Von Doom's Toy Archive

Something a bit different. Most of the time I'm looking at super articulated figures based on nostalgic, time worn properties that were created long before I was born. So, how about unarticulated figurines based on an anime that's, almost 16 years old oh jeez. Was 2010 really that long ago?

Seen in these images are the Phat Company Angel Version Panty & Stocking alongside the Hello! Good Smile iterations of those same characters. While I do generally prefer articulated figures, the only toys of the Anarchy Sisters with articulation go for insane prices. They don't look particularly great either. The designs just don't translate to full on action figures. Especially Stocking. Her hair traffic cones all possible movement.

The Phat Company figures are smaller than I expected, but still nicely sculpted. They look quite dynamic despite their fairly vanilla stances. I can just hear FLY AWAY NOW looking at them. They also came with a Heaven Coin... that mine did not include since I bought these loose. Looks like I'm stuck here on Earth.

The Hello! Good Smile figures are pretty nice too. Bigger than expected. If you've ever handled a Nendoroid by the same company, they have a similar handfeel but even more parred down. Their details are obviously simplified, resembling how they appeared in the credits sequence for season 1. Barring Stocking's longer hair that is. She had a shorter cut in the actual credits, presumably because she couldn't really bob her head with the long hair. And yeah, the tilting head does not work that well with her big ass hair! The teal earrings on Panty reveal that these are based on their tweaked season 2 designs. If you want S1 credits P&S specifically, you gotta get the pack with See Through.

Behold! The vaguely and confusingly titled 'Evil Ghost of Skeletor,' Scare Glow! A fan favorite based solely on his truly gnarly design. Another from the Chronicles line, I'll try not to say as much about this as I did Skeletor since they're very similar in terms of engineering.

One major difference between the two is the cape. This guy comes with a cloth cape. It's not bad. About standard for mass retail cloth capes and an improvement over previous Mattel capes. Sculpt is awesome, the exposed muscle striations and bones poking through is truly a cool reinterpretation of the design. The wreath of flames is a great addition, but also removable for those who want a bit more of a traditional look. The Scythe of Doom's redesign looks pretty sick too. Granted, it's still not really a scythe now is it?

Articulation is about as good as Skeletor, if a tad limited by the cape collar and shoulder armor. It's a great baseline, but again thigh swivels and better forward crunch in the torso would be nice. Still, you can get some great poses out of him and he carries major display presence in all of them.

Far as complaints go, they're mostly paint related. The paint is a touch sloppy on the bones. Also, come on. This Scare GLOW does not glow, except the head. That's a bit lame. There's also bones on his back that weren't painted. They'll be covered basically all the time so no big deal, but it is worth bringing up. I'd also prefer if he had red eyes. Maybe the green is meant to make him feel more distinct from Skeletor. However, I like how the red pops more. More accessories would always be nice. Once again I am asking for a full set of hands. Oh! One more thing: Walmart exclusivity. Thanks for guaranteeing most people who want this will not be able to get it without going through scalpers. Awesome work, Mattel.

Soo, if you know what's up with the Doctor Doom figure in these pic you're probably screaming. There's no way he did that. But I did do it. For those unaware, this is the Marvel Legends Super Skrull wave Doctor Doom with the cloth goods and hands from the Mezco Doctor Doom. There's no way someone would cannibalize a $150 premium display piece for a mere $20 toy, right? It's insane to think, but I didn't do it unprompted. You see, what happened is that my Mezco Doom's shoulder became stuck and then snapped when I tried moving it. Could I have fixed it? Possibly, but it seemed unfeasible. So, rather than waste all the good stuff I decided to see what I could salvage.

The final results are... pretty sick, actually. I liked the Mezco Doom a lot, but I had my complaints. The heads, while VERY sculpted and detailed, felt kinda big. The articulation was actually kinda worse than the ML? Not better, at least. And the diecast, ugh. I hate diecast goods on action figures. It's such a gimmick that always leads to problems in the long run. The paint scrapes so easily and figures with it always end up becoming floppy. My Mezco Doom was showing signs of both before it decided to simply break. Where it really sang was its wide array of accessories and the sheer aura it commanded.

The ML Doom was a great figure, one of the best ML ever even now, but of course its low price meant certain issues. Particularly the limitations of the plastic cape and tunic. The lack of accessories too. A full set of hands was sorely missed.

Could it be, if I combined both I'd get the ideal Doom? I had to undo the stitching on one side of the Mezco Doom's tunic to get it off the figure. I then restitched it onto the ML by hand. I also tacked down the hood so it would sit over the smaller heads better. The hands were an easy pop and swap. Colors match very well. They're kinda big proportionally, but combined with the oversized tunic I feel it gives the ML some of the Mezco's large mass. Overall, I'm actually a fan of how it came out. I might even, like it more than the base Mezco? What's wrong with me?? It certainly feels more fun to pose and that's the biggest plus in my book.

Whenever a new figure line hits stores, I take notice. Often I find myself passing by, but sometimes you can't help but give it a whirl. That's where I'm at with the Chronicles movie Skeletor, despite my indifference towards the upcoming source material. Between their acquisition of DC and TMNT licenses, it's clear Mattel wants to take advantage of Hasbro's increasing stagnation within the action figure market. This new Chronicles line only further proves that ambition.

This is an incredibly fun toy. You know it's good when you can't stop taking pictures of it. It's actually impressive what they made happen here, especially considering this is a Mattel release. Mattel! A perennial punching bag in the collecting community! The paint, the sculpting, the articulation, it all comes together in a nice way. The white drybrushing on his blue skin in particular stands out as a little extra detail that goes a long way. It makes him look totally dried out and decayed. When it comes to movement, the shoulders and neck really stood out to me as getting some great range. The head in particular gets more movement than you'd expect having that hood. The limbs also have import style knees and elbows which is very snazzy looking. The posable jaw is also very welcome and surprisingly rare on Skeletor figures. Gotta love how they partially painted the neck black to provide the illusion of a void beneath the mouth. The skull sculpt is great, the highlight being the deep set red eyes that are so menacing. Also bonus points for the skull being a deep shade of yellow. It's hard to tell with all the varying lighting, but I don't think it's quite this vibrant in the movie. This is a good change since Skeletor always looks best with a yellow skull.

However, there's still some work to be done with the formula seen here. While it has some very impressive articulation overall, the torso is somewhat lackluster. There's not enough forward range for my tastes, especially for Skeletor who should be able to do some major hunching. The hips, too, leave something to be desired. They get crazy major outward range, like he can do full splits with ease, but forward range is just... fine. It's workable, but I'd like for him to get better forward kicks. I think the lack of thigh cuts isn't helping. He has some swivel up there, but with full cuts you could cheat some forward range. I know it's not the most aesthetically pleasing POA, but the lack of it hurts. I'm always in favor of articulation over aesthetics so YMMV on that one. Soon as we figure out a more aesthetically pleasing alternative to thigh cuts that doesn't miss out on its range, then I'm all for that. The hips are somewhat loose too after some play. Not floppy, but they glide too easily in some poses.

As for accessories, they're solid. The cape he came with out the box was a flat piece of soft plastic. I get why they did that, so it'd have the texture and spinal detailing. But that's stuff I'm willing to trade away for something more dynamic, so I picked up a nice, shiny cloth cape for him. It definitely makes this great figure even more awesome. That being said, the cape he came with was pretty solid as far as plastic capes go. It didn't inhibit any movement, it just looked kinda flat. Would like more hands. At least a pair of fists and a pair of open hands, rather than a single of both. I also don't know if he'll use a sword in the movie, but is a bit of a bummer the figure doesn't have one. Both of the Skeletors I have around this size don't have one.

While I'd consider myself a MotU fan, I'm not really interested in the new movie. It's giving Thor movie and I don't mean that nicely lol. Even if I were, I'd MUCH prefer someone who isn't Jared Leto in the role of He-Man's most iconic foe. While whoever else they got likely wouldn't even touch Frank Langella's tour de force performance in the '87 film, Leto isn't even in the same solar system. Luckily, having a skull for a head means I can divorce this figure from both the source and his crappy actor pretty easily. One thing I'll give the new movie is that the designs look quite faithful to the source and totally unashamed of it, which is nice to see from a big budget Hollywood film. Skeletor is actually one of the most redesigned, really. I'll admit without the full harness with straps he looks kinda naked. But I can deal with it.

Sooo, I guess I must have decided I still don't have enough Shredders since I pieced a bunch of spare parts into a new one. What can I say? One of my favorite villains ever. Though, my total number of Shredder figures technically went down by one since I used two different ones for this bad ninja turtle slicer.

The recipe was an Articulated Icons Shibito, a Black Series Jedi Luke tunic, NECA Shredder gauntlets and hand blades, a wired cape and sash from GPSlot on eBay, and finally a BST AXN Shredder head with shoulder pads. I had those BST AXN Shredder parts lying around for awhile since its leg pegs shattered right out of the box. Really bad figure, but it had some really good sculpt work with a lot of potential for a better body.

I made this for a couple reasons. The big one is that I just really love the IDW design, it's a top contender for my favorite Shredhead design. It's so clean and works perfectly as a kind of, evergreen nonspecific Shredder since it blends so many past iterations seamlessly. While this isn't an exact copy of the IDW design, it's a close approximation with some liberties taken. I wanted a Shredder that isn't too media specific. The open shirt sure isn't accurate, but I do like how it calls back to the vintage '88 toy's exposed chest.

Two, I wanted a super articulated 6 inch scale Shredder that I can keep on-hand for photos and stuff. Many of the Shredders I have can fit into a 6 inch display, but it's always with an asterisk. NECA's comic/toon figures are advertised as 1/10, but really they're more like 1/11-ish. They're too short for a true 7 inch display, but maybe a little too big for 6 inch. Slightly larger than ML scale. Especially more recent ones. And those more recent ones feel like they're losing movement range as they're not nearly as fun to pose without modding. I still think that original Mirage Shredder sculpt poses the most fluidly out the box. It also works great as the kind of generic Shredder I'm after since it's the baseline for everything that came after. However, as that figure shoots up in value I do feel like I am playing with fire whenever I take it down from the shelf for a pose sesh. This one I don't have to worry so much about.

MESS Toys Scarlet Hero. Hey, it's another MESS Toys Spider-Man. It's similar to the first two, now in Ben Reilly's clothes.

The biggest new addition is the cloth hoodie, which looks pretty great. It's got the torn sleeves and croptop alongside a nice big 90s style logo. The wired hood is pretty good too. He's got three interchangeable heads, but for me the one with the big, sharp lenses that droop down onto his cheeks is basically the only option. An unmasked Ben Reilly head might have been nice.

Now, for the sake of transparency, I'd like to mention this is the first time I've actually run into some issues with a MESS Toys release. Both the shoulder joints were loose. The pegs going into the torso would slip out of the socket too easily for my liking. I tried tightening them up with some paper. First one worked pretty well. Second? Well, it worked a lil TOO well. The joint became too tight and it snapped in the socket. Luckily it was not hard for me to supply a replacement from a busted AY 2.0 DP I had lying around. Yeah that's a whole other story. While the breaking was my fault, the loose shoulder joints weren't. The left thigh also likes to pop apart easier than both my Superior and Black Suit Spideys. It's mildly annoying. The right knee joint too had a similar issue of popping out without much provocation, but it seems to be fine now. Not sure what changed, but yeah just thought I'd bring it up.

I love the OG Scarlet Spider costume. It's a top 5 Spidey costume for me. It's very easy to be blinded by new toy bias, but I'm really thinking this is my favorite figure of it. The MAFEX was nice for a time, but it felt like a half hearted effort from Medicom. It was based on a more modern design as you could tell from the hoodie, it was weirdly tall/lanky compared to the other Spideys from the line, and said hoodie's small logo began fading as I posed it. The Retro ML is actually pretty nice, but I love the way these MESS Spideys pose. I'm seriously thinking maybe I do want that Kaine Scarlet Spider after all. I actually really like his turn in the role a lot, much moreso than his initial 90s appearances even, it's just that I'm not fond of his costume. It's, like, a b-tier for me. Good, but I don't have a strong attachment to the suit even if I do very much like the character himself. But these are just that good.

Let's cut to the chase. This is the Super7 TMNT 2k3 Ultimates Shredder. How long I have waited for this figure. I anticipated it so much, I paid full price for a S7 figure! If you don't want to read this upcoming wall of text, I'll get sum it up right here: I would not recommend paying full retail for this. It's not worth it. It'll almost certainly go on sale. For those who want to know more, here we go.

Every time I talk about this Shredder, there's a compulsive need to bring up my history with him. This was my TMNT, this was my Shredder. My first figures of this character were based on this iteration. It's burned into my brain as the default design. I really love everything about him. The design, voice, the presence. The definitive Shredder... except, one little thing. This Shredder wasn't quite as traditional as he first appeared. Bear in mind, I was a kid when this series first aired, and back then, I really did not like the Utrom twist. It bugged me so bad, it made me kinda resent this iteration for years after. It didn't align with the headcanon I had built with my toys or what I saw when I eventually watched the old '90s movie and started to explore past iterations. It didn't work for me at all. I was watching Turtles Forever's premiere hoping to see that little squid get wrecked. Still, couldn't be denied, he had a GREAT design that I still wanted to see get a truly great toy. Now I'm an adult. I've chilled considerably since and can appreciate Ch'rell for what he is rather than what he isn't. He's seriously a fantastic villain and a top tier Shredder once you get past that initial shock.

All this to say, I've been wanting a highly articulated take on this Shredder for basically as long as I've been buying toys. I loved the old Playmates 2k3 Shredder, but man. I wanted one that could move like my Spider-Man toys could. Cut to today and Super7 has finally delivered. Does it live up?

Mmmm, close, but not quite. At least out the box. Let's start with the positive. The articulation is quite good. It has all the movement you'd expect of a modern toy and it's not overly stiff. Not the most fluid I've handled, but you can get some nice poses out of him. Functionality is good considering the design. He cuts a mean stance. This figure captures the aura of the Shredder very well.

As for accessories, he has most of the requisite hands. Feels a bit cheap to not throw in a matching left wide open hand to be honest. However, I do love that the Sword of Tengu was included. Despite its short run, it's definitely THE iconic weapon for this Shredder. It's also nice to FINALLY get a little slug of Ch'rell himself, something which was sorely missing in the original toyline. It's a nicely sculpted little thing with a suitably smug look on his face. However...

The wired cloth ties were a nice idea in theory, but the execution is flawed. There's a LOT of excess fabric and it looked particularly ugly seeing so much stick out from beneath the belt clasp. I trimmed around there for a cleaner, more seamless look. The fabric used is also strange. It's really soft and has an artificial smell to it that's hard to describe. I don't know what material it's made from.

The helmet's trident is perhaps the most iconic part of Shredder's design and they TOTALLY whiffed it. The two prongs going across the side of his helmet were excessively long and thin. The way they curved back looked strange. Most reference images from the 'toon and the original toy didn't have that shape at all. The ones that kinda did match were strange angles that I think the animators were trying to cheat. So, I snipped them for a shorter look. I think said trident also sits a little low on the forehead, resulting in his eyes being covered up from too many angles. The eyes are maybe a touch too close together too. This is a design I've studied closely, so even the smallest things stand out.

The included Oroku Saki head is nicely sculpted and very accurate, but it's too big. I don't think it could fit under that helmet. It was rare he ever did take off the helmet while suited up, but you could see his head was proportionally small when he did to account for the fact he was in a bulky suit of armor. In general, this figure's scaling hews too large I think. Animation being what it is, scaling was all over the place so it's not inaccurate. But this figure feels closer to how Ch'rell scaled in Turtles Forever than in most instances of the original 2003 series.

The paint is, meh. Super7's paintwork in this line has been shoddy for the price and this is no different. There's spots the matte coat missed, little scrapes right out the box, and the colors used just aren't great. I'm not oppose to molding a figure in the appropriate colors, but you kinda have to choose the appropriate colors. I'm not sure what happened, but this figure's skirt and helmet are far darker than they should be. They're almost as black as the undersuit when they should really be a dark gray. The plates on his feet should also match the shin guards, but instead they're painted to match the chest armor. Just odd decisions all around. I can only assume there were miscommunications with the factory.

Yeah, it's the Juggernaut, bitch! Comb your beard, you gotta hear this shit. Extremely dated internet references aside, I've long wanted a Juggernaut. I'm glad I never went for one until now. The ML Gamerverse Juggernaut is an absolute beast of a toy!

In terms of pure aesthetics, this figure knocks it out of the park. It's not 100% dead-on to how he looked in the old Capcom games, but it's very close and makes for a sick vanilla Juggs too! His sheer size is genuinely impressive in-person. He's not the tallest ML I own, but he is the biggest. This thing is a brick, you could knock someone dead with it if you wanted to. There's a very subtle paint wash on the veins and muscles that help emphasize the sculpt. My flash photography makes it look more obvious.

With any figure with this much plastic packed into it, you're bound to run into restrictions. I'm impressed by the torso articulation, but that's about all that really wowed me. The rest is workable, but obviously not ideal. The arms and legs aren't gonna get crazy range simply because there's so much sculpted muscle there. The butterfly joints are, fine. It goes to show you CAN make halfway decent butterflies on burly characters like this. The head is obviously restricted due to the helmet. That's just core to his design. Comic books and video game sprites can cheat where real life can't. I think the one piece of articulation that's missing is boot swivel. He has a boot, so where is it? It really would have helped those legs a lot. That and how easily his left hand falls out are my biggest complaints with this one. That's really irritating, actually.