Kastor’s Retro Reviews

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Kastor’s Retro Reviews

come check out the new column on Kastor’s Korner

Finally the new home is OPEN

Hi all just wanted to give all an update.  Kastor’s Korner has a new home @ http://www.kastorskorner.com/   This week will see the long over due HML3 final review as well as DCUC wave one.  We should also have some Mattel answers soon

Soon

Hi all things are looking up for Kastor’s Konrner and all will be known soon.  Hang in there I should have a major announcement by the end of the week

Still here

Hey all just giving an update, I’m working on something big so updates will be short this week. 

Merry Christmas

Here are a few Christmas memories… more throughout the day

I had several good Christmases as a kid. The year my sister and I got our NES with the “Back to the Future” game was pretty big, but the one that really stands out in my mind came when I was 6 or 7. My childhood Christmases always centered around whatever toy line I was really into that given year – be it GI Joe, Centurions, Dino-Riders, C.O.P.S. n’ Crooks, etc. But there was one particularly awesome Christmas that came as quite a surprise and delivered me what was to become my favorite childhood toy line of all time.

Quick bit of backstory – My dad has worked for the US Post Office his whole life. He started out as an electronics technician and progressively worked his way up the ladder. Throughout the 80s he spent a lot of time away from home, being sent to Oklahoma for weeks-long training courses (we lived in Florida). He would always return with a toy/present for me and my sister. On this particular Christmas, he was away at school in Oklahoma. It was the only Christmas he ever missed because of work and my mom was pretty upset that he couldn’t reschedule his course for after the holidays. Anyways, we decided to ‘postpone’ Christmas that year as a family until my dad got back home, so we didn’t open presents until mid-January.

I don’t remember exactly what I was into that year, probably LEGO or Silverhawks, but what I ended up with was a collection of toys I’d never heard of that my dad saw in Oklahoma and thought were really neat… The big reveal: STARCOM!

He got me the big white ship, the little white ship, and the big triangular black ship… and he got me the station that had the little elevator that went up and down when you magnetized a guy to it. Those toys blew me away, and it was so cool that it was something that my dad had just found and new I’d love. Later I discovered the morning cartoon, and throughout that year I pieced together most all of the line with my allowances, birthday’s, etc.

Long Road from Super Articulated

Hi, I have 2 very distinct memories.   My Mom gave Paige and I a pair of flannel pjs.  But Paige got the top and I got the bottoms, it was very funny; and we havent let her forget it.  The second one is not necessarily a gift but the thought put into it.  My Dad use to go and get us a gift just from him, I only really remember 2, but its something I havent forgotten.  Now that he is gone, it makes the memory even sweeter, and something I hope we will do for Caleb and Ellie.

Shannon(my sister in-law)

That’s easy – my Marx Sam Cobra. I wanted him badly, and I remember
opening him on Christmas morning, thrilled to have him. I loved all the
Marx figures, but that one I remember particularly well.

Michael Crawford the Great Reviewer

My favorite Christmas present was a BMX bike. I remember how much I wanted this one particular bike but the man at the store told me he could not put training wheels on it. When I woke up that morning for Christmas my bike was there with the training wheels. I woke up at 4 am and rode that bike in my house till 7 am. I was so exhausted from riding that bikes that I went back to bed when everyone else was getting up.

From my long time friend Ed

Action Thursday: Moleman

Finding these mole monsters on clearance at TRU is great!!!

Grodd

This is the newest offering from the JLU line, bringing this long living line in closer to completion.  Grodd was one of the main bad guys on the JLU show and now we have him to add to the growing roster of villains for the Justice League to square off against.   

The main feature in this box set is the Gorilla Grodd.  Grodd was an ape who came in contact with a meteor during the 19^th century.  This gave him and his fellow apes both super intellegence and, in some cases like Grodd and his adversary Solovar, telekinesis and telepathy.  Grodd and Solovar clashed time and time again for the great Gorilla City.  When Solovar was captured by humans and brought to Central City, Grodd saw an opportunity to not only take over Gorilla City but also the world.  This plan put him in the scope of the Flash and brought Grodd into The Flash’s Rogue Gallery.  Over and over the Flashes of many generations would come to blows with this foe.  Over time Grodd’s abilities have grown, developing both his mental abilities as well as his telekinesis.   Most figures in the JLU line have issues standing, but like the other larger figures Grodd has no problems at all.  The figure has an amazing sculpt, really bringing to life the cartoon character.  The figure is well painted and the detail on his face brings that sly look of the criminal mastermind to life. 

The other new edition to this box set is the Red Hood.  This figure is a simple repaint of the Joker.  The new part of the figure is the addition of a large red dome and cape.  The largest problem is that you can not see the Joker’s face before you buy the box set.  After opening the set and taking off the hood this Joker looks like Crazy Eyes from Mr. Deeds.  Given a profile view the Joker looks great but if you look at this figure straight on his eyes are looking in completely different directions.   

Overall a solid set for both collectors and parents.  Hopefully this will not be the last, and Mattel will continue box sets to get us larger characters. 

         

 

Action Thursday: HML 3

While I was not thrilled with the new Hasbro offerings, they do have some cool features. 
 

Hasbro Marvel Legends 3: The Cap Compare

Captain America may be dead in the comics but he is still kicking in the Marvel Legends line.  This new Cap marks the return of the 1^st appearance figures.  Joining the ranks of figures like Spiderman, the Thing, Ironman, the Hulk, Wolverine, and the Punisher, this Captain America is a standout figure.  Though there is a very cartoonish look to him, he really does reflect the original design of the character. The figure reflects the comic look of the character, however the figure loses points area of articulation.  

As part of the Hasbro Marvel Legends this Captain America has a great deal of decreased articulation.  In this review we will take a look at how Hasbro has actually set the figure back instead of moving Captain America forward.  I decided to look at this figure in stages, highlighting the difference between Marvel Legends 1(ML1) Cap, Face-Off (FO) Cap and this Hasbro Marvel Legends 3(HML3) Cap. There was an Ultimate Captain America but for this review we will stick to the 616 universe figures, besides the Ultimate figure is similar to the previous Captain America.   

Starting top down on the figure the heads all seem to have a good sculpt, reflecting the look of the Captain America they are modeled after.  This is the one place that all the figures have been successful.   

Where the differences seem to be most apparent is in the body.  The joints, such as the arms and legs, are the most glaring examples of the decrease in the quality of this line.   Starting with the arms: you can see all figures have the ball jointed shoulders. In both ML 1 and HML 3 you can the joint is not as well hidden as in the FO.  The one thing Hasbro started to get right as you can see here, they all share the same elbow articulation in the double joint.  The double joint was missing in the other figures in previous waves of HML.   

Moving our way down the arm to the wrist you can see the articulation is hidden on the new HML Cap, whereas in the older Caps you can see the joint as part of the sculpt, not hidden at all. This new way of hiding joints can be both a blessing and a curse.  While the hiding of the joint gives some figures a more realistic look, it also hinders the range of motion.  This new figure fails in the hand itself of the new HML3 Cap.  While you can see how in the first ML 1 you could close his hand, and next in the FO Cap the added finger articulation, the new HML 3 Cap has no finger articulation.  While it’s not always necessary, I think it just adds to the growing cost-cutting of the figures. I would have expected this type of sculpt and lack of articulation in the first offering of the figure, not the 5^th.  You can also see the lack of detailed sculpt from the elbow down of the new figure.   

Moving down the body to the legs, we see the same decrease in both detail and articulation.  Again you can see here the ball joints at the hips and the double knee joints as you move down the figure both the detail and the articulation decreases.  The lack of articulation leads to the inability to pose the figure.  The loss of the toe joint makes it harder to get the figure into various poses as well as balance the figure.  There is also a hidden ankle joint like the wrist and while it may help to make the figure look a little better, you can tell when you start to pose that the ability to move the feet in certain directions is impossible, once again limiting the movement of the figure.   Overall this is a solid figure, just not a solid Marvel Legend.    

Hasbro Marvel Legends 3: The Faces