The Action Figure and Toy Collecting and Discussion Thread!

Here's a brief and fun review of the brand-new Jocasta Nu action figure that's slowly starting to arrive for those who ordered her....

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaUUJmpYQmM[/yt]

 

Swivel neck? A sign of things to come regarding [the lack of] articulation?

 

It occasionally happens, though on Vintage Collection figures it's certainly an unwelcome anomaly. That said, we've entered the era of figures with only 5 - 8 points of articulation where they have ball-jointed necks but swivel everything else and no elbows, knees or ankles.

 

Yes, because we expect Jocasta Nu to be performing incredible kung-fu feats.

Not that I'm trivializing the shift towards less articulation. It annoys me just as much.

 

For me I could do without 14 or 15 points of articulation on an action figure of the librarian of the Jedi Archives, an old lady who shuffles around with a big brown purse. But you know how the collecting community is....unless they can reenact scenes from Kill Bill with her they aren't happy.

Darth Maul? A Stormtrooper? I expect 14 or 15. A character whose most exciting action is to point Ewan McGregor to a shelf or table? Not vital.

 

At least they didn't use ball-joint hips. I hate those. Bespin Luke is horrific.

 

I used to love ball jointed hips on Marvel Legends. Then I started collecting DC Universe Classics, and realized just how cumbersome they are for posing. The double-cut hips that DCUC uses gives pretty much the same level of poseability without the ridiculous amount of fidgeting around to get the ball in just the right position to even make the leg go forward.

 

Most ball-jointed hips are definitely overrated. The first Vintage Collection version of the Sandtrooper (VC14, the one with the white pauldron and clean armor) has them and it's supposed to help him sit astride a Dewback, but when you bend his legs out to mount him on one he looks ridiculous and completely unnatural. It looks like he's doing a painful split on the poor lizard's back.

 

Very cool pics, Unicron! I love the packaging. It has kind of a 1980's Hasbro/Mattel vibe to the design and coloring. The figures themselves also have a retro look to them as if they came off the production lines in 1984 instead of recently.

 

I didn't know Big Lots carried this line. I'll have to check my local store to see if they have any newer stuff in their toy aisles. They've actually carried old surplus Star Wars figures in the past but the selection was limited.

 

I had duplicate mini Hawkeye and Black Widows, so I turned them into jewelry!

 

^
Sweet.

In other Star Wars collecting news, Wave 1 of the 2013 Clone Wars line is reported to be hitting retail in the Philippines. The first wave contains the new animated 501st Legion Clone as well as Cyborg Darth Maul along with three or four other figures.

Filipino sightings usually mean U.S. stores won't be too far behind.

As a refresher, here's what the 501st Clone looks like in multilingual European packaging:

 

Here's one I didn't post before: the brand new 2013 Clone Wars Anakin Skywalker.



And here's the new animated R2-D2.



And to round things out, the newest Obi-Wan Kenobi and Captain Rex, both different from the 2012 versions of the characters.

 

Obi-Wan looks pissed off!!! LOL.

 

Yeah, the 2012 and 2013 figures are meant to be more intense and determined looking. The earlier Clone Wars Obi-Wans had friendlier, more serene expressions that didn't necessarily go well with being an action figure designed for combat play.

 

Adorable!

 

I want to see her wear it in a pic!

 

It also looks like they've altered the likenesses from the animated series?? Something looks off about those two figures. I get the "darker" variants but the animation likeness is putting me off of them. Do we know if we're getting another Ahsoka?