Collectible Reviews

After waiting for quite some time for this one to hit the streets, I got what I'd been waiting for...the King in full-blown plastic. And while the figure itself looks great and is sturdily built, the stage setting is one of the worst McFarlane toys I've ever purchased.

First, be warned that this is a sculpture, NOT an action figure. He has only a couple of points of articulation, and it's impossible to remove him from the one-foot-on-the-chair pose. Second, be warned that, although there are pegs and holes for each piece to fit into, I broke the chair on mine simply trying to get it into place. After I glued it back together, the big E's foot STILL wouldn't fit on the pegs on the chair, AND his left foot levitated a quarter of an onch off the "stage".

It's sad, really, that after waiting so long, I got the most poorly made toy in the history of McFarlane Toys. Todd, if you're listening, your name used to stand for quality in the greed-soaked toy business. Don't let that rep slip too far.

For the collectors whose shelves are lined with figures from the different services, different nationalities, and different specialties, you may want to give this one a skip. This is another of the newer generation GI Joes that are quickly made for a quick return.

Although the Joe is good quality, this one is an armament specialist. To be honest, I had never heard of this specialty, but who knows. Second, the figure has the torso-shirt rather than a removable shirt. As a collector, this is disappointing. I am also disappointed that there are no dog-tags. To me, this is part of a GI Joe.

The figure comes with a hat and boots, desert camouflage pants, belt, and a .50 caliber rifle with ammunition. The gripping hands allow the figure to hold the gun well.

Although there are some small pieces, I wouldn't worry too much about them being lost or swallowed. Well, I suppose if a child is determined, the boot or hat may go down. The Joe is sturdy and can put up with some rough play.

I would not recommend this Joe for collectors, but this may be something, given the price, for kids to play with.

I am a collector of 1:6 scale WWII figures and am currently building a D-day diorama. I got this guy mainly because of the .30 machine gun and am probably going to use the figure as a dead body(face down, simply because of the lack of detail. If you like collecting 1:6 figures and want some cheap accessories, go for it, I do recomend this item. But for the good looks, stick with BBI or Dragon.(THE MACHINE GUN ROCKS!!!)

I HAVE IT AND ITS THE BEST TOY AROUND! I WOULD GET IT IF I WERE YOU!

When Kroenen showed upon the prologue of the "Hellboy" film, dressed up in his Nazi uniform but also wearing a gas mask, I found myself thinking, when was the last time we had a really good Nazi villain in a movie (I going back to Laurence Olivier in "Marathon Man," the movie that proved what you always suspected was true: your dentist is a Nazi). I was a bit disappointed that the 8" Kroenen action figure from Mezco Toyz was not decked out in his Nazi garb, but I have to admit that for most of "Hellboy" he is dressed as you see him here.

The Kroenen figure comes with several points of articulation and is as poseable as the Abe Sapien figure, and has two detachable double-bladed baton-swords of his own invention that can be attached (although the end effect is a different look from what we see in "Hellboy"). It would be nice if you could pop out Kroenen's key from the implant in his chest, but that would be a bit much for a figure this small (there are 12" figures coming out later this summer). The figure is still wearing elaborately detailed armor and gives you Hellboy and Abe Sapien figures somebody to fight.

There is also a Rasputin figure that includes the infant Hellboy that popped out of the portal back in 1944. The Mezco quartet are an above average set of movie tie-ins for both long time fans and new converts to the world of Mike Mignola's Dark Horse comic book created by Guillermo del Toro's film.

This is a great looking toy with a nice paint job, good detailing and a nice rubber cape. There aren't a great number of points of articulation, though. The knees and elbows don't even bend, and the arms and legs only swing to and fro. This toy's strength is that it remains true to how the character originally appeared in the Kingdom Come comic. Unless you're wedded to the idea of getting a Kingdom Come toy, I wouldn't recommend this. There are better action figures out there to play with.

I expected Magog to be relesed as part of the Series 1 of Kingdom Come action figures. But I guess, it was worth the wait. This figure is represented just like its comic book counterpart, right down to the sneer. It has limited articulation, and is best for display purposes.

This three-pack is nothing short of fantastic. At such a small scale, the terrifying Dark Lord Sauron's armor has all the detail you could hope for, and challenges the detail of the awesome 10 inch figure. Elendil and Islidur are excellent as well. This is a very great set, one any collector should seek out. It would be nice to see more toys and such from the prologue, and especially more Sauron toys. So, if you're a collector, this would be an awesome set to own, and if you only snag bits and pieces like myself, the fact that the set includes Sauron should be enough to pick this set up.

If you missed out on the first wave of these figures, don't worry about it. ToyBiz is re-releasing them! Smaller packaging, smaller price, and I say that's a sweet deal any way you slice it.

The diminutive hobbit from the peaceful land of the Shire was bequeathed his Uncle Bilbo's house, possessions - and a Ring - when Bilbo decided to leave the Shire. The kind wizard Gandalf lends his great wisdom to the matter, and discerning that the Frodo's simple band of gold is actually an instrument of brutal power, taken from the dark lord Sauron in battle an age ago! Should Sauron ever recover the Ring, he will again grow great and powerful, powerful enough to dominate all free peoples and lands in Middle-Earth. Frodo finds himself caught up in a world of elves, orcs, and wizards he had previously only read about, when he leaves the Shire with three friends, on a quest to destroy the One Ring.

I wasn't as impressed with this figure. The costume is pretty good, as is the norm with most of the Lord of the Rings figures from ToyBiz. And admittedly, this is probably the only Frodo figure that is not wearing the outer coat, but only his shirt and suspenders.

Detriment number one would be the sword. It is permanently grafted into Frodo's hand. Of course, it DOES glow blue, but since it's not detachable, I count it as a detriment. There's also the cloak. Some people have complained that it makes Frodo hard to stand, but from my experience, long (and sometimes heavy) cloaks can sometimes be used to support the weight of the figure. The cloak is detachable too...if you ask me, they included its detachability just because they had to have SOMETHING to come separate with it.

If you want a Frodo with Sting that glows ("Frodo, the lit-tle hobbit / had a very shiny sword / and if you ever saw it / you would want to see it more / all of the other hob-bits/only had these dinky blades/they never glowed like Frodo's / like his did inside Dwarf-caves...."), or with the somewhat different costume, then you'll want to go for it. If you're just looking for a good Frodo to play with or display, keep your eyes peeled, and your wallet pocketed.

Mariano Rivera of the New York Yankees is, by acclamation, the greatest postseason relief pitcher in the history of baseball. At this point in his career Rivera has played in 21 postseason series, including six World Series. In 61 games he has a record of 7-1 record with 30 saves, an E.R.A. of 0.75, and 77 strikeouts against only 12 walks in 96 innings pitched. That one loss comes against the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2001, when to the surprise of just about everybody in America he actually blew the save in the bottom of the ninth of Game 7. Not that Rivera has been a slouch during the regular season where he has been an All-Star reliever for seven seasons, having been the game's premier set-up pitcher during the 1996 season, when the current Yankee dynasty won its first World Championship. Rivera had 283 career saves going into the 2004 season and is currently leading the American League in that category. His career E.R.A. is 2.49 and he has not had more than a dozen walks at any time in the last three seasons. The only question now is how many more seasons does Rivera need at this level to make the Hall of Fame, if he is not already at that level. All that post season exposure certainly does not hurt.

This 6" figure from McFarlane Toys has Rivera in the Yankees gray road jersey about to release his patented cut fastball and probably break somebody's bat. Of course since this is the road warrior version of this Rivera figure there would not be the playing of Metallica's "Enter Sandman" when he enters the game like there is at Yankee Stadium, but there is a pinstripe version of the figure as well. Since Major League Baseball retired #42 in 1997 to honor the 50th anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier, Rivera is the last player in the majors to still be wearing that number. The only points of articulation on the figure are River's neck and his throwing arm. I like the way River's right toe is barely touching the pitching rubber while the toes on his left foot are actually hanging over the end of the pitcher's mound base.

The MLB Series 9 is the second of at least three series of baseball figures that McFarlane Toys is putting out in 2004. Also included in this series are Dontrelle Willis of the Florida Marlins, Todd Helton of the Colorado Rockies, Magglio Ordonez of the Chicago White Sox, Nomar Garciaparra of the Boston Red Sox, and Andruw Jones of the Atlanta Braves. Yankee fans can look forward to a new Derek Jeter figure with Series 10, but also have to endure seeing both Andy Pettite and Roger Clemens as Houston Astros. There is also a MLB Two-Pack of Jeter trying to turn a double play over a sliding Garciaparra coming out in 2004 as well.