Topic: X-Men set and Professor X

[zedhatch]

Orignally posted at: http://www.zedsjoesite.com/review/xmenset/xmenset.html

Little behind on posting my reviews here, been CRAZY busy of late so I am going to try to catch up in the course of the week:



Long ago I began reading X-Men and during that time they were consistently the best superhero comic on the stands.  My era of real focus was around 1975 to around 1991, essentially the Chris Clairmont years.  In that time I really came to love the X-Men.  When Clairmont left the titles began to lose steam though.  Some argue exactly when or where but, for me, things came to a screaming halt when Angel got his feathers back.  I wasn't bothered by the fact he got them back but rather the heavy handed way that he got them back.  It was very forced and I vividly remember throwing the comic across the room with the intention of never reading another X-Title again.  Granted I didn't keep that promise, but every time I did look in on the X-Men, let's just say the whole thing was pretty convoluted and leave it at that.  I could probably write a book just on my issues with X-Men in the past 10 years, but I won't bore you.  I will say that one of the most disheartening things to me in Modern Comics was the cancellation of Uncanny X-Men after it ran so many issues.  I think the thing that got me about the cancelation was the fact it wasn't the end of the X-Men but rather just one of the many books under the X-Men banner.  Marvel is in it's #1 mode and everything apparently needs to be shut down in order to give them a new #1.  I keep referring back to the ad I saw for Shang-Chi issue #100 in which the tag line read "After 100 issues we must be doing something right."  Apparently more than 500 issues is doing something wrong.  Even more infurating is the fact that Uncanny returned a short time later:



Granted it looks like everyone was shoved through an emo-machine that drastically changed their looks into something Robert Smith of the Cure might call festive.  Really, what the heck is up with Cyclops's visor for crying out loud.  Can he even see in that mask let alone let loose an optic blast?  I didn't think ruby quartz was so malleable being a mineral and all.  

Many people I know became acquainted with the X-Men through the Fox cartoon series.  Overall I liked the series but I also had been reading for 15 years at that point.  What I enjoyed most was the fact the cartoon series brought in most of the aspects I liked about X-Men over the years while still appealing to a broad audience probably not near as knowledgeable about X-Men lore as I was at the time but also managed to keep things interesting enough for a long time fan like me to enjoy.

Still it's hard for me with my long time love of X-Men not to go on a tirade about everything I see wrong now a days.  Of course I will probably but I promise to try to keep it to a minimum, but this first figure does beg to have a volume of WTF? to go along with him.  



So unlike the Professor X from the Toybix 5-inch line this Professor X can actually come out of the wheelchair.  This seems very valid since you can either A) Have the Professor cured of his paralysis once more or B) have some mental projection in the astral plane.  His suit is made from the body of Destro in the SDCC set from a few years back (which was supporting Rise of Cobra). The articulation is a bit down from normal Marvel Universe figures (Really just loses the double knees which isn't that big a deal.  It's not like Professor X pulling Gymnastics is that realistic.  I have to say I also appreciate the fact that Xavier's hand can reach up into his signature concentration stance.  It shows some thought was put into the design.  

The suit looks good with plenty of detail.  the pockets and buttons are all very apparent and well done.  Since I never got the SDCC pack this is my first exposure to this suited body and I have to say it works really well.  The body could work great for a civilian Tony Stark or something.  I know Hasbro has said they would never do this since a guy in a suit is "kind of boring" and "kids won't want it."  Still not sure about anyone else but Professor X has been the hardest one for me to find.  Both Blastaar and Jubilee have been kind of easy for me to track down, but with Professor X I had to resort to online sources.  



The chair comes in halves and can come back apart easily.  However, when it' brought together it's sturdy.  It's a pretty solid piece of toy engineering that looks as if it won't break to easy. When together it stands very well on it's own.  As a result the loss of stand with Professor X doesn't seem as bad as it has with other figures in the Marvel Universe line.   If I had one gripe about the figure it would be the chair though.  It's a bit tall as normal Professor X is around sitting height even in the chair.   The front of the chair also slopes a bit too steeply.  Looking at pictures from both the comics and the cartoon the chair had much less of an extreme angle.  None of this is a deal breaker though and it works fine as it is.      



This time an old man in a suit seems like a must have figure.  Professor X is an icon despite what the lame attempts to turn him into a jerk over the past several years.  He is the founder of one of the greatest super-hero teams ever and as such deserves a place in any collection.  

[zedhatch]

The same can't be said for the next figure.   



So I feel like I reviewed this figure already in the Many Faces of Wolverine.  This is actually the forth time this figure has been released.  I have avoided the other two but of course this time he was very hard to avoid.  So what can I really say about him now?



The only real difference here is the color and the fact they painted on the arm hair.  I mean I know Hasbro has repaint fever but this is ludicrous.  There were plenty of other X-Men that could have been added here (Dazzler, Pre-Ninja Psylocke, Other versions of Marvel Gir/Jean Grey, Mimic [the original], Polaris, Forge, and that's off the top of my head).  Still Hasbro feels that the X-Men won't sell without Wolverine (although they seem fine with the Inhumans). 

I guess if pushed I would give it 4 stars.  Honestly I would have been fine with this figure if they had used the head shown in the conventions (I believe it was the head of the WO Wolverine repainted but not sure).  As he is though he seems like a waste of space. 

With that in mind let's move on to the next figure. 



One of the big debates that raged in comic shops around the country was the idea that Longshot wasn't a mutant and thus didn't deserve a spot on the X-Men.  He was genetically altered and most of his powers stemed from a mystical source (such as his luck power).  I know one person claimed his real mutant power was extreme charisma because how else could girls be fawning over him all the time.  Still he was a member of the X-Men even if you don't think he was a mutant. 

Longshot is from an alternate dimension (the same one that contains Mojo).  In many ways he is more alien than any of the X-Men and I think that might be his biggest problem.  He is a hard character to relate to and his "luck" power just seems a bit too convenient.  However, it's pretty clear if you were reading X-Men at the time that Gambit replaced him.  Thier throwing styles are almost exactly the same.  I suppose we should thank goodness for Chris Clairmont for trying to go another direction with the character's development and background.   



Three fingers (and a thumb) just cement that whole "alien" feel to Longshot.  He's a tough character to get fans to get behind to say the least.  His original look was wearing black, then to white but soon he went to wearing the same outfit in black.  Never really had any preference myself although I will say I tend to lean to the first as it was what he wore when I was first introduced to him in his limited series.



Despite his alien aspects I do kind of dig Longshot though.  One of my favorite times with him was his tenure in Uncanny X-Men especially during the Fall of the Mutants.  After Uncanny he had a long stint of doing nothing until he turned up again in Exiles and much later joined X-Factor.  As we found out in Exiles, Longshot is somewhat unique as the Mojoverse apparently didn't copy over into most alternate realities and thus had no parallels in other realities.  Of course this would call into question certain "What if..?" stories but this can give you a headache if you get too far into it so I will leave it at that.  Also there is an "Ultimate" Longshot but his origins have no relation to Mojo or the Mojoverse so I guess he wouldn't count. 

Longshot includes his bandolier and pack (which BTW were added by Art Adams in the character design phase because Adams hated characters producing blades from hidden pockets that had not been established).  However, Longshot is missing his blades.  Thankfully there was a quick remedy for that coming from the GI Joe Ninja Showdown Set (review forthcoming). 



The figure uses the Aim/Ghost Rider body of course, but the head is altered to exclude the "look up" feature the original neck had.  I cannot find a reason why this is that way but it does limit Longshot's neck motion at least in context to what most MU collectors might be used to.  The neck was reworked and there is a noticeable slash in the neck as a result.  This is detracting a bit and is hard not to notice.  It appears to a casual observer to be the articulation point of the head but is far from the case.  It's odd to say the least.  Beyond that I really wish the figure had rocker ankles because Longshot is a character that could really work with them. 



So end of the story is that if you get the X-Men set he isn't a bad edition to the Marvel Universe collection.  Not perfect but not bad either.  I could see how some people might not be too happy with his inclusion but I think he works out really well.

Now on to the southern belle star of this set.



SHE'S FINALLY HERE!!!  So Rogue has been the #2 want on my list for quite some time.  She was #3 for a while until Beta Ray Bill was finally announced.  She was rumored for a long time but we all know how rumors can fizzle out and become "legends of what might have been."  But she's finally here.  To be totally honest I was prepared for just about any version of her.  She's had a ton of looks over the years:





However some fans probably wanted this look:



Sorry, can't always get what you want.  Guess you have to settle for the picture. 

To be perfectly honest I would have been happy with any of these.  Hasbro chose to go with the Jim Lee inspired costume and many would call that her most iconic.  I wouldn't necessarily argue with this idea but I could see some really flipping out if she didn't get this outfit.  Still, I would have been perfectly happy with any of those. 

Up front I will say that Rogue is probably my favorite of the X-Women.  She's tough, sweet, flirtatious, and tragic.  She can never know the touch of another and her whole existence is cursed by this fact.  One of my more memorable Rogue character moments was her first visit to Genosha where she and Wolverine were robbed of their powers.  They were captured and for a while Rogue was very upset by the fact that she had been "touched" by her captures (this was done off panel but for a bit there was an implication of rape although in hindsight I don't think it was written as being that far).  Rogue kept her thoughts internalized about how she had so wished for contact with another but her first significant contact with another had now been tainted and destroyed.  It appeared there was to be more to this but some of the storylines got disrupted later with Jim Lee and the legendary fights with editorial between Lee, Clairmont and Bob Layton (the conflicts that eventually lead to Clairmont leaving the X-Men after one of the longest stints on a single comic in history).

Recently, according to wiki sources, Rogue apparently has found a way to somewhat control her powers.  Professor X is able to remove some blocks on her powers (Makes you wonder why he never tried that before) and she can now touch people.  Not a huge fan of this idea myself as part of Rogue's appeal is sort of a "forbidden fruit" kind of thing.  I did kind of like when she briefly had control to recall powers she had absorbed (which seemed to just fade without explanation, but I admit could get out of hand easily, too).   

Of course with all this change Rogue lost her Ms. Marvel powers too which is something I am not happy with.  In the X-Men movies she is played by Anna Paquin (So for you guys who have wanted to see Rogue naked you can just watch True Blood on HBO).  I wasn't too fond of the portrayal, not saying anything was wrong with Anna Paquin's performance, but because she only exhibited the absorbing powers.  Of course, the quickest argument for this is the fact that Ms. Marvel's character isn't under the Fox contract like the X-Men are.  But I saw no reason that X2: X-Men United couldn't have had a random mutant with flight, invulnerability, and strength (She didn't need the "7th sense" power that she barely used anyway).  I can see why Brain Singer might have wanted to avoid those powers in X-Men, but Rogue had barely anything to do in X2 besides fall out the airplane.  In X3 she became the focus of the "mutant cure" storyline which begged the question "If Wolverine didn't want to have to kill Phoenix, why not use the cure?"  Beside the point I guess. 



The figure is pretty darn good although very recycled.  The jacket comes from Secret wars Storm's vest and new biceps.  Rogue's hands are in fists which I think is just perfect for her character.  At first i thought the fists might have been recycled from She-Hulk but a comparison shows this not to be the case.  The thighs also appear to be new to facilitate the look of boots.  Rogue has rocker ankles and while she would have been perfectly fine without them I have to say I like their inclusion.   

The head is of course new and has that big 90's hair she was so well known for.  My one gripe and it would have to be categorized as the most minor of gripes is the mouth being slightly open.  It appears the look Hasbro was going for was Rogue being angry and gritting her teeth but instead it comes across like she is starring with a sort of "duh" look at some angles.  The headband is a nice add on that just sells the figure as Rogue. 



To me, she sells the whole set.  Rogue is worth the entire Uncanny X-Men set by herself.  Her history with action figures seems to be people sell her short (and thus she ends up going high on the secondary market, anyone remember this figure:



She went to the $40 mark at one point.  Thankfully she did eventually come down but she still is a bit hard to get a hold of.). 

Most of all Rogue (along with Professor X) completes my version of the X-Men.  Much like with my Avengers back with Scarlet Witch, I have my own version of the X-Folks (as I imagine everyone does). 



So I am more inspired by the Claremont years but I do try to grab from all eras.  Some notes:  I generally prefer Archangel to Angel just because I find him more interesting.  Havok and Cyclops together I think produce some really great character conflicts within the two, of course I prefer classic Havok.  Iceman is probably my favorite of the original X-Men next to Beast and I honestly don't feel Iceman is right on any other team.  I do hope we get better versions of Psylocke and Shadowcat but I am not betting on it. 

Back to Rogue, she really could have warranted a single pack release and I have to wonder why she was only released in a team pack (A short packed team pack at that, she is a pretty popular character overall).  Still she's here and I feel my X-Men are complete, get the set for her alone if you can.

Now on to the pack in:



So did anyone else kind of chuckle at the fact that of all the X-Babies Cyclops gets it.  While I admit I have no interest in the "emo" version of Uncanny X-men pictured above I have read reviews that talk about how much Cyclops (and Emma Frost) are whining like babies.  Still, I get his link to Longshot (as weak of a connection as it might be) but without the other X-Babies he seems rather pointless.  He's really just a statue which we kind of expect from these pack-ins.  He's really not much other than the novelty of Cyclops being a whiner. 

So all in all, despite the repeated Wolverine and X-Babie this set has a good Longshot and a great Rogue, I have to recommend it even with the shortcomings.

While I generally don't toot the horn of specific retailers I do want to give a shout out to Kokomo-Toys and the Ebay Store.  When I was looking for this set there were loads of scalpers putting entirely too high of a price on this set.  Kokomo had a fair price (more than normal retail but not unreasonable in the slightest for a popular set that was in high demand) and very fair shipping rates.  I had heard of Kokomo through various sites and forums but this was the first time I had any first hand dealings.  I was so satisfied with the price and service as well as the fast shipping I felt obligated to to mention it here.

So that wraps up this edition, until next time, Healthier skin, healthier you!

PS don't forget to like Scale Wars on Facebook ;-)

[Clonehead]

I do concur. I got this pack for the rogue and think she looks great! While I started reading this title way before the Jim lee version hit the stands, back around the time i was in Navy Boot camp, 18-20 years ago, his version of Rogue was always my favorite look, hot skunk-striped babe that she is. I intend to mold her head but havent gotten to it as her large hair warrants that I build a bigger mold box verses the normal cig pack box that I usually use.

[zedhatch]

I did kind of like her pre Jim lee look as well as her look in Xtreme X-Men.  However, I do recognize that Hasbro does not see her potential (I mean second to Storm she is probably the most popular of the X-Ladies) and probably will not do another.  I think even they realize people would have blown a gasket if she wasn't in this outfit (I wouldn't but that's me).

[Tamer]

Nice review Zed. On the front page. Makes me wish I collected Marvel Figures too. That Professor X looks good to me.

[zedhatch]

Thanks

I actually have found myself loving professor X, hard to explain but he is so different than anything in MU or even any line at mass retail yet (although the body was recycled from SDCC Destro, but still).