So I picked up the Wal-Mart comic packs tonight... The good, the bad, and the ugly...
The good...
The X-Wing pilots set is outstanding in my opinion. Short of them having gloves on, I find both sets incredibly impressive. The Quarren X-Winger is great because it is an average height X-Wing pilot, and an insanely articulated average height X-Wing pilot... Why don't we have humans like this then?
The Mon Calamari Female is an interesting take on an old species... Who knows what they look like, right? The slight build with the exagerrated hands/head are interesting looks to the Mon Cal physiology that usually has a normal or "thick" build body.
I think both pilots make for great diversity in the Rebel Briefing room too... I'm happily going to add a second set.
The Lt. "Tank" Sunber & Amanin set is likewise great. Tank makes officially the best Imperial Officer ever put out in the line. Why? Because he's as near to super articulated and accurately sculpted as any officer we've ever gotten, plus he's sporting a removable officer's Kepi. Very nifty... A clean deco figure on a basic card would equal me giving up much of my hard-earned cash. He'd be a fantastic army builder Hasbro... You listening?
The Amanin is cool... Not quite as cool as Sunber, but he's a 100% new sculpt with the added height/girth that the original VINTAGE Amanaman figure had. While Amanaman is actually average height to a human male in ROTJ (and the vintage figure was just not accurate and oversized), this new Amanin has that vintage flavor people bitched about when that "Deluxe" Amanaman came out. The Amanaman has some nice strapped accessories to spiff him up a bit including a neat canteen thing and a spear, and the character's tail actually is molded with a wire in it so it bends a little for posing even. Not much, but a little bit.
Lastly, the Ewok pack... There's not a ton to say on the set other than it's 3 "new" Ewoks with new decoes and some new gear. The spears seem new, or at least well made re-used molds. The axe is definitely new, and an appreciated piece of Ewok hardware. The hoods and the figures themselves seem mostly used, but appreciated. The heads may be all new... The one that comes with a trooper helmet is definitely new as his ears are scupted "curved in" so that the helmet fits him. The other two, I'm not positive, but they look new to me for some reason.
They have good articulation for figures of their size, and they're the proper smaller Ewok bodies to get the right scale. Hasbro gives you 3, assuming to make up for their diminutive size. That makes this a little bit of an army builder set when you think about it, as you can mix/match hoods with these "Ewok Troopers".
You also get some cool Stormtrooper gear made just to fit the Ewoks... The helmet itself may interest Stormtrooper fans as it's a new, larger sculpt helmet. People complain that the current removable helmets are "small", but this one may make a Trooper with a satisfactory sized helmet... I don't personally nitpick the helmets/armor that much, but others may find this helmet accessory interesting for that reason.
Now, the bad...
-The Amanin's articulation immediately comes to mind. I'm disappointed he doesn't have elbow articulation, especially considering the comic pricehikes going on. It would've been especially cool if Hasbro had made the Amanin capable of rolling into a ball for their "attack" mode thing they do in the comic book. Significantly more difficult to pull off, but it would've been awesome to see in this particular figure.
-Sunber's Elbows... Minor gripe, but he has angle-cuts. They work well enough to hold a blaster 2-handed, or to stand at a number of poses, but still a little disappointing they used what appear to be THrawn's leg sculpt but not his arms.
-X-Winger's arms... The wrist/arm pieces of the X-Wingers are a little loose. It's frustrating, but nothing major. I just hate when a figure's arm or something falls off easily, but you learn to live with it usually. Few of these are ever really a deal breaker.
-Sunber's deco... I like what Hasbro was going for with making a Tank Sunber that's at the end of the battle with the Amanin, having only a handful of guys (Sunber included) who survived. It's a cool storyline, and the battle worn Sunber is cool, however I'd take a clean deco Tank any day, and on a basic card as an Imperial Army Officer army builder... He's really a fantastic figure as he is, and I'd gladly own another 20 if I could afford that many. Hasbro, you listening? You CAN resell me this figure, many times over, if you wanted.
Just make the deco clean and spiffy.
The Ugly...
-Ewok hood paintjobs... The hoods could've used just a hair of detailing to the stitching. I know Hasbro's efforts to mimic the "art" in the Marvel comics (and I use the term "art" loosely. To me the Marvel books look like poo) with the figures, however I think Hasbro would've done the collectors a favor by just painting the stitching a simple black or brown or grey to just make the figures look a little less "cheap". Would Marvel fans have honestly cared that much? Maybe, but I doubt it, and if they had I think it'd be the minority... Still this is a minor flaw in this set, in my eyes.
-Price... I paid over $40 for 3 sets. I recall a time when 3 sets would've been about $10 less than I paid today. The Comic Pack line was partially about value, so while you're still not shelling out a ton for them, the ever-increasing price is really a pain. I got these for almost $13 a pop each and tax put it over $40. That just stung the old wallet. If these had been $9.99 or $11.99 even, I think I would've been more likely to nab extras tonight on my stop.
Price is the real kicker... The sets otherwise are outstanding, despite a flaw here and there. They're really just 3 very nice comic sets. The fact they're WM exclusives isn't great, however I found a TON of them tonight when I was out, so that's at least a good sign they won't be tough finds for people. I found them in a pre-pack endcap/island display thing. Happily run out and nab these sets if you're making the rounds and spot them. They're all 3 very nice.
