I never thought I would actually manage to get caught up on something around here but here I am, caught up on Overwatch Figmas. The last of the four released so far that I have yet to talk about is Widowmaker. I almost didn’t order Widowmaker. I hate Snipers in the game and don’t really play Widowmaker at all. I wanna say it was a slow month anyway for pre orders, so I decided to go ahead and let it ride out.
I’m kind of glad I did, because she’s a really great release for the line. She has all of the Aesthetic balance of say Reaper, with proper pose-ability like Genji, minus the weird quirks of Genji. Plus a ton of really nice and appropriate accessories. Hell the accessories are really kind fo what makes this figure for me.
The rifle is the big one. In the game, Widowmaker’s Sniper Rifle coppalses into a machine gun. It probably would have been easier to just include two guns I suppose, but instead, you get one gun with interchangeable parts. The barrel swaps on and off and there is an attachable scope piece. It all fits together great and works well for the effect.
Another one of her abilities is her arm mounted grappling hook. The figure includes a separate forearm piece with a hook attached. The nice part is this makes it really stable to allow her to hang from it for posing if desired.
She also includes her poison spider mine and an additional swap out part for her X-Ray thermal goggles ultimate ability. There aren’t a ton of parts, but they handle the gamut of her abilities superbly. She also has enough pose-ability to properly handle all of the various accessories properly.
So, regardless of my problems with Snipers in game, the figure is really nice. She also fills a nice roll along side Reaper and Sombra to filling out the Talon team.
I’m assuming it’s War Machine Mark 6 here since he has a bit 006 emblazoned on his chest and the previous releases have different numbers. Anyway, moving on from some of the stuff that’s less interesting in this wave, the first of several MCU characters from this wave is War Machine.
I have to admit, for some reason I kept thinking Rhodes didn’t survive the Infinity War snap. I guess it felt redundant to have Iron Man and War Machine survive. But he did, and he ended up with some new armor for Endgame. Over the course of the films, War Machine has basically just been getting more and more bulky. It kind of fits with his more military motivations, versus Iron Man just trying to be a hero. It’s also not clear exactly how much input Tony Stark has on his newer designs either, I know for a while HAMMER was working on his suit as well. I imagine the USAF has some in put also.
It’s definitely a nice design though. It’s also nice that his suits aren’t just repaints of Iron Man figures, since they could have easily just gone that route. This iteration is quite a bit taller and definitely bulkier than previous Iron Man armors. It kind of makes me think of a small style Hulkbuster armor actually, though it’s still quite a bit smaller than the Hulkbuster Armor.
War Machine includes 3 accessories, one shoulder canon and two under arm gun… things. The shoulder gun is fine, but I am honestly not sure what the under arm weapons are supposed to be. They don’t really look like gun, they have these funky handle looking things, but not triggers and they can’t really be held like a shotgun or anything. I am sure they are accurate to something from the movies, but it’s also just kind of a crappy design. They don’t attach particularly well either and they don’t flow with the design of the armor at all and just look out of place.
There isn’t an alternate head, which kind of sucks but the open helmet from the previous release sort of fits on the armor, though it’s noticeably undersized.
The articulation on this guy is pretty good given his bulk. I mentioned this briefly when I talked about Beta Ray Bill. The shoulder pads have plenty of give on them flipping up that allows for the arms to bend upwards some. The legs don’t get in the way of themselves at all really either. A neck joint with more range of motion would have been nice so he could look up would have been nice, given that the suit is capable of flying. He also could really use a peg hole for a display stand as well, once again, because he is often seen flying.
Of this whole wave, I have to say War Machine is probably the stand out winner. He has very few real problems and the design is great. He’s bulky and looks bad ass, he is articulated a lot better than expected. He’s just a great all around figure.
It’s a very Evangelion time right now apparently. The original show is on Netflix, which I highly recommend checking out. I also got my pre order for Unit01 in. I have never been a huge Anime person but I am a fan of quite a few older shows, Evangelion being one of them. I watched and rewatched the original series a lot, on VHS, because that was the thing at the time. I’ve still got several model kits and various figures from back then as well.
Given my history of Eva and how much I am starting to like Mafex as a company, I jumped on Eva01. This design is technically from the remake version Evangelion 2.0, which, honestly, I didn’t like nearly as much as the original, but it’s close enough that it’s not really a problem. Honestly, the only thing that feels off is the shoulder pads seem a little small compared to the original version, though they often had an inconsistent size anyway.
While I like this figure a lot, and Mafex has really upped it’s game in their more recent releases, but it has a few issues. I kind of wonder if the drastic change in body styles from super heroes to gangly robot set things back a bit. On mine specifically, the ankle is really lose and the foot falls off. I have heard reports of other lose joints including the hips. Mine isn’t bad, but I could see how some people may dislike it.
I also had a part come off of the swap-able shoulder part, though it didn’t break, it is a separate piece that came off and is easily repairable with a spot of glue. Lastly, I had some issue with swapping the hands initially, though it got easier after doing ti a few times. It doesn’t help that the shape and thinness doesn’t always allow for a good way to grip them to stick them on the peg, which is really tight. I was worried that I might snap some fingers off on accident.
I still really like this figure. It’s extremely poseable with plenty of range on every joint. It can make pretty much any pose that the Evas take in the show. It helps that the design is so skinny, allowing for more range without running into itself. The size is nice as well. It’s taller than the previous 6″ Mafex figures. It wouldn’t be 1/12th scale anyway, since Evangelions are building sized. It’s smaller than my old Bandai HG Model Kits. It’s also a bit smaller than this Kaiyodo Eva that I have, though that’s a little hard to tell because the Kaiyodo Eva has a funky squat pose that it can’t quite stand up from. It is more or less the same scale as the SEGA figures, but the SEGA figures are so cheap they kind of look pretty lame next to the Mafex.
There are a lot of great accessories here. There is an alternative Berserker head with an open mouth, a handful of hands, an alternate shoulder for deploying the Prog Knife as well as a loose Prog knife. There is a full Plug capsule and a partial one that both interact with a swapable part that goes in the back for an open plug insertion effect. There are two guns as well, one is the regular Evangelion machine gun, the other is a huge Gatling cannon. I don’t recall the Gatling cannon in the original series at all so it must be something from the Evangelion 2.0 series.
Lastly there is a large AT field effect, that works with one of the sets of hands. The Eva can hold the effect up with no problem. There is a standard claw grip stand included, but no stand for the AT field. It doesn’t work with other stands made for holding flat pieces from Figuarts and Figma.
I held off on Pre Ordering Eva Unit 02 until this figure was released due to the history of spotty Mafex releases, but damn if this figure doesn’t make me excited for more. I admit I used to be kind of a huge Eva nerd, so I’m kind of extra hype for some good Eva figures with nice pose-ability and not a lot of weird stylization going on (Revoltech).
I’m not super keen on Loki’s comic book look. He’s a little too, court jester in style for my liking. Still, he’s kind of a big part of the whole Thor and Asgardian world, being Thor’s brother and all, so not having a Loki to go with my other Asgardians was kind of a hole in need of filling. Plus, frankly, I kind of wanted everyone else in the wave.
I’m sure someone who keeps better track than I do would know which “buck” this is, but it’s pretty much just “Bulky dude in spandex”. The figure is honestly pretty basic overall, though it does match his look. The best part of this figure is the most unique part, specifically the head with the cheese eating grin. The face is goofy and fun. I do kind of hate how his pony tail is permanently swooshy in style.
Loki is the God of Mischief after all.
The only accessory he includes in a sword. I am kind of surprised he doesn’t have a cape or anything, I guess this costume design just doesn’t have one. Some extra hands could have helped flesh out the package as well.
I don’t have much else to say about this figure, he’s a notable character, but it’s just such a boring design.
I really enjoy Harry Potter. I have read the books a few times, I have watched the movies a few dozen times, each, I know a lot of the little extra tidbits of the lore and world. I am pretty excited for the idea of Figuarts doing a Harry Potter series. I have essentially one figure from these movies. Right at the end of the 1/12th line they did a sub line called Dueling Club, which was as close as we have gotten to having a set of good looking 1/12th Potter figures that had decent articulation. I have Harry Potter fromt his line, I think there was also a Malfoy, Lockheardt and a Snape, but I have never seen them.
I may be totally off on that assessment of 1/12th Potter stuff. Anyway, Figuarts has started with the three main heroes, and Professor Snape all based on their Sorcerer’s Stone likenesses. I’m honestly not super keep on the three kids, they look a little goofy, and I would much rather get the core cast in slightly older versions of themselves. Snape however, was already an adult, and didn’t really change much throughout the series, so I went ahead and picked him up.
I have to say, having him in hand, he is great. There are a few issues but he’s very nicely poseable and the likeness on the neutral face is a pretty dang good Alan Rickman likeness. Even if they never do the older cast, I can say I would be satisfied with just Snape. He reminds me a lot of why I liked The Rock and Bruce Lee, he is recognizable, which makes him fun to goof around with in ways you wouldn’t expect the character/actor to act.
So the downsides though. The alternate face is a little off, and I am not entirely sure what it’s meant to represent. Is he angry? Is he yelling? Is he sneering? It’s not real clear what he is supposed to be doing with his open mouth. It also looks a little less like Alan Rickman than the neutral face.
He is also pretty light on the accessories. I am not sure what he could have come with exactly, maybe some sort of book or a few potion vials since he is the Potions Master. He only has the alternate face, 3 sets of hands and his wand.
Lastly, the articulation overall is pretty good, even with the limiting skirt piece, but his arms seem to be missing a bicept swivel. This mean that it can be a little hard to get his arms looking quite right when he raises his arm up, in some poses. This one is kind of easy to write off since the design of his clothing looks like it would limit body movement quite a bit anyway.
Snape is still a really satisfying figure. He isn’t perfect but he is pretty much everything I had hoped for. I’m hoping he will scale alright with the upcoming McFarlane figures, though I feel like he will end up being a tad on the small side. Also, I’m not sure yet if I am going to bother with the McFarlane figures, as the likenesses are kind of iffy from the promo shots. Here is hoping we get Harry, Ron and Hermione from Goblet of Fire or Deathly Hallows in the Figurarts line. I’d also be game for some of the other teachers, Dumbledor and McGonagle, Lupin, and Mad Eye Moody would all be great with this line.
