Figma The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword Link

The Legend of Zelda is one of Nintendo's most popular and long running franchises.  For thirty years gamers have been guiding the series protagonist, Link, through dungeons, solving puzzles and fighting monsters to save the day. At the time of writing, there have been eighteen games in the series. The nineteenth game, Breath of the Wild, is due for release in 2017.

While the appearance and general traits of Link are pretty much consistent across the series not all games feature the same Link. If you're curious about the timeline you can read about it here. The Link featured in this review is the star of the sixteenth game and the first Link chronologically.

Link was the first Figma I bought. My first exposure to these kinds of figures. And I know I was not the only one. This figure has been rereleased twice since it first came out in 2013.

More expensive than a 6" Star Wars or Marvel toy by Hasbro but you do get your moneys worth. The sculpted detail - even on a relatively simple design like Link - is spot on. The paintwork is clean and used mostly for small details. As far as I can tell parts were cast in the appropriate colors as much as possible which reduces the chances of paint rubbing off with play.

There are a few little 'breaks' in the sculpt to allow for articulation. Even then these are blended as well as can be. Link is very well articulated for a figure of his size. From top to bottom - these a swivel in his hat, double jointed neck, universal shoulders, hinge and limited swivel elbows, hinge and swivel wrists, ball jointed torso, ball jointed hips, hinge and swivel knees, hinge and swivel ankles and a toe hinge.

To take advantage of all that articulation Link comes with a decent number of parts and accessories. There are 5 sets of hands - fists, relaxed, splayed, and gripping hands in two different positions - as well as a yelling face and an alternate hair piece. For accessories he has the Master Sword and Hylian Shield, as well as an effect part for the sword. There is also an included display stand if you want to display Link in more dynamic poses.

Like link the Master Sword is beautifully sculpted and painted. The hilt is painted a nice dark blue with some lighter blue and gold detailing. The Triforce symbol is present on the ricasso. The majority of the blade has a slight metallic blue tinge to the paint with the edges picked out in a brighter silver.

The pommel is removable to allow you to slide the grip into Link's hand. The grip is very thin and I have heard of people breaking it so be careful with it. Once in hand it is very secure and there is no risk of it falling out.

The Master Sword can be stored in the included scabbard. It is nicely sculpted and painted in gold and blue.The scabbard pegs into Link's back and the sword slides easily into it. Depending on the angle it can clash with Link's hat or the display stand.

Link's articulation means you can get him into a wide variety of dynamic poses. He can reach over his shoulder to draw his sword from its scabbard or grip it in two hands. Making use of the different gripping hands you can have him posed mid-swing, thrusting or parrying very convincingly.

Link's other accessory is the Hylian Shield. As with everything else on this figure the detail and paintwork are superb.

The shield breaks down into four pieces. The shield itself, the grip and the strap. The grip can be connected in three different ways depending on how you want to display Link with the shield.

Like the sword the grip on the shield comes apart so you can slide it into Link's hand. It can then be connected to a pair of vertical holes on either side of the shield depending on whether you want Link to wear the shield on his left or right arm. I've got it on his left as Skyward Sword Link is right handed (as far as I know he's the only right handed Link). The strap then plugs in to the central holes to hold the shield securely on Link's arm.

Alternately you can attach the grip horizontally around the scabbard. This allows Link to carry all his gear on his back. The strap has no where to store in this configuration.

The way that the shield connects to Link's arm means he looks natural holding it. It moves with his arm as a shield would in real life. Paired with his sword it makes Link an impressive looking figure.

By throwing the yelling face and the effect part into the mix you can get Link into some great attacking poses. In particular the effect part really helps sell the spin attack that is featured in many of The Legend of Zelda games.

One of the aspects of The Legend of Zelda games is the wide variety of tools Link acquires to complete his quest. While the Master Sword and Hylian Shield are his most famous pieces of equipment it is a shame that he didn't come with some of the other items from the game. The Link from A Link Between Worlds which was released within the last week was made available both as a regular and deluxe release, the deluxe coming with extra accessories. It cost a little more but was available for those who wanted them. It's a shame something similar wasn't offered with this Link.

If you're a fan of The Legend of Zelda you're probably already well aware of this figure. If not and you're looking for a Link toy I don't think you can go wrong with this one. Despite the lack of extra accessories this is still a fantastic toy. It was last rereleased in 2015 so, at the time of writing, it shouldn't be too hard to come by. 

Marvel Legends Space Knight Venom wave

I'm a big Spider-Man fan and have really been enjoying each of the Spider-Man themed 6" Legends waves over the past couple of years. So I very pleased to give you a look at the latest wave of figures. This is going to be less of a review and more of an overview of each of the figures in the latest wave.

Ultimate Spider-Man (Miles Morales)

Miles Morales was bitten by a spider intentionally mutated by Oscorp in order to recreate the powers of Spider-Man. Although he possessed super powers before the death of the Ultimate universe's Peter Parker he was reluctant to use them. Peter's death - along with some encouragement from his best friend Ganke and Gwen Stacy - motivated Miles to become the new Spider-Man.

Why start with Miles over Pete? Honestly, as much as I love Peter Parker, I already have a number of figures of him. Miles was one of the figures in this wave I was most excited to add to my collection.

Miles is using a new teenage male body. It's not quite as poseable as the 'Pizza Spidey' body but has plenty of articulation to get all the web swinging poses you'd want out of the figure. His black-and-red costume is nicely detailed and cleanly painted. You'll be reading that a lot as you go down this list but this set has some of the most consistently good paintwork I've seen across a wave of Legends figures.

Miles comes with both a masked and unmasked head. Both are nicely sculpted and painted. I don't think the likeness on the unmasked head is quite right to how Miles looks in the comics but it's still well sculpted.

I would imagine Miles here is going to be a pretty popular figure. The previous 6" scale figure has a hefty mark up on eBay so I am very grateful to have an affordable and easy to find figure of Miles.

Ultimate Spider-Man (Peter Parker)

On a school field trip to an Oscorp facility Peter is bitten by a spider which has been exposed to the OZ drug. Much like his main universe self he develops superpowers. His guilt over not stopping the murderer of Uncle Ben when he had the chance convinces Peter to become the crime fighting Spider-Man.

Pete uses the same body as Miles so apart from the paintwork and sculpting on his unmasked head he's exactly the same.

Both head sculpts are nice. The eyes on Pete's mask are a little iffy around the edges of the lenses but it's not too bad. The unmasked head is very youthful in appearance and a good likeness to the Ultimate version of Peter Parker. You could easily use this figure as a young main universe Spider-Man.

While the new body and unmasked head do make this different from other recent Peter Parker Spider-Man figures I think Miles has the bigger appeal of the two. That said this is a good Spider-Man figure and a good option if you don't a Spidey in your collection. Especially if you don't have easy access to 'Pizza Spidey' or the Sensational Spider-Man figure from earlier waves.

Silk (Cindy Moon)

Cindy Moon was at the same science exhibit where the main universe Peter Parker got his powers. After biting Peter the very same spider bit Cindy. She was hidden away by Ezekiel to protect her from the Inheritors. Having been locked away from the world for a number of years she's now searching for her missing family and trying to adjust to the modern world.

When I first saw pictures of this wave I thought both Silk and Spider-Woman would be using the same body as other adult female heroes like Captain Marvel or Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew). I'm not sure that the whole body is new but the upper torso certainly is. It's less busty and the arms are sadly less articulated than the other body.

This body makes her articulation equal to that of the teenage female hero body used for White Tiger, Spider-Girl and Spider-Gwen among others. You can still get some very dynamic poses out of her but not quite to the level of some of the other figures in the line.

The lack of swappable hands also hurts the figure. This is not something that affects just Silk. Most female heroes I've bought figures of lack alternate hands. It would have been really nice to see even if it had just been a pair of fists and a pair of open hands.

Both included heads are very nicely sculpted and cleanly painted. Like Spider-Gwen from the previous wave Silk has a small piece that goes around her neck to simulate her mask being down. The hair does limit poseability to a degree. The paint work for the rest of Silk's body is also nice and clean.

All in all this is a very nice representation of one of the most interesting new additions to the spider-family in recent years. I'd highly recommend you check out Silk's solo series if you haven't already and I'd certainly recommend this figure for your collections.

Spider-Woman (Ashley Barton)

I knew little to nothing about this version of Spider-Woman apart from the fact that she sided with the Superior Spider-Man during the Spider-Verse event. Turns out she's the daughter of Hawkeye and Tonya (Peter Parker's youngest daughter) from the Old Man Logan series.

This figure uses the same base body as Silk and as such has the exact same limitations I've talked about above. Her hands are different, as is obviously her paint and head sculpt, but otherwise this is the same toy.

The paint work on Spider-Woman is again very clean. The head is very nicely detailed. Her shorter hair means you can get more out of her neck joint than Silk.

As I have little connection to this version of Spider-Woman this is my least favorite figure in the wave. I don't dislike it but if it'd been swapped for someone else I certainly wouldn't miss it. I think most people will end up picking her up for Venom's torso or to complete the set more than on her own merits.

Electro (Max Dillon)

Struck by lightning while repairing a power line Max Dillon gained the power to generate, store and discharge electricity from his body. Now calling himself Electro he took to a life of crime.  From that point on he's been a long time antagonist of Spider-Man.

Electro uses the same base body as 'Pizza Spidey' and as such is very poseable. All the details on his costume are cleanly painted. The translucent lighting effects on his hands look very cool. Sadly he has no alternate hands so is permanently trying to zap someone or something.

Both head sculpts are good. The paint on my lightning burnt face is a little off from the sculpted detail but not enough to hurt the toy. The classic lighting mask is very clean and appropriately goofy looking.

As I was not a fan of Electro's portrayal in The Amazing Spider-Man: Rise of Electro I'm happy to have a classic version of the character. I'd say this figure is on par for a Marvel Legends toy. It's a good representation of the character at an affordable price.

Hobgoblin (Roderick Kingsley)

Roderick Kingsley was a fashion designer with strong ties to the criminal underworld. One of his employees stumbled across a hidden stash of equipment that had belonged to the (at the time) deceased Green Goblin and Kingsley took it for himself. Redesigning the costume Kingsley uses the equipment to become the Hobgoblin.

Hobgoblin has the standard articulation for a Marvel Legends figure. While the cape is one solid piece it has enough room to move at the neck not to interfere with the figures poseability. The sculping on the folds of the cape and hood as well as the scales on Hobgoblin's arms and legs is very nicely done.

I'm not sure if this is a new body sculpt or not. It certainly doesn't share any parts from the Build-A-Figure Hobgoblin. Either way I'd not be surprised if the Green Goblin is included in a Legends wave in the near future reusing the figure as it's base.

Hobgoblin comes with two heads. One is the classic look which is the head I prefer. The alternate is more animalistic with sharp teeth and a long tongue. I'm not sure where this particular design comes from. The paint on the classic mask is very clean. The other has very well painted eyes but the teeth are a little sloppy.

Hobgoblin also comes with two accessories. He has a pumpkin bomb (pictured above) which is the same as the one included with the Build-A-Figure Hobgoblin from a few waves back and Jack O' Lantern. His hands are open enough that the bomb fits comfortably into the palm of his hand.

The other is his glider. His feet fit snugly into place and hold well. The glider itself is fairly thin and plain but that is accurate to how it looked in the comics. I would have liked to have seen a peg hole on the underside of the glider so it could be used with a display stand.

I really enjoy the Hobgoblin as a villain so this was a standout of this wave for me. The figure feels like it's jumped right off the page of one of Roger Stern's Hobgoblin stories. Definitely worth picking up if you like this classic Spidey villain.

Venom (Flash Thompson)

For the past few years the Venom symbiote has been bonded to Flash Thompson. Working for the Avengers he became their representative on the Guardians of the Galaxy. Flash/Venom eventually ended up on the symbiote homeworld where, with the help of Venom's people, Venom and Flash were able to be properly bonded and now have a true symbiotic relationship.

Like the other large Build-A-Figures I've gotten Venom is very solid once assembled. He's big and imposing. The little details on his body really add to the whole armored knight feel over the more organic appearance of other Venom/symbiote figures.

The paint work is very clean. The whites are nice and bright and pop against the rest of his black plastic body. The Guardians emblems on his shoulders are both very clear.

While he is well articulated I have found him to be a little less stable than some of the other figures when trying to pose him. I think this just comes down to the fact that despite his size he feels rather hollow. It doesn't take much to knock him over.

The head sculpt is very different to what we've seen in previous versions of this character. It's very angular and looks more like a helmet than a head. I know this is intentional, it works with the Space Knight design, but might not be everyone's cup of tea.

The prices on the Agent Venom figure are too high for me to justify. So having this BAF works for me. I've now got a Venom to stand alongside my Guardians of the Galaxy figures. Even if you're not a Guardians fan I'm sure this figure will have appeal to collectors of Venom/symbiotes.

Overall

Miles, Silk and Hobgoblin are the clear winners of this wave in my opinion. Each of them is worth a purchase even if you have no thoughts about picking up anyone else in the wave. The wave as a whole is good though. None of the figures are duds. I'm personally happy with the set.

Star Wars The Black Series Captain Phasma

After four months of searching just about every retail store in my area on a regular basis and failing to find her, I finally ordered The Black Series Captain Phasma from Amazon (paid a 50% mark-up, but at this point, I was willing to do it).  She was the most wanted figure in my collection for The Black Series, as I just loved her overall aesthetic and presence.  As Falldownthemountain noted, she turned out to be a bit of a disappointment in The Force Awakens; barely having any lines or action sequences, but there is always the next film.

Unlike S.H. Figuarts or other high end articulated productions, this Phasma barely moves.  Sure, she has several joints and swivels, but she is hampered by a rubber/plastic cape that restricts movement of any kind, except for her right arm holding the blaster.  I haven't tried it, but I suspect if one popped off her head, the cape could be removed, and limb/joint movement would be a bit better, but not by much.  In short, she is a very blocky figure, lacking the looseness to pose her in any kind of action sequence.

What Hasbro *did* get right, however, was the accuracy of Phasma's likeness.  The sculpt is spot-on, the proportions of Gwendoline Christie's body are perfect.  Ms. Christie is a tall, beautiful woman, and capturing that in scale to the other Black Series figures is the key to a successful toy.  When eyeballing the figures on my shelf, I saw she was even a bit taller than Darth Vader, so here is a comparison pic of Kylo Ren, Phasma, and Vader for scale:

In proportion to the First Order Stormtroopers, she towers above them like a true Captain should, both in physicality and presence.  Something tells me that if Disney really lets her loose, she would be a true force to be reckoned with, provided she survived the trash compactor.

Marvel Legends Spider-Man (Ultimate Green Goblin series)

The Marvel Legends line started in 2002 with Toy Biz, bringing collectors 1/12 scale figures of their favorite Marvel characters. Highly poseable (generally) and detailed these figures looked like they'd jumped right off the page. In 2006 Hasbro took over but continued to make good quality Marvel heroes and villains at an affordable price. Affordable if you find them at retail, at least.

Over the 14 years Marvel Legends have been made there have been many versions of Spider-Man. This is true for all of Marvels biggest names. And it makes sense why. A kid who's just discovered Marvel should be able to go down to their local toy store and buy their favorite hero. For collectors it means we often end up with shelves dedicated to a single character. As a massive Spider-Man fan (I even enjoyed the Clone Saga!) I don't have an issue with this.

The subject of today's review is the Spider-Man figure from the 2014 Ultimate Green Goblin series. This version of Spider-Man is featured in The Amazing Spider-Man 2: Rise of Electro which was in cinemas at the same time this figure was released. 

Sculpt:

The sculpting on this figure is very nice. All of the web detailing on Spidey's costume is present. The blue sections are also textured like the movie costume. These could easily have been left flat so I appreciate the effort. The masks eyes and the spider emblems on the front and back of the costume are also molded cleanly.

Paint:

This has got to be one of the best painted Marvel Legends figures in my collection. All of the paint applications are really clean. This was not the case with every figure in the set (I had to go through quite a few Spider-Girls that either had messy faces or messy costume detailing).

A wash has been applied to the red areas to bring out all of the webbing details. This has left a couple of dirty spots. But they look like dirt not great globs of sloppy paint and as such don't hurt the figures look. Easy enough to pass of as the result of going toe-to-toe with Electro.

The eyes on mine don't quite line up with the sculpting. On a shelf it's fine. It's only if you go looking at them up close that you can notice it. The other main paint applications are his front and back spider emblems which I'm happy to say are both spot on.

Articulation:

"Spider-Man, Spider-Man, does whatever a spider can." When you buy a Spider-Man toy you want it to be able to recreate all of your favorite dynamic moments from the comics/films/cartoons/lunch-boxes/etc. And this Spider-Man certainly can. 26 points of articulation, mostly in the arms and legs, make Spidey very poseable. You might even say super poseable.

... Yeah, ok, that was terrible. Sorry.

Whether you want him to be swinging through New York, climbing up the side of a building, or punching bad guys Spidey can do it all. The way the shoulders are jointed go a long way into helping with this. They are able to swivel inward and outward on joints dedicated to just this movement. It's not something I've seen on many toys outside of your Figuarts/Figmas/etc. Certainly not on Hasbro figures. Everything else is pretty standard but all works together well to keep pretty much any pose you'd want to put Spidey in looking natural.

Accessories:

As most of Spidey's only gadgets are his webshooters which are built into his costume he doesn't really need a whole lot of accessories. He does come with two sets of hands - fists and web shooting. These are enough to get you by but a set of open hands (like the Hobgoblin series Spider-Man got) would've been nice to make the wall crawling look a bit more convincing.

Final Thoughts:

This is a great, affordable option if you're looking for a Spider-Man for your collection. While based on the movie version of the costume it's close enough to the comic design that he won't have trouble fitting in with comic-based figures. The Hobgloblin series Spider-Man (affectionately known as Pizza Spidey) does everything this guy can a little better. But if this is the only Spider-Man figure you can find I don't think you'll be disappointed.