A few new acquisitions & SWB Darth Vader speculation

Just some random musings for you.

I got this guy recently via sponsor Nerd Rage Toys. Playmates’ short-lived Toxic Crusaders line was great because it was 100% compatible with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in every way –  size, style, articulation, and even the overall theme. I only owned Toxie himself, but it was a great figure and line. In retrospect I wished I’d picked up the Radiation Ranger.

I also received a care package from the Four Horsemen that included two Power Lords Elite Soldiers and one of the Ggrapptikk Grunts (pre-release variants of Ggripptogg, which were available at NYCC last month). Ggripptakk won me over immediately – he’s a big articulated alien figure with tons of articulation and, if you’re into it, lots of interchangeability with Glyos. I’m not a huge fan of this particular color scheme – it just screams “early 1990s girl toys” – but evidently this colorway was meant to evoke the Major Matt Mason character Scorpio. (I don’t know whether the Horsemen specifically selected this colorway for Ggrapptikk or just piggy-backed on the production run for Onell’s early-September drop). But color aside, I will definitely get Ggripptogg come next spring.

The Power Lords Elite Soldiers are great too, but before I warmed up to them I had to get over two minor disappointments: they’re just a bit too tall to fit in with Star Wars (they’re just the right height for today’s G.I. Joe, however), and their hands are designed to fit thin, angled, cylindrical weapon handles, which means I couldn’t use any of the random weapons I had with the figures – not even Sauron Sky Sentry’s gun, which has a straight up-and-down handle so the figure doesn’t quite hold it right.

Once I accepted those two issues, however, the figures quickly grew on me. The Horsemen have a knack for creating figures that hit the sweet spot between great sculpting and practical design and articulation, and that’s on full display here. A proper review of the Soldiers and Ggrapptikk will be forthcoming.

So I was thinking about Star Wars Black and rather than discuss this on someone else’s site, I thought I’d just bring it up here. How would you like Hasbro to do Vader’s cape? In general, I hate soft goods. We’ve already seen a decent amount of fabric in SWB (Boba Fett, Darth Maul, Leia), but it’s all been used very sparingly and in ways I haven’t minded much. But I’m not sure about a full fabric cape. I’ve yet to come across a Batman in the 6″ scale with an acceptable soft goods cape.

Vader wasn’t very agile in the films, so it’s not like he needs a fabric cape so that you can get him in all sorts of dynamic poses. On the other hand, super-articulation is an important selling point for SWB, and you don’t want Vader encased in a molded cape that won’t allow you to make use of his articulation. And many fans have gotten used to a more athletic Vader in the videogames and comics. So that’s a point in favor of a soft goods cape.

I wish there was some sort of pleather-like substance that could be used. What do they use for the Hot Toys Batman figures?

In any event, ultimately I would probably prefer some sort of plastic. Perhaps something a bit rubbery, like Darth Maul’s cloak, rather than a hard-plastic cape like what you get on most DC Universe Classics figures. A more pliable cape like Mattel’s earlier DC Super Heroes figures, or DC Direct/Collectibles’ stuff, would be acceptable.

Of course, I suspect this decision has already been made at Hasbro (not that I’m saying the rumored list is accurate, but either way I believe a Vader figure is likely already in development), so this is probably a moot discussion. Nonetheless, I’m curious – what sort of cape would you want?