AVENGERS UPDATE!!!

Ok guys, we have not one, not two, but THREE NEW AVENGERS CLIPS!!! ENJOY!!

1.) THE AVENGERS - 'Interrogation' Clip (HD)

2.) THE AVENGERS - "Another Bout" Clip (HD)

                                      

3.) THE AVENGERS - "Headcount" Clip (HD)

                                       

Review of Thor: The Mighty Avenger, Hammer Smash Thor, and Shield Bash Odin

The Basics:Scale: 3 3/4"

Price:$9.99-$14.99

Thor:

Thor summons the elemental powers of thunder and lightning with a simple swing of his mighty battle hammer! He wields these unfathomably powerful forces to fight the Nine Realms' most vicious evil. Thor learned many of his battle tactics from his father Odin, the supreme leader of the Asgardians. The few creatures that are foolhardy enough to test such combat strategies generally have to be hauled off the battlefield!

Thor has a very nice movie accurate sculpt, and yes, we finally have him with his helmet. The detail is fantastic for a figure of this scale. The face sculpt looks a lot more like Chris Hemsworth than the original 3 3/4" Thor movie figure. The chainmail on the arms is great and not a piece of armor is out of place. As far as I can tell this is the exact same figure as the original just with a new head and paint scheme. Speaking of paint, its done wonderfully on the thunder god here, but its not perfect. When picking yours check for silver from the helmet bleeding onto his face and hair. Mine has a bit but you wouldn't notice unless your right on top of the figure.

In terms of accessories Thor comes with his trusty hammer Mjolnir wonderfully sculpted and painted, and yes, another gimmicky weapon. When you press the button on the center of the giant sword's hilt, the blades split to reveal a.....giant...blue....spike? I don't even know what it is, but it is removeable.....yeah! *throws into the spare parts bin. Moving on....

In terms of articulation, he has a ball-hinge head, swivel-hinge shoulders, swivel-hinge elbows, swivel wrists, ball jointed torso, swivel-hinge hips,swivel thighs, double-hinge knees, and swivel-hinge ankles.

Odin:



The father of both Thor and Loki, Odin, one of the fiercest warriors in the nine realms,  has ruled over Asgard for generations. But now the unprecedented period of peace and prosperity they have recently experienced is now threatened. Will Odin be in a position to stop this new threat?

Odin, the all-father, has a very nice sculpt, and like Thors it is very movie accurate. Now before I go any further I want to say this right now. CHECK THE FOREARMS!!!!!!!! I didn't and got an Odin with two left forearms but correct hands....I have no idea how...but I did....so articulation is limited on mine....fun stuff. Anyway, the sculpt is great and the face doesn't look 100% like Anthony Hopkins but it is fairly close. One thing I really like is the cape. It is removeable but i've glued mine on as it kept falling off. What I like is the way it is sculpted. That one side is flat and the other is curling over his leg. It just seems really cool to me.

In terms of accessories guess what Odin comes with? YEA GIMMICKY WEAPONS WOHOOO!!!!! But no...they stink....I mean at least give us a regular weapon too!! He only comes with the gimmicky weapons. Press the button on the center of his shield and spinning blades come out. Push the blue button on his sword and it.....splits open as shown above....seriously who would use a weapon like that, let alone who could hold it?? Not Odin, thats for sure, it took me 20 minutes to get it into his hand and it stayed for maybe 2 minutes. I have however found an alternative thanks to 7-11 marketing. Pick up the Loki Slurpee straw and you can remove the spear with an exacto knife. It's not a perfect fit...but I prefer it to theses pieces of crap. Pictures below.

In terms of articulation, he has a ball-hinge head, swivel-hinge shoulders, swivel-hinge elbows, swivel wrists, ball jointed torso, swivel-hinge hips,swivel thighs, double-hinge knees, and swivel-hinge ankles.

OVERALL:

Thor:

Great figure, great accessories, decent paint, bad gimmicky weapon.
4.5 Out of 5!!

Odin:Good figure, terrible accessories, good paint.
3 out of 5!

And that does it for today, come back tomorrow when I bring on the badguys!!





New Comic Book Day Haul

Let's start off this week's haul with everyone's favorite pyschopathic smybiote.

Carnage U.S.A. #5 of 5

This mini-series definitely wasn't the best Carnage mini-series but it also wasn't the worst. The first few issues were a blast to read but towards the middle it lost steam. The conclusion is done well but lacks any big action sequence to write home about. They definitely played it safe with the ending. In a semi-related note, the symbiote "swat-team" (ni my opinion) was unecessary. Just my opinion. Overall a decent ending to a decent story arc.
3 out of 5!

Winter Soldier #4

Proving to be one of my favorite current titles in Marvel, Winter Soldier gets better with every issue. The art is stellar and the writing is top notch. I hope this title sticks around and to those who aren't reading, your missing out!
5 out of 5!

The Shade #7

I love this series. It takes its time with its stories, it has great artists, and wonderful writing. It has a great old school vibe while keeping it modern. (If that makes sense) It's going to be sad when this series ends in 5 more issues...
4.5 out of 5!!!

Scarlet Spider #4

This is a truely great book. The writing is fantastic and I love the art style. Kaine is a fantastic character that is so well written, like me, you'll forget about 'ol peter parker. This series is one of my favorites, so here's hoping that Marvel doesnt cancel this like it did to Ghost Rider, and a few other titles recently.
5 out of 5!!!

Avengers Assemble #2

Eh, I loved the first issue, it was a great intro, but this issue let me down a bit. Definitely was not as good as the first issue but the art was still gorgeous. That said i'll stick around for issue #3, but if it doesn't do much for me, i'll have to drop it.
3 out of 5!

Pick of the Week:


Scarlet Spider #4!

Review of Thor: The Mighty Avenger, The Warriors Three figures

 

I know I said this would be up on thursday but I decided to upload them today instead.

Basic Info:

Scale: 3 3/4"

Price: $12 - $33 per figure

Here are three of Asgard's fiercest warriors, Fandrall the Dashing, Hogun the Grim, and Volstagg the Voluminous. Together they are The Warriors Three. Let's start with my least favorite of the three.

Fandrall:

Fandral the Dashing is known as much for his skill with a blade as for his striking good looks. Many have swooned  at his attention, but many more enemies of Asgaard have fallen beneath his furious attack. There is no edge Fandral cannot turn into a weapon, and no clash that does not go exactly as he plans.



Fandrall is a great figure but loses points here and there for me. His sculpt is great, he has some really nice chest armor that is glued onto his chest but not his stomach so it wont hinder articulation. His cape and collar are removeable but I personaly prefer to leave it on as it looks much better. The other detailed areas are his gauntlets and boots. His sleeves and pants have stitchings going down the sides and his sheath is attatched to his waist and left leg via loops around his waist and thigh. You could remove it with force but I immagine it would be very hard to get back on. His head sculpt is very nice and probably the most accurate of the three. The paint is also really well done, one of the few good things about the Thor movie line. However when picking yours, check the face.......always check the face. If you even can that is, these barely hit stores, I found 1 of each warrior at a Target once, never saw them again....ever....

For accessories he comes with his rapier, and harpoon launcher thing. It's the giant gimicky weapon shown above. Yes, it makes no sense, yes it looks rediculous, yes Hasbro doesn't care, they just keep giving us these weapons. Why? I do not know.
In terms of articulation he has a ball jointed head, swivel-hinge shoulders, swivel-hinge elbows, swivel wrists, ball jointed torso, swivel hinge hips, swivel thighs, double-hinge knees, and swivel-hinge ankles. His left leg movement is hindered by the sheath, not too much, but just enough to limit dramatic poses.

Next, we have Hogun the Grim.

Hogun:

Hogun the Grim rarely smiles, and never laughs.  He finds his own quiet joy in victory over the enemies of Asgaard, but he leaves the celebration to Volstagg and Fandral. His skill at hand-to-hand fighting makes him an invaluable comrade in arms to the mighty Thor.

Hogun's sculpt is much more intricate than Fandrall's in the sense that all of the armor is sculpted on, not glued. I love that on a figures, and it looks fantastic on Hogun. Every piece of armor looks fantastic and is as movie-accurate as it gets. Even the chain-mail-esque gold on his waist doesn't hinder articulation because it is a rubbbery plastic. The face scultp is nice. It's not perfect or near as good as Fandrall's but its still very impressive.  His cloak is also nicely sculped with stitchings around the top and it has a leathery feel to it. In terms of paint he is near perfect. Just watch the gold applications. I couldn't pick among other figures on the shelf so I grabbed it anyway and in minor areas, well, let's just say if you can't pick and choose, a gold sharpie is your best friend.

In terms of accessories, Hogun comes with his mace, and his "Battle Axe" which I have to say is probably the best gimmicky weapon ever. It can be taken apart to make a spear or the blades can be useud as handheld blades. See if all gimmicky weapons were made like this Hasbro, we wouldn't mind them.

In terms of articulation he has a ball jointed head, swivel-hinge shoulders, swivel-hinge elbows, swivel wrists, ball jointed torso, swivel hinge hips, swivel thighs, double-hinge knees, and swivel-hinge ankles.

And finally we have my personal favorite:

 Volstagg:

Volstagg the Voluminous is famous across Asgard  for his boundless bravery, mighty axe, and endless appetite. It is rare, even in battle, to find him without food in his hand, or at least a pouch full of snacks. His hunger never distracts him from a battle, however, and his brother warriors are always glad to have his axe at their sides.

Volstagg is by far, my favorite of the trio if figures and my favorite character of The Warriors Three. He's funny, and a brutal fighter. That said, this guy makes a great figure. His armor looks great relying more on paint apps for its design as opposed to an intricate sculpt. The sculpted armor does look great but the paint really makes it shine. The only armor that is glued on is the skirt-type armor and it looks awesome. That said this is one of the few figures that actually had a perfect paint job. No slop, no missing applications, just perfection. The head sculpt is dead on and ties with the Fandrall sculpt as being the best of the three.

In terms of accessories, he comes with his axe which is wonderfully sculpted and his gimmicky weapon is his "Battle Ram" which is pretty gimmicky, but better than others. Basically when you push the handle the blades at the ends spin. It's not the worst, but not the greatest. At least it has realy good sculpted detail unlike Fandrall's weapon.
In terms of articulation he has a ball jointed head, swivel-hinge shoulders, swivel-hinge elbows, swivel wrists, ball jointed torso, swivel hinge hips, swivel thighs, double-hinge knees, and swivel-hinge ankles.

OVERALL:



Overall, thess figures are great. They are a team. It's pretty hard to get one without the rest. I initally was only going to get Volstagg but once I saw them all together on the pegs, I couldn't pass them by, and I'm glad I didn't.

Fandrall:Great sculpt, great paint, nice accessories with the exception of the gimmicky weapon, slightly hindered articulation.
8.5 out of 10!

Hogun:Great detailed sculpt, good paint, great accessories.
9 out of 10!!

Volstagg:Great detail, perfect paint, great accessories!
10 OUT OF 10!!!