Jean from the package you may be somewhat surprised like I was to discover that her wrist bracelets can be pivoted around her wrists, along with her belt being adjustable also. While in the packaging, the wrist bracelets look as if they are sculpted onto the figure, however that is not the case.
Jean's hair is made out of hard rubbery plastic, making her somewhat of a challenge to stand. I love how her blue armor produces a shiny metallic look, especially the shoulder blade covers. As for accessories, this version of Jean Grey comes with none of her own but does come with two Rocket Raccoon pieces, the tail and lower body, along with the instruction sheet on assembling him together.

Below I am comparing this version of Jean Grey to one of the older Toybiz versions. See if you can recognize the similarities and differences.

Well judging from the pics, besides different costumes one major difference is the hair color. As you can see the old Toybiz version has reddish orange hair compared to this newer version having brown hair. The newer version also seems to have a slimmer face. The only facial features that look consistent are the eyebrows and the color of her eyes. I think that these above pics are definitely proof that these toys are based on how they are drawn by certain artists rather than on how the actual character is supposed to be portrayed visually. This assumption is not a complaint from me however, just an analysis. I have no problem with different versions of the same character not looking 100% alike. This is good for customizers in a way, just in case they may want to transform one of the Jean Grey figures into a different character.
                           

                                              FINAL   THOUGHTS
(1) ARTICULATION - The only disappointment in her articulation is that her hard weighted hair makes it tough to move her head upwards. Other than this everything else is fine. My favorite points of articulation on her are the articulations in her wrists.
(2) STANDING  ABILITY - Her hard hair makes her top heavy, so you will have to pose her so that she can stand without falling . I suggest pulling back her upper torso and adjusting her leg stance.
(3) WHAT I LIKE BEST ABOUT THIS FIGURE ? I like her wrist bracelets being adjustable, along with the shiny metallic look to the blue portions of her outfit. I also like the fact that one hand is an open palm and the other is a closed fist, allowing the pleasure of posing her in power casting moves or fight maneuvers.
(4) WHAT I LIKE LEAST ABOUT THIS FIGURE ? Still somewhat bothered by the fact til this day that Hasbro Marvel Legend female figures still at this time have no ab crunch.
(5) WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN DONE TO IMPROVE THIS FIGURE ? Add an ab crunch, softer hair to prevent top heaviness and restricted head movement.
(6) GRADING  SCALE - On a scale of 1 to 10 I give this figure a 9.0. The minus is for lack of ab crunch and the hair making her top heavy.
(7) FINAL  ANALYSIS - Since I already had some of the other versions of Jean Grey before purchasing this particular figure, I was not excited about this figure. I was not excited, but I was not disappointed neither. This is a nice action figure despite the two flaws I mentioned in the grading scale. If you're like me, don't care for multiple action figures of the same character, this Jean Grey figure is still worth purchasing. Not because of the Rocket Raccoon build-a-figure pieces, but because the figure itself is a nice work of physical art on it's own.

WWE Elite Collection Flashback - Series 25 Bruno Sammartino

Happy New Year again everyone. This post is an article of "firsts". What I mean is, this is the "first" post of the year 2014, in the "first" month of the year. Along with Bruno Sammartino being the "first" WWE Champion, as listed in his bio on the packaging. Also it is his"first" time in the line, also listed on the packaging . The figure does not disappoint as he is very well sculpted with nice attention to detail such as body hair. He has some hair on his chest, belly and forearms. It looks cooler in my opinion when you view him from a distance rather than up close, because up close it looks like what it actually is, ink markings and not hair. Bruno's right hand is open and his left hand is a closed fist, great for punching poses. Plus the figure comes in all brand new blue and white packaging, compared to the old red and white packaging. As for the insert of the new packaging, it is now grey and white.

There are some nice highlights mentioned in Bruno's bio. The three most notable ones in my opinion are (1) Setting the world record in 1959 for bench-pressing 565 lbs., (2) Becoming the first WWE Champion in 1963 becoming the longest reigned champion in eight years, and finally (3) Being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2013. Of course the WWE was still the World Wrestling Federation when Bruno wrestled. Back to the action figure. He comes with two very neat accessories. A hall of fame podium and plaque.

As you can see in the pics above the podium itself is a little around four inches tall, however the tip of the mounted microphone adds to a height of around five inches. The podium is a neat item made of clear plastic which produces somewhat of a shine when shone in very bright light. The plaque is very well detailed for such a small item and looks like the real thing.
Back to the podium. Although this accessory came with Bruno, it looks like it may very well be suited for other figures in the line. Especially shorter figures. Bruno looks as if he is too tall to be displayed as if he is talking on the microphone. It would be wise to bend his ab crunch a little to get his face closer to the mike. Whereas shorter figures, especially shorter female figures, look as if their face is right at the microphone, as illustrated in the comparison below.

Now back to the figure again. Bruno is very well detailed with his painted on hair and is sculpted well with a super hero like physique. He looks like he could easily be customized into a super hero character in my opinion. I mean the broad shoulders seem like the perfect resting place for a cape. Right at his ankles you can even see his white socks. The face is very well done however I don't think it looks like the real life Bruno. The figure's hair appears to be darker than what we see of the real Bruno on the packaging. Also the real Bruno's hair appears to be just a tad bit higher off of his forehead than the action figure. However I am not complaining about this attention to detail, just making notation of it. Bruno is still a neat action figure with cool accessories.

                                                          FINAL    THOUGHTS
(1) ARTICULATION - My only complaint with Bruno's articulation is that his head is extremely difficult to pose in up and down positions. You will have to bend his ab crunch back to make him look upwards, and bend the ab crunch down to make him look down towards the ground. The rest of the articulation is perfect.
(2) STANDING  ABILITY - The figure stands very well with no balance issues.
(3) WHAT I LIKE BEST ABOUT THIS FIGURE ? The figure's upper body bulkiness makes him fun to pose into power fighting positions, such as body slams, hard punches, etc. A closed left fist great for punching poses.
(4) WHAT I LIKE LEAST ABOUT THIS FIGURE ? Can't think of any dislikes.
(5) WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN DONE TO IMPROVE THE FIGURE ? Ease the somewhat restricted movement on his neck for better up and down head movement.
(6) GRADING  SCALE - On a scale of 1 to 10 I give this figure a 9.5. The minus is for the somewhat restricted up and down movement with the head. The accessories combined with the figure gives the overall package a perfect ten.
(7) FINAL  ANALYSIS - Although the real reason I purchased this figure is because of the accessories, especially the podium, I really think the action figure itself is really cool for the reasons I listed above. Old school WWE fans may want to add this guy to their collection, because at the time of me writing this article / review there are not that many action figures of wrestlers from the 1950s or 1960s just yet. Only one thing puzzled me about this figure though. Since Bruno is the first WWE champion, where is his championship belt? That would've made a cool third accessory to go with the other two. Oh well, even though there's no belt Mattel still did a nice job with the figure itself and the accessories it comes with. I like the new blue and white packaging as well.