May 2, 2024

Super7 The Simpsons Ultimates! Kang and Kodos

By Joe
They do not come in peace.

We are onto the third wave of Ultimates! from Super7 based on The Simpsons. Like past waves, plenty of questions abound when it comes to Super7’s character selection and they’re not unfounded. Perhaps the two most questionable inclusions in this third wave are the subject of today’s post: Kang and Kodos. These are two separate releases, but since the figures are practically the same it makes sense to review the two at the same time. These aliens could be described as fan favorite characters and they owe much of that status to their close ties to the annual Halloween celebration that is Treehouse of Horror. For awhile, these two aliens could be counted on to make at least a cameo appearance, but the show seems to have mostly dropped that. They’ve probably appeared in more than they’ve missed, and their debut occurred in the very first installment of the Halloween tradition. Still, they take up two slots of a wave that includes four figures and not one of them is an actual member of the Simpson family (though one does make it into this wave as an accessory) which is more than a little bizarre. Why not save the pair for a Treehouse-themed wave? Devil Flanders is in the fourth wave, so they’re only one figure short. Oh well, Super7’s poor planning is not the fault of these figures so let’s just see if they can stand on their own merits.

Robot Scratchy has been overthrown.

The aliens of The Simpsons are green, octopus-like creatures with one eye and a massive maw that is constantly overflowing with saliva. The aliens apparently need a very specific type of mix to the air they breath so they are most often seen in a large glass helmet that covers their head, but still allows for their tentacles to be free. I had never paid much attention to how many tentacles each alien has, but if Super7 can be assumed to have done its homework then the answer is five. Kang and Kodos are siblings and in one episode Kang refers to Kodos as his sister, though I think they refer to the character as a “he” in later episodes. Since they are largely from the Treehouse of Horror anthology episodes, their appearances are basically non-canon anyway so their circumstances change to suit the jokes and situations each plot presents. They did have one non-Treehouse appearance, but it’s an episode most consider to be pretty terrible and I have no idea if it’s considered canon or not by the show’s writers. Regardless, as action figures these two present an obvious challenge since there isn’t a whole lot to articulate. They’re also massive and come at an inflated price of $75 each. That was too rich for me initially, though once the line was cancelled I felt better about extending myself to make sure I had a full collection. Plus, I took advantage of an influencer discount at Entertainment Earth (Preternia, if you’re curious, since that guy is always alerting me to great action figure deals) and free shipping was just enough to get me to bite now rather than hold out for a possible discount later. These two arrived in a massive box which was honestly pretty exciting.

“We find your lack of mass amusing.”

The packaging for Kang and Kodos is consistent with the first two waves so slipcovers are included. The cardstock in use for their oversized boxes is thicker than usual and both actually got a little beat up in transit. They’re too big to save anyways so I tossed them, but they’re definitely two of the bigger Ultimates! boxes I’ve encountered. I think both the Power Rangers T-Rex and Dragonzord were wider, but these were deeper and taller. They’re also held in place with lots of tie-downs and twist-ties which is annoying, but they did seem to keep everything in place.

Everything about this pair is big.

Kang and Kodos are exactly the same size. Their “heads” are a little over 7″ alone and once you put the dome on their bodies you’re talking about something that’s over 11″ tall. They are big and impressive to look at, but I stress the “look at” part. In-hand, they feel shockingly cheap. Shockingly because they don’t look how one would expect them to feel. The heads are hollow so they’re very light. Some parts of the heads appear to be painted and some appear to be colored plastic made to fit in place. The mouth area is all painted well, but the green spots on the tops of the heads can be iffy. Kodos, in particular, has some bad paint up there where some of the spots are unfinished. Worse though are these domes. They’re plastic and are manufactured in two halves and then glued together. I think, because they don’t want to separate. Both were pretty scuffed up right out of the box and since they were packaged well I’m assuming they went into the box in this condition. Once again, it’s Kodos that gets the worst of it as their dome has a pretty nice scrape on it near the top and also a random black dot. Unfortunately, both eyesores are on different sides so one is always visible and the seams around the whole thing do limit the display options. Oddly, Kang’s was packaged differently and included a soft, plastic, hose around the tip of the dome though the tip on Kodos’ dome arrived fine without it. Kang also had more plastic wrapped around his head for some reason. Kodos has what appears to be some tape stuck over the left side of the eye that I’m having a hard time getting off too.

It doesn’t photograph well, but the domes are scuffed up on mine. Hopefully it’s an isolated issue.

The domes and badly painted spots are my only gripes about the presentation with these two because they have the size to earn their spot on a shelf. If they can fit, that is. I’ve been displaying my collection on the Arcade 1-Up editions of The Simpsons arcade game and these two aren’t going to fit. If I was determined to pull it off I probably could, but I doubt I’d be able to add any others. Instead, they’re going on a stand beside the cabinet and I’ll probably stick Devil Flanders with them as well.

They basically pose just enough to use their accessories.

For articulation, there’s not a lot to speak of. The heads rotate on the base and the eye is articulated as well. It’s basically a marble that can be moved around which is a nice touch. The two front and one rear tentacle are connected with hinged pegs so they can move a bit, but the range for the hinge is pretty minimal. The two side tentacles function as the arms and are connected to the body in the same manner, but they’re skinnier so the range is better. They’re also segmented and each features an “elbow” and a “wrist” for additional posing. All of the joints are the same hinged peg and they don’t do a ton. I’m not sure if a ball joint would have been better. There would likely be better range, but the sculpt would likely be broken up even more. You’re basically just going to pick your favorite accessories and pose them accordingly.

There are quite a few food-based accessories.

And for accessories, we get a lot of stuff just pulled from the show. Kodos features two tentacle ends that come to a soft point which can be swapped with a tentacle holding a salt shaker, ray gun, serving tray, or the big book on how to cook for forty humans. The ray gun is a really fun design and well painted. The tentacle piece holding onto it is kind of like a “trigger” tentacle and it pegs into the handle of the gun and can be removed. Without the gun, it sort of looks like a thumb’s up gesture. The other items have the tentacle molded to them. The serving tray or dish is a domed one and the dome does come off, though Super7 didn’t provide anything to place in it. I guess they can serve potato chips or a cream pie if you have Homer and Krusty. The other portrait for Kodos is a laughing expression and it’s a nice complement to the more menacing, default, portrait. It’s a bit more visually engaging and I feel drawn to it over the standard look.

Ladies and gentlemen, the only Simpson of wave 3.
At least she scales reasonably well.

For Kang, he has a cheeky grin by default and his alternate portrait is the same as the one included with Kodos except his eye is closed. It’s kind of lame as a result because the moveable eye is the best piece of articulation the two have. If you want the two laughing on your shelf then I guess it’s fine. Kang also comes with his hitchhiking sign that says “Earth Capital.” His default right tentacle ends in a hook shape which can hold it in place if you wish, or it has a peg hole and can be affixed to the gun-holding tentacle end, which Kang also comes with. His other parts are tentacles holding a knife and fork so you can pair the two up for a dinner scene. Kang’s best accessory though is his daughter, Maggie, following the loss of her baby legs. Maggie looks pretty vicious as she has a wide grin with visible sharp tooth. Her pacifier is on one of her tentacles and her head can rotate. She’s painted well and is the only Simpson included in wave three. Since she is in variant form, I guess it makes sense given that was the case for Homer and Bart. If you want to place her with them, she does scale pretty well.

“Go ahead and eat me. At least I’ll be able to die saying I had dinner plans.”

These two look pretty damn good and the accessories included are fine. I would have preferred a better secondary portrait for Kang, perhaps an angry one that pairs with the angry one included with Kodos, but otherwise I’m pretty satisfied with what’s included. I just wish the domes turned out cleaner. They display all right, but look pretty bad up close and for seventy-five bucks it’s inexcusable. That’s the big hindrance with these two as that asking price is crazy. I don’t know what they cost to manufacturer and ship obviously, but when Super7 asks for a premium on these larger figures, but still charges $55 for Bartman and Ralph it definitely makes the consumer feel as if they’re not getting a great value. The cheap in-hand feel of this pair doesn’t help as they don’t feel like $75 figures. I’m left wondering if it would have been better to just do them as soft vinyl figures outside of the Ultimates! line. They would have sacrificed articulation, but that would have been no great loss and looked and felt a whole lot better. They also probably would have been $200 a piece considering Super7’s Super Size vinyl figures are $300 and in some cases are not much bigger. This is what we got though so if you want a Kang and Kodos in this scale better ready that wallet or hope for a clearance event down the road. These two may not have been ordered in the quantities other figures were so it’s hard to know if it will happen, but I’d say it’s more likely than not. Just watch out for a run on them as Halloween approaches.

We have plenty more from the world of Springfield and Super7:

Super7 The Simpsons Ultimates! Krusty the Clown

If you’ve been following along with my reviews on the second wave of Super7’s The Simpsons Ultimates!, then you will have noted that I’ve had a bit of a love/hate relationship with this wave. For the most part, the sculpts and deco have been on point, it’s some of the little things that have been…

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by Joe

Super7 The Simpsons Ultimates! Bartman

When I concluded my review of wave 1 of The Simpsons Ultimates! from Super7 I was thinking that I’d be back with more reviews later in the year. That was in February of 2023. We are now in April of 2024 and finally wave two has arrived (my original order was place January 5th, 2022).…

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by Joe

Super7 The Simpsons Ultimates! Hank Scorpio

If you’re going to market action figures to a fanbase as venerable as The Simpsons, you should probably go after what they love most. Simpsons fans love to make references to their favorite episodes and characters and one of the top episodes from the show is “You Only Move Twice” from the show’s seventh season.…

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by Joe

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May 1, 2024

X-Men ’97 – “Tolerance is Extinction – Part 1”

By Joe
Written by Beau DeMayo and Anthony Sellitti

Ever since the episode list was released for X-Men ’97 I’ve been looking forward to what reads like an epic, three-part, season finale. In truth, given that X-Men ’97 is a serialized show you could basically call every episode “X-Men ’97 Season 1 Part 1″ and so on, but the titles do add a dramatic element. Pretty much all of the episodes have been linked and the only two that feel even a little stand-alone were the two containing parts of the Lifedeath arc. Otherwise, X-Men ’97 has pretty much stuck to its central conflict of humanity and mutants and the violence that can lead to. Violence like what we saw in the fifth episode, “Remember It,” which has proven to be the catalyst for what’s to come.

Look who is back in the opening title.

The “Previously…” intro is delivered this week by Cyclops once again, so apparently Wolverine, Morph, and others had their turn skipped. Returning to the character lineup this week is Professor X. I guess knowing he’s alive and likely on his way back to Earth is reason enough to add him in. Nothing really new in the opening credits to speak of when it comes to the scenes. The inserted scenes are the recreated Danger Room scenes from the original show’s intro plus a quick look at Magneto orbiting Asteroid M from the “Sanctuary” arc and a return of Cable vs Apocalypse (he’s got to be coming at some point, right?). This also reminds me that showrunner Beau DeMayo shared a list of recommended episodes of the original series for viewers to brush up on before embarking on this three-part finale. Those episodes include: One Man’s Worth (Parts 1 and 2), Sanctuary (Parts 1 and 2), Descent, and Graduation Day. I’m pretty well-versed in all of those episodes, but I never need much of an excuse to go back and watch episodes of the original series, especially good ones like the ones above.

Cable and the X-Men must work together to find Bastion.

Last week’s episode ended with a lot of reveals, some more shocking than others. Rogue had been searching across the planet and trying to figure out what “OZT” referred to. Well, now we know and it’s Operation Zero Tolerance. And the one leading that is called Bastion (Theo James), a mutant-sentinel hybrid. It was actually revealed by DeMayo that Bastion has been lurking this whole season and has brief cameos in other episodes. The only one I saw on first viewing was in the fifth episode, but I do plan on going back to search for more (if it’s not spoiled for me ahead of time). At the end of “Bright Eyes,” it was revealed that Trask was converted into one of these hybrids and he packs a hell of a punch since he felled Rogue in one blow. Old pal Cable resurfaced to put him down and in the process Jean mind-zapped him to discover that he is Nathan Summers from the future (a detail she seemingly forgot after doing the same in the “Time Fugitives” arc from the original series – that’s probably why it wasn’t on the recommended viewing) and he’s tangled with these things before. We also learned another detail about the attack on Genosha and it’s the one reveal I mentioned I felt the show had given away and it’s that Magneto lives. We got to see the Master of Magnetism strapped in a barber’s chair and collared as Bastion shaved his face to the sounds of “Flying Purple People Eater.” He seemingly has plans for Magneto and he needs him to look his best.

Bastion takes smug to another level. Also, I’m sure there are some cameos bathed in pink on those monitors some of which are revealed later.

Another reveal for the characters, but not the viewer, was Bastion revealing to Sinister that Xavier lives. He was able to get footage of Xavier’s introduction as emperor to the Shi’ar people via a satellite or some nonsense. Either way, it’s a catalyst for stirring anti-mutant sentiment as Bastion has released that footage to the globe via the United Nations. The news paired with the assassination of Henry Gyrich (by Bastion in last week’s episode) is not well-received by humanity as the conclusion many seem to be drawing is that the X-Men faked Xavier’s death to gain sympathy for mutants. Never mind that the last the world heard from Xavier was a recording that he’s fine (which was Morph) so I have no idea how his death was faked. Did no one demand to examine his corpse? A man was presumably tried for murder over it or at least detained.

I’m loving the addition of Nightcrawler to the team as he serves as a moral anchor for the group.

Early in this episode, Cable explains what’s going on and all he knows about Bastion and his new Prime Sentinel creations. Perhaps the most important detail, and likely the question all would be asking if it wasn’t explained, is that Cable has tried in vain multiple times to stop the attack on Genosha, but every time he gets pulled out as we saw in “Remember It.” The poor guy has likely witnessed the murder of his mother more than once. He’s taking a new approach now as he gained some intel on where Bastion may have been operating from. He, Cyclops, and Jean are dispatched to check it out while the rest hang back.

Two people the world assumed were dead are very much alive.

Elsewhere, Bastion has Magneto chained to a wall on a giant “X” evoking memories of a famous Uncanny X-Men cover featuring Wolverine. And it’s here in his base we learn the fate of another – Valerie Cooper. It seems she survived and has some connection to Bastion. She is here to give Bastion a soundboard, someone to explain his plans to, and react in a manner similar to the audience. At the mansion, Beast is busy examining the remains of Bolivar Trask while Nightcrawler keeps vigil over an unconscious Rogue. Jubilee is also still hanging out with Roberto’s family and isn’t really enjoying herself since Roberto’s mother, Rose (Kari Wahlgren), is far more concerned with making sure no one knows her son is a mutant rather than helping out in a meaningful way. As someone who has maintained a life of privileged, she sees no reason for involvement in human-mutant conflicts outside of sending some money Genosha’s way and doesn’t understand why the status quo should ever change.

In true X-Men ’97 fashion, all of this build-up is for an action-packed third act. The X-Men can’t go looking for a guy like Bastion without getting into some fights and viewers will be treated to some fun. There’s fan-service to be had in these battles and if you’re someone who has been waiting for Wolverine to do something ever since he and Gambit’s team-up move back in the first episode then you’ll be happy with what unfolds.

There has been some great action in this series, but this sequence from Wolverine’s perspective as he impales a robot and Nightcrawler teleports them is amazing.

This first part of the season’s finale is mostly as expected. It needs to lay the ground work for what’s to come and there’s plenty of exposition to be found in order to get there. We’re fed breadcrumbs when it comes to the X-Men’s adversary and we’re likely to learn even more over the coming episodes. The show has done a tremendous job of not losing sight of its central conflict and the racist undertones that conflict contains. Bastion is a great example of this as he highlights how portions of humanity has felt left behind. It echoes real world racist manifestos like The Great Replacement Theory only in this world there’s actually a touch of truth to it as Bastion explains how a mutant-powered human can do things a normal person can’t which could actually cut into job opportunities. Mostly, Bastion is like any other figurehead preying on ignorance and fear who sees racist tropes as a path to power. Racists typically do not function on logic and reason so having even a kernel of truth to his replacement theory makes it all the more powerful.

Storm a couple of episodes ago plus Jubilee here has me wondering if we’ll be phasing out the Jim Lee looks for the characters.

The episode does end with a “bang” moment that is sure to leave viewers eager for more. We’re adapting an era of the X-books I’m not as intimately familiar with as other eras and it’s nice not knowing where this is headed. It’s unlikely the adaptation will be direct anyway, but I’m doubtful this will all be wrapped up in a neat little package in two weeks since a second season is in production already. And that’s fine, give me all the X-Men ’97 you can, Disney!

Previously…on X-Men ’97:

X-Men ’97 – “Bright Eyes”

When we last saw our beloved X-Men, their world had just been destroyed. An idyllic place set to the soundtrack of the very on-the-nose choice of “Happy Nation” by Ace of Base in Genosha was laid to waste. Mutants of all backgrounds were slaughtered including our beloved Gambit and less beloved Magneto. In the aftermath…

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by Joe

X-Men ’97 – “Lifedeath – Part 2”

Last week’s episode of X-Men ’97 ended in spectacular and heartbreaking fashion. If you were hoping to experience the fallout of that one, you’re going to be disappointed by this week’s episode. Like the week before which saw an episode end with Forge and Storm in a precarious situation, this week’s episode is willing to…

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by Joe

X-Men ’97 – “Remember It”

Last week’s episode of X-Men ’97 saw the show take a breather with a fairly low stakes plot involving Jubilee and Roberto getting sucked into a video game. The last 7 or 8 minutes of the episode concluded with a more serious tone as Storm and Forge found themselves at odds in the wildlands of…

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by Joe

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April 29, 2024

Marvel Legends X-Men ’97 Nightcrawler

By Joe
The newest member of the animated team.

Since we don’t have a post this week for Turtle Tuesday I decided we should have a Mutant Monday. X-Men ’97 has returned the mutant superheroes to the spotlight and one of the main beneficiaries has been Hasbro. Their first wave of Marvel Legends based on the new show arrived last fall and, aside from Wolverine, found themselves in the clearance section by Christmas. The second wave arrived in-time with the premiere of the show, and wouldn’t you know, that seems to have helped sales as the wave rarely hangs around on the pegs longer than a day or two. Hasbro’s poor timing with wave one likely wasn’t the fault of the company, but Disney who had originally scheduled the show for a fall 2023 premiere, but opted to move it to the spring. This sort of thing has happened to Hasbro quite frequently with the MCU releases as well, but what are they going to do? The House of Mouse is far too powerful to concern itself with how well action figures are selling.

X-Men ’97 has seen the return of all of the principal cast members of the original X-Men cartoon as well as many of the cameo characters. And one such character is Nightcrawler. He appeared in two episodes of the original series and was an ally to the X-Men, but never a member. That happened a lot in the original series, but X-Men ’97 appears to be more willing to have a fluid team of mutants for the show’s fifth episode saw Nightcrawler reemerge and the sixth episode even added him to the opening title like a full-fledged member of the team. As I write this, the eighth episode has yet to air so it remains to be seen how long the fuzzy, blue, elf plans on hanging around. After all, Bishop received the same elevation early on, but has since left the team.

He looks good beside his new teammates.

Nightcrawler is a pretty classic character at this point having been part of the first expansion of the X-Men way back in the first giant-sized issue of the book. Had the pilot “Pryde of the X-Men” been picked up as a full series, Nightcrawler would have been on television sets every Saturday morning in several households. His absence didn’t seem to harm his popularity as I personally had many friends who referred to Nightcrawler as their favorite. Perhaps that was helped by his inclusion in the first wave of Toy Biz action figures for the property, his inclusion in the arcade and Genesis games, or maybe people just think he’s neat. While he’s never been my absolute favorite, he’s always been near the top and it’s mostly for his design as a blue devil which goes back to creators Len Wein and Dave Cockrum. I like the dichotomy of his appearance being devilish, but his spirit being one of faith, which is a fun juxtaposition and plays on expectations. I suppose it’s a little derivative of Beast, who despite his appearance and name is a gentle soul who relies more on brains than brawn, but I’m fine with both existing.

The two portraits Hasbro went with are just okay.

Nightcrawler’s appearance in X-Men ’97 is identical to his appearance in the first cartoon which was simply an adaptation of his original look. Marvel apparently nailed his look on the first try because he hasn’t changed much since the ’70s. As an action figure, it’s a relatively easy costume to capture since it’s just red, black, and white. Since I’m not a regular Marvel Legends buyer I can’t say with absolute certainty how much of this figure is new sculpt. My understanding is the torso is reused from a past Nightcrawler, but the head and limbs are new. It’s surprising Hasbro would spend money to re-tool Nightcrawler’s unique hands and feet if there was nothing wrong with the old ones, but maybe there was room in the budget and these can be used elsewhere? I’m not sure how such decisions are made, but collectors aren’t likely to complain in this case.

We’re a Creed away from a full family reunion.

Nightcrawler’s head is the most obvious connection to X-Men ’97. Similar to the wave one Gambit, his hair is a bit embellished. Unlike Gambit, I think this is less indicative of the source material though as his hair in the show seemed a bit more tame. The head is molded in blue with black dry-brushing on the hair to create some texture, but not quite the flat, black, shading of the show. That is reserved for the face and it’s applied well as is the yellow for his eyes. His default portrait has the vaguest hint of a smile while his alternate portrait is more of a grimace like he’s going into a fight almost reluctantly. I wish the default portrait featured his big, toothy, grin as that is the enduring image I have of Nightcrawler from the show and it’s even reflected in the artwork for him as well. Neither portrait is bad, it’s just there were better options out there.

This is a figure that would have definitely benefited from an included flight stand.

The body of the figure is mostly black plastic with little need for paint. The red portions on the upper torso are actually a red, plastic, insert which allows the shoulder pads to be soft and obviously reduces the need for paint. The red on the abdomen and crotch is painted and Hasbro actually did a really good job of matching the shades of red here. The painted portions of his wrists and shins is just okay. The red trim on the left arm is poorly applied and it doesn’t come up all the way to the shin cut either on both legs. The left arm is the only spot that’s bad enough to be visible from the shelf. The tail is pre-posed and not bendy and I suppose it’s okay. It would have been nice to have another option since Nightcrawler so often has his tail curl in front of him, or even wield a sword, but accessories were apparently not in the budget. In addition to the second head we just get two sets of hands: fists and style-posed. No gripping hands and no swords for said gripping hands even though his character card in the show features him dual-wielding his sabers.

“What is this?!”

Articulation is where an acrobatic character like Nightcrawler needs to shine and this figure has some good about it and some not so good. The ball-hinge is in play so you’ll get decent up and down range, but little in the way of nuance. The arms are standard for Marvel Legends and he does have butterfly joints in the shoulders, but they’re almost useless because there’s no cut in the chest to let the arms come forward. The torso only features an ab crunch and a waist twist with no diaphragm articulation. Hips are ball and socket joints and the knees and ankles are standard stuff with no boot cut. The tail is just a swivel joint. The lack of a diaphragm joint and proper butterfly joints means he can’t do Nightcrawler-type crouches. His articulation should be on par with Spider-Man, but it’s not. It isn’t terrible and for Marvel Legends it’s fairly typical, but that means it’s also not impressive.

Siblings need to look after one another.

I picked up this Nightcrawler for my animated X-Men shelf and he’ll look fine there, but this is an action figure that definitely could have been better. The almost complete lack of accessories means the aesthetics and the articulation have to carry the $25 asking price and they’re not quite up to task. Hasbro spent some money on new tools here so it’s a shame they didn’t use that money to just make the body work better. And they already have past gripping hands and swords they could have tossed in, but opted not to which is to say nothing of a BAMF! effect. It’s a figure that’s pretty illustrative of Marvel Legends these days, a sort of high floor action figure line without much of a ceiling. This figure makes me want to see what a company like Medicom would do with the character, though I can’t see myself being excited about paying their asking price.

If you want to read more of my thoughts on the action figures from X-Men ’97 then read on:

Marvel Legends X-Men ’97 Gambit

Everyone can relax – Gambit has returned. Or arrived, since I’ve never reviewed a Gambit action figure in this space, but that’s because I haven’t bought a Gambit figure in about 20 years until now. When X-Men arrived on airwaves in the fall of 1992, hardly anyone on that team could be considered a true…

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by Joe

Marvel Legends X-Men ’97 Jean Grey

If you are reading this the day it goes live then Happy X-Men ’97 Day! Today is the day the long-awaited sequel series to X-Men debuts on Disney+. Rather than fast-track a review of the first two episodes to this blog, I decided instead to do what I most often do: review an action figure!…

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by Joe

Marvel Legends X-Men ’97 Bishop

We’re going to keep this Marvel/Mutant Monday thing going for one more week! After taking a look at a trio of figures from Hasbro’s new X-Men ’97 line of figures in its Marvel Legends catalog I’ve decided to do one more: Bishop. The first three figures I looked at were basically all missing pieces to…

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by Joe

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April 25, 2024

Super7 The Simpsons Ultimates! Krusty the Clown

By Joe
Hey! Hey!

If you’ve been following along with my reviews on the second wave of Super7’s The Simpsons Ultimates!, then you will have noted that I’ve had a bit of a love/hate relationship with this wave. For the most part, the sculpts and deco have been on point, it’s some of the little things that have been botched by Super7 which just calls into question what kind of fans did they have working on this line? At least with the fourth and final figure we don’t need to have a debate about worthiness. Krusty the Clown is a character that goes all the way back to the original shorts and has been a mainstay ever since. He may not share the name Simpson, but he’s certainly an A-lister worthy of a slot in the line’s second wave.

Super7 wasn’t allowed to provide Krusty with smokes, but if you have a Gremlins figure you should have a ready supply of toy cigarettes.

Still, Krusty is not without some level of controversy. Originally, Super7 solicited a figure that would have a smoking portrait, a cigarette holding hand, and even a smoking monkey in Mr. Teeny. The Simpsons licensing department was okay with all of this, and probably even found it appropriate, but the Disney team disagreed. Smoking is a big no-no with The House of Mouse. The company even discourages characters from smoking in their films and television shows. Apparently, The Simpsons is grandfathered in as characters like Patti and Selma still light-up Sunday nights on Fox, they just can’t do so as action figures. Super7 was forced to course correct, dropping the smoking portrait for a grumpy one. Mr. Teeny is still present, just without a cigarette in his hand, and in place of the extra hand we get a jagged, metal, Krusty-O.

Krusty is another figure that’s basically right in the standard height range.
He wouldn’t be much of a clown if he didn’t come with a pie.

It is what it is, and you’ll see in my pictures that I was able to make do. Krusty isn’t going to live or die on his ability to smoke anyway and this figure is another good sculpt with a pretty good paint job. Krusty stands at around 7.125″ to the top of his head, nearly 7.5″ to the top of the tuft of hair on top. He’s depicted in his traditional attire of a pink shirt, green pants, oversized clown shoes, with a blue bowtie to top it off. His default portrait is a big, open mouth, “Hey-hey!” expression which looks okay. It’s an expression that works well in 2D, but in 3D it looks a bit odd that we can’t see any of his bottom teeth. Something else is off with it though and it took me awhile to narrow it down, but his pupils are too small. They’re tiny. Just compare my images of this figure to the licensing art over his shoulder. The other figures in the line have larger pupils as well. It may sound like a small thing, but it really throws off the look of the character. Like the other figures in the wave, he has a very matte finish, though I’m finding a few hot spots on the portraits here and there. The exposed portions of his arms unfortunately aren’t painted yellow like Duffman’s. Like a lot of Super7 figures, it’s a mix of good and not so good.

They don’t put nobodies on cereal boxes.
This is the wave of little buddy characters.

For accessories, Krusty gets a bunch of white-gloved hands. He has a set of open gripping hands, a set of closed gripping hands where the index figure connects to the thumb, a set of open hands, and a right hand with a glass of something permanently affixed to it. The contents of the glass is a translucent, off-white, substance. I have no idea what this is supposed to be. I guess it could be lemonade? My grandfather used to like rum and lemonade, so I guess we can go with that. The promotional shots had a green substance instead which also isn’t an obvious cocktail, but it’s better than this which looks like coconut oil. Would Disney not allow a brown liquid? That would have made the most sense. Both sets of gripping hands can handle the large, silver, microphone that he comes with which I suppose is needed for hosting an awards show or something. He also has a box of Krusty O’s which advertises the jagged, metal, Krusty-O right on the front. And back, as the image is the same, but it looks pretty good. There’s also a cream pie which is best held with an open hand. As for the “bonus” jagged, metal, Krusty-O, it’s…here. It doesn’t do anything and is just a little piece of silver plastic. Pretty uninspired as a make-up item.

“Don’t you even think about stealing my smokes.”
“Now! Now! Now! Now! Now!”

For optional portraits we have a screaming Krusty (“We want to go to Mount Splashmore!”) and a grumpy Krusty. The screaming head is just that, a screaming head where his mouth is wide open and eyes shut. Krusty can often be found wailing so I’m fine with it. The grumpy head probably has the most personality to it. He looks pissed, or impatient, and even his hair is sagging with displeasure. The narrow eyes work better with the tiny pupils than the standard head. It’s highly likely I use this one for my display. We also get Mr. Teeny, another slug figure to place on the shelf. He’s on roller skates, but they don’t move or anything. His hand is still up like he’s supposed to have a smoke so it’s a bit of an off position. His head can swivel and he has a side-eyed expression that’s a bit mischievous. There were promo images of him holding the cereal box under his right arm, but it doesn’t work in practice. Lastly, Krusty may not be able to smoke, but he still gets to sport a smoking jacket. Or maybe it’s just a bathrobe? Either way, it’s pink with purple trim and there’s a nice K stitched onto it. It looks fine and I’ve been using it for my display, but I might return it to the box.

WARNING: Do not ingest the jagged, metal, Krusty-O.
The jagged, metal, Krusty-O may work better as a Bartman accessory.

Krusty’s articulation is like the rest – pretty basic, but the cuts you would expect to be present are there. We have a double-ball peg at the head, hinged ball pegs at the shoulders, single-jointed elbows, wrists that swivel and hinge horizontally, a ball-joint at the waist, ball-socket hips, single-jointed knees, and ankles that hinge and rock side-to-side. The range is pretty much the same as the other figures. The hinge joints can’t quite hit 90 degrees and the legs don’t kick out very far. The knees are pretty tight while the left ankle on mine is a little loose. Not so loose that he’s falling over, but looser than I’d like. He’s mostly good for pretty basic poses – he won’t be riding a tiny bicycle on your shelf or do backflips. Instead he can stand there with his glass of whatever or scream into a microphone.

“Ugh, what’s this gonna cost me?”

Krusty is, perhaps without much surprise, my favorite of the line’s second wave. I think he’s my favorite overall for The Simpsons Ultimates! as he looks the part, the accessories are fine, and the finish is solid. My only real gripes are that I wish the glass of something had some color to it and his eyes weren’t distracting bad on the smiling portrait. I also would have probably preferred a more neutral, default, portrait to the opened mouth one, but it’s fine. The jagged, metal, Krusty-O is pretty lame, but there isn’t anything truly missing. I would have preferred a tiny bicycle instead, but it’s not like he’d be able to ride it anyway. If you’re all-in on this line, then this figure is an obvious must have and if you’re a cherry-picker then I think this is the one to get from wave two. You can probably still play the waiting game if you don’t want to fork over $55 for the privilege of owning it, but I don’t think you’ll regret much if you do decide to pay full price.

And now it’s time for the updated group shot.

Want to see more from The Simpsons Ultimates! or where I sourced that cigarette from?

NECA Ultimate Flasher Gremlin

I’ve had NECA’s Ultimate Flasher Gremlin on my “want” list for awhile now. I grabbed the Ultimate Gizmo last summer, and while he’s fairly limited as an action figure, he is fun to have on display in my home. He has occupied a little section of my knick-knack shelf in the living room area of…

by Joe

Super7 The Simpsons Ultimates! Hank Scorpio

If you’re going to market action figures to a fanbase as venerable as The Simpsons, you should probably go after what they love most. Simpsons fans love to make references to their favorite episodes and characters and one of the top episodes from the show is “You Only Move Twice” from the show’s seventh season.…

by Joe

Super7 The Simpsons Ultimates! Duffman

In writing up my review of Bartman from Super7’s line of Ultimates! based on The Simpsons, I got a little hot. That figure had some errors in its presentation that annoyed me, but what annoyed me more was the refusal to just let the figure exist as Bart Simpson and Bartman. It was clearly designed…

by Joe

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April 24, 2024

X-Men ’97 – “Bright Eyes”

By Joe
Written by Charley Feldman and JB Ballard.

When we last saw our beloved X-Men, their world had just been destroyed. An idyllic place set to the soundtrack of the very on-the-nose choice of “Happy Nation” by Ace of Base in Genosha was laid to waste. Mutants of all backgrounds were slaughtered including our beloved Gambit and less beloved Magneto. In the aftermath of the episode’s airing, series creator Beau DeMayo took to social media to explain his reasoning for writing such a destructive story. In his view, the first four episodes were the nostalgia episodes. Things weren’t perfect, but a lot of what the X-Men had fought for in the original series had come to pass. Genosha was now their place where they belonged. It was a safe haven, but it was all so fragile.

DeMayo likened the attack on Genosha to both September 11th and the Pulse nightclub shooting. As a gay man himself, DeMayo designed much of the atmosphere of Genosha to mimic that of a gay club. Both are places where individuals who may normally feel pressured to hide who they really are can be themselves. And who they are is what also makes them a target. The world is not a safe place and we’re reminded of that constantly. In that, the world these characters inhabit is not unlike our own.

Rogue gets to do some ass kicking in this one.

This week’s episode doesn’t just have the events of “Remember It” to dwell on, but also those of last week’s episode, “Lifedeath – Part 2.” In that one, Storm regained her powers and also seemingly rediscovered some classic threads while Xavier had a vision of what transpired on Earth and was compelled to give up his life with the woman he loves. And in the closing moments, we saw who orchestrated the attack on Genosha. Mr. Sinister, with an assist from the DNA of Bolivar Trask, has seemingly assumed the role of catalyst for what could be a war between humans and mutants. It’s not surprising that a man who literally named himself Sinister is the one behind such a thing, but what does it mean for the character? Did he find another way to synthesize his perfect mutant from the DNA of Scott Summers and Jean Grey and is now ready to unleash his creation upon the world? Or is he acting on behalf of another? Perhaps someone who has always desired to bring about the apocalypse itself?

The opening “Previously…” for “Bright Eyes” is delivered by Rogue. In the scenes to follow, we mostly bare witness to what took place in episode 5 with the only piece from last week’s episode being Xavier’s voice over as he received his vision of what transpired. The opening title appears to be completely unchanged from last week. Storm has not been added back in and Nightcrawler gets to go two weeks in a row in a prominent spot. When the episode does begin, it gets right to the aftermath we have been waiting for. It’s Gambit’s funeral, and in attendance aren’t just X-Men, but Gambit’s former allies and would-be wife from the Thieves Guild. They’re just window dressing and it falls on Nightcrawler to lead the service since he’s a man of the cloth. It’s an understandably somber scene, but once absence garners much attention.

Perhaps Nightcrawler’s role will be like a team chaplain going forward?

Rogue, apparently not yet willing to deal with her grief, is on a one woman mission to find the man she believes is responsible for the loss of Gambit and so many others on Genosha: Bolivar Trask. Her mission will take her all over the globe and include in some interesting cameos from the greater Marvel Universe. She’ll eventually be forced to deal with her grief, but there’s a lot of anger in the woman and it’s fun to see Lenore Zann get to play Rogue in a different manner from what we’re used to. Elsewhere, the X-Men have decided their place is on Genosha helping out with the clean-up. Scott and Jean are still in a bad place, but this isn’t an episode with much room for the soapy drama we’re used to. Sunspot is also left to ponder if keeping the fact that he’s a mutant a secret the right way to go about things. After all, what if he was on Genosha that day and his parents found out he’s a mutant by IDing his corpse?

Eventually, anger gives way to sorrow when confronted by a great loss.

The last act of the episode is what pushes the narrative forward. We’ll learn more about how the attack on Genosha came about and the show is clearly setting the stage for the three-part finale that’s to follow. The X-Men will have a new enemy, and if there is a theme to this enemy it’s probably escalation which has been building since the start of the season. Whenever humanity scores a win over bigotry, be it in the real world or a fantasy like this one, the bigots always fine a new way to attach the marginalized. When the Emancipation Proclamation was put in place, the country went to war to actually free those from the bondages of slavery. When the war ended, Jim Crow surfaced followed by segregation, Tulsa, the Voting Rights Act, etc. Victory is often temporary, and the X-Men learned that the hard way. The end of the episode contains a pair of reveals as well. One we, the audience, were already in on and another we technically weren’t, but the show basically telegraphed. As such, I don’t think the final scene lands with the impact the show may have wanted, but people are sure to remember the song for the scene, at least. If you thought Ace of Base was an interesting pull, just wait until you hear this one.

“Bright Eyes” is another slow episode, one that is clearly building towards something. The show is clearly setting up for something spectacular, and now we get to see if it can stick the landing. I’m a bit sad there are only three episodes of X-Men ’97 left before the first season comes to a close, but I am very excited to see how it ends.

Previously…on X-Men ’97:

X-Men ’97 – “Lifedeath – Part 2”

Last week’s episode of X-Men ’97 ended in spectacular and heartbreaking fashion. If you were hoping to experience the fallout of that one, you’re going to be disappointed by this week’s episode. Like the week before which saw an episode end with Forge and Storm in a precarious situation, this week’s episode is willing to…

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by Joe

X-Men ’97 – “Remember It”

Last week’s episode of X-Men ’97 saw the show take a breather with a fairly low stakes plot involving Jubilee and Roberto getting sucked into a video game. The last 7 or 8 minutes of the episode concluded with a more serious tone as Storm and Forge found themselves at odds in the wildlands of…

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by Joe

X-Men ’97 – “Motendo/Lifedeath Part 1”

X-Men ’97 continues on into it’s fourth episode with a bit of a change-up. The first three episodes were rather weighty dealing with the fallout of Xavier’s death, Storm losing her powers, and the whole clone situation of the third episode. And that third episode did reveal a few cracks in the foundation of the…

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by Joe

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April 23, 2024

NECA TMNT Mirage Foot Enforcer

By Joe
He’s got some enforcin’ to do.

When a regular Foot Ninja just won’t cut it, The Shredder has to turn to the Foot Enforcer. This brute of a specimen is bigger, stronger, and comes packed to the gills with an assortment of weapons designed to reduce the turtles into a pile of flesh and shell. And they’re needed, because how often have you seen the turtles turn a practical army of Foot Soldiers into fodder? They need a challenge as much as the Foot need a win, and that’s why we have the Foot Enforcer.

The Foot Enforcer from NECA Toys’ line of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles action figures based on their appearance in the pages of Mirage Studios was actually a 2023 release. It was styled after some colorized issues of the books released by IDW, the current license holder/partner for TMNT when it comes to printed media. Those colors put the Foot in a shadowy scheme of black, blue, and purple. It’s a similar combination to what we saw way back with the Loot Crate Shredder. I am personally just collecting the more traditional color scheme of maroon and gray which is what the original NYCC edition of the Shredder and Foot came styled as so I skipped last year’s release. I was betting on this version eventually coming out and my bet paid off as part of this year’s Haulathon is the Mirage Studios version of the Foot Enforcer and he was worth the wait.

He’s a big, chunky, boy with a big weapon.

The Foot Enforcer comes in the standard trapezoidal box with new artwork on the sides from series co-creator Kevin Eastman. The Enforcer stands a tick over 6.5″ and is basically a normal Foot Ninja as far as costuming goes until you get to the head. There he sports a helm with a face covering not unlike the Shredder himself with some fabric draped over the back and side of the head. He also has some spiky gauntlets for added intimidation. What lurks under that helmet is a mystery as what would be the exposed part of his face is painted black with two red slits for eyes. He definitely looks a great deal more intimidating than the usual Foot and not someone I’d personally want to run into in a dark alley.

This is a good example of parts reuse from NECA.

The paint job is typical NECA with lots of flat colors enhanced by black linework and a touch of shading. The shading is reserved for the top of the helm which has a nice comic look to it as well as the sides of the little spikes on his gauntlets. That’s an impressive little detail that adds a nice touch. Some of the parts of this guy are likely reused from the similarly built four-armed Shredder clone. Basically the arms and the legs which was to be expected. The forearm assembly is the same as the clone Shredder with the forearms plugging onto the meat just past the elbow. I guess that means, if you wanted to, you could swap forearms between the two. The hands wouldn’t match though as the Shredder clone had brown skin, but it’s there if you want it.

It’s easy to forget how big and chunky the turtles are too.

This figure looks awesome, there’s no simpler way to put it. I love the size of him and the heft I feel when I pick it up. This is a solidly built action figure, and after handling so many figures recently made by another company which charges almost 20 bucks more per figure, this is just like a nice treat to behold. And NECA made sure this bad boy was outfitted with all kinds of stuff to properly massacre the turtles on your shelf. For hands, he has a set of fists, gripping, chop, and a set of gripping hands also making a “Devil Horns” gesture. Those hands appear to be included just for the tri-handled nunchaku he has. The thumb is molded to the middle finger so the handles of this weapon can just slide snugly into place and look cool doing so. The other gripping hands are best used with the other weapons: short sword, long sword, and naginata. The short sword has a spiked handguard which looks vicious while the long sword has some nice size to it. The naginata is much longer with a long blade at one end and a pommel with red “ribbon” on the other. From tip to tip it’s nearly 7.25″ so it’s quite big. All of the weapons are well-painted with a little linework on the blades to give them that comic look. The nunchaku-like weapon is not painted, but it’s three, gray, handles all joined by black thread and looks appropriate enough.

This guy can definitely handle more adversity than your typical Foot Ninja, but probably not this much.

For articulation, this guy is pretty standard. He was a bit stiff out of the box in some places, in particular the biceps, but nothing that couldn’t get worked out with a little effort and patience. The head doesn’t get much range looking up because of the cowl, but all of the other directions are adequate. The cowl is soft plastic and it can slide underneath the shoulder pads or over them if you wish. Arms and legs are standard with double joints where you would expect. The meatiness of his forearms means he can’t really bend the elbow past 90 degrees, but I think most will be satisfied. Because the forearms plug onto the arms you do get a swivel point there. All of the hands feature a horizontal hinge, a repeated error by NECA. The way the armor continues onto the backs of the hands likely would have made vertical hinges a little tricky to utilize, but I think NECA is more than capable of figuring that out.

This guy is good for mostly basic poses. The lack of a butterfly joint does limit how much one can do with the weapons. There’s also really nothing in the torso aside from the waist twist which is a bummer. I’d have taken the trade-off of breaking up the sculpt a bit to get a diaphragm cut into this thing. NECA likes to go with overlays for the torso of its figures so it’s not a surprise they did it this way, but it (along with the vertical wrist hinges) is a change I’d advocate for across the board with their figures.

These guys look pretty good together, but these more modern figures from NECA do put the old ones to shame in some respects.

If you’re collecting NECA’s line of TMNT based on the Mirage Studios looks, this guy strikes me as a no-brainer for your shelf. You could probably get by without a Baxter (I know I am) or a Renet, but a big, beefy, Foot Ninja adds some nice shelf presence. The real challenge is stopping at just the one. This figure is currently being shipped to Target stores in the US and has been solicited on costumes.com for international purchase. It is not a Target exclusive though and it’s expected that this figure will eventually be sold through online retailers in the near future. If you want it, it might be a little tricky in the short term (the online drop at Target has come and gone), but not long term so don’t cave for an eBay price unless it’s close to MSRP.

Looking to add more figures to your NECA Mirage TMNT collection:

NECA Mirage Shredder and Foot Clan NYCC Exclusive Set

The Shredder had a rough go at things for awhile when it came to plastic. He was featured rather prominently in the old Playmates line, though perhaps not as prominently as one would expect. Playmates never did do a movie version of him, aside from Super Shredder, and his figure was arguably the worst from…

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by Joe

NECA TMNT Mirage Studios Shredder Clones

NECA and Target’s Haulathon event which has seen a vast assortment of product dumped onto shelves recently was not content to limit the products to just the cartoon Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Far from it, as an assortment of comic book based characters were also released and today we’re going to look at the first…

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by Joe

TMNT Loot Crate – First Appearance Shredder

It was back during the winter that Loot Crate announced a series of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle crates for 2020. At the time, Loot Crate had done one previous crate that was apparently intended to test the waters to see what the appetite was for this sort of thing among the TMNT fanbase. It didn’t…

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by Joe

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in Comics, toys

April 18, 2024

Super7 The Simpsons Ultimates! Hank Scorpio

By Joe
“If you want to kill someone on your way out it would really help me a lot!”

If you’re going to market action figures to a fanbase as venerable as The Simpsons, you should probably go after what they love most. Simpsons fans love to make references to their favorite episodes and characters and one of the top episodes from the show is “You Only Move Twice” from the show’s seventh season. In that episode, Homer takes a job in another town forcing the Simpsons to move (again, hence the episode’s title) to another community that just so happens to be run by a Bondsian supervillain known as Hank Scorpio. Played by Albert Brooks, Scorpio is one of the most memorable one-off characters in the long history of the show. It’s probably not a stretch to call him the most memorable one-off character. He should have been brought back for the movie, but instead the writers and producers of The Simpsons decided to create a new villain for Brooks to play.

He’s the world’s best boss – get used to it.

What makes Scorpio so great? In short: everything. He’s exceedingly nice and a quote machine. He’s an ideal boss, but also someone bent on world domination who won’t hesitate to murder in order to get what he wants. That aspect of the character is unveiled slowly, but effectively. If Super7 had polled Simpsons fans on characters they most wanted to see in this toy line I bet Scorpio would have fared well. Maybe not top ten, but certainly pretty high for a character that isn’t regularly seen or heard from. And since Super7’s approach with this line has been so episode-specific, he’s a natural fit, but can they stick the landing?

Hank is pretty average in height for this line.

Scorpio comes in the standard packaging for the line and stands at about 6.75″ to the top of his head. He’s nearly a full 7″ when you factor in the hair. He’s presented in his mint green turtleneck sweater with blue-gray slacks and brown loafers. Out of the box, he’ll be sporting a big canister on his back that is looped onto his arms. Like the other figures from this wave, Scorpio has a pretty matte finish to him. Unlike Duffman, I think it’s all derived from a clear coat applied to colored plastic. Either way, it works and he has a nice appearance, albeit a very simple one. This isn’t a sculpt that demands much and what little paint is needed is basically reserved for the head. There his orange-brown hair and beard are fine and the eyes clean. The turtleneck is part of the head sculpt which is a little unusual, but fine. I think the head is glued into the plastic so there’s no mismatched colors when comparing neck to chest. This figure won’t catch one’s eye when amongst a sea of other figures, but it looks the part.

Someone just stole his lunch.

Where things start to get a little iffy for me concerns the accessories. For hands, we get a set of fists and gripping hands of different sizes. We also get a pointing left hand and a right hand that has a “World’s Best Boss” coffee mug permanently affixed to it. The mug isn’t hollow, but the inside is left as bare, white, plastic. Why not just a little hit of brown paint for coffee? He looks like he’s drinking milk. Either way, it’s a skimpy assortment of hands. For portraits, we get a stoic one, an angry side-eye with teeth showing, and a maniacal yelling portrait. The stoic and side eye look fine, but the maniacal head could have had a better paint job on the visible teeth. There’s a gray swash on them, or maybe the white mixed with the black paint used for the back of the throat. I wish the maniacal one also had more of a smile to it. It’s subtle in the episode, and this head has a very specific use, but I don’t think Super7 quite captured it.

He has a grenade, but I’m guessing most people will display him with his other weapon.

And that head is intended for the flamethrower. He does have a grenade canister which is fine, but the main accessory is the flame thrower. For that, we get the gun, or wand, portion plus a tube that plugs into the back of it and the side of the tank on the figure’s back. The tube is cumbersome, but stays in place all right once you get it i place provided you don’t try and reposition anything. For that reason, insert it last. There’s also a flame effect for the end of the gun which is done in a translucent plastic that is orange at the base and yellow at the tip. It’s large and heavy and isn’t really the shape I think of when I think flamethrower. I’d have preferred something more narrow that streams out. Such a piece would have been lighter which would have been welcomed as this attachment will cause the barrel of the gun to sag.

There’s really no good way for him to hold this thing. Plus that hose will keep constantly popping out on you as you try to get the best position the figure will allow.

There is another issue with this accessory and it’s that the figure isn’t articulated well enough to wield it properly. The gun is intended to be held with both hands, one on the back and one at the front. The right, gripping, hand is sculpted to hold the rear handle while the left is shaped for the grenade, but can rest on the front handle. The hands can sort of get in place, but the figure has only basic articulation. That means a double-ball peg head and neck setup, hinged shoulders, single jointed elbows, wrists that swivel and hinge horizontally, a ball-jointed diaphragm, ball-jointed hips, single-jointed knees, and hinged ankles with ankle rockers. What he needs are butterfly joints at the shoulders so he can bring his left arm across his body to properly aim the flamethrower. As it stands, he basically has to hold the gun across his belly and point his left shoulder at the target. In the episode, he basically fires from the hip. You can kind of fake his shooting pose from the episode, but any further scrutiny reveals it to be pretty ridiculous. In fairness to Super7, the glamour shots did the same thing so this isn’t a bait and switch, but how about some creativity? If butterfly joints are a no-go, why not a swappable left arm that’s preposed the way it needs to be? This is just the half-assed solution and the too heavy flame effect doesn’t help.

This low angle shot of the flame in action illustrates how I think the expression is just off enough to bug me. He almost looks frightened, not deranged.

This brings me to my main critique of Hank Scorpio which is that this is not the “ultimate” expression of the character which is the mantra of the line. This figure sells out for this one scene of Hank Scorpio firing on the government operatives with his flamethrower. He basically can’t do much else aside from hold his coffee cup. Where’s the happy Hank we see all throughout the episode? No smiling portrait is a huge miss. And the back of the box depicts him with his coat on backwards, a memorable moment from the episode that he can’t achieve. Three of the figures in this wave came with soft goods, but Scorpio did not. He should have his coat, via soft goods or swappable arms and an overlay, but he doesn’t. If you’re going to call your product the ultimate expression of a character, then you better damn well do it. This isn’t it.

“Homer, I’m very disappointed you’ve chosen to take a job with the government.”

If you have been waiting decades to add a Hank Scorpio to your shelf then I suppose this figure will have to do. It’s not terrible, it just comes up way short as an expression of Hank Scorpio. I’m not demanding he be able to convert to workout gear so he can toss a shoe, but the lack of a sunny disposition is inexcusable. And since his flamethrower pose is executed poorly, I have a hard time recommending this figure. It’s a shame because this may very well be the only Hank Scorpio action figure we ever get. As has been the case with the first two figures (and most Super7 Ultimates! in general these days) you would be better served by waiting for a discount. The line is already dead so it’s not as if one’s inaction on the line at full MSRP is going to cause any long-lasting harm to it. If you also feel it’s just plain not good enough even at a discount then I wouldn’t really disagree.

Interested in reading more about Super7’s line of Simpsons Ultimates?:

Super7 The Simpsons Ultimates! Bartman

When I concluded my review of wave 1 of The Simpsons Ultimates! from Super7 I was thinking that I’d be back with more reviews later in the year. That was in February of 2023. We are now in April of 2024 and finally wave two has arrived (my original order was place January 5th, 2022).…

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by Joe

Super7 The Simpsons Ultimates! Duffman

In writing up my review of Bartman from Super7’s line of Ultimates! based on The Simpsons, I got a little hot. That figure had some errors in its presentation that annoyed me, but what annoyed me more was the refusal to just let the figure exist as Bart Simpson and Bartman. It was clearly designed…

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by Joe

Super7 The Simpsons Ultimates! Deep Space Homer

Slowly but surely I am clearing out all of the action figure preorders I placed in the year 2021. Of the ones that had been remaining, the line I was most looking forward to experiencing was the line of Super7 Ultimates! based on The Simpsons. It was August of 2021 when these suckers went up…

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by Joe

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , , | posted in Television, toys

April 17, 2024

X-Men ’97 – “Lifedeath – Part 2”

By Joe
This week’s episode was written by Charley Feldman, his first sole writing credit on an episode of X-Men ’97.

Last week’s episode of X-Men ’97 ended in spectacular and heartbreaking fashion. If you were hoping to experience the fallout of that one, you’re going to be disappointed by this week’s episode. Like the week before which saw an episode end with Forge and Storm in a precarious situation, this week’s episode is willing to let those characters dangle a bit longer because now we’re going back to check-in on Storm. And we’re also going beyond the stars to check-in on the one major plot thread still left unaddressed from the original series.

This week’s episode, “Lifedeath – Part 2,” begins with the usual “Previously…” tagline and this time it’s delivered by Storm (Alison Sealy-Smith). In keeping up with current events, both Magneto and Gambit have been removed from the opening title because it does not care about your feelings. There is a surprising addition in the form of Nightcrawler, but if you’re wondering just what’s going on with that situation then it’s again something that will have to wait until next week. The recreated clips of the old show inserted include shots of the Shi’ar along with a shot from “One Man’s Worth,” Mastermold, Nim’rod, and Apocalypse.

Look who has been added to the opening title!

The episode opens with a battle taking place in space. The Shi’ar are taking on the Kree, and people just jumping over from the Marvel Cinematic Universe may be surprised to see a comic accurate depiction of Ronan The Accuser (Todd Haberkorn). He’s in some trouble as upon him is the Shi’ar Imperial Guard lead by the virtually indestructible Gladiator (David Errigo Jr.). Also there is princess of the Shi’ar, Deathbird Cari Kabinoff), who was last seen in the original series serving at the pleasure of Apocalypse. They’re interrupted by a transmission from the empress herself, Lilandra (Morla Gorrondonna), who has an important announcement to make: she is to be wed. Her chosen suitor? None other than Charles Xavier.

Xavier (Ross Marquand) being alive isn’t what I would consider a spoiler. The final episode of the original series depicted Xavier being taken to space by Lilandra where the technology of the Shi’ar could potentially save his life. This outcome was expected and it was only a matter of time before we’d hear from Charles Xavier once more. And it would appear he’s made a full recovery from his mystery ailment, and not only that, the Shi’ar have a suit capable of allowing him to walk again. Still, the announcement from Lilandra that she intends to wed what the Shi’ar term a Terran is met with resistance, especially from her sister, Deathbird. It would seem even in the far reaches of space, Xavier is still a victim of racial prejudice. And it turns out, there’s an ancient, Shi’ar, custom that allows for the people to make a demand of any outworlder looking to marry into power. It’s played as a “gotcha” from Deathbird who clearly hopes to draw a wedge between her sister and her lover first, then between her sister and her people following that, all in a bid to take the throne for herself.

Ronan The Accuser makes his X-Men ’97 debut.

In order to wed Lilandra, Xavier will have to make a terrible sacrifice that will prevent him from ever seeing his X-Men again. As an audience, we’re privy to more information than Charles and we obviously want him to not make a decision that will keep him from returning to Earth. The show does a good job of framing the decision in a sympathetic light so that we can see why Xavier might do so, and needless to say, we’re pretty invested in where this will go.

Elsewhere, the other plot of the episode concerns Storm and Forge. When we last saw them, they were under attack by The Adversary, a demonic entity (also voiced by Sealy-Smith, but with a monstrous quality), which had grievously injured Forge. The bite of the demon is poisonous, and Forge is in bad shape when we find them. The Adversary is there to prey on fear and self-loathing which is what draws it to Storm who needs to overcome both the demon and herself in order to save Forge. And the only cure for this demon bite rests with a certain cactus known to grow in dark places. In other words, an old mine shaft which is a place that will be a challenge for Storm to traverse given her extreme claustrophobia.

It can’t be fun having a literal demon dwelling in your rafters.

Storm’s plot is one of self-discovery, while Xavier’s is more on the lines of cultural integration and power. The events in Texas move at a fairly brisk pace as they did in the previous episode featuring this pairing. It does lead to some problems, but it feels less severe than it did before. As for the events in space, they move at a much more leisurely pace. It helps that we’re getting reacquainted with two characters with a lot of backstory and a pre-established relationship and the show operates in a manner that tells the audience you better know your stuff because it’s not slowing down to bring new viewers up to speed. And as much as I want to see the show deal with the Genosha fallout, this is the right time to bring Xavier back into the fold as a plot element. The X-Men have lost their Xavier replacement, it’s foundational pieces in Cyclops and Jean are at odds, and they have lost members of their team and community on top of that. It’s a time of tremendous turmoil and uncertainty and I bet they would love to have the guidance of Charles Xavier once more.

Deathbird has designs on her sister’s throne. She should really hire a PR firm because that name “Deathbird” seems like it would be a hard sell.

“Lifedeath – Part 2” might not be the episode people wanted to watch this week, but it’s the one we got and it does tie-up some loose ends of its own. It’s another cool down episode (what episode wouldn’t be following last week’s?) for X-Men ’97 and it moves at a more deliberate pace. Those waiting for a big action piece may be left wanting, but it has its own moments of elevation and there is some nice action bits at the front of the episode. There are also some cameos for those who enjoy them, and one in particular definitely feels like one the show wants you to notice. My only real gripe was some tonal changes in the Storm/Forge plot, but I think that’s just the reality of a show speeding towards what showrunner Beau DeMayo has described as a big one. And that finale is going to air in three parts which means we only have one more episode of setup before it can begin. I expect next week to be the show setting the stage for a major climax. And I’m already bracing myself for a major cliffhanger of a finale and, if so, the wait for Season Two will be excruciating.

Previously…on X-Men ’97:

X-Men ’97 – “Remember It”

Last week’s episode of X-Men ’97 saw the show take a breather with a fairly low stakes plot involving Jubilee and Roberto getting sucked into a video game. The last 7 or 8 minutes of the episode concluded with a more serious tone as Storm and Forge found themselves at odds in the wildlands of…

Keep reading
by Joe

X-Men ’97 – “Motendo/Lifedeath Part 1”

X-Men ’97 continues on into it’s fourth episode with a bit of a change-up. The first three episodes were rather weighty dealing with the fallout of Xavier’s death, Storm losing her powers, and the whole clone situation of the third episode. And that third episode did reveal a few cracks in the foundation of the…

Keep reading
by Joe

X-Men ’97 – “Fire Made Flesh”

Well, that was a long wait! After the two episode premiere of X-Men ’97 on March 20th I was ready for that third episode. The week long wait felt both excruciating and exhilarating. It’s been a long time since we’ve had an X-Men show to get excited about, or really an X-Men anything, and it’s…

Keep reading
by Joe

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | posted in Television

April 16, 2024

NECA TMNT Toon Business Suit Casey Jones and Foot Soldier (Split)

By Joe
He’s got a headache and it’s because of the guy to his right.

As this NECA line of action figures based on the 1987 cartoon Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles rolls along, I find my list of wants from it dwindling down to nothing. It’s hit on way more characters than I think anyone could have dreamed of back in 2017 when it seemed like just getting these toys to retail was a pipe dream. And now that it’s so deep into the weeds of obscure characters I find myself drawn to the more offbeat releases from the show. The superhero Bebop and Rocksteady, punk disguise turtles, and now Casey Jones in a business suit. I don’t need it, I didn’t ask for it, but you’re damn right I went out and bought it anyway!

To my surprise, this figure has an all new head sculpt and it’s pretty nice.

Casey Jones only appeared in a handful of episodes of the show even though he’s thought of as a pretty significant character. And he is, just not really in the old toon. One episode he did appear in, “Corporate Raiders from Dimension X,” featured the vigilante going out of his element and undercover to check out a sketchy new office in town. The turtles seem to think only he could sneak in, even though they seem to do just fine with their own disguises. Plus, Casey won’t even take his mask off as part of the disguise. It’s a goofy episode and actually one of the better ones to rewatch if you’re curious since it is so silly. Casey Jones is pretty damn funny in the show, even though the character isn’t trying to be (the show expects you to find it funny), to the point where I wonder why they didn’t use him more?

“Hey intern! Lose the hockey mask or you’re OUT!”

It was a few years ago now that NECA’s first pass at a Casey Jones was released to retail. Bundled with a battle-damaged Foot Soldier, it was a notoriously hard set to find. NECA was still working out distribution for this line and was experimenting with how to ship waves to Target stores and how many. It was a circus, and many collectors went years without being able to add Casey to their collection at a reasonable price. It was finally re-released just last year, and now we get a new version that is both familiar and a little different and, dare I say, superior?

“You want to try saying that to me again, punk?!”

Casey Jones and his robot friend come in the usual window box with generic blurb on the back about the show and a cross-sell. This one is part of the current Haulathon promotion going on at Target which is both in-store and online, but only on Fridays for US residents. Casey Jones is, as far as I can tell, an all-new sculpt. He’s in a suit which includes a gray coat, white undershirt, pink tie, and khakis. He has some brown loafers and his customary hockey mask. The body is more obviously new just by looking at it (always possible things like the hands have been used before), but what was surprising is that so is the head. Casey has a more windblown look to his hair. It has more volume and the mask is a bit more sharply defined. The eyes are smaller, but it’s still painted the same. The paint on the straps going around his head is a little iffy in places, but overall I think this is a much nicer portrait than the first release which, up to now, was a face I never had any complaints about. The joint in the neck is exactly the same as the first release so, yes, the heads can transfer from one figure to the other and it’s very possible a lot of people will do just that.

Oh, she’s feeling this new face.

And that’s because this Casey comes with a second portrait – an unmasked one. Casey never took his mask off in the show, so this portrait is entirely made-up for this figure release. Tomasz Rosejowski is the credited sculptor, though I don’t know if he was working off of someone else’s design, but for now he gets the credit for this unique look at Casey. The head features basically the same hair and a goofy grin. He’s got bandages on his face, some stiches, scars, and it would appear he’s missing some teeth as well. I honestly never spent much brain power trying to conjure up what Casey would look like under the mask, but this certainly seems as good a guess as any. The real question is do people want to actually display Casey without his iconic mask? I don’t know, but if you like the look then it makes it easy to display this figure with that portrait and transfer the new, masked, one to the old figure.

“April! I thought you said I could have the interns!”

In addition to the second portrait, Casey comes with a lot of familiar stuff. For hands, we get a set of fists, open, gripping, and a wide-gripping right hand. He has his golf bag of goodies and the bag actually appears to be a new sculpt as well, which is surprising, but maybe the old one didn’t fit right? For it we get the hockey stick, goalie stick, baseball bat, sledgehammer, and whatever that gray, bat-like, pipe thing is. They’re exactly the same as the first Casey release, which is fine as I assume they didn’t change in the show either. In addition to that, Casey also has a little basket with time cards or something in them. It’s one sculpt, or two sculpts, but the cards are glued in place. He also has what looks like a container of seltzer with a spray top on it. It reminds me of maple syrup dispensers at diners. The wide gripping hand seems to be intended for this particular item though and he can hold it just fine.

My Casey had a minor defect, but it was easily remedied though he’s likely to have that permanent warp to the belt.

Lastly, Casey also comes with another set of arms. These ones are identical to the arms on the figure, but the sleeves are painted white. The jacket is an overlay and removable which clasps in the front so you can pop the arms off along with the jacket and swap to these arms for a no-jacket look. It’s one he does feature in the episode, and it’s a good idea for the figure. I like the look of both too, though I’m leaning more towards the jacket. Also helping that call is that by packaging the figure with the coat on in the box there is some paint rub from it onto the white shirt and pink tie. My figure also had an usual defect in that the shirt overlay wasn’t inserted into the crotch piece all the way. A big hunk was hanging out the back and, at first, I thought it was intentional to show he didn’t have his shirt tucked in and play-up the fact that Casey is a fish out of water in these clothes, but the fact that the sides of the white overlay were splitting had me thinking this was just a screw up. Getting the shirt into the proper alignment wasn’t too hard, I just had to twist the figure at the waist and rock it back and forth until I was able to get it in there. The top of the diaper piece on the back is still a little warped, but it’s not something that’s bothering me.

I understand people not wanting another Foot Soldier, but that’s a damn fine sculpt and paint job.

Bundled with Casey is yet another battle-damaged Foot Soldier. This one reuses the arms and legs of past Foot Soldiers, but has an all new torso and head which has been split in half. It’s probably my favorite of the three battle-damaged Foot Soldiers we’ve received so far and I really like the touch of making its eyes look sad. The sculpt and paint work for the interior circuits and such looks great, and overall the finish on this Foot is more saturated when compared with past editions of the figure. It does not feature the bisected toon shading which is a bit odd, but that’s an element of this line that’s been inconsistent of late. The Foot does come with some optional hand sets: gripping, open, trigger, fists, and it also comes with the handgun we’ve seen what feels like a hundred times. It’s the exact same sculpt and paint app as before, only now instead of the main color being white it’s more like a cream or off-white. It’s a gimmick figure that’s just going to be used in conjunction with other characters to sell the split effect, but it looks nice.

Where will NECA go with its next battle-damaged Foot Soldier? They’ve hit the torso a bunch, so maybe the limbs?

Articulation is pretty standard for the line. With Casey you get a double-ball peg for the neck, hinged pegs for the shoulders, biceps swivel, double-elbows, swivel and hinge at the wrist, ball-peg waist, ball and socket hips, thigh twist, double knees, ankle hinges and rockers. The Foot Soldier is the same as past Foot Soldiers just minus neck articulation. It’s also the same as Casey except the Foot also has a shin swivel and toe hinge. It’s okay articulation, and most of it seems to work fine. Casey’s alternate shoulders are pretty damn tight, but I was able to get them working with force rather than heat. There are no vertical hinges for the gripping or trigger hands which is a bummer. These figures are also limited at the shoulders so getting a figure to really swing a weapon overhand to sell that split Foot is harder than it looks. That’s where the vertical wrist is also missed and that’s something I would really like NECA to fix. It seems only Leonardo, Raphael, and deluxe figures get that feature which makes no sense since it would be the preferred setup for 99% of the figures in this line.

And now, a sequence of pictures showing off this split effect.
“It would seem you are made of inferior components.”

Is this a set that’s worth your 60 dollars? That might be a bit contentious. The selling point is the goofy look for Casey Jones, and if you like that stuff then you can probably talk yourself into this one since the gimmick Foot Soldier is pretty fun. I think a lot of people were hoping for an Ultimate Casey and they may be disappointed about having to pay extra for yet another Foot Soldier. I’m personally indifferent. Maybe NECA has just worn me down with the expense that is being a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles collector which drops in large quantities every spring now. The fact that we had a bit of a drought when it came to TMNT releases over the past 6 months also likely made me more agreeable to the expense. This is definitely a set no one is likely to feel like they need, but if you do grab it, it’s pretty well done and I don’t think you’ll wind up regretting it.

Like NECA TMNT? There’s plenty more where this came from:

NECA TMNT Toon Punk Disguise Turtles

Another year, another Haulathon. Haulathon, and the very similar Fall Geek Out, have become basically the only instances each year where NECA releases Target exclusive Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles merchandise as well as non-exclusive merchandise. It’s honestly not a lot of fun as it just creates a frenzy of panic where collectors aren’t sure what…

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by Joe

NECA TMNT Cartoon Casey Jones and Slashed Foot Soldier

Something that is likely common to most of humanity is a desire to be successful. We all measure success differently, be it professional, financial, or something else, but we all strive for it. And sometimes success can feel like a burden. Take NECA’s line of action figures based on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles property.…

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NECA Cartoon TMNT From the Files of Pizza Squad (Deluxe Rex-1)

When you’re doing a syndicated cartoon expected to air basically every day, you need to pull story ideas from anywhere you can. I think that’s why parodies are so popular in the cartoons of the 80s to the point where it didn’t matter if the show was parodying something kids would actually know. Take REX-1,…

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by Joe

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , | posted in Television, toys

April 12, 2024

X-Men ’97 – “Remember It”

By Joe

Last week’s episode of X-Men ’97 saw the show take a breather with a fairly low stakes plot involving Jubilee and Roberto getting sucked into a video game. The last 7 or 8 minutes of the episode concluded with a more serious tone as Storm and Forge found themselves at odds in the wildlands of Texas. It ended with a shocking visual and if you wanted immediate closure on that thread you’re going to be left wanting by this week’s episode, “Remember It.” I don’t think that will bother many because “Remember It” is the most impactful episode of the season so far and has a lot of people already declaring it the best episode yet.

The phrase “Remember It” is a callback to a particularly bad ass line delivered by not one, but two, characters from the original series. Interestingly, those two characters now have a real world link as the former voice actor of Gambit, Chris Potter, is now the voice of Cable who makes his X-Men ’97 debut this week, albeit in a brief manner.

It’s a bit hard to tell, but I think this week’s “Previously,” is delivered by AJ LoCascio, otherwise known as the current voice of Gambit. The opening title features a lot of clips that we’ve seen before as someone really wants the Dark Phoenix plot to be at the forefront it would seem. Newly added is a recreation of Cable’s encounter with Apocalypse from the “Beyond Good and Evil” arc and it’s nice to see that Apocalypse still has his unique to the show color combo of blue and purple.

It seems Madelyn has found a new purpose.

“Remember It” features an A and a B plot in a more traditional manner as the episode isn’t split like last week’s. At the mansion, reporter Trish Tilby (Donna Jay Fulks) is on-hand to interview the X-Men for television to give them a chance to humanize themselves in front of the world. At least, she’s interviewing the few willing to go on camera which seems to be limited to Beast, Cyclops, and Jubilee. Elsewhere, Jean is still trying to sort out her memories while Wolverine is ducking the cameras and checking up on her. Magneto, Gambit, and Rogue are enroute to Genosha as they’ve been invited by the new council there for unknown reasons.

That trio will land to discover that Genosha is a pretty happening place. Mutants parade out in the open in a Mardi Gras like atmosphere of music and dance. Gambit takes notice of the incredibly high prices at street vendors and seems to be the only one who thinks maybe not everything is as it seems. Magneto is expected to meet with the council of Genosha while Rogue and Gambit get to do some sightseeing with an old friend. Returning from X-Men is voice actor Adrian Hough reprising his role as Nightcrawler. The fuzzy, blue, elf is a much happier and high spirited character now that he’s in a place that accepts him. He’s eager to reconnect with Rogue and Gambit and happy to be their escort on this day. Also in attendance on Genosha is Madelyn Pryor, aka the clone of Jean. She has accepted a position on the council and is Magneto’s introduction to the rest.

Everybody is happy about the return of Nightcrawler!

And that council is comprised of a lot of old faces, some more welcomed than others: Sebastian Shaw (Todd Haberkorn), Emma Frost (Martha Marion), Moira McTaggert (Marion), Callisto (Courtenay Taylor), and Banshee (David Errigo Jr.). Valerie Cooper is also present, but not a part of the council, and if she was she would object to what Magneto has been summoned here for. They wish to make him chancellor of Genosha by reason that since Xavier entrusted him with the X-Men, they can entrust him with Genosha. Magneto requires little convincing, but has one requirement for accepting the position: that Rogue be his queen.

There aren’t many people on this council I’d call trustworthy.

This puts the love triangle at the forefront that’s been percolating a bit since the second episode between Rogue, Gambit, and Magneto. If you have been waiting for some resolution there, as well as more info on just what happened between Rogue and Magneto before the events of the original series, your questions will at last be answered. At the mansion, we will similarly see Cyclops and Jean start to address their own issues as a couple, as well as the fact that Cyclops had to bid his newborn son farewell. It gets heavy at times and certainly adds to the soap opera nature of the show (Nightcrawler even has a quip about that), but it’s what we’re here for.

There’s a lot of good character detail in those moments, but what everyone is going to talk about where it concerns “Remember It” is really just the last seven minutes or so. I do not want to spoil anything, but there is an attack on Genosha and it leads to a spectacular action sequence. X-Men ’97 has firmly established that it knows how to stage flashy and creative action pieces with its cast. If you’re someone who has been waiting for Gambit to do something in this show, you’ll enjoy this section as he gets to go into full bad ass mode in a way that we’ve never seen. The original show had far more restraint when it came to the powers of basically everyone on the X-Men, but X-Men ’97 is breaking those chains. And it’s not just action on display as there are some very emotional moments captured in the chaos and you may need to keep some tissues handy for this one.

How does he do that? With style!

“Remember It” is a spectacle and an episode that is getting a lot of just praise. It’s a pivotal episode as well, and once you’ve watched it I would advise you to check out the Twitter handle of series creator Beau DeMayo as he has shared a lot of thoughts on this one. It’s an episode that will stay with you, especially those who grew up on the original series, and it’s one I needed to let gestate a little longer than the last few before sharing my thoughts. There is an undeniable heaviness to the episode, though there are some light elements and fun portions. Genosha is a setting designed for cameos and there’s plenty of that to be found. There’s even a really well choreographed dance scene too, but virtually all of that is overshadowed by the final act. This is one we’ll be talking about for a long time and is a prime example of why the weekly release schedule is so much more rewarding than the drop even if the wait for next week is going to be excruciating.

Previously…on X-Men ’97:

X-Men ’97 – “Motendo/Lifedeath Part 1”

X-Men ’97 continues on into it’s fourth episode with a bit of a change-up. The first three episodes were rather weighty dealing with the fallout of Xavier’s death, Storm losing her powers, and the whole clone situation of the third episode. And that third episode did reveal a few cracks in the foundation of the…

Keep reading
by Joe

X-Men ’97 – “Fire Made Flesh”

Well, that was a long wait! After the two episode premiere of X-Men ’97 on March 20th I was ready for that third episode. The week long wait felt both excruciating and exhilarating. It’s been a long time since we’ve had an X-Men show to get excited about, or really an X-Men anything, and it’s…

Keep reading
by Joe

X-Men ’97 – “Mutant Liberation Begins”

The first episode of X-Men ’97 left me grinning from ear to ear and eager to see what would happen next. I’m happy to say, the show’s second episode left me feeling very much the same. “Mutant Liberation Begins” starts off right where the previous episode ended. Magneto, has revealed that it was the wishes…

Keep reading
by Joe

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | posted in Television