Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Review: Four Horsemen Outer Space Men Infinity Edition Terra Firma Action Figure


Four Horsemen Outer Space Men Infinity Edition Terra Firma Action FigureI was pretty surprised to see Terra Firma at a New York event for The Four Horsemen a few years ago - not only was she the first new member of this group in decades, but she was rather shapely. Having a fairly limited background in such things I thought her form looked a lot like Little Annie Fanny character I saw in a Hake's Auction catalog that got mailed to me, which I later found out was a Playboy cartoon character, which I wasn't interesting enough to know already because... when you meet my parents, it'll all make sense to you then. This nifty new figure draws heavily on real-world space program elements like her orange suit and the overall coloring on the figure, plus builds on the 1962 cartoon character's built-in 1960s-ness from Harvey Kurtzman and Will Elder. Borrowing from that which came before is smart - the original Outer Space Men aliens were derived from the back pages of films showcased in the likes of Famous Monsters of Filmland, so it's only appropriate to have Terra's origin come from contemporary magazines. 
[ READ THE FULL REVIEW ]

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Review: Four Horsemen Outer Space Men Infinity Edition Gamma X Action Figure


Four Horsemen Outer Space Men Infinity Edition Gamma X Action FigureBack in May of 2010, I was blown away when I saw the announcement that not only would I be getting some Outer Space Men figures, but they'd be 3 3/4-inch scale, Glyos compatible, fully-poseable, and made by the Four Horsemen. That first batch was glorious - each figure was well made, freely able to stand or sit and everything just plain worked. Figures could sit in vehicles, the glow-in-the-dark figure glowed quite well, and they were a very reasonable $10 each - despite being super-low-run figures. A few years on, edition sizes of 200 struggled to sell out and by the time we got to Gamma X, it feels we just limped over the finish line to update the classic Mel Birnkrant action figure property. Some were good - Colossus Rex, for example, was an exceptional figure and arguably the apex of what Glyos compatibility has given us - but as the line went on, each year we saw new problems. Figures may tumble off your desk due to weak hip joints, or they couldn't quite sit, or in the case of Gamma X... I've got a lot of complaints.
[ READ THE FULL REVIEW ]

Saturday, June 7, 2014

Review: Four Horsemen Outer Space Men Infinity Edition Horroscope Action Figure


Four Horsemen Outer Space Men Infinity Edition Horroscope Action FigureThe inspiration for Horroscope started as one of many original designs over the years, the name of which came from an old movie monster projector toy. (It's true, I asked!) Sketches of the character originally started out as an alternate head for Xodiac, but instead ended up has his daughter. Building on Terra Firma's parts, Horroscope has a unique chest not yet used on any other figure - note the lack of the flat surface used to mount a helmet. Her accessories are cleverly repurposed from Xodiac, and her new 2-part head was designed quite nicely. This is a keeper. 
[ READ THE FULL REVIEW ]