I grew up in the 80s watching all the classic cartoons, with Transformers, Masters of the Universe, Voltron, Thundercats, and Battle of the Planets being my favourites. But another show that I also loved watching after school was Inspector Gadget. When I saw the announcement that Blitzway, typically known in the 1/6th scale realm, was releasing an Inspector Gadget figure, I just knew I wouldn't be able to resist adding it to my 6-7" (1/12th) scale 80s cartoon collection.
And Blitzway, partnering with 5PRO Studio, did not disappoint! It's a fantastic figure that fans of the cartoon will definitely love! Click the link below to watch my full video review over on the Kool Kollectibles YouTube channel. Make sure to subscribe too and stay tuned for more upcoming reviews 😃
The packaging art and style is very reminiscent of Bandai S.H.Figuarts action figures, which is fine since it's all collector friendly. Unboxing is great as you appreciate each accessory and smile as you remember scenes from the cartoon that used them. And the set is definitely packed with a lot of his commonly used accessories.
The swap out mechanism used for many of the accessories with the keyed pegs can be rather fiddly, but once pushed in tight they all look nice. The roller skates have some nice diecast use, and roll exceptionally well. The neck and arm extensions also look great with a nice silver metallic paint app and softer rubber outer material that must be over a thick metal bendable wire of some sort. You can definitely bend them to get more natural poses, and there doesn't appear to be any risk to damaging the paint.
The umbrella is painted a beautifully rich red, and the handle also sports a diecast post which gives it much more stability. It looks great when using the metal arm extensions and the swap out hat pieces to which the arms extensions can be attached. You can pretty much place anything in those hands coming out of the hat, so using the umbrella or other accessories like the magnifying glass and torch look great to show off as many accessories on the figure as possible.
The fiddliest accessory would have to be the go go gadget copter. Placing it on the swap out hat piece is the easy part. But attaching the metal handles to the base, whilst articulating the arms into a decent pose was next to impossible without the handles detaching from the base. In the end I just settled with having the handles placed gently into place at the base without them really being inserted properly. It looks OK, but I wish they had implemented this better.
The spring leg extensions however work fantastically well, and actually do have a metal spring mechanism. He used these legs extensively in the show, so I was always going to use them in my display. I tossed up whether to use the hand extensions in the hat, but ended up decided to go with the copter, skates, and spring legs. This was because I wanted to also use the included flight stand and have him in the air behind some of my other 80s cartoon action figures.
Overall I think it looks pretty damn fantastic. The swap out face plates and eyes give more posing and display options too so you can mix it up any way you want. The smiling face for me really brings out his character so I chose that one.
The body of the figure itself is also very nicely done. The paint application is great across the board, and I love the use of the softer plastic for the jacket. It doesn't hinder articulation too much, and still looks natural over the body. Articulation in the arms and legs is par for the course. I do wish neck articualtion hid the gap just above his tie a bit better, but the tilt action really allows for some great expressive poses.
Overall I think Blitzway and 5PRO Studio have done a fantastic job with Inspector Gadget. I passed on the other figures in the series because they're more mini-statues and figures. But if you're a fan I think getting them all makes for an awesome display on the shelf. I hope they release another Gadget figure with different accessories, because he still used so many others in the show too! But until then, then is perhaps the best Inspector Gadget figure on the market since the 80s! Go and get it!
Back in the 1990s, one of my favourite action movies turned out late in the decade to be The Mask of Zorro! It featured Antonio Banderas that had that charisma about him, and it introduced me (and the world in general) to Catherine Zeta-Jones. They had the on screen chemistry that directors and movie goers love, and the swashbuckling action and music was right in the sweet spot for movies that I really enjoyed.
So when Blitzway announced they were going to do a Zorro figure from the movie, I was so happy to be able to add more characters to my fairly small collection of swashbuckling action adventure heroes! Luckily, the release turned out to be pretty nice overall!
Click through below for my full video review on the Kool Kollectibles YouTube channel! Make sure to subscribe and give the video a thumbsup too! 😃👍
At around US$280, the price for this set is pretty high, even when compared to Hot Toys and Sideshow Collectibles figures. At least the quality of the outfit and accessories is of high quality. I like that the dagger and sword have what feels to be metal blades, and the medallion chain and cape chain are metal too. They add an extra premium feel to the outfit. The cape itself has a nice material that lies quite well on the figure too. The printing on it is nicely done, but be careful with the edge roping that seems to only be glued on. If that starts coming off, it might get a little untidy very quickly.
The unmasked head sculpt has a decent likeness, although I think having the pupils looking out slightly wider would help with reducing the cross-eyed look to it in front on views. The stranding in the hair is nicely detailed, but more skin texture in the facial paint app would elevate it to close to Hot Toys standard.
The masked head sculpt has a better likeness, with a more playful smirk that captures the character from the movie more accurately. It's a shame that the wide brimmed hat is not mixed media but molded plastic to the head. The mask itself is also sculpted and painted plastic, with fabric after the knot to give it more realism. Out of the box, the hat strap is behind the head, whereas in the movie it almost always hung in front of this face and neck. So I recommend untying it and moving it to the front, then doing a simple knot at the front. It looks much more movie-accurate and realistic that way.
Out of the box, the shirt sits very high on the shoulders so that he looks like he has no neck. You do have to spend a considerable amount of time tucking the shirt properly into the pants and lower then naturally onto his shoulders. It would be easier to do if the belt could be removed via velcro, but it seems to be molded so it's very hard to move and still tuck the shirt in. Use a flat headed small tool to push the shirt into the pants, and that should help.
Once you get the shirt sitting naturally, and then adding the weight of the cape, the outfit looks far better. I like the straps on the shirt which look realistic, and the pants are loose enough to get him into some nice poses. Unfortunately the boots are fixed semi-rigid plastic, so there is very little ankle articulation if any. In wide stances the figure looks strange because the feet can't be placed flat on the ground. But I usually have my figures in fairly static museum poses, so it's not that big a deal for me.
The choice of hands isn't all that extensive, but what is there can be used to capture his playfulness from the movie. I chose these hands in an attempt to replicate the scene where he is fighting against the guards at the house before he meets Elena. The sword looks great and the medallion gives a nice flair to the outfit as well.
Getting the scabbard to attach properly to the belt was a little difficult. The clips were small and trying to squeeze them into the attachments on the belt left me worried that I was going to break something. Luckily it all attached in the end with no problems, and I won't be removing it any time soon.
It's a shame there is no attachment for the whip, but I simply wedged it between the dagger hilt and his body to at least have the whip displayed with the figure. All setup with the accessories, it does make for a pretty great looking figure in the display cabinet.
I don't have many action adventure characters in my collection, so this was a great character to add some variety to the collection. It looks great displayed next to Indy and Jack here. It's great that there are companies like Blitzway willing to tackle different source material, and doing a nice job of it too.
I'll hopefully soon be getting the Threezero Rambo figure that looks superb. If there's any figure that looks to rival Hot Toys quality, it's that one! I don't think this Zorro reaches those lofty heights, but it's overall quality is still pretty good, and certainly better than the Sideshow human figures I have. All in all, if you're a fan of the movie and want something a bit different to the usual Marvel and Star Wars fare from Hot Toys, then this Blitzway Zorro will fit the bill perfectly!
When Blitzway first announced that they would release the Ghostbusters characters from the classic 80s action comedy, collectors world wide were very excited. It's great when 1/6th scale companies tackle characters from these sorts of movies instead of the usual mainstream stuff.
After months of delays, the set was finally released in late 2017, and overall were definitely worth the wait! There are a few nits to pick too, and I go through all of that in my video review. Click through below to check out the video over on the Kool Kollectibles YouTube channel!
I ordered the Special Pack that came with the four main characters, Slimer, and the diorama police barricade. They were all packed in one massive box, with their classic call tagline on top. Very nicely done!
Opening the main box reveals the 4 figure boxes and the separate box for the Special Pack accessories. The main figure boxes are done in a very classy way, with real fabric name plates stuck to the front box art. Note that these are not held on by velcro, but some type of glue.
Each figure essentially comes with the same set of accessories, with a few minor variations between characters. Stantz comes with the ghost trap and googles, Spengler comes with the PKE meter, Venkman comes with folded gloves and cigarettes, and Zeddemore comes with the ghost trap and cigarettes.
Each of course comes with the proton pack, which is extremely detailed. I didn't check how movie accurate it is, but overall it looks fantastic. Note that the backpack is very fragile, with lots of parts that can break off. I almost made it through assembling all the figures without breakage, until I got to Zeddemore. I must have placed my hands in the wrong spot just once, which broke off the little silver antenna piece on the proton pack. Luckily I was able to superglue it back on.
They all come with an assortment of gloved and ungloved hands. The proton blast effect is also included, and can be attached to the tip of the wand for that shooting effect. I've kept that box as I don't intend on ever using it.
The last accessory to mention, and will never be mentioned or used again, are the absolutely ridiculous stands that are included. I am not sure what Blitzway was thinking in the design, but the whole assembly and use of the stands just does not work! With the proton packs on, the stand simply gets in the way. The standard Hot Toys crotch grabber is all that was needed, but the stand design they've developed is simply a waste of a nicely printed base! The support mechanism is just terrible.
Straight out of the box, the figures need a lot of futzing to look decent. The utility belts are placed too high up on the waist, so need to be taken off and loosened. The outfits themselves need a bit of water treatment too to loosen them up so that they look more natural on the figures.
I took everything off slowly and carefully, and was then able to futz all the accessories in slow time. I rearrange the hooks on the belts to be more accurate to the movie and give a bit of variation to each character. It takes a long time, but I think for figures like these it's all worth the time.
Placing the proton packs onto each figure is a slow and tiresome process because you're so worried about breaking something. The clasps that go around the waist were of particular concern, with lots of reports of breakages. To minimise the risk, I dipped both ends of the clasp in boiling water to soften the plastic. I managed to clip all the proton pack straps on without breaking them, which was great. The shoulder straps need adjusting too, so just vary the length to try and get them to support and hang on the shoulders as naturally as possible.
Once all setup, the team certainly looks fantastic together. I do think Blitzway definitely need to improve on their facial paint application though. The head sculpts are pretty good, but let down by a lack of detail and subtle shading variation in the paint.
Zeddemore is definitely a shade too dark which hides the sculpt detail. I also think his sculpt is a fraction too small. The other three have decent sculpts too, with Spengler being my favourite. But each has a very flat paint app that gives the face a somewhat plastic look without the needed realism that Hot Toys has. I've seen some repaints on the forums that proves the sculpts are great, so if only Blitzway had done better in that area, these would have been figures for the ages!
As they are, the figures are still an awesome set to have. The articulation is generally OK, and the variety of accessories certainly gives you all the pose options you would want in your display. With pretty good likenesses all round, these will be classic characters that you'll gladly show off in your collection for many years to come. They certainly look great with other classic action/sci-fi figures!
Hope everyone had a great Christmas and awesome New Year break. It was a huge year for me in 2016 on the 1/6th scale front. I was silly enough at the beginning of the year to think I was actually going to slow down, but 2016 turned out to be my biggest year yet for 1/6th scale collectibles.
I got around 30 new 1/6th scale items in 2016, but also sold quite a few to make room and recoup the cost. I sold all my Sideshow Clone Commanders, and also some of the Hot Toys Star Wars figures that I really didn't need, such as the Shadow Trooper and Space Trooper.
Overall, I need to be more selective and focus on source material I love. I think it'll still be a pretty big 2017 for me, but should not have so many things coming in. Hope you can check out the collection as it stands now at the end of 2016 :)
After seeing closer photos of the Damtoys and Blitzway collaboration on the Universal Soldier figures, I just couldn't resist them. And overall they are pretty awesome figures. I just love that I finally have a Van Damme figure in my collection at last lol!!
Now out of the box, there was an issue with both figures regarding the orientation of the arms and the articulation. Check out the video below for a closer look at the shoulder joint issue and how I fixed the problem.
Click through the link below to watch the full video review of the two figures. They look great displayed with other action movie characters from the 80s and 90s!
I got mine from Big Bad Toy Store, and unfortunately it looks like all the BBTS stock only came with generic black boxes under the slip cover rather than the proper art boxes shown on the Damtoys website! Not sure why this happened, but speculation is that Damtoys ran out of art boxes at the factory and simply started shipping them with generic boxes under the slip cover. Disappointing, but overall not too big a deal since I just display the figures anyway.
And out of the box they look fantastic! The head sculpts are nice and the array of accessories is pretty nice too. Another thing to note about BBTS stock is that Luc Deveraux does not come with his armour decals applied. The decals actually come in a plastic bag and have to be applied yourself. Lucky the application of the decals is pretty straight forward, and they stick very well.
As I mentioned above, the head sculpts are great. The paint app I think is a step above Sideshow human paint apps, but still not quite the realism of Hot Toys. Still, they're very close to HT quality and the mold themselves are great.
I think the Van Damme sculpt is better than the Lundgren, and I love that they even included the little bump on his head. The likeness is pretty damn awesome.
Once all setup with the accessories, they look fantastic. It's great that they added some extensions for Andrew Scott so that he stands a little taller for that movie accuracy in height. All the buckles and clips function as they should, but just go easy on them in case you snap or break something!
The visors are a definite pain in the arse to put on, and I had trouble getting them to sit by the side of the head properly without jutting out. Takes a bit of futzing around, but you can manage to get them on better than me at least.
And here they are setup in the display cabinet with the other great action movie characters I love. Definitely a fun addition to my collection! If you're a fan of the movie, I would highly recommend them!
