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RETRO REVIEW – HASBRO BATTLE BEASTS WEB SLINGER SPIDER

Posted by Mighty Mike on June 17, 2026
Posted in: Retro. Tagged: , , , .

Battle Beasts was a toy line consisting of small anthropomorphic animals in body armour; each toy came with its own individual weapon. Released in the mid 1980’s, each Battle Beast would have a heat-sensitive sticker on its chest, which, when rubbed, would reveal the symbol of wood, fire or water. You could then play a rock, scissors, paper-type game using the toys with your friends.

Name: Web Slinger Spider
Line: Battle Beasts
Manufacturer: Hasbro/Takara
Released: 1986
Price: Then – around $5- $10 (estimate) Now – roughly the same loose, more MOSC
Scale: 2 inches in height
Accessories: Blade/sword weapon

I discovered Battle Beasts when I was in primary school. I was in the school library looking through the magazines there and came across a full-page colour ad. Now, this magazine was pretty old and this was the mid 90’s, so there was no way to learn more about these cool-looking toys. I do remember I liked the look of most of the toys, Web Slinger Spider being the best. Fast forward to today, and with the internet, it’s pretty easy to rediscover and find things you remember from your youth. Thanks to Alex Bickmore and Super Toy Archive, I now not only know more about these toys, but I was also able to buy them too.

SCULPTING

Considering the size, the detail on the figure is quite good. They are small in height, but fairly wide little toys. You have some nice detailing on the armour, plenty of grooves, panels etc. Overall, I would say it has a lot of smooth surfaces. The standout features of the figurine are the extra legs sticking out from the back, and the great detail in the Spider’s face.

PAINT

The toy is cast in grey plastic, with paint added for the armour and details on the head. As for the application of the paint, it certainly isn’t a standout presentation; however, it is satisfactory. Apart from a few stray dots of paint, I would say it looks pretty good. One thing to watch out for would be paint being rubbed off on the top of the head or the corners of the armour.

ARTICULATION

Web slinger spider only has two points of articulation, his arms. That’s it. You aren’t going to get him into any dramatic action stances, that’s for sure. But it is possible to get a few nice poses out of him.

ACCESSORIES

Just one accessory for this toy: his bladed weapon. I would describe the sword as very smooth, with no sharp points, and it has a nice shape to it. It fits easily into his hand. Sometimes it will fall out if you’re not careful.

POTENTIAL PROBLEMS

Not really anything to worry about with this toy. Just make sure you don’t lose the weapon, as it is small and a dull grey colour.

PRICE

Buying one of these battle beasts won’t cost you much, unless you want one MOSC, then you’ll have a harder time tracking one down for a reasonable price.

OVERALL

I quite like Web Slinger Spider. Once I finally found out more about these 80’s figures, I wasn’t too disappointed. The print ad from my childhood didn’t set me up for any unrealistic expectations, thankfully. You get to really enjoy these toys more when you have a group of different characters together on a shelf; that’s when they start to look really cool. However, even by itself, Web Slinger Spider is still cool in my book! They will look great mixed in with some Transformers Pretenders or any Transformer post the original Transformers movie. I would recommend giving Battle Beasts a try if you have fond memories of them like I did, or if you are into collecting cool-looking little toys.

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REVIEW – HASBRO THE BACK SERIES – HAN SOLO (BESPIN OUTFIT)

Posted by Mighty Mike on May 4, 2026
Posted in: Collectible. Tagged: , , , , , , .

Han Solo is a smuggler and captain of the Millennium Falcon who ends up joining the Rebel Alliance after aiding them in their battle against the Death Star. In The Empire Strikes Back after escaping the forces of the Empire, Solo is finally captured after his friend Lando Calrissian betrays him and is subsequently frozen in carbonite and given to the bounty hunter Boba Fett to be delivered to Jabba the Hutt after Han fails to pay off his debts to Jabba.

Name: Han Solo (Bespin Outfit)
Line: The Black Series – ESB 40th Anniversary collection
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Released: 2020
Price: $19.99 USD
Scale: 6 inch
Accessories: Blaster pistol

The 2018 Black Series release of Bespin Outfit Han Solo is rereleased for the 40th Anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back on a Kenner style vintage card back. This particular version of Han Solo had caught my eye as it was for sale at my (at the time) local comic book shop along with Luke and Leia. Eventually I went back to buy him and later picked up Leia as well. I could not resist the Kenner vintage style packaging and larger size of the black series. (Even if, at this point I was strictly sticking to the vintage collection 3.75-inch figures and not looking to buy more Black Series after selling what I had bought earlier in the series run.) However, my intention was to just have Han and Leia from The Empire Strikes Back and maybe a choice few other figures, which so far, I’ve managed to stick to that rule.

Being May the fourth, I’m trying my best to remember to post a Star Wars review on that particular day and at least this year I have succeeded!

SCULPTING

The sculpting in hand for this figure is great. Its definitely one of the best mass market Han Solo figures in my opinion for the price that you pay. The likeness is definitely Harrison Ford as Han Solo from The Empire Strikes Back. The rest of the figure is done well the jacket, shirt, pant, holster and boots all have a good amount of detail and look realistic.

Han shot first, damn it!

PAINT

Not much paint here and that’s just how I like it. Theres a little bit for details on Han’s clothes and you also have the Photo Real printing/painting on the face which really makes it look great in person. So not too much to worry about here.  

ARTICULATION

The Black Series has a kind of a hybrid of The Vintage Collection and standard modern action figure articulation. For example, the arms are definitely the type of articulation and design we would see with a normal Vintage Collection 3.75-inch figure. But we have standard double-jointed knees. (even if newer releases for the vintage Collection now mimic this type of articulation too) with that said you can get Han into a number of great poses I really had a lot of fun posing him for the photo set and it didn’t feel like chore to pose and take phots of him. He’s definitely one of those figures you want to just pick up and play with every now and then. So, I don’t think you’d have any problems posing this figure for the most part.

ACCESSORIES

Han comes with his trusty blaster pistol and that’s it. No extra hands or heads etc. which is pretty basic. But, its fine. I’m happy with that though. I would have liked some extra hands this isn’t an S.H.Figuarts figure after all.

POTENTIAL PROBLEMS

I really don’t think you’re going to have any problems with this figure, unless you happen to get a bad paint application on the face?

PRICE

I paid the retail price for the Australian market and supported a local business at the same time. So, I was happy with that, even if that means the price might have been a little bit higher than what I would have payed online.

OVERALL

This is a really good Han Solo figure. Is he the best? No. Is he the worst? No again. But what you do have is an affordable, well-made figure that looks good and is really fun to play with and looks good on a display shelf with other figures from the same line of toys. And I think that’s enough to make him a must buy for me. Especially for the vintage inspired packaging for you MOC Collectors out there, he will look great, as its like having an oversized version of the original Han Solo in Bespin Outfit, abet more modern looking. If you have the chance and are a Star Wars fan, he’s worth adding to your collection.

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REVIEW – HASBRO STAR WARS BLACK SERIES AT-AT DRIVER

Posted by Mighty Mike on April 6, 2020
Posted in: Collectible. Tagged: , , , .

The AT-AT Drivers are the pilots of the Imperial Forces AT-AT Walkers, first seen in The Empire Strikes Back during the battle of Hoth. Working in teams of two they control the AT-AT Walkers driving and firing controls. Their uniforms are designed to protect them in harsh frozen climates if they are forced to abandon the AT-AT Walkers during combat.

Name: AT-AT Driver/Pilot
Line: Star Wars Black Series
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Released: 2016
Price: $19.99 USD
Scale:  6 inches in height
Accessories: E-11 Blaster Pistol

This is pretty much my first and only Star Wars Black Series purchase so far, I did dip my toe in ever so slightly a few years back and picked up Greedo which I had for a little while, before selling off, but I never took him out of the box and had a good look at him properly. So when Hasbro finally announced the AT-AT Driver I was looking forward to owning the figure and promptly placed my pre-order with BBTS.

The figure was released late December last year and I had my pile-of-loot shipped in January so he didn’t make the cut in my “best of” list. This was still one of the figures I was hoping that Hasbro would include in their Black Series of 6″ toys and I’m glad to have finally got my hands on him.

SCULPTING

I’m no Star Wars expert when it comes to Imperial armour and the tiny nuances when comparing what’s on the screen to toys and figures. But to me, this looks like a pretty good effort from Hasbro and looks quite good when compared to say the 3.65 AT-At Driver with the removable helmet. (That figure’s helmet looks horrible FYI) I think the proportions look about right and there’s plenty of nice details all over the figure. Plenty of creases on the clothes and nice smooth surfaces for the armour.

The Helmet itself is definitely the standout and that life support chest piece is a close second. (Seeing these are the main components of the AT-AT Driver armour in my opinion, I’m glad they’ve nailed them.) The only thing I don’t like is where the chest armour meets the hips as it cinches in and makes the AT-AT Driver look like he’s got some voluptuous proportions and once you notice it, it can’t be unseen, that’s for sure.

PAINT

There’s not too much paint on the AT-AT Driver. It’s mainly used for little details like the life support system on the chest or on the helmet. Overall I’d say it’s generally nice and neat, however, there are some stray spots on other parts of the figure. I really think the paint does a nice job of bringing out the details on that chest piece.  I’d say the paint application is up to Hasbro’s usual standard (say when compared with the Marvel Legends I have for example.)

ARTICULATION

The AT-AT Driver has the following articulation: Ball-joint/swivel head, hinge/swivel shoulders, hinge/swivel elbows, hinge/swivel wrists, ball-joint waist, hinge/swivel hips, swivel thighs, double-jointed knees and hinge/swivel ankles which can pivot as well.

All in all, it’s a good amount of articulation and one of the highlights of the Black Series from the beginning. You can get the AT-AT Driver into plenty of poses without too much trouble, even if the hoses that are attached to the helmet and chest armour make the head a bit hard to move around too much and the strap/loop things on his legs affect the articulation there too.

I enjoyed playing with him while taking the photos this is a pretty fun figure to play with and to pose.

ACCESSORIES

The AT-AT Driver comes with the ever present E-11 Blaster Pistol that almost every Imperial trooper and pilot tends to come with. Just like the smaller 3.65 Inch figures, the blaster is a bit warped right out of the package. Besides this common issue, it looks good and fits into the AT-AT Driver gun holding hand with little-to-no difficulty and is a snug fit.

Child Birthing Hips You Say?!?!?

POTENTIAL PROBLEMS

None I can think of, besides the minor nitpicks mentioned above.

PRICE

I paid $19.99 USD for the figure from BBTS and I’m quite happy with that. I’m assuming that’s around the normal retail price and for the quality of the figure not too cheap, but not too expensive either. I don’t tend to buy many figures in person these days after all when the Internet is so convenient.

OVERALL

I’m not going to be buying every figure released in the Black Series, I’m going to be very selective with what characters I buy, so my collection at the moment is very small (just the AT-AT Driver right now). Much like my Marvel Legends purchases, it will just be my favorite characters. With that said, I’m very impressed with this figure, it’s a very strong effort from Hasbro and the price point is great too. I’m assuming you’d have to be an Imperial Forces completist to pick this guy up, but he does look quite nice next to the Snowtrooper. I’m very happy with him and if you end up buying one for yourself, I’d like to think you’d be too.

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