Welcome to the latest in my series of action figure-related threads.
The companies that make adult collectables, like Diamond Select, McFarlane, Mezco and NECA always create action figures that look exactly like the movie characters. On the other hand, companies that still specialize in children's toys tend to be a bit more...creative.
In the 90s, Kenner released "Age 4+" action figures based on the Aliens and Predator franchise that deviated enormously from what we saw in the movies. The Aliens and Predators all had very bright colors, the Aliens were mutated to resemble various animals, such as rhinos, gorillas, snakes and spiders, and the Predators had bizarre-looking color schemes and weapons like tentacles coming out of their faces. The Marines weren't any better. They looked nothing like the characters in the movies. They had the wrong clothes, the wrong faces and the wrong cyborg enhancements. Some of the action figures came with short comics by Dark Horse, featuring these re-imagined characters in an attempt to justify these foul abominations. I don't know how they convinced Dark Horse to have anything to do with this.
More recently, Hasbro has been cross-breeding their Transformers toys with various other franchises like Animorphs, Star Wars and Marvel Super Heroes. The result: a Darth Vader robot that transforms into a Tie Fighter, a Luke Skywalker robot that transforms into an X-Wing and a Spider-Man robot that transforms into a motorbike.
What do you guys think about these severely altered action figures? Do you like them or hate them? Are there any others, besides the ones I've mentioned?
The companies that make adult collectables, like Diamond Select, McFarlane, Mezco and NECA always create action figures that look exactly like the movie characters. On the other hand, companies that still specialize in children's toys tend to be a bit more...creative.
In the 90s, Kenner released "Age 4+" action figures based on the Aliens and Predator franchise that deviated enormously from what we saw in the movies. The Aliens and Predators all had very bright colors, the Aliens were mutated to resemble various animals, such as rhinos, gorillas, snakes and spiders, and the Predators had bizarre-looking color schemes and weapons like tentacles coming out of their faces. The Marines weren't any better. They looked nothing like the characters in the movies. They had the wrong clothes, the wrong faces and the wrong cyborg enhancements. Some of the action figures came with short comics by Dark Horse, featuring these re-imagined characters in an attempt to justify these foul abominations. I don't know how they convinced Dark Horse to have anything to do with this.
More recently, Hasbro has been cross-breeding their Transformers toys with various other franchises like Animorphs, Star Wars and Marvel Super Heroes. The result: a Darth Vader robot that transforms into a Tie Fighter, a Luke Skywalker robot that transforms into an X-Wing and a Spider-Man robot that transforms into a motorbike.
What do you guys think about these severely altered action figures? Do you like them or hate them? Are there any others, besides the ones I've mentioned?