The wise old leader of the yokai!

When I made the decision to buy my 4 yokai monsters, it was based largely on the belief that Kara-Kasa was the coolest and most desirable of the set. I mean, if he wasn't included, I likely wouldn't have bit. But later, I really came to appreciate the appeal of Abura Sumashi ( 油すまし). This character was the wise leader of the yokai in their battle against the evil Daimon in the film "Yokai Dai-Senso" from 1968. If yokai were Jedi, this guy would be Yoda.

Standing 6.5" tall, this toy features just one single point of articulation, with the head being able to turn. That's it. No other action features. But it's the sculpt of that head that is the real appeal. Pointed at the top with outstretched ears on the sides, the head of Abura Sumashi appears made out of stone and had numerous subtle bumps and ridges that are best appreciated in person. The sly, mischievous grin belies the serene look of wisdom set into the large, dark eyes. It's quite unlike any other Japanese toy I have, most of which are either ferocious monsters or inanimate robots.

A long coat made out of straw (or vinyl depicting straw, of course) covers the rest of his body, down to the bare legs. Abura Sumashi wears no shoes. The character is known to carry a staff, but the toy did not come with one. There are indentations in the hands (not holes, mind you, just indentations) but I do not believe that the toy ever came with any accessories, even though the shopkeeper I bought it from pointed there and said, in broken English, "missing part". Regardless, no specimen I've ever seen had anything in the hands so if I am missing a part, I'm certainly not alone in that regard.

Between the stony head and the straw coat, this toy is the most "Earthy" toy I have, which really sets it apart from the rest of my vinyl collection. Although the character is supernatural in essence, it seems far more natural when placed next to space creatures and nuclear mutated giant monsters.

If you are interested in learning more about traditional Yokai monsters, be sure to check out the upcoming book Yokai Attack! The Japanese Monster Survival Guide. It's available this month in Japan and later this year in both the US and the UK. The book is written by good friend Matt Alt (of ToyboxDX fame) and his wife Hiroko Yoda, both stars of the "Great Yokai War".

My first exposure to Japanese Yokai came not from the original trilogy of Daiei movies released in the late 1960s or even from the recent Takashi Miike film "The Great Yokai War". Nope, sandwiched in between those more famous offerings was "Sakuya: Slayer Of Demons". I thought that the movie was fun, but the strange monsters within it really stole the show. They were quite unlike any others I'd seen elsewhere. At the time, I had no idea how famous they really were. Nor was I aware of any toys based on them. A chance discovery at a famous Japanese toy store would change that.

It was December 2006 and I was in Godzilla-ya, hunting for Jumbos as usual. No luck on that front so naturally I focused on plan B...scoring some vinyls. Now, usually I just get contemporary vinyls. Vintage is great, but too expensive. However, something caught my eye in one of the cases. Isn't that..? It is! It's that crazy umbrella monster from that movie!

At the time, I had no idea what the actual name of the character was and of course, the toys were new to me as well. But since these guys are so bizarre, it was easy to tell that there were 3 more toys with him that were all from the same line. I had my friend ask the shopkeeper if he would give me a discount if I bought all four and he agreed.

Even with a 15,000 yen discount, I had just dropped 70,000 yen on 4 toys I knew nothing about from a genre I didn't really collect. Later, it occurred to me just how dumb and out of character that was and for awhile, I really agonized over whether or not I truly wanted these things. But when I finally returned home and put them on my own vinyl shelf...oh man, I was hooked. They really stood out and added a flavor to my collection that I didn't realize it was missing. A year later, the fifth and final piece in the set would be obtained.

Kara-kasa ( からかさ) was released in 1968 by Nitto, thus making it my oldest Japanese character toy. It stands 8" tall and is articulated at the shoulders. The single leg also turns but doesn't move smoothly and there's really no reason to do it anyway. Of course, with just the one leg, and a Tengu-Geta sandal on the foot, this toy is nearly impossible to stand up on it's own. Of course, when it was originally released, the toy had an elastic through the head that could make it "bounce". You could have easily used that to hang it, but most specimens today are missing that.

If you are interested in learning more about traditional Yokai monsters, be sure to check out the upcoming book Yokai Attack! The Japanese Monster Survival Guide. It's available this summer in Japan and later this year in both the US and the UK. The book is written by good friend Matt Alt (of ToyboxDX fame) and his wife Hiroko Yoda, both stars of the aforementioned "Great Yokai War".

Another Telco Halloween decoration, the Wolf Man is the closest thing in my collection to a Muppet!

Even though it's a far cry from looking anything like he does in the movie, I really like the look of this figure. Although the sculpt of the face is somewhat simple, it does have an elegance and personality to it that is appealing to me. I love that they added so much hair to this thing. It's got a really wild look on the one hand, but it also sort of reminds me of a Muppet, too!

Although some might consider it excessive, the hair protruding from his sleeves and pant legs is another nice touch. But honestly, it sort of makes me wish I had a nice, creepy looking scarecrow one. Telco did release a scarecrow in one of their earlier batches of Motionettes, but it's more cute looking than scary.

This Wolf Man figure has much more poseability in the arms than the Creature did. You can actually bend the arms to whatever pose you want basically, as beyond the vinyl hands the arms are just a flexible wire armature.

You know what else is great about this one? That bright yellow shirt! It's a welcome change in a genre dominated by gloomy blacks and greys. It's the closest thing to sunshine that the Wolf Man will ever get anyway...

You get the same features here as on the other Motionettes...light up eyes, moving arms/head and sound effects. The sound is much more appropriate to the character this time around, too. 17" tall to the top of the head, it actually looks more like 18" with all that hair standing up. The Wolf Man was included in both series' of 17" licensed Universal Monster Motionettes, but I don't think there's any significant difference between the two. My favorite part of this thing? I got it for a measly $5 on Ebay! When the last time you bought a Japanese robot for $5?* ;)

Today’s I am reviewing Dragon Shiryu from the Saint Cloth Myth line. Saint Cloth Myth is Bandai’s premium line of collectible figures based on the Manga and animated series called Saint Seiya.

This figure came courtesy from Angolz.com who have been nice enough to provide us with all of our Saint Cloth Myth figures for review.

If you are just joining us and want to know all about what is going on with Saint Seiya I suggest heading over to wikipedia and checking things out.

Now on to the actual toy - Bandai has consistently banged out some quality collectibles with the Saint Cloth Myth line the figures are always well produced and loaded with ton’s of accessories. Figures are made of plastic, stand about 6 inches tall and feature lot’s of poseability. The armor the figures wear are always made of a high amount of die-cast metal and honestly I am running out of nice things to say about this line.

This time around I am reviewing Dragon Shiryu, one of our main heroes and a Silver Saint of Athena. Shiryu is the oldest and wisest of our band of heroes. Shiryu wears the Dragon Cloth (armor for those not in the know.)

From Wikipedia:
“The Dragon Cloth represents the constellation Draco, which is associated to Ladon, the hundred eyed dragon who guarded the golden apples of the Hesperides, in Greek mythology.”

“The Bronze Cloth of Dragon is legendary for its large shield on the left arm guard. Its reputation is unmatched by any other cloth among Athena's saints, and only very few have ever shattered it. The Dragon Cloth itself is noted for its ultimate durability, as it had spent the last 200 years bathed under the mineral-rich waterfall of the Rozan mountains, which made it harder than diamonds.”

This is Dragon Shiryu as his Cloth appears later in the series and Hades OVA’s. The armor is almost all die-cast metal with only the waist skirt and head piece being made of plastic. Paint detail is nice with no chipping or flaking.

The figure itself is made of plastic with over 40 points of articulation with the feet being made of die-cast metal. Included in the package is an alternate head which sports Shiryu with his eyes closed (Shiryu goes blind in the later part of the series and tends to have his eyes closed.)

Lastly the armor pieces do assemble into a statue when our heroes aren’t wearing them. In the series the armor shrinks a bit to make the statues small, because these are made from the armor the figure wears the statue stand about as tall as the figure.

As you can see from the pictures, Dragon Shiryu looks good and as always Bandai has made a fantastic collectible. Fans of the series should run, not walk to add Shiryu to their collection and if you don’t watch or read the series it may still be a sharp enough design to pick up. The Saint Cloth Myth line always delivers a quality product and it is well worth finding a design you like and giving one a try.

I have included a video review below and as always you can get your Saint Cloth Myth figures at Angolz.com.

Another cheap, ugly knockoff that me and like 3 other people care about...

Unfortunately, no official full sized Jumbo Machinders were made of the Machine Blaster robots (Robo Kress, Blue Caesar, Sandaio and Boss Palder). Mattel Italy released their "Astro Robot" Jumbos that were based on the characters, but those toys used primarily parts from existing Jumbos with new heads and weapons. Takemi did make a line of 16" toys called "Big Robo", though. These were repeatedly copied and released in Italy and both the originals and the subsequent knockoffs have become commonly known as "Junior Machinders". All sorts of robots combinations were made, many of which used the body of the Takemi Robo Kress. The arms in particular are often used on various Junior Machinders, such as Dangard Ace and Pegas, to name just two. There is at least one toy that is nearly identical to the Takemi version and then there is this.

This toy uses the same mold as the Takemi toy, but is greatly simplified. As you can see, it's cast entirely in cheap, squishy blue polyethylene with just some stickers slapped onto it for "detail", if you can call it that. All firing fists and missiles have been removed.

Robo Kress stands 14" tall and is articulated at only the shoulders. It came packaged in a clear plastic bag, but with no header card. It was just tied off with a twisty tie. There are no manufacturer markings on it, but it does share some stickers (the "UFO" and black dots) with a very cheap and VERY ugly Combattler toy that I have. That toy did come with a header card and appears to have been made by a company called "Galba", so I think it's a good bet that this one was, too.

Ok. You may be thinking that this toy, and by extension this review, is not worthy of attention. But just be glad I didn't show you the Combattler! UGH....

A very similar toy to the Giant Robo jumbo sized vinyl, but a much cooler looking character. You gotta love those bad guy robots!!

The GR-2 is a much cooler toy than the Giant Robo in my opinion and it always drove me nuts that it wasn't readily available here in the US. The Giant Robo bootleg was everywhere, but this one just never seemed to show up on Ebay. From time to time I saw it on Yahoo!Japan auctions, but always either at a time I couldn't afford it or just for a price I didn't like. But ultimately, I managed to pick one up at Mandarake in Nakano during my winter trip to Japan in 2006.

For the most part, this toy uses the same sculpt as the Giant Robo, with the obvious exceptions being the head and arms (although there is a Giant Robo that does use the same arms, too). This toy is taller than the other though, measuring about 24.5" to the tip of the highest part of the horn.

I really like the muted, dark colors on this toy. The whole thing looks like a shadow. It's molded in in a light black vinyl, with dark silver highlights. The only real color is the white of the eyes. The eyes are great, too. They seem to burn with anger, which isn't something you see on a robot very often.

The GR-2 is articulated in all the same places as the Giant Robo, but one thing I didn't count on is that you can also twist the horns on the head. A neat addition, but honestly, it really just looks best pointed straight up and there's not much reason to change that.

When I was in Japan, I had prepared a big box to bring on the plane home with me and this guy presented a problem because it was so large I didn't think I could fit it in. Fortunately, heating with a hair dryer allowed me to separate it at the waist and it then fit in fine. So I didn't have to pay any extra shipping to get it home, always a plus.

Despite it's jumbo size, this guy was released in a bag with a header card just like most vinyls.

The second release from Revoltech's Fraulein lineup is Rin Tohsaka the very talented and powerful Mage from Fate/stay night (-gratuitous panty shot inside - you've been warned you dirty pervs...)

At this point I think most of our readers know what to expect from a Revoltech figure; above average sculpting, high level of poseability, and a decent price point. There good, cheap, robot lovin’ fun.

But Kaiyodo was not content to keep it to just robots and has launched the Fraulein line to encompass popular female anime characters. Josh has just recently reviewed their other offerings from this line, Asuka and Rei from Evangelion. Since I’m not much of a fan of the series I passed on those but decided to give Rin Tohsaka from the animated series “Fate/stay night” a try.

From the package:

Fraulein Revoltech is an exciting new series of female action figures. It consists of new idea of figure system called “E.L.F.” producing beautiful body lines and motion as natural as real lives.

So basically no matter how sophisticated the packaging is and no matter how high profile the line is, it’s a series of “girly” figures. No ifs, ands, or buts about it.

This girly figure is Rin Tohsaka from the series Fate/stay night. Now I only recently watched a handful of episodes of the series so I can’t speak too much to it but essentially it centers on the coming “Holy Grail War” and the Magi involved in finding the Grail and winning the war. Each Mage conjures a servant to fight for them. Rin is not only a high school student but apparently a very powerful Mage.

So with all that said, “How’s the figure?” Not bad. It’s very poseable with an excellent level of detail; I do find it odd that for all its poseability you can’t get the figure to go into a sitting position. Other than that, the sky is the limit as far as poses go. Her pigtails even have Revoltech joints in them.

Since Rin is primarily a spell caster she doesn’t have a ton of accessories. The figure comes with a fantastic stand to pose the character flying/midair (which she does quite often in the first few episodes I saw), a sword and some alternate hands.

Overall it’s more Revoltech goodness with no real surprises or disappointments for collectors of the line. With that said, I really don’t think this is a figure for non-Fate fans because as a “girly” figure (yes you can look up her skirt, yes she has panties on…) it’s pretty tame for those that collect those things and obviously Rin doesn’t transform into a giant robot or a jet I think it’s a pass for most Revoltech collectors. Fate fan’s however can and should buy Rin with confidence.

You can get all your Fraulein Revoltech figures at Angolz.com.

A surprisingly well done bootleg of Giant Robo.

Some years back, Marmit released a series of jumbo sized vinyls based on the robots from the original 1967-68 "Giant Robo" (aka "Johnny Sokko And His Flying Robot") tv show. Giant Robo, Calamity and GR2 were all made. Now, to be truthful, I never paid too much attention to the whole line. I do know that I've seen some released in a bag with a header card and some released in a box. Some have arms pointing straight down and others with the arms raised above the head. The toy we are looking at now is a bootleg based on the Giant Robo version with arms at it's side. It came with no packaging.

For a bootleg, the quality on this is remarkable. I think most people would be hard pressed to differentiate it from the original without a close inspection. Other than that the copyright information has been removed from the bottom of the feet, I'm not sure if there are even any differences at all. This it the reason I don't know all the details of the original Marmit releases. This one is so well done, I never had the desire to get any of the Giant Robo originals.

This guy stands 21" tall and although it does have several points of articulation (neck, shoulders, wrists, waist, hips and ankles), it really isn't very poseable at all. In all likelihood, the only places you'd adjust the limbs might be at the ankles, and only then to make sure the the toy has a firm grip on whatever surfacing it's standing on. It has a tendency to lean forward so you'll want to make sure it doesn't topple over. I sometimes even place a few old hockey cards beneath the front of it's feet to straighten it up a bit.

Giant Robo is cast in blue vinyl with painted highlights. As I said before, the paint job is surprisingly good for a bootleg. There is a small blue jewel sort of thing embedded in the waist and he has rockets on his back. You can wiggle the bottom of these rockets, but like most of the rest of the toy, just because it can move, doesn't mean it's worth the effort to do it. Consider this just a display piece. Also, be careful with those rockets. One of mine has broken off a couple of times and I've had to glue it back in place.

When I first started collecting, these things were all over Ebay, and while you can still find them, they seem a little less common now. In fact, the official Marmit seems to be just as prevalent and the price about the same in general. Recently, a bootleg of Calamity has shown up, but GR2 has only the original release, which I'll review next.

Scorponok stalked several soldiers who had escaped the destruction of the SOCCENT-FWD base into the desert until he knew what they were up to. But when they attempted to contact the outside world, he attacked...

A boy’s first car should be a special event in his life. Finding the right girl is also important, and to do that, he needs a special car. But for Sam Witwicky, he is completely unaware of how special his car really is… until it drives away from his house all by itself… and changes into a giant robot! Sam soon finds himself as the key to ending an intergalactic battle between two factions of a race of alien robots which can change shape at will- the peaceful Autobots and dangerous Decepticons- as they fight to find and retake the powerful AllSpark Cube that created their race. But enemies lie in wait on Earth as well. While the Decepticons are already on our planet looking for their long-lost leader Megatron, the United States secret government organization Sector 7 already knows about the alien robots, and will do anything to keep them hidden. It is not until the great & noble Optimus Prime and several other Autobots crash-land on Earth in their search for the god-like Cube that the 10,000 year-old stalemated war begins anew- with the fate of both races in the hands of these intelligent, powerful alien robots in disguise… and a boy and his car.

Surely if anyone knew about the presence of a giant cube, the governments of the world and their associated military forces would have that information. The Decepticons just needed to find it. Well, Blackout was ordered to infiltrate the nearby United States air base in the Middle East, break into their computer network, and find that information. Blackout decided the best time to strike would be at night since these humans’ biological functions seemed to slow at that time, and there would be fewer of them around. The largest Decepticon was actually escorted to the SOCCENT-FWD; but he had cleverly recreated the appearance of one of their own rotor-powered aircraft, and so was able to spring a surprise on them even as he was jamming their communications. Transforming in the middle of the tarmac, and absolutely devastating their “advanced” weapons, Blackout quickly made his was to their communications node. Unfortunately, the humans were quicker than he expected, and they disconnected the computers before he could gain anything of value. To punish them for their insolence and for daring to defy the will of their glorious but long-absent leader Megatron, he destroyed the base. To make sure that all stragglers were rounded up and killed as well, he deployed his partner Scorponok to perform clean-up duty.

The next day, Scorponok stalked several soldiers who had escaped, and followed them into the desert until he knew what they were up to. When they attempted to contact the outside world, Scorponok pounced...

(The clip immediately below is PG-13, and thus contains a few S-bombs and some sci-fi violence, so be careful...)

Scorponok’s beast mode (back) is that of a generic scorpion. (Take your pick as to what species he may most resemble. Good luck on that...) Unlike all of the characters featured in the film, Scorponok’s beast mode is his primary form, so he does not transform into a vehicle or object for a disguise mode. When he’s attached to Blackout, he’s hidden as part of the larger Decepticon’s body even in his own disguised form as an MH-53 Pave Low heavy transport helicopter. So this is why you’ll find all kinds of abstract markings all over Scorponok’s body- registry numbers, caution labels, notification & hazard marks, etc.- in a way very similar to the real US’s military aircraft.

His single-piece head is very flat and wide, but you can clearly see the layers of panels surrounding his four red eyes. A small black Decepticon symbol sits right behind his head at the front of his torsotorso. Running down the length of his body is a cylindrical turbine-like object molded in brown ABS and black rubber, which is not too unlike what you would see inside a real jet engine. On either side of him are six brown skeleton-like ABS legs with clawed feet very close to each other. To either side and just behind Scorponok’s head are his arms. Thick appendages, they are covered with layers of armor and vents, and end in three wildly curved thin claws. In the space between the individual claws are three smaller molded turbine-like blade fans- which, in the film, are the location of his micro-missile launchers. Mounted to the back of his body is his tail. It is made up of four movable segments, with the fourth at the end housing the multiple knife-like blades of the stinger assembly... all safely made of rounded ABS and PVC, of course.

Since this beast mode is Scorponok’s primary mode of operation and movement, all of his special features and movement are geared towards it.

First, poseability. His arms have a full range of motion at the shoulders and elbows. However, the claws cannot be moved. His head can only tilt up-and-down, but due to how he transforms, it can be pulled away from hit body a little ways as well to allow greater range. The legs have one ball-and-socket joint each at the hips. Unfortunately because of how close they are to each other, they are very restricted in side-to-side motion- I’d claim non-existent- and can only wiggle a little up-and-down. Potentially he could support his own weight, but the legs don’t move down far enough to give him a chance to do that. His tail is also fairly flexible. At its base, it can twist side-to-side through 360-degrees. There are three independent joints with about 45-degrees movement each which allow the tail to curve up and down, though the shaft exiting out the back of the stinger assembly can restrict downward range in some positions. The stinger assembly can also twist side-to-side through 360-degrees in addition to up-and-down.

. . .

Scorponok has two special features, both of which are seen in the movie.

The first is in his arms. On both the top and bottom of his body- just in front of his tail, but behind the center turbine- are two black wheels. And under his head is a wide tan ABS wheel. When he’s flat on a surface and those back wheels turn, two things happen at the same time:

• the center body turbine spins
• an internal gear system through his arms turns both claws

In the movie, the body turbine is constantly spinning. The claws, on the other hand, serve two purposes- the other being they transform into drill bits so that Scorponok can ‘swim’ underground. And unlike the turbine, Scorponok was seen turning the spinning feature of the claws on/off at will. However, on the toy, even though the claws spin, they can’t change into drill bits since each of the six fingers cannot move.

The second is in the stinger assembly. On top of it, there is a trigger button, and when it is depressed, the largest stinger shoots forward along that shaft sticking out back like a spear. Now, unlike most missiles in any Transformers figure, the stinger does not disconnect from the tail once it has been triggered; this applies to the film version of the assembly, while immensely more complex, it also does not disconnect.

(View the larger original version of this video here.)

Surprisingly, unlike the entire movie’s Deluxe-, Voyager-, and Leader-class line of figures, Scorponok has no Automorph feature to be used when he transforms! Whereas they all have at least one unique special feature in them (missiles, spring-loaded weapons, deployable mini-partners, etc.), this toy has none specifically involved in transformation.

And- really- why should he even need one...?

Scorponok’s robot m--

"Hah-!? What ‘robot mode’???"

...let me finish, please. Scorponok’s robot mode (back) is uninspired. Mostly because he has no robot mode in the movie. The producers of the film claim that he truly has a robot mode, but they didn’t design one for him the first time around. So this is a... well- ‘gimmick’ which Hasbro originally came up with. Basically all that happens is his head folds down 90-degrees, his arms flip down, his tail curls up behind him, and then the sides and legs of the beast mode flip down 180-degrees, forming the robot mode’s new legs. The arms don’t change in any way, just folding over and twisting at the elbows into a more-human posturing. The tail near-constantly points towards his back. While you can still deploy the stinger assembly’s springing spear, it just sinks back under gravity; which means (no pun intended) it’s a pretty pointless feature now. ‘Bout the only thing it’s good for now is acting as a third leg. (Oh- it only gets better from here...) The legs have no definable foot, and the knees- or rather their function as such- are near non-existent since they’re so close to the hips and it makes no difference. The spinning claws/turbine function remain intact, however you now have to turn the wheels manually, which are located... on his crotch. (You do the math.)

The legs are really the only thing you can pose other than the head and arms as usual as described above. The hips are ball-and-socket, and the knees can pivot 90-degrees, and twist side-to-side a little. But because the legs are so insignificant in their motion, he is naturally top-heavy unless you lean him back on his tail as that improvised third leg. So, posing is tricky and lame.

. . .

In the film, Scorponok is deployed from a hidden compartment from inside his far-larger companion. For the Voyager-class Decepticon Blackout figure, a miniaturized and non-functional Scorponok figure was provided, which was to scale with that toy. However, there is one gimmick which could not be utilized with Blackout unless you bought a full-sized Scorponok like this one. Underneath Blackout’s vehicle mode is a six-sided hole and two pegs about half-way back. These match-up directly to the two holes and six-sided peg on top of Scorponok’s torso. So, when you flatten out Scorponok’s tail, you can attach him to the bottom of Blackout. Now, here’s the cool part: when you activate Blackout’s spinning rotor feature, that same function triggers Scorponok’s claws and turbine at the same time! Very cool idea...

Unlike all of the toys released that transform, Scorponok really only has to serve one master here: his beast mode. This means that, more attention can be paid to how close Scorponok can get to his CGI counterpart in the film. And seriously, it is pretty dammed close. Only big difference I can find is that the turbine on the CGI model stretches out right up to the back of his head, while the toy’s ends behind the shoulders. Also, while his eyes have red dots for the multiple iris in each, the toy’s eyes are just overall red even though the iris are still represented as thin lines. Also, the stringer assembly is rather simplified on the toy even though it shares similar traits.

Now, everything I have described up to this point matches the regular Deluxe-class Decepticon Scorponok toy. But this is not the regular Deluxe-class figure; it is a part of the Battle Scenes line, which means some things are different…

The biggest difference here is that there is a slight change in paint applications here- the addition of pockets of sand randomly added to him. Nearly all crevasses, vents, and armor-joints on his lower arms and the lower legs of his robot mode have very thin sand-colored paint apps to make it look like he’s been burrowing underground in the desert. This is the only change to Scorponok here which is different from the regular Deluxe-class figure.

The other difference which sets the Battle Scenes line apart from all other transformable toys is the inclusion of to-scale figures. In this case, the Desert Attack set includes three US Marines figures, each posed standing on top of some broken sandstone formations and ground. All three figures are made with PVC plastic, cannot be posed, and have no detachable parts.

• a dark-skinned soldier (back) with both a pistol and a rifle.
• a tanned soldier (back) with a single rifle, who is jumping down from a short wall
• a pale-skinned soldier (back) who is aiming a rifle while crouched down

[I suspect that the first figure listed above might be related to the character of Air Force Tech Sgt. Epps (actor Tyrese Gibson) from the movie, though he’s not marked as such. Only difference might be that he’s wearing a cap backwards. And he doesn’t have ten back pockets...]

I have to say that I don’t think I’ve ever encountered a toy quite like this one before in my life. And here’s what I mean... For every single trait that exists- be it just good or super-awesome- there is always downside to it to balance that out.

• poseable scorpion legs . . . they don’t pose very well
• the claws and turbines spin at the same time . . . if not perfectly lined up inside, the gears constantly grind against each other, making it difficult to spin them evenly
• you can roll him on a flat surface to activate the claws and turbine . . . because of the previous, you have to press down really hard to get those wheels turning
• the arms are poseable . . . if there’s resistance while the claws spin, the arms tend to move back and forth along with, so they appear to shift all by themselves (which they’re not supposed to if the joints are tight enough)
• in beast mode, the head can tilt up and down . . . if you tilt the head up far enough, it pulls it away from the body when you set it back down
• you can attach this toy to Blackout and then activate both special features at the same time . . . because of the resistances in both features, gears grind very easily, and the union hardly works at all
• the beast mode appears in the film, and functions accordingly . . . the robot mode, which does not appear in the film, functions very poorly
• he has legs in robot mode . . . they don’t pose very well or help keep his balance
• claws can spin like in the movie . . . claws cannot open like in the movie

I mean it just goes back-and-forth, back-and-forth, back-and-forth like that the whole time, and I’ve never seen anything like that before! Now, some things that I’ve read/heard other people complain about, I won’t make a stink about. The biggest one I’ve heard is that the stinger can’t shoot away like a proper missile. Well, ya know what? It didn’t in the movie, so I have no problem with that. The level of detail is awesome, the colors match for the most part (it’s more a pale copper in the film than brown; no biggie), and the functions match. As has been said by many before, I too absolutely hate the robot mode. Aside from the fact that it doesn’t appear in the movie, it’s just poorly done in toy form. So just leave him in beast mode and you’ll be fine; you won’t miss it a tiny bit.

Now, the only reason I got this Battle Scenes figure was because he had those dripping-sand paint apps on him which I thought was a really nice touch, and put him closer to the feel of what you see in the film. That’s the only reason. I like both the springing spear and spinning claws/turbine features, but those gears inside the arms just totally screw that up. The soldiers, again, are a nice bonus, but I wouldn’t have cared if they weren’t in there and this was just a regular Deluxe-class repaint. Overall Scorponok and all his toy flaws really drag it down to the point where I just can’t really promote getting the Desert Attack set (let alone the original Deluxe-class version). If you’re a hardcore fan of the film, or your kid is too young to care or notice the flaws, then go ahead. But for such a bad-ass character in an awesome scene, I’m really disappointed. (Now all we need is a to-scale and fully-functional version of Blackout that isn’t super expensive or stupidly-gimmicky like that super-sized Bumblebee figure that popped up around X-mas ‘07 to match; now that would be kick-ass!)

SEE! The Gill-Man move!

SEE! His eyes burn with fury!

HEAR! Godzilla's roar?!??!!

When I recently started focusing my collecting habits more on monsters than robots, one of the things that immediately captured my fancy were motionettes. Motionettes are basically moving statues that are usually released as holiday decorations. Naturally, I am focusing entirely on the Universal Monsters, but all sorts of characters have been made from generic witches to Santa Claus.

The original and most famous motionettes were made by a company called Telco. The first releases they made were unlicensed and were 24" tall. Later, Telco would release officially licensed Universal Monsters in both 24" and 17" sizes. All of the larger sizes are harder to get and much more expensive than their smaller counterparts. 24" Motionettes come with a power cord, while the 17" ones function using two C batteries that are stored in the bottom of the black circular base the figure stands on. The figure is permanently attached to the base.

Even the 17" Universal Motionettes were broken up into two releases. Among the first releases were Dracula, Frankenstein, The Wolf Man and The Creature From The Black Lagoon. The Bride of Frankenstein and The Mummy were added for the second series. Each figures comes packaged in a cardboard box with clear cellophane on the front. I had the hardest time actually getting most of these back into the boxes for pictures, so here's Frankenstein instead of the Creature, just to give you a look at the box. Consider it a preview of a future review..

Front Of Box

Side Of Box

Side Of Box

So, what exactly do the Motionettes do? Well, nothing too exciting really. The base has a switch with three settings, "on", "off" and "sound". Setting the switch to "on" makes the head turn and the arms raise and lower. Move the switch over one more spot to "sound" and the character keeps moving but now the eyes light up red and it makes noise. Now, the noise it makes doesn't necessarily have anything to do with the character itself. For instance, the Creature here actually produces a roar that sounds almost exactly like that of GODZILLA!

The Creature is made primarily out of soft vinyl, cast in green with red, white and blue painted highlights. Naturally, vinyl is the best option for a character like this, but many of the others in the series have clothing much like a doll would, as you can see in the Frankenstein picture above.

The Creature from the Black Lagoon seems to be the easiest from this series to get. It's certainly the one I've seen most on Ebay.