In case you haven’t prowled the shelves of Wal-Mart, Target, or Toys-R-Us recently, here’s a list of just a few action figure lines available right now. I’m a figure collector, and to be blunt, besides some of McFarlane’s always-intricate and interesting lines (most of which aren’t even in regular toy sections– check Hastings or collector’s shops in malls for those) it’s been a typical year so far. You’ve got the same old Spider-Man movie line, trying to milk a little more cash out of the franchise even while it doesn’t have a movie coming out, and there’s alway a new Star Wars line, but they also usually look about the same. So here’s some of the new stuff, all of which can be found at Toys-R-Us.com if you don’t care to get out and find it yourself.

The Good

As I’ve said in previous blogs, Marvel’s having a really good year. Not only have they released two top-notch films in the same continuity, but that quality seems to have leaked over into their action figures as well. There’s nothing just brilliant about these figures but they’re nicely detailed, pretty realistic and come in brightly-colored, eye-catching boxes (important for collector’s like me who rarely open a new figure).

The Iron Man toys are immediately eye-catching because they’re not in your basic box. They’re on a flat card as usual, but at first glance, the plastic makes them look round, and the reds really jump out. These are 5.5-6″ figures, the perfect size to get a good amount of realistic detail and fun playability for kids who will take them out of the box. It’s hard for a figure to have much articulation if it’s too small, so when I was a kid, I never like my figures to get any smaller than this. The best thing about this line is that every figure looks like something out of the movie. All 3 of Stark’s various suits can be found, and there’s no obnoxious, weirdly colored versions. Just wait- we’ll get to those with Batman.

The Hulk figures look just like the Iron Man figures to me. Great articulation, great size, excellent box.

The toy shelves are looking a little more like they did when I was a kid with all the Ninja Turtles figures out, and it’s been like that for a few years now with the recent cartoon series, and now especially with the film last year. But for the first time ever, you can get a four-pack figure set of the original Eastman and Laird comic style Turtles. Beautifully colored like the original covers and wonderfully articulated, this is a very neat collector’s item and one fan’s have waited for a good long time.

The Not-So Good

These aren’t especially bad figures, but they’re not especially good, either. These represent the kind of mediocre toys I’ve seen every year since I was a kid. Some of them may even be worth picking up if you’re a big fan of the series, but more detail, thought, and marketing strategy really could have been used with these.

The new Indiana Jones line follows the Star Wars tradition of 3.5-4″ figures, and again, I think this is too small for much detail and definitely for much articulation. What’s neat about them is that they aren’t just from the new movie– a number of characters from all four films are included and it’s a very extensive line. I would guess the idea with these and Star Wars is the same: smaller figures so that more individual toys can be made. They can do more characters and keep their costs lower by using less material. That’s probably why 5-6″ lines usually have a dozen or less figures.

Worse than the size, though, is the package presentation. Somehow, this box manages to make it look like the figure doesn’t resemble Harrison Ford at all. He looks a little thrown together, and if it weren’t for the label, we might not even know it was supposed to be Indiana Jones.

But take a closer look at the figure itself. I don’t know exactly what’s wrong with this packaging, but it’s managing to make the figure look much worse than it really is. Maybe they should have put the hat on him.

The Dark Knight line really looks pretty good– good size, excellent detail– but the box is lame and isn’t eye-catching, and the figures are really hit-and-miss. There are several versions of the figure pictured above, and despite my qualms with the new costume, these are great because they look like the suit you’re going to see in the new film. But every Batman line has a number of goofy, weirdly colored suits Batman himself would NEVER wear, and why do that with a darker film franchise?

I just don’t think Christian Bale would make a good Power Ranger. And I get it. The assumption is that kids like to play with brightly colored figures. Maybe that’s true, but I had an extensive collection of Batman figures growing up, I played with them all the time, and I always wanted to create stories with my figures that seemed authentic, at least to me. I loved Batman comics and I loved the films, so why wouldn’t I want my Batman to look like BATMAN?

Sometimes the new Joker looks cool, and sometimes he looks like this… anyone who’s been in a cave for the last two years might take a look at this and think Michael Keaton is playing the role. This doesn’t look anything like Heath Ledger or the Joker we’ve been seeing in the previews. It looks like a dumbed down, cartoon version when, looking at the detail of that first Batman figure I showed you, there’s no reason it couldn’t look more like this:

This is a 1:6 scale figure put out by DC Direct. Of course I wouldn’t expect vinyl or cloth clothes on a regular $9-10 figure, but look at the face. He doesn’t look silly, he looks creepy, which is the mood of the film as I gather it from trailers. But there are some other good figures in the line, including a new Scarecrow and a very good Bruce Wayne ninja figure.

The Bizarre

These are figures that are really weird and probably shouldn’t have been made. The Mighty Muggs line is trying to be cute, but I think they’re just kind of disturbing.

As far as I can tell, they’re just doing Star Wars and Marvel figures for now, but if they catch on, there could be more. I think these are supposed to be funny in the same way Legos or Minimates are, but somehow I’m not getting it. They’re round, they have giant heads, and they’re huge hunks of plastic that can’t possibly be any fun to play with. If they were plush, that would be different. There are a TON of these, and they’re all a little creepy.

The one exception is Dr. Doom. For some reason, this one cracks me up. Maybe it’s the slanted mouth on his mask. Then again, I’ve always thought Dr. Doom was hillarious.

LLAP

-Cap’n Logan

Minor Spoilers

This movie is best described as a fanboy’s wet dream. There are plenty of not so subtle references for Iron Fans to pick up on, clever dialog to keep the audience actively listening, and it’s a stunning spectacle. Call Iron Man what you will, but don’t call it boring. It’s a great way to kick off the summer. I, for one, was ‘ooh-ing’ and ‘awe-ing’ along with the rest of the audience at the niftiness that is Iron Man.

Bravo to Jon Favreau for using as little CGI as possible. During some parts of the movie I kept trying to figure out whether or not they used it. In some parts computer intervention is reasonably obvious, but mainly because the possibility of achieving the various superheroic acts would be slim without the construction of an actual suit of powered armor.

Sometimes the camera felt too shaky for a movie about highly advanced technology. I understand that some of that is probably because of the location it was shot in. And further to the filmmaker’s credit the shaky-cam is rarely noticeable. Most of it occurred while Tony Stark was in Afghanistan and they may have wanted to use that raw feel to increase the tension of the situation.

The wit in this movie is astounding. Everything from visual jokes to one-liners to witty banter is employed here. Tony Stark’s rich playboy savoir-faire more than contributes to the comedy. The characters around him succumb to his cleverness and charm and it keeps us, the audience, in stitches. Stark’s comedic rapport with his slightly dimwitted seemingly empathic robotic machinery is hilarious. Don’t worry. His relationship with his armor is strictly professional.

The most satisfying aspect of the film is Robert Downey Jr.’s performance. He captures all that is Tony Stark and gives it to us on an iron platter. He’s electrifying. A lot of “comic book” Tony Stark’s charisma that is successfully interpreted to film, I think, can in large part be credited to Robert Downey Jr.’s own charm. This is probably one of the best cast movies I’ve seen in a while. It’s hard to go wrong with Jeff Bridges and Gwyneth Paltrow. Though Obadiah Stane is far from likeable, he is an interesting villain due to the friendliness that is present in Bridges’ voice, which makes some of his other roles, like the Dude in The Big Lebowski, lovable. As Pepper Potts, Paltrow is able to match Tony Stark’s charisma and be influenced by it while still maintaining her better judgment… for the most part.

There is an obvious pushing of social commentary in its anti-war theme. I don’t mind the theme, but I think it’s force fed to the audience on a nearly constant basis. The film opens with Tony Stark being captured by terrorists who use illegally acquired weapons made by Stark Industries and after his escape Tony decides that weapons of war are morally wrong. The motivation of Stark is pushed as if it is the essential point the filmmakers are wanting the audience to leave with, but the theme conflicts with the plot. A weapons maker stops making weapons for the military and decides to wage his own war using his weapon specifically designed for personal use. It makes sense why he does it. The only way to destroy the weapons is by making a weapon that can destroy them, but he also uses the suit to fight people. It’s unavoidable. So, essentially the movie presents two themes “War is bad” and “If you want peace prepare for war.” I almost thought this was a flaw, but I’m not so sure. I think it’s an interesting bit of irony. Superheroes often swim in ideals and are faced with situations where they have to decide what is morally straight. Usually the hero’s own morality is held up as the standard, but the innocent hypocrisy adds something to this movie.

The narrative is driven more by circumstance than it is by plot, but personally I didn’t care much. The plot ties together enough that it doesn’t feel random which made for a good time. There is a week point where the question of “why?” isn’t addressed. The answer could be left up to the disorganization of terrorist and guerilla warfare, but I figured I’d give you guys something to gnaw on. Also, there is a little needless non-sensible misdirection of the audience to throw us off the trail of something that we already knew would happen, but it’s hardly noticeable.

The story can feel disjointed at times. It focuses most on the construction of the armor, and how it’s affecting Stark’s life. The movie immediately immerses its viewers into action. It’s an assault to the senses that I’m not entirely sure is welcome, but it is effective none the less. From there it backtracks and rebuilds to the point when Tony is then captured by predominantly Afghani terrorists and is forced to build for them his newest weapon, the Jericho Missile. As is easily expected he deceives them and builds a super suit to break out of captivity. Then we have plot lines involving the stages of construction of the red and gold armor, and the making of Iron Monger.

Though nothing has been greenlit yet, there are talks of a sequel and maybe even a trilogy. Most of the main characters are signed on for three movies; so, the only thing that could put a damper in the future of the franchise is a poor box office reception, but as we very well know that’s not a problem.

If you go see this movie, I promise you, you won’t regret it.

-Vince