REVIEW – HASBRO GI JOE CLASSIFIED SERIES – NINJA FORCE – SCARLETT

Posted by Mighty Mike on October 2, 2026
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Ninja Force was a martial arts-themed sub-line released in the early 1990s. The GI Joe Classified toy line started in 2020 and has slowly been releasing retro version of various figures from the original GI Joe: A Real American Hero toy line in a 6 inch scale. Recently, Hasbro has slowly been releasing updated characters from its Ninja Force sub-line.

Name: Scarlett
Line: GI Joe Classified (Ninja Force)
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Released: 2026
Price: $99.00
Scale: 6 inch
Accessories: Various accessories 

It wasn’t too long ago, I finally got around to posting my Ninja Force Scarlett review for the original toy released way back in 1993. Hasbro have been going strong with their GI Joe Classified line of 6 inch figures and announced new version of this figure to be included in a two pack with T’Jbang which was released recently. Being a fan of these two characters and Ninja Force, obviously I was looking to pick one up, if just for the new Scarlett figure alone.

SCULPTING

Let’s start with the best part of this figure: the new Scarlett head sculpt. It’s amazing! Hasbro has done a really good job here. It’s definitely the right balance of tough, determined and beautiful. The rest of the figure is also just as nice. Good proportions and nice detail all over the figure. Apparently there is reuse for this body, but it all works really well to make the figure look original.

PAINT

Paint application overall on this figure is pretty good. The paint application on the head sculpt is excellent. It definitely adds more to an already excellent sculpt. The rest of the figure appears overall nice and neat. Nothing too unusual here.

ARTICULATION

 Hasbro’s GI Joe Classified Series features a ton of articulation for its 6 inch GI Joe figures. Double jointed elbows and knees, butterfly joints in the shoulders and deep ankle pivots in the feet among your standard expectations for modern articulation. 

I didn’t have too much problems posing Scarlett how I wanted, once the joints are freed up she’s fairly easy to pose. I just wish her pony tail would have been a ball joint not a swivel. 

ACCESSORIES

You get a number of ninja themed accessories, but one thing I noticed from the original release – no nunchucks! Which is a shame. Other than that you get a good number of weapons for Scarlett to weld – a sword, some extended claws, kunai knives and an alternate head sculpt too. They all fit in her hands without too much trouble and add to your display options.

POTENTIAL PROBLEMS

I can’t really see any issues with Scarlett, Hasbro did a pretty good job with the overall product and quality control.

PRICE

I paid the current Australian retail price of $99.00 which is fair. It’s not an exclusive here and can be found in most Zing/Eb Games stores and other various retailers like The Gamesmen or Kings Comics.

OVERALL

I think this is an excellent update for a figure that was originally very underwhelming when released. Hasbro has really put a lot of effort into updating the Ninja Force Scarlett figure. Definitely a must have, figure if you are a Ninja Force fan.

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REVIEW – NECA TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES – RAPHAEL IN DISGUISE

Posted by Mighty Mike on September 29, 2026
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Raphael in the original 1990s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle film, was hot-headed and quick to anger, making him sometimes bite off more than he could chew. Armed with his twin sai, he is the toughest of the four brothers. But beneath his rough exterior, he has a strong sense of loyalty and deeply cares about his family and friends. 


Name: Raphael in Disguise
Line: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990 Movie Version)
Manufacturer: NECA
Released: 2020
Price: $90 – $120 AUD
Scale: 7 inch
Accessories: Various accessories 

This Raphael figure originally comes in a two-pack with Casey Jones and hasn’t been released by itself in the 7-inch scale yet. So if you are looking to buy it, you will need to buy the two-pack to get it.

When NECA originally announced their TMNT line of figures based on the original live-action movie, like a lot of collectors, I was all in. NECA quality control be damned. 

Because they just looked that damn good. After buying most of the figures, I’ve scaled back a little bit. I’ve mainly kept the figures produced from the second movie, as that movie I remember more fondly than the first one.

But the figure of Raph in disguise is just too cool to let go of. Especially with a cloth trench coat included with the figure as well.

SCULPTING

This is one of the main selling points of this figure, NECA have really done an amazing job at producing TMNT figures that look absolutely excellent. Raph looks just like he does in the movie. It’s definitely the most screen-accurate TMNT figures produced so far. NECA have done a great job of blending sculpting and articulation.

PAINT

NECAs paint can always be a bit hit or miss, unfortunately, more often than not. However, they have improved a lot over the years. The paint on Raph is a pretty good example of how they have improved. The paint work on the skin tone is definitely excellent and looks amazing in person.

ARTICULATION

 This is where we have a couple of small problems. Raph’s arms are restricted by his arm pads, and they are glued to his elbows. Unfortunately, that makes it hard to pose his arms as easily as I would have liked. But besides that, the articulation is great and also well hidden. Just watch out for NECAs classic loose ankles. Thankfully, this figure does not suffer from that.

ACCESSORIES

Raph comes with his weapons, a few extra hands, a bandanna end options and a slice of pizza. I didn’t have too many problems with swapping the hands, but I stress, always be careful, as NECA’s quality control always is questionable. His weapons look great, and the number of hands gives you a lot of options for posing him.

POTENTIAL PROBLEMS

Well, it’s a NECA figure, so that means there’s always a potential problem with the figure. Overall, this figure is fine. Just be gentle with it when posing it, and heat up any joints before moving them if required.

PRICE

I paid the retail price for this figure back when it was released. And as far as I can tell, at least in Australia, it’s still able to be purchased around that price point. 

OVERALL

This is a really great standalone figure of Raph in disguise. Definitely worth liking up to add to your TMNT Movie collection. He’s just a really cool, fun figure. Even if you do need to be a little bit gentle with him because of NECA’s terrible quality control.

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REVIEW – MATTEL MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE CHRONICLES TRI-KLOPS

Posted by Mighty Mike on September 25, 2026
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Amazon MGM’s 2026 Masters of the Universe Live-action movie stars Nicholas Galitzine as Prince Adam, who returns to Eternia after being hidden away on Earth to embrace his destiny as He-Man, mastering the Power of Grayskull and saving his home world of Eternia from the evil forces of Skeletor by discovering the courage and responsibility needed to become its greatest hero.


Name: Tri-Klops
Line: MOTU Chronicles 
Manufacturer: Mattel
Released: 2026
Price: $35.00
Scale: 6.5 inches in height
Accessories: Various accessories 

Lastly on my list of Chronicles figures we come to Tri-Klops. I have purchased Battle Cat, but I’ll review him later. Tri-Klops is the last of wave 1 and I guess technically Evil-Lynn and Orko are Wave 2 in my eyes. I have both on pre order and will review them once I have received them. 

I’m never the type of collector to buy every single character, I buy the characters and toys I like. I’m not too focused on being a completist. So, that means all the chronicles figures I’m not overly impressed by, will be moved on from my collection as I need the space.

But I do feel it’s quite an achievement for me to review all the figures from a wave for once. 

SCULPTING

Much like the previous figures Mattel have done an excellent job creating how Tri-Klops looks in the movie as an action figure. He figure is quite detailed and looks pretty cool too.

PAINT

No real issue with the paint on this figure, it’s neat and there doesn’t appear to be much slop if at all. 

ARTICULATION

 Tri-Klops has pretty much the same articulation as all the previous MOTU Chronicles figures I’ve covered already and that means he’s very fun to pose and play with. Unlike some of the other figures, Tri-Klops has no loose joints at all.

ACCESSORIES

You get an additional pair of fist hands and a sniper rifle for Tri-Klops to use. He holds the gun without too much trouble and the hands swap out easily too.

POTENTIAL PROBLEMS

I can’t see too many issues that you could have with this figure. 

PRICE

I paid the current retail price for this figure and I’m happy with that. 

OVERALL

I think Tri-Klops surprised me, because my expectations were low. He’s a pretty cool design and a well made figure that looks really, really cool. Definitely worth buying to give Skeletor more minions to boss around.

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REVIEW – CHARA PRO – KENSUKE SASAKI

Posted by Mighty Mike on September 24, 2026
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Kensuke Sasaki is best known for his time in New Japan Pro Wrestling, where he became a five-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion and won the G1 Climax tournament twice. He also competed in WCW during the 1990s, where he won the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship. Sasaki was known for his powerful, hard-hitting wrestling style and was one of Puroresu’sleading heavyweight stars during the late 1990s and early 2000s.


Name: Kensuke Sasaki
Line: Deluxe Figure Collection
Manufacturer: Chara Pro
Released: 2005
Price: ¥4,200
Scale: 5-6 inches in height
Accessories: N/A

Kensuke Sasaki is the first man to hold all three of Puroresu’s three major titles, AJPW, NJPW and NOAH respectively. To western audiences he wrestled in WCW in the 1990s and tag teamed with Road Warrior Hawk as Power Warrior too.

I originally bought this figure loose, off eBay. Normally this Sasaki figure comes in a deluxe two pack with his wife, Akira Hokuto. There are also other versions with different wrestling tights colours available too. However, I don’t believe it’s too common to find this two pack even in Japan. 

It seems like this style of wrestling figure is pretty hard to find certain wrestlers and are often popular with overseas collectors as well. However, not impossible to find with Yahoo Auctions JP and eBay etc. But, if you are looking for certain figures it can take some time to find them.

SCULPTING

This Kensuke Sasaki figure appears to be 3D scanned from the real life wrestler. Which means it’s going to be very accurate to how he looks in real life. Definitely a cool feature of these types of Japanese wrestling figures! Even if it’s basically a statue with minimal articulation, it’s still very cool how good the scan is!

PAINT

Paint on this figure of Kensuke is expertly applied and neat. Mainly just for details like hair colour and tights/boots details. You with hardly have any issue with the paint, unless it’s a loose figure and roughed up.

ARTICULATION

 Like the majority of these Japanese wrestling figures you have a grand total of three points of articulation, at the shoulders and the waist – all swivel joints. It’s not much but it’s better than nothing.

ACCESSORIES

No accessories are included.

POTENTIAL PROBLEMS

Nothing to worry about with this figure.

PRICE

I paid a reasonable price many years ago for this figure. I did a quick search and couldn’t find any currently available through the usual channels but that doesn’t mean he’s not available every now and then. Just try and shop around and pay a price you are happy with. Is my advice.

OVERALL

If you have bought any of these types of Japanese wrestling figures before, you know exactly what you are getting. This figure might not be for every wrestling fan. But considering there haven’t really been any great Japanese wrestling figures before or since they remain the standard set. This is an excellent representation of Kensuke Sasaki in all his wrestling glory and a very realistic representation of him as a figure. Definitely worth it, if you are a fan of Puroresu and want some neat versions of legendary japanese wrestlers for your wrestling figure collection.

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RETRO REVIEW – TAKARA TRANSFORMERS THE HEADMASTERS – SOUNDBLASTER

Posted by Mighty Mike on September 22, 2026
Posted in: Retro. Tagged: , , , . Leave a Comment

Soundblaster is a Decepticon intelligence officer and an upgraded version of Soundwave. Originally introduced in the Japanese Transformers: The Headmasters cartoon series, he has a darker colour scheme and a larger cassette compartment that can hold two cassettes at once. He is a ruthless spy who can read the thoughts of others through their computer brainwaves and uses his cassette troops to gather information for the Decepticons.


Name: Soundblaster (reissue)
Line: The Transformers Collection #18
Manufacturer: Takara
Released: 2005
Price: ¥4,980
Scale: 26cm tall
Accessories: Jaguar + Buzzsaw + Vibration Blaster Gun
Motto: “Volume intact, destructive power doubled.”

Soundblaster is the upgrade version of Soundwave. Originally I never much cared for Soundblaster. But, don’t get me wrong, as Soundwave is one of my favourite Transformers ever, which I was also lucky to have as a kid. But, I just didn’t see the point of Soundblaster really and the extra cassette space just felt like a tacked on gimmick to me.

After watching the Headmasters cartoon series, I warmed to the character a little bit and eventually would end up buying the Transformers Collection reissue a few years ago from Mandarake, as I wanted to fill some space on my Japanese exclusive Decepticon Transformers display shelf. 

After receiving the toy and transforming it and playing around with it, I definitely had more of an appreciation for the Soundblaster toy and character and he does look pretty cool with the darker colour and red chest piece.

SCULPTING

Soundwave is one of the most iconic of the original G1 Transformers toys and Soundblaster, minus an upgraded chest piece is exactly the same mold. There’s a lot of details throughout the toy and his size makes him stand out among most other G1 Transformers toys.

PAINT

Excellent neat and crisp paint work on this toy. This is what I love about Takara’s reissues – the paint work is pretty much flawless. Having a brand new one really feels special as it looks and feels like a premium product.

ARTICULATION

 Soundblaster is definitely a brick, no way around that. He however, has great arm articulation and some head and leg movement, even if these are just trade offs from the transformation process. It still makes it fun to be able to pose him even just a little bit. Soundblasters’s transformation is intuitive and fun, its not to hard to figure out how to transform this toy, the reissue’s joints are as smooth as butter to transform, it really made it enjoyable that nothing felt fragile when being moved.

ACCESSORIES

You get both Buzzsaw and Jaguar included in the box! Honestly that is pretty great deal. Also included are Soundblaster’s vibration blaster gun and shoulder rocket launcher.

Getting two cassette troops is an excellent inclusion and a highlight when it comes to accessories for Soundblaster. His weapons are exactly the same as the original Soundwave toy, obviously now in a darker colour.

POTENTIAL PROBLEMS

I can’t see you having too many problems with this reissue of Soundblaster, he’s sturdy and tough.

PRICE

I paid not too much above the original retail price from Mandarake for this second hand Soundblaster. But the condition was pretty much unused, so it was a good purchase.

OVERALL

I think Soundblaster might always be a bit of a hard sell as a toy and a character as he’s very similar to Soundwave. However, he’s still very cool as he has a dark colour scheme and extra storage space. Probably more suited to Japanese exclusive collectors more than anyone else. Still a nice variation of the original Soundwave mold!

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REVIEW – BANDAI S.H.FIGUARTS PAC-MAN

Posted by Mighty Mike on September 21, 2026
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Pac-Man is one of gaming’s most iconic characters, known for navigating mazes while eating dots, avoiding colourful ghosts, and collecting power pellets to turn the tables on his pursuers. Since his debut in the classic Pac-Man, he has become a symbol of arcade gaming, recognised worldwide for his simple design, fun gameplay, and lasting popularity across generations.


Name: Pac-Man
Line: S.H.Figuarts
Manufacturer: Bandai
Released: 2024
Price: ¥3,960
Scale: 10cm in height
Accessories: Various accessories 

I came across this Pac-Man figure on one of the last days when I was in Japan, in Nakano Broadway (it is only a 2min train ride from Shibuya after all) 

I was considering buying a larger vinyl figure I had seen in Akiharbara earlier in my trip, but ultimately decided to go with the more articulated version from Bandai. 

Which I was aware existed before I came across it, I just hadn’t seen it in person yet, so I was undecided on whether I wanted to buy it or not. Being on holiday and having extra spending money clinched my decision.

SCULPTING

This is an excellent representation of a 3D version of Pac-Man. Bandai have done a great job of translating the 3D design into a figure. Considering it would be somewhat difficult, as he’s just a ball with arms and legs attached to it.

PAINT

Not a lot of paint apps here, just a little bit for details like Pac-Man’s mouth or eyebrows. It’s all neat and tidy.

ARTICULATION

 Pac-Man’s articulation is a little bit limited by his design, being a round ball. So, for example, you won’t get a lot of range of motion from his arms. But you do get a lot more from his legs at least.

ACCESSORIES

Pac-Man comes with a good amount of accessories additional hand and an extra face piece with a winking eye expression. All these parts give you a good number of options for various poses you can put Pac-Man in.

POTENTIAL PROBLEMS

Not too many problems that I can think about with this figure. Bandai have done a good job quality-wise.

PRICE

I paid about ¥6,000 JPY. Now I don’t feel that was overly expensive, but it wasn’t closer to the retail price either. But I didn’t see this figure much on my travels around Japan. Try to pay as close to the retail price as you can for this one, as I don’t think it’s worth overpaying for it.

OVERALL

This is a pretty good figure, even if it is limited by the design of the character in terms of accessories and articulation. Still, worth picking up if you are a Pac-Man or video game fan and want the ultimate version of Pac-Man.

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REVIEW – MATTEL MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE CHRONICLES TRAP JAW

Posted by Mighty Mike on September 18, 2026
Posted in: Collectible. Tagged: , , , .

Amazon MGM’s 2026 Masters of the Universe Live-action movie stars Nicholas Galitzine as Prince Adam, who returns to Eternia after being hidden away on Earth to embrace his destiny as He-Man, mastering the Power of Grayskull and saving his home world of Eternia from the evil forces of Skeletor by discovering the courage and responsibility needed to become its greatest hero.


Name: Trap Jaw
Line: MOTU Chronicles 
Manufacturer: Mattel
Released: 2026
Price: $35.00
Scale: 6.5 inches in height
Accessories: Various accessories 

Trap Jaw in the MOTU movie has history with Man-At-Arms and is treated like a little bit of a mini boss battle on at least two occasions during the movie.  At first, I wasn’t really interested in the character that much and even after playing with the toy, although fun to play with still hasn’t grown on me. 

I do like the classics version of Trap Jaw, but this live action version just erks me a little bit too much design wise, unfortunately.

SCULPTING

Trap Jaw is sculpted very well and matches his on screen appearance very closely. He looks great there is a lot of nice detail work all over the figure.

PAINT

The paint application is up to what you would expect from Mattel. It’s nice and neat and applied cleanly too. No problems here with any slop on my figure.

ARTICULATION

 Trap Jaw has the same articulation as the rest of the MOTU figures in this line and it’s definitely fun to pose these figures! The joints are nice and tight too and Trap Jaw thankfully doesn’t have a loose waist joint. If  anything, his robotic arm could do with a little bit more articulation, but it’s still fine for what it is. He also has his articulated Jaw which is always a nice touch and fun to play around with.

ACCESSORIES

You get a few different arm attachments for Trap Jaw and a single fist hand to swap with the splayed out hand. You get Trap Jaw’s hook and knife/sword arm parts. Just like the gun attachment they look great and are pretty sturdy. You can pretty much match all the different arm attachments that Trap Jaw used in the movie against He-Man and Man-At-Arms. 

POTENTIAL PROBLEMS

I can’t really see any problems you could have with this figure. He’s definitely a solid toy and made well.

PRICE

I paid $35.00 and was able to pick him up at retail. Honestly I think he’s definitely worth the lower price point if you can still find him available for that price.

OVERALL

I think this is a great figure and faithful representation of how Trap Jaw looked in the movie. However, I’m personally, not in love with Trap Jaw’s character design for the live action movie and that – for me, makes it a bit of a deal breaker as I just don’t enjoy having the figure in my collection. However, if you do like this version of Trap Jaw, he’s definitely just as good as all the previous figures I have reviewed and if you are a completist, you’ll be happy to have him in your collection.

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REVIEW – REAL X HEAD CHAOSMAN

Posted by Mighty Mike on September 17, 2026
Posted in: Collectible. Tagged: , , , .

Chaos Man is made by Real X Head, which is a small Japanese company run by Mori Katsura, who makes vinyl toys. Over the years there have been a number of figures and variations released as well as collaborations with other people or stores. There are a number of Mutant Chaos variants ranging in size and shape. Chaos Man is a larger sized figure and kicked off  the 8” adult sized figures from Real X Head, which have proven very popular indeed!

Name: Chaos Man
Line: N/A
Manufacturer: Real X Head
Released: 2009 
Price: First released – 6,000 YEN (guestimate)
Scale: 8 Inches in height
Accessories: None.

After buying a few Pheyaos Men, how could I not pick up at least one Chaos Man? It is the character that started the larger 8” Real Head toy series after all! So with an intention to buy at least two Chaos Men I ended up with a semi translucent red/pink version with a black rub and the subject of tonight’s review: A fully painted version 

SCULPTING

I’ve partly covered what I think about the sculpting on this figure in my Pheyaos Man review. There are a couple of small differences between the two, firstly the hands have one less finger on them and secondly, but much more obviously, we have a different head. All parts have great amount of detail and it never looks like too much detail in the one place, its spread out really well. I’m a big fan of this base body and it still looks amazing even after acquiring a few Chaos Man/Pheyaos Man figures. The new Chaos head sculpt is excellent and coupled with the new body really makes the character look a lot more mature.

PAINT

This is where this particular Chaos Man really shines for me. Beautifully blended reds, golds, silvers and blues topped off with a black rub that not only shows off the details in the sculpting, but really makes those colours pop! Masterful work with the airbrush gun on this one, by Goto-san Real Head’s one and only painter. Normally the paint application is always to a high standard, but for this one I think it’s really been pushed to the next level!

ARTICULATION

Chaos Man has six points of articulation: head, arms, elbows and waist. All these joints are swivels and can be rotated 360 degrees. For this type of figure and the material it’s made out of, this is a great amount of articulation for the larger size. You can get a good number of subtle, yet expressive poses as well as little more extreme ones. It really is a great base body for the small, yet growing, variants and collaborations.

ACCESSORIES

No accessories for this figure, besides the scarf/neck wrap if you can even call it an accessory. It still looks pretty cool and it’s good this was carried over from the smaller figures.

POTENTIAL PROBLEMS

There are none at all – this is an adult designer toy after all. It is made very well, so there are no issues with it.

PRICE

I paid around $100 for this particular Chaos Man, it’s a bit of a mark up, but I haven’t seen this colour way anywhere else, so sometimes with Real Head figures you do have to pay a bit more then the norm. I bought this particular Chaos Man from Vicious Fun, and as per usual I’m very happy with their customer service, packing and prompt shipping too.

OVERALL

I enjoy this figure just as much as the Pheyaos Man version, considering they are fairly similar, it shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise. Chaos Man looks cool and the size is very impressive too. I’m very happy to be slowly building my own ‘Chaos family’. If you have any of the larger Real Head figures, you are going to need at least one Chaos Man in there as he is the starting point for all the rest.

Article originally published, August 27, 2014.

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REVIEW – BANDAI S.H.FIGUARTS SPIDER-MAN

Posted by Mighty Mike on September 15, 2026
Posted in: Collectible. Tagged: , , , , .

Spider-Man: Brand New Day follows Peter Parker as he lives alone and continues protecting New York as Spider-Man. He faces a powerful new threat that pushes him to his limits and challenges him as a hero.


Name: Spider-Man
Line: SHFiguarts
Manufacturer: Bandai/Tamashii Nations
Released: 2026
Price: ¥7,700
Scale: 1/12
Accessories: Various accessories included

This particular Spider-Man figure wasn’t on my radar to buy. Even after watching the Brand New Day movie. I didn’t feel like I needed to buy toys from that movie.

However, after seeing a few videos online about how bad the quality control was, I was curious, how bad it could be? and if this figure really dropped the ball that bad or not with it’s quality control or were these just meaty handed rage bait collector videos?

I was tempted to wait until I was back in Japan, in September, to buy myself a copy, but, impulse and desire got the better of me as I wanted to review this figure before I left for my holiday.

So I ordered one from Amazon instead and it arrived on Friday. So lucky me as I have plenty of time to take photos and write my review before leaving for Japan.

SCULPTING

Excellent sculpting for this figure! It’s obvious when taking this figure out of the box how premium the feel of it is. That’s one thing I do enjoy about Bandai products – they don’t feel cheap when you handle them. I watched Spider-Man Brand New Day recently and it looks like, to me, that they have matched costume design very closely too. Overall this figure looks great and looks well proportioned too.

PAINT

Spider-Man is mainly cast in the plastic he’s meant to be with a little bit of paint here and there and obviously paint of the black web lines on his costume. The paint there is on this figure is nice and neat as far as I can tell. 

ARTICULATION

The figure comes with a lot of articulation! As you can see in the photos I was able to get Spider-Man in a lot of Spidey-style poses which wasn’t too difficult to achieve.

I’m really not sold on the multi layered crotch articulation but, it does help to get the figure in a lot of cool poses. I might be tempting to track down the movie Deadpool figure now too.

I don’t think you’ll have too many problems posing this figure, it’s quite posable and fun to play around with even if it can feel a little bit delicate at times.

ACCESSORIES

Ten pairs of hands including the fists already on the figure and a few different web effects as well as an extra head. You definitely get a lot of different hands and it’s refreshing to get so many after having bought a few of Mattel’s and Hasbro’s figures lately and not getting enough hands included.

The different web effects are great and it’s nice to get more options to pose and display Spider-Man. The extra head sculpt is also great and has narrower eyes compared to the one on the figure already. My only complaint would be that some of the hands look like they aren’t fitting as snug as they should – for example, the fist hands. But I feel like this is so the wrist articulation isn’t compromised too much.

You definitely get enough options and choice for how you want to display ethos figure, as expected from Bandai.

POTENTIAL PROBLEMS

I’ve seen video where people have broken the wrist pegs and have a floppy waist/legs on copies of this figure. The only minor issue I had was the left shoulder likes to move back to a neutral position a little bit and probably sticks out a touch further than it should sometimes. 

I used a hair dryer to swap hands for the photos I took so I would recommend doing something similar as you can’t replace the pegs after they break. Only 10-15 seconds and the hands were soft enough to easily replace without a problem.

PRICE

I bought mine off Amazon because I wanted to get it asap to be able to get a review finished before I went on holidays. So I paid a little bit over the retail price I’d probably pay if I waited until I got to Japan. But, obviously the closer to retail price the better the deal.

OVERALL

I’m really happy with this figure! Its sculpting is great, it’s got plenty of articulation and it’s fun to pose and play with. Even though it can feel delicate and you have to be careful when changing hands over. I think besides taking caution where required it’s still an excellent figure of Spider-Man from the most recent Marvel movie and worth picking up if you looking for a good Spider-Man Brand New Day figure.

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REVIEW – HASBRO THE BACK SERIES – R2D2

Posted by Mighty Mike on September 14, 2026
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R2-D2 is an astromech droid known for its intelligence, courage, and loyalty. who communicates through electronic beeps and whistles and plays a vital role in aiding the Rebel Alliance and Luke Skywalker throughout the original Star Wars trilogy. 

Name: Artoo-Detoo (R2-D2)
Line: The Black Series – ROTJ 40th Anniversary collection
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Released: 2023
Price: $24.99 USD
Scale: 3.25 Inches in height
Accessories: Various accessories included

This R2-D2 figure was highly anticipated before its release, due to it finally being the right scale with the other Black Series figures. As the previous R2D2 figures were underscaled.

This is my first Black Series R2-D2, having mainly stayed away from collecting too many 6-inch Star Wars figures. So, unfortunately, I can’t share the pain of having to make do with having under-scaled R2S of the past. 

What mainly caught my attention was the Kenner style vintage packaging of the 40th anniversary of Return of the Jedi, much like the previous ESB releases, and I wasn’t going to be late to this party for once.

SCULPTING

This is an excellent attempt by Hasbro to right the wrongs of previous attempts at R2D2 in my opinion. Having watched a few videos and checked out comparison photos, they have really tired to capture a better screen-accurate R2. And in my amateur opinion, I think have done a great job at capturing the essence of R2D2.

Now, obviously, there are options like Bandai SH Figuarts and Medicom’s Mafex line of figures, which are a higher-end price point and quality and obviously, a lot of debate among fans over what is best and some of their offerings are absolutely fantastic.

But, I still prefer the Black Series myself, just something about the overall design and sculpting, I just prefer for my Star Wars figures. I don’t like all the figures they have done, for example, Lando needs work and Darth Vader is slowly getting better with each new release.

PAINT

Paint is nice and crisp on R2, no slop on my version and the blue and sliver paint applications really pop with the off-white plastic. 

ARTICULATION

 R2 obviously will only have so much articulation, being a droid and not a humanoid character. You can move his legs and turn his head. He’s also got a third leg you can drop down if wanted.

ACCESSORIES

R2 comes with a number of different attachments. They all look great and fit in nice and snug in the appropriate ports for them.

Also you can store his unneeded accessories inside R2 as his head pops up. This is a really neat feature that helps keep his accessories neat and tidy and out of the way, yet always in reach.

POTENTIAL PROBLEMS

Not a lot that I can think of. He’s petty much a solid figure and the accessory storage is a great idea.

PRICE

I paid the regular retail price for this figure. He might be a little bit more pricey these days, though. Shop around to try and get a good deal.

OVERALL

I’m really happy with this particular R2D2 figure from Hasbro. I think they have really improved on the previous ones and kept it at a good price point too. He comes with a good amount of accessories and play features and he really looks great next to Han and Leia in my display. Now, I just need to get a C-3PO to go with him.

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