POP: Archangel

Archangel was an on and off favorite character of mine in the X-Men/X-Force line up. I do like Warren; he has a good set up, his powers are pretty cool when he was Archangel, he has a smoking hott girlfriend(Psylocke), not to mention, he looked the most badass when he was in the X-Force. But this is his X-Men POP version so let's check him out.

If Funko gets the black version of Archangel, I'd get it. Other than Psylcoke and Storm and maybe Cable, the set is something I won't be completing. Though a Sabretooth isn't bad; Quicksilver is out of the question though.

While I do adore the POP line, it is easy to say that they are stagnant in terms of 'what they can/and are doing'. Sure they come out with big ones here and there. Sure they come out with cool variations and an assortment of characters(Where is my Jessica Drew Spider-Woman, FUNKO?!), sure the molds are posing away from your normal "stand like this" stance, but they are as they are.

But there are times when you get a character that forces Funko to do more. Case example: Archangel. The wings on his back X-Forces(ha!) this POP to have something POP out of him. Okay I'll stop.

He looks pretty neat though considering.

Again, POP is really growing. This month will probably feature the last few that I have left over from last year's collection.
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Marvel Legends BAF: Sentinel

Sentinel Series: Spidey, Omega Red, Cyclops, Black Panther, Sinister, Angel

I remember the first time I saw the Sentinel! It was from the Animated Series comic book of the X-Men. I thought he was a giant version of Iron Man! Truth to be told, it's hard not to think that with the fact that the Sentinels are robotic, repulsors signature beams on their palms, and they are Marvel characters! So yeah, there was a point in my life that I was naive about Marvel. I know right? Well the majority of us are aware of the Sentinels' story: the Mutant haters' answer to a society who can shoot beams out of their eyes, morph into any form, lift light poles with their mind, and manipulate metal… etc. etc. Whatever they are programmed to do, they will do and it does take a lot to kill these guys since there is a whole army of them! Armed with advanced weaponry, almost infallible mutant detecting capabilities, restraining devices, flight, strength, durability, and a myriad of other things… well, you can surmise that the X-Men don't have the greatest times fighting these handsome guys off.

Details, details, and more details! Toybiz outdid the Sentinels in their 'true' form at that time(comic books and the X-Men animated series)! For a while the Sentinels just looked like oversized tight wearing robots, but Toybiz steered away from that look and perhaps took lead to what the more 'robotic/mechanic' aesthetic that these mutant hunters should look like! Just from a quick glance on the BAF Sentinel, one can truly spot the extensive amount of details placed on every nook and cranny! Wiring set up, robotic-like muscles, ridges and metal plating designs… then if we just go on the painting itself, it adheres to the color scheme of the comic/animated style Sentinel but truly make it look battle worn with the metal, rustic, and armor tint from front to back. The eyes have a green tint to it as well that really tries to capture a robotic stare. Not overly impressed with the 'arc reactor' and the 'repulsor' pain job, but that's just me being an Iron Man fanatic I suppose.

I swear, the Sentinels have a lot of Iron Man influence to them because of their trademark moves; also a little bit of comic fact, Iron Man did take over the Sentinel designs later on. They were even called 'War Machines' at one point with James Rhodes piloting a couple of them.

Sentinel doesn't come with a whole lot of accessories except for the trademark tentacles that are the exact same as Omega Red's. On Omega, it looks long and very dangerous, on the Sentinel, it looks a little on the short side. But the good thing is that it remains to be the same bendable material that allows for capturing and all sorts of fun things one can do with a tentacle.

He's not extremely great in regards to the articulation side. He's not horrible by ANY means but there are certain things that makes him fall short on certain pose or what not. Perhaps it's the stiffness of certain joints that makes the said flaw, but I will point out that a 'normal' stand still pose is difficult because his right leg doesn't go in all the way; his ab crunch is a bit loose at times, and his right wrist swivel is slightly loose for having used it for such a small amount of time. Now for the figure's own imperfections: no ankle pivot(understandable), fingers don't close in a way to make it look like it has a fist, and not a big deal but his wrist doesn't bend with enough trajectory to give him a 'repulsor' blast look.  Though over all its an impressive in regards to articulation. The shoulder pads being very pliable hinders no movement for the arms, and most of the joints stay firm, giving the heavy figure enough stability.

This is the comparison to the recent Habro BAF: Ultimate Green Goblin. Pretty obvious that his stature makes this hulking Green Goblin look tiny. Also, for old reference to compare it to some of the giants of Toybiz Legends:

Apocalypse

Galactus

So pretty obvious that Toybiz made a few giants in their time. The impressive thing is that none of these three are complete recycled molds; as far as I can tell, all brand new and special for each one.

So here comes the ultimate battle of Mutants versus the Sentinel! Guess who is going to win?!

Yes, Sentinel wins!

Overall, I'm really happy with this BAF. It's probably pretty high on my list now with the characters he came with and the finished production! I'd say for all you BAF collectors out there who are both Hasbro or Toybiz fanatics, he is a must. He isn't cheap by any means and one must really find good prices online to get the full piece, but all in all, he is worth it. Toybiz, I miss your quality in details! This figure makes that thought more prominent. Oh, and yes, I am moving on to a new shelf. There are some movements in the Game Room because of lack of…. space. HA! Who predicted that?!

On a final note, this is on my new camera so there is a noticeable difference in my pictures I surmise. I'll try not to use as much photo effects from now on since the pictures look great without the affects I think.

ML Sentinel BAF: Angel

If you want to talk about a mutant power that is really cool in thought, we have Angel! Why is that you say? He has wings! He can fly! His body is mutated for the idea of flight! Basically as humans, we aren't meant to fly. There are a lot of factors as to why(I'm no expert so I won't try to sound like one) we can't but Angel's mutant genes gave him those perks to give him flight and to handle wings. It's cool, right? No, not really because… well we have villains who can fly and shoot out beams out of their whatever. So flight is cool but he is pretty useless against a lot of enemies! But as a figure, I have to say, this is Toybiz still demonstrating that they were damn good and Legendary material!

And yes, this box wouldn't stand so I had to resort to lying him down!

So giving credit where credit is due, the paint job on his suit is pretty good. It has some shadowing on the white area, the dirty blonde hair makes him rich white angel man material, and over all there is a vibrant and almost 'angelic' feel to his tights. This is by the way the variant of the red one which I wanted to get but what a bit to pricey compared to this one. So talking about details on paint and sculpt:

It's in his wing that we get the most impressive look on the paint detail, the sculpting, and just over all what Toybiz was about. I mean there is a new Angel coming out for Hasbro for the original X-Men and from the pics I have seen his wings is NOTHING like this one(I could be wrong). As you can tell I had to separate my usual collage because his wingspan is HUGE. Cutting this pic into the others wouldn't have gotten the point across that his wings are majestically sculpted, painted, and given some great amount of thought! His wings MAKE the figure!

As you can tell a stand is a must for him. Not only is he a flier but his wings makes him pretty heavy, so that is the downside of having such a perk. I'm not going to complain that much since the stand is durable enough to stabilize Angel. Oh yes, a Sentinel boot and a pretty aged comic book comes with Angel.

Missing the ankle pivot, Angel is a great articulated figure. Pretty standard mold with lots to offer in terms of articulation. I didn't find myself posing him too much into acrobatic poses or whatsoever because of the wings making some pics look awkward.

The one thing is that the stand sometimes falls too short to truly magnify his flight capability, but there are ways to go about making his flight more believable.

I'm going to get an Archangel toy one day and preferably the ones from Hasbro, but judging right now, this is a great testament of Toybiz Legendary glory. Again as a figure he isn't astonishing but the detail on his wings makes him really worth it. Yes he comes with a Sentinel piece, but this guy really took me by surprise with how cool he is with those wings. Pretty impressive! Glad to have him on my collection!