A few years back Playmates released this Usagi Yojimbo figure as part of their Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles line. I remember him being pretty hard to find, and I don't think I saw him on the shelves more than once or twice.
Usagi Yojimbo (which literally translates as "Rabbit Bodyguard,") is a Samurai rabbit who was created by Stan Sakai and first appeared in comic books before getting some exposure in the original and recent TMNT cartoons.
I've never read a Usagi Yojimbo comic and I don't recall seeing any of his appearances on TMNT, but there's just something irresistable about a Samurai Rabbit.
This figure is sculpted very closely to his comic book look, which is just awesome. He has such a great design and the character is a really fun concept.
Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your personal preferences,) Usagi Yojimbo has extremely limited articulation. He's pretty much stuck in one position due to the leg stance. You can turn his head and you can rotate his forearms, but that's about it.
He does have an "action feature" which is pretty cool - his waist turns and locks, and a button gives him a quick sword-slashing action.
WHA-CHA!
"Deny me a bowl of Trix. I dare you."
Usagi Yojimbo came with four swords, two short and two long. They can be placed in a pair of sheaths attached to his belt, but if the swords are sheathed he can't do his action twist because the hilts block his momentum. Then again if his swords are sheathed his action twist is pointless anyways.
It would have been better is Usagi Yojimbo were sculpted in a more standardized pose, but I still think this figure is tops due to the excellent likeness of the character.
The comic world is a-buzz with the recent news that the brainwashed avenging angel, Azreal, shall soon return:
AZRAEL: DEATH’S DARK KNIGHT #1 Written by Fabian Nicieza Art by Frazer Irving Cover by Guillem March
He was a husband and a father. A brother and a friend. A cop and a dark knight. But he had all that taken away. And in return, he was given a suit of sorrows, a quest for redemption and a new name. He is Azrael, avenging angel for the Order of Purity and a new protector for Gotham City's troubled times. But who will protect the citizens from him?
Guest-starring Robin, Nightwing, Talia and the League of Assassins, this miniseries runs alongside BATTLE FOR THE COWL and features the dramatic presence of a strangely familiar, troubled hero with two things on his mind: crazed vengeance for the wrongs he has suffered and salvation for the sins he continues to commit!
On sale March 18 • 1 of 3 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US
It appears a new guy will be sporting the Az-duds this time around, and not the original Jean-Paul Valley. Jean-Paul was killed off a few years ago, so of course it only makes sense that they'd have a new guy - it's not like they can resurrect the dead! Duh!
This upcoming Azrael storyline, along with all that has been going on and continues to occur in Batman comics of late, sounds like a mash-up of the Death of Superman/Rise of the Supermen sagas with the Knightfall/ Knightquest/ Knightlight/ Knightmoves/ Knightrider sagas in order to create one big comic book uber-exstravawonder-ganza-oktoberfest!
I don't know if I have the patience or the energy to follow along very closely this time around, but DC comics had me by the short hairs in the nineties when they broke Batman and replaced him with crazy upstart Azrael.
So take a walk with me down memory lane back to the early nineties. Dust off your flannel, pause the VCR, flip your mullet and pop in a Nirvana cassette as we look at a couple earlier Azrael incarnations.
These two AzBat figures were released by Kenner around 1994 or 1995, and represent Azrael as he altered and evolved Batman's costume through those Knight(insert own joke here) storylines I previously mentioned.
Azrael first started fighting crime as Batman in the standard costume worn by Bruce Wayne, and slowly began adding weapons and shoulder pads and shiny paint until he got to this one...
...which seemed to suit him well, so he stuck with it for awhile. This costume did have some cool features, like a spotlight at the collar to blind criminals...
...and shuriken firing gauntlets with bladed fingers.
I always thought the garter-utility-belt was a nice touch too.
As Azrael slipped deeper into madness and obsession, his costume took on a much more robotic look, borrowing more design cues from his original Order of St. Dumas costume.
If I remember the story correctly, I think this costume was still sporting a black/blue/grey color scheme until the Batmobile, with Azrael in it, exploded. He emerged from the wreckage in red/orange and black and stuck with it for maybe one or two issues until Bruce returned and brung the smack-down. I don't know if that's exactly how it went, but it sounds silly enough to be true.
The costume still has the spotlight and the bad-ass gauntlets, but now the cowl is much more helmet-like and the wings are...well...insane.
Each figure came with a firing weapon, which is appropriate for AzBats. This one shoots a flame engulfed missile...
...and this one shoots a batarang like disk.
Here are the weapons and their projectiles together in case you find these guys at a garage sale and want to be sure you get all the pieces.
Each figure in this series, called Legends of Batman, also came with a cool SkyBox trading card with great painted images and brief bios. (Click the pic for a larger image.)
Okay kids, hop in the mini-van. It's time to get back to 2008 (what's left of it that is,) but before you go...
Yesterday we went over Deep Dive Popeye, so I figured today would be a great day to cover Scuba Bluto!
As mentioned yesterday, Scuba Bluto was released in 2004 in Mezco's Popeye line, specifically in series three.
Obviously they were going for a diving theme for the main characters here, and kudos to the design team for taking a more modern approach with Bluto as opposed to the more antiquated diving accouterments of Deep Dive Popeye. It makes for great contrast and really plays well with the characters' motivations.
Bluto's air tank is removable, but the mouthpiece leaves a large gap between his teeth. However from a playability standpoint the removable tank is certainly a plus. More kudos to the design team on all the Popeye figures because they never sacrificed playability or the fact that these are toys in their designs, yet somehow they managed not to sacrifice design either. Sounds simple enough, yet many toys suffer on one end of the spectrum or the other. Not Mezco's Popeye line.
His scuba mask is not removable, which is fine because it would probably be too easily lost or broken if it did. But you can see his eyes through the plastic lenses and you can tell the head and face were specifically sculpted with this scuba theme in mind. Even his hair is "wet" and matted down. Brilliant!
Bluto's knife sheath is removable but it is held on strongly with a velcro strap so it won't inadvertantly slip off. The strap allows you to resize it to fit his arm or leg, wherever his knife is most quickly reached I suppose.
The knife can be removed from the sheath as well. A knife is understandably a vital component to any diver's equipment, but it does add a certain level of menace to the figure. Maybe he'll only use it to innocently and cartoonily cut Popeye's airhose, and not try to gut him at the sea floor like a scene out of a James Bond flick.
Maybe.
Bluto also has a depth meter sculpted to his wrist. Just more great attention to detail.
Please Mezco, I'm begging you...start making Popeye toys again!
The final non re-paint Popeye in Mezco's Popeye toyline, and one of the last I procured to complete my set, is also one of the funnest.
Deep Dive Popeye:
Deep Dive Popeye came out with series three in 2004, and along with Scuba Bluto and Alice the Goon was the only other figure in the set that wasn't a mere re-paint. Series three was also the last series of Popeye action figures Mezco would produce, which is a terrible shame.
Deep Dive Popeye is a gorgeous figure with a super-awesome dive helmet that looks just like something he would wear in the cartoons.
There is some part re-use from earlier figures, but it's in all the right places and he in no way feels like a cobbled together figure. The torso and belt are original to this figure, and the suspenders and helmet base are molded directly to it.
The dive helmet is insanely neat, with rivets and hinges and little plastic "windows" that you can see through...
...and open! Yes Popeye has his pipe, even under water. My dad was a chain smoker when I was a kid, which is one of many reasons Popeye has always reminded me of me pappy.
The helmet has cool details too, like a piece of patch "metal" hammered to the back, presumably over a previous leak. Safety first!
All three windows open to reveal Popeye's pretty face...
...at least, I hope that's his face!
The helmet is also removable, as are the lead boots. The positioning of his head is a bit constricted by the collar, but who cares.
Also included with Deep Dive Popeye is a treasure chest, a buoy and a hose. The hose is supposed to attach to the top of the helmet but the small plastic tip broke the first time I tried it.
The treasure chest was also released with Poopdeck Pappy in series two.
Open it up to reveal Popeye's true treasure...gold dubloons, triploons, and quadrooploons!
Oh yeah, there's a removable can of spinach in there too.
The can has a small tab on the side...
...so you can pop the spinach up for healthy snackin' action!
I still haven't found the DC Universe Classics Batman Beyond figure from wave four, and at the rate I am finding DCUC figures it'll probably be about 2015 before I finally do!
Thank goodness I have this Batman Beyond to keep me company:
Batman Beyond told the tale of a future/replacement Batman, taking place long after Bruce had retired. It was an exceptional series with a truly lackluster toyline.
Seriously. As far as I remember this was the only figure you could buy during the entire run of the series that actually looked like Batman Beyond. The rest were dayglo neon transluscent craptastic. It is therefore the only figure I ever purchased from the line.
This figure truly is great, which by comparison to the rest of the junk line makes it a holy idol of biblical proportions! As you can see, his wings can be connected to his wrists so he can expand them for flight, or they can...dangle. Well at least they can be expanded for flight!
The likeness is spot on to the cartoon style and character design as well. Articulation is extremely limited which was par for the course back in the late nineties, so kudos to the designers for making his shoulders spread out in a cartoon accurate movement.
As an added bonus, he even has removable ankle jets to recreate the flight sequences of the cartoon. Spiffy!
Eat your heart out, Iron Man!
Fwooooooom!!!!!!!
He also came with an oversized but appropriate batarang...
...which he could hold...
...or could mount into a small backpack type doohickey that attached to his back. Maybe the wings could be folded into/behind it as well, I don't remember.
Regardless, Batman Beyond was a great cartoon and is a pretty cool toy. It's too bad the line was poorly handled, as there were many great villains that could have been made.
This figure is sculpted very closely to his comic book look, which is just awesome. He has such a great design and the character is a really fun concept.
Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your personal preferences,) Usagi Yojimbo has extremely limited articulation. He's pretty much stuck in one position due to the leg stance. You can turn his head and you can rotate his forearms, but that's about it.
WHA-CHA!
Usagi Yojimbo came with four swords, two short and two long. They can be placed in a pair of sheaths attached to his belt, but if the swords are sheathed he can't do his action twist because the hilts block his momentum. Then again if his swords are sheathed his action twist is pointless anyways.
It would have been better is Usagi Yojimbo were sculpted in a more standardized pose, but I still think this figure is tops due to the excellent likeness of the character.
