Category Archives: SpartanNerd Toy Photography

No Data Centers in Spartanburg County-SpartanNerd Protest!

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PICTURED: Masterverse New Eternia Whiplash, Super7 Ultimates Battle of the Mounds Conan the Barbarian, Figura Obscura The Mouse King, Masterverse New Eternia Evil Lyn, Masters of the Universe Classics Battle Cat, Masterverse Battle Armor He-Man (kitbash) , and Masterverse New Eternia Snout Spout. All will be featured protesting in this entry. (If I have a posted link, you can click to see the review of the figure!)

The SpartanNerd hasn’t been one to protest historically. But when they are building a hyper-scale AI Data Centers a mile from his house…a data center that the community didn’t approve of and didn’t want…but the county council allowed to pass in under the radar…here is a reason to protest. I have attended two of these outdoor walk-around-with-a-sign events and also a “town hall” that seemed to be lip service only…voices were not heard. I have found a real mix of political differences, etc. But none of us want this. It is truly bipartisan…actually multi-partisan when you talk to these people. Everyone is concerned about multiple problems that will come up. So with a little help from my friends…

He-Man and Battle Cat lead this protest at the Nerd Fortress.

NO DATA CENTER IN SPARTANBURG COUNTY

We didn’t ask for it or want it. The old “Kohler” plant…yes it has been a useless empty building for awhile, and that is bad. BUT permits to put a large AI Data Centers here were all approved behind closed doors in county council meetings. They have not been transparent and are obviously receiving kickbacks. People did not know about it…and it seems to have been designed that way. They have clear-cut the trees all around the property, have tons of earth moving equipment there doing things…and other large equipment. Everyday an army of workers are there, including some that arrive in a retired school bus. And the police are out there directing traffic on Pine Street for this giant nuisance of an eyesore. One of my children asks a question…”Did they think about the wildlife in the nearby Croft State Park?” NOPE. It’s all about the money. (The SpartanChildren are actually adults now with VALID OPINIONS!)

COUNTY COUNCIL LIED

The Mouse King (I actually see more of a rat than a mouse) is reminding us about sins of COMMISSION and sins of OMMISSION. There is some of both going on here.

If you are not transparent to your constituents and your community, you are in fact lying. If you stand up and tell people it isn’t a data center, and behold…it is a data center…then you are an abject liar.

There is a feeling among the community members actively moving against this data center that the “elite” in Spartanburg don’t really care about us in the county. They are “detached” from it because they don’t live in the suburban/rural area we live in, and so they don’t even care about how bad it will be for our community.

AI IS EVIL

Arnold Schwarzenegger as Conan the Barbarian. Yelling like a crazy man. Because he’s pretty mad. (I wonder if the actual Govenator would be against this?)

AI…not to insult your intelligence, reader…but Artificial Intelligence is showing up everywhere. I have seen these tools and been told to use them at work. It is showing up in search results without me asking…in things like Microsoft Word and even WordPress that I write this blog on. But I am frankly a lot scared about it. It turns out that basically all of us are using it whether we agree with it or not. You can’t just “turn it off” if it is baked into something like Windows or MacOS. (Have you tried a Google search lately? It feeds you an AI answer before showing you the search results.)

These convenience issues aren’t the real issue in my opinion besides the fact that it is a “tool” that is everywhere. It is that AI “regurgitates” stuff that was actually created by humans. I work in the arts. When I studied for my Masters in Music Education, I took a class about experimental music. One of the things actually invented in the 1980s was a computer that had every measure of Mozart programmed into it. It could then create new music by Mozart. This was done for several other composers like Vivaldi also. As a part of the class, I played some fake Vivaldi and some real Vivaldi for my wife to see if she could tell which was real…she couldn’t…

Nowadays we have Johnny Cash singing Barbie Girl through the power of AI. Does anyone think He would be OK with that? I’m not. BUT…It is the future we have to think of. Are our children ever going to know what real rock, country, rap, gospel, or really any kind of music is? Something like Gorillaz or K-POP Demon Hunters is already a fictitious band. AI is just another step towards removing the soul from what used to be creative activities that were exclusively human.

One of my children has another contention with AI. It is PLAGIARISM. AI could listen to SpartanNerd’s album PREACH! And then someone else could virtually use my chops. I would never know!

KNOW MORE (No Data Centers)

Evil-Lyn reminds us that in order to have power, we have to know more. We need to be informed about how bad the AI data center will be for our community.

I haven’t heard a single positive thing about this data center. From the beginning of it happening to last weekend’s march. Do the people behind it not have anything positive to contribute? Do they know that the points I am about to make are TRUE?

Power consumption– It was said that the AI Data Center would only use 48 Megawatts. Last month the company applied for hundreds more.

Snout Spout and Brainy Smurf (on a vintage glass!) remind us that water is a finite resource.

Wasting water- The data center will have to be cooled using water. At one of the “town hall” meetings it was insisted that the data center would use a “closed system”…something like a car radiator uses. It was also said to use the same amount of water as a large Home Depot. This was a complete and utter lie! Already it is apparent that the area they are digging out, etc is much larger than a Home Depot or similar big box store.

This turns out to be another lie!

Noise pollution- There are going to be massive TURBINES running this data center! At first it was said to be something like 4 turbines. Now it is something like 14. Running 24/7. There is a train overpass about a mile up the road. I can hear it pretty clearly some days and times. I guess it depends on the weather, the train, and other variables. This data center is going to be pumping out noise pollution like that CONSTANTLY.

Light Pollution– I remember standing in my yard a couple of Thanksgivings ago with my brother discussing the world. It was a new moon or at least it seemed to be moonless…and the stars were so clear. You don’t have to get much closer to the city to lose that. But the data center is bringing the light pollution to us. I would like my pretty sky back, please!

What’s in a name- This company has changed the name of the project several times evidently. (It was called project Spero at one time). And these data centers are popping up all over the county, and one that the community fought has moved just down a little ways to Union county. Why do we need these things? Are they adding anything to anyone’s life? Someone might say “It is creating jobs.” Evidently not. Somewhere between 20 and 50 jobs. And the nature of what it is means that it might start with a larger number, but it will definitely streamline as AI becomes stronger so that there will be less workers needed to keep the servers and drives running. If there were good things for our communities, why aren’t the companies aggressively sharing that? I tell you why…they know it is bad. Did you know that they store spent nuclear fuel in South Carolina? It is like we aren’t valuable or something and politicians and companies just use us as a dumping ground. The brand new and sudden AI data center problem in South Carolina is the latest example.

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

Go to the protests. Write your congressmen or county council person. Or even better talk to them face-to-face. Show up at the marches. Go to the “town halls” and hope they aren’t just empty pageantry. VOTE! It looks like almost every County Council officeholder has voted for this thing to happen, and the community doesn’t want it. So we will vote them out! There’s also money pulling the strings if you look hard at the issues. I have made it a point not to name any real names (and I am using action figures!). But they are on Facebook. It is a large presence in the group “No AI Data Centers in Spartanburg County.” You should go there and get involved!

GI Joe Classified Beach Head (Retro Cardback)

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See Reviews of Zarana, Jinx, Tunnel Rat, and Law and Order at SpartanNerd.com

See the video review of this product here

I am on a roll picking up the Rawhides subgroup of GI Joes from the 1987 movie. I have Jinx, Tunnel Rat, Law and Order, and now their drill sergeant, Beach Head. (I need to get Lt. Falcon, Big Lob, and Chuckles, if anyone is counting).

I saw this Retro Cardback Beach Head at LT Toys in Columbia SC, and decided it was the perfect time to get one of the GI Joe Classified Series Retro Cardback figures.

As this is my first one, lets take a hard look at the package, which should be a bigger deal than the normal Classified Series stuff.

I mean…it looks like a toy from the 1980’s in modern collectors sensibilities. I have seen a few of these warming the pegs at Walmart…usually Cover Girl or Scarlett. I don’t know why the lady figures don’t sell so well? I seem to enjoy quite a few over the past couple of years. Back to Beach Head, you have a nice illustration with the classic explosion behind him. You can see the figure very well in his bluster bubble, as well as all of his accessories. Really…holding this in hand also brings back some memories. Let’s flip it over…

On the surface, it looks like a cardback from the 1980’s, but dig a little bit to see some differences. There is cross sell art, which is similar, but I don’t know who these characters are, and it doesn’t say who. The bio takes up most of the cardback, and I remember being a kid and cutting these out, only for them to usually get thrown away probably by my mom. She was generally against us having GI Joes by the way. Terrified of guns or that we would join the army. I have an uncle who almost made it to general, and so there we go…another draw towards the military that I am pretty sure scared her to death. I never joined up, but I strongly considered after 9/11. However, my son did go into the infantry, and worries US to death.

Back to the cardback…this bio barely gives us any information. Instead, we get a little bit in five languages. I absolutely think they should print this for other languages…that isn’t what I am saying. I wish a more fleshed out bio wasn’t sacrificed for the real estate on this card it takes to print five languages. (If they did print a different card for each language, that is even more incentive for people to chase down the variants…just saying!)

I love this package enough to keep the cardback. Important to note, it isn’t a collector’s friendly package. I used a pocket knife to cut the blister off without damaging the card. I saw where it is possible to use a hairdryer. I’ll keep the card with any others I pick up and keep using it as a diorama for YouTube videos, etc.

WHAT DO WE GET IN THE PACKAGE?

  • Beach Head Figure
  • Backpack
  • Bandolier
  • Pair of daggers
  • Crossbow
  • Pair of tear gas grenades
  • Pistol with silencer
  • Submachine gun (Demro XF-7 Wasp?)
  • Figure Stand

I kind of thought the retro-cardback style was another way to sell the core characters to nostalgia chasers, and use less plastic (parts and accessories). But that doesn’t seem to be the case with Beach Head. This is pretty much the exact same thing I would have expected from the more classic Classified Series packaging.

FIGURE REVIEW

PICTURED: GI Joe Classified Series Cobra Commander and Retro Cardback Beach Head

Beach Head has all of the same articulation you would expect. BUT my example has a stiff right knee that has a top joint that doesn’t want to move. I used the hair dryer and got it to go, but it is still very stiff. Otherwise he has a ball-jointed head on a posable neck, butterfly joints on the shoulders, bicep swivels, double jointed elbows, swivel wrists with rubbery hands. Ab crunch, waist twist, ball jointed hips, double jointed knees, boot cut shins, rocker ankles. Everything you would expect from a Classified Series figure.

Beach Head is wearing what I would describe as riot gear, however he is clearly an Army Ranger. He has this rubber flack jacket and ammo utility belt. There are red details on the shoulders which I believe are padding because of the weight of this armor and backpack, but it also could be some kind of storage. He has a poster for his pistol, which has a silencer also. There are sheaths for his two daggers…this is very welcome considering that Law and Order didn’t come with a sheath. He doesn’t have a proper way of storing the crossbow or machine gun on his armor.

His sculpt is very good. Mostly this is a uniform sculpt, like the recent Jinx figure I reviewed. You aren’t seeing a lot of human figure, but instead are seeing the costume. In the case of Beach Head, his most iconic look is this look. Military uniform from head to toe, always wearing a ski mask. But it is a great sculpt. You can see the elastic details on his shirt, the ridges on his mask, and the pants look like natural pants. (These have been used before…Sergeant Slaughter has the same pants and deco)

The paint is an area I thought this retro cardback figure might skimp on. It’s true that the accessories could use more paint, but the figure doesn’t seem to have suffered. All of the paint on this figure is well done. There is some of the “molded in colored plastic” effect that does some of the work.

Beach Head inspects the Rawhides. PICTURED: GI Joe Classified Series Jinx, Law, and Tunnel Rat. MIA Lt. Falcon, Big Lob, and Chuckles. I have a feeling I will be getting Big Lob soon…

You can see in the above photo that Beach Head, being from the Retro Cardback, isn’t the least bit worse than the other three.

ACCESSORIES

Beach Head is absolutely loaded. I believe his best accessory is the submachine gun. BUT…it needs more paint apps. It’s true that it captures what the vintage figure came with. But like I said before, it is in the accessories where the paint apps are lacking. This machine gun has a muzzle break and a magazine, both removable. And his hands are very rubbery, allowing you to pose him holding it without problems. Notable, this figure did not come with alternate hands like so many others, but these rubbery hands are a good workaround. This gun, reportedly a Demro FX-7 Wasp, isn’t normally military. I looked it up, and it was possibly used in Vietnam, where actually American military issued weapons were not allowed. But in general, this is more of a police weapon.

PICTURED: All GI Joe Classified Series figures. Cold Slither (Dreadnoks Zartan, Buzzer, Torch, and Ripper), Zarana, and GI Joe Beach Head.

His pistol is average for GI Joe. The bandolier…I am told that this pouch thing he is holding is just that. It holds three ammo cans. You can attach the tear gas grenades to it also. his backpack appears to have the arrows for the crossbow sculpted in. Internet research says that this backpack has a mine detector.

PICTURED: Turtles of Grayskull Skull-Shredder vs. GI Joe Classified Shooter and Beach Head. It looks like they have him with their pistols, but we all know it won’t be that simple…Also pictured my favorite cover of Turtles of Grayskull #1 and the most recent Energon Universe GI Joe story, where the Joes recruit Roadblock. (was that a spoiler?)

SPARTANNERD RATING OF GI JOE CLASSIFIED RETRO CARDBACK BEACH HEAD

  • Sculpt- Point
  • Paint- Point
  • Accessories- Point
  • Articulation- Taking a point off because of his knee issues
  • the feels point- You know it!

Yeah, Beach Head gets the feels point all day because of that special scene in the 1987 GI Joe movie. I recently watched it again just because that movie is awesome…I had it on Beta Max when I was a little kid and watched this movie all of the time…easily once a week. But the best scene in the movie isn’t Nemesis Enforcer, or even the opening music video (though that is undeniably awesome). It is the scene between Jinx and Beach Head. And I am going to write my feelings right now, and you’ll know why I needed Beach Head so much, and also why he gets the Feels Point, even though the SpartanNerd is a Cobra fan.

First of all, Beach Head is inspecting the new recruits, dubbed Rawhides. These are six new bodies being injected into GI Joe by Hasbro, but I digress. Beach Head gives them a looking over and blah, blah, blah Lt. Falcon is AWOL. Jinx is among them. Beach Head trains Big Lob and Tunnel Rat, but then meets Jinx in her training area, which looks kind of ninja-cabin-ish. She is working her katas or something. Here he accuses her of being bad luck, and then she makes a kissy face at him. He doesn’t like this at all, and proceeds to beat her up and then using the gladiator pole shoved in her face says “$#1+ ! Pathetic!” Yep. On a straight to TV movie. I would normally not like this except for what happens next.

As Beach Head begins to leave, she puts on her blindfold and breaks the training pole in two, then beats Beach Head down.

And there you have it. Beach Head gets the feels point. There has never been a time when this movie was on that I didn’t stop what I was doing…almost like saying the Pledge of Allegiance, and just take it in.

So I award GI Joe Classified Series Retro Cardback Beach Head a 4/5. He only loses a point because of his knee problem, but I guess the SpartanNerd loses that point also!

Do you agree or disagree, Hub City Geeks? Let me know in the comments!

SpartanNerd Cabin Fever-Cold Slither Concert Time

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See yesterday’s action figure photography post about the snow here.

An icicle spike, right at my tire.

Yeah…I’m going even more koo-koo crazy today…but at least I got out and drove to Walmart…it was dangerous at least on the way there. You have to worry about other drivers being nuts…I know I drive real slow over sheets of ice, while the cars pile up behind me. What is the hurry anyway? To slide off the road and crash into a tree?

My GI Joe Classified Series shelf has been in disarray, so I decided to use some of my boredom to fix it up. I thought I would make the Cold Slither look like the cover of the comic. So I cut the box up…(it was hard to bring myself to do that) and then got to setting them up.

My copy of the Cold Slither one shot by Tim Seeley. Seeley is more known for his work on Masters of the Universe.

You can pose them pretty close to the pose on the art. Unfortunately, their hair is too stiff to pose it like a fan is blowing it or something. (Once I saw Diamante in concert. She literally has fans on the edge of the stage to blow her incredible hair!) Torch is only barely balanced in that crouched pose. I added a little color filter to make it a little more in line with the comics colors. I glued some dice to the amplifiers to make them stand…they aren’t in the comic cover, but I can’t do the comic cover perfect anyway. The figures to a good job of standing like it, though.

Well, the Cold Slither concert went great. They played all the classics, plus a cover of “Am I Evil.” What was happening at the back of the venue?

Looks like Sgt. Slaughter led the Night Force to arrest Cobra Commander and Gnawgahyde. Cobra Commander was just trying to pay his bouncer, and then here come the Joes just messing things up. (I grew up typically a Cobra guy).

That packaging is so good, this back-of-the box really captures this seedy place where Cold Slither would hold a concert. I added kind of a smoky filter to make it even better.

Links to reviews of the figures above

Sgt Slaughter

Shooter and Tunnel Rat

Law and Order

Gnawgahyde, Porkbelly, and Yobbo

I never did a review of Cobra Commander. By the way, he is one of the most commonly seen GI Joe Classified figures. I believe they “over printed” him.

Origins Sharella-SpartanNerd Unboxing and Review

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Who? I kept getting e-mails from Mattel Creations about this “exclusive” Club Grayskull figure. But then I was like…”Why would I get this? Who even is Sharella?”

The story continues. In December I went to some different nerdy stores, and one of them had Sharella for sale to a good cause. (The overpriced-ness caught me first, until I saw the tiny words “for charity”). Anyway, this was my actual first in-person look at Sharella, and I was like “NOPE, she’s wayyy to small.” To be fair, all of Mattel’s photos don’t give us references for how big she actually is. Then, for Christmas I was gifted some Origins figures, including Cartoon Collection Catra, and my attitude about Origins began to shift a little. And then after Christmas, the end-of-the-year sales…Sharella was only $12. I was ordering Turtles of Grayskull Skele-Shredder anyway, (to go with Stealth Ninja He-Man,) so I tacked on the purchase of Sharella.

So was she worth the $12?

PACKAGING

(Note: Most of these images are screenshots from the YouTube review I recorded for a few weeks ago)

Sharella came in this excellent window box, where you can see her prominently. It has a stiff bubble, surrounded by a sort-of crystal skull motif. Her byline, which I just now noticed all this time later, is “Heroic Tribal Chieftress!” The words Masters of the Universe The Powers of Grayskull are a prominent title feature. For anyone who doesn’t know (most of my readers and viewers probably will,) Powers of Grayskull was the failed-to-launch sequel series to the original vintage He-Man and She-Ra lines. You might remember dinosaur vehicles (as a kid I had Tyrantisaurus and Bionatops, these were to be part of that line)…There was a whole plan to make a new He-Man line based around the most powerful wizard in the universe, He-Ro. This line was far enough along for promotional material to be published in catalogs, and ever since people have been asking about it. Mattel has milked this demand, making a few He-Ro figures as well as his mentor Eldor. Sharella seems to be entirely new, however. So now Mattel is leaning into creating a new story for apparently adult collectors. (Club Grayskull is a subscription…you won’t find Sharella on the shelf at Walmart or Target.)

The back shows an awesome scene.

Now this is a great piece of art by Axel Giminez, one of those Masters of the Universe Classics era artists. Sharella looks muscular and powerful. She is aiming at a moving target, The Great Black Wizard. This, as well as the snake boss on the ground level, is a completely new character. So Sharella is kind of like Teela, The Great Black Wizard is kind of like Skeletor, and the snake pharaoh guy is kind of like King Hiss. The setting here appears to be either Snake Mountain or the Fright Zone.

Right now as I type this, The Great Black Wizard is on sale at Club Grayskull. He looks awesome! But I believe he serves the same purpose as Skele-Shredder, so I won’t be picking him up.

The sides of the box also feature beautiful illustrations.

FIGURE REVIEW

What do you get in the box?

  • Mini Comic “She-Warrior”
  • Sharella figure
  • belt with attached quiver
  • bow
  • arrow

Right away I had a problem. The mini comic was packed in plastic, of course. Nonetheless, the corner was stuck in the little slot you can see on the energy burst in the photo of Sharella below. It is permanently bent…I have had it under weight to try and fix it. Nope. Such is the way of comics. If I was a Mint-on-card collector, this wouldn’t matter though would it? I would never know. But as someone who opens up his stuff, this gets to be a downside for me.

As soon as I removed the figure from the blister I dropped the arrow and actually wasn’t even aware. After posing her for a little while that was when I realized it had fallen in the floor.

Upon trying to take her head off and swap it with Catra for the first time, her torso came apart, and so I went ahead and set her out like this for the “what do you get in the box” photo. She comes apart very easily, but not too easily. I am not complaining.

Origins Cartoon Collection Catra and Masters of the Universe Classics Teela (kit bash) are both taller than Sharella.

Sharella can be posed any way you would like that a typical Origins female can do…in other words exactly the same as Catra. Ball joint head, swivel shoulders, bicep cuts, elbow hinges, swivel wrists, torso twist, ball-on-peg hips, hinged knees (which are unsightly), boot cut, rocker ankles.

Her sculpt is nice, and as a a mostly bare female figure you can see her lack of ab muscles (as opposed to her artwork.). Just a regular skinny belly. I know someone is wondering… is the top removable? Yes 🙂 (She is more modest than the above Teela…it says ages 8+ people). It is hard to get the rubbery piece off, and even harder to get back on. You have to remove her head and her arms, as well as have the torso off of the waist.

Check the images below of the classic Conan-carrying-a-lady pose. Let me know which Conan figure wins…Masters of the Universe Classics Vikor or Mythic Legions Legendary Barbarian? Vikor is notably receiving love from the just released Masters of the Universe movie trailer. (My reference photo was Dark Horse Conan the Cimmerian #2).

Vikor has really big bicep muscles, and this keeps him from gripping her good. He has a horned helmet also mucking up the image. I had the most trouble catching this shot before he fell over.
The Legendary Barbarian isn’t quite as Arnold-ish. He can’t hold her as high up as she needs to be, and do you notice that I have wedged her foot against his boot? I wonder if there is a barefoot Origins female out there to swap Sharella’s legs with.

ACCESSORIES

Oh boy. Here is the big problem.

The bow looks good, but just like every other archer character I have, she can’t look right knocking an arrow.

PICTURED: Origins Sharella, Mythic Legions Xylernian Guard, and Super7 Ultimates! Thulsa Doom. I have a few others, but none of can pose with a bow and arrow correctly. I took a box cutter to Xylerian guard’s fingers, but his arrow isn’t long enough. Thulsa Doom is the same body sculpt as Vikor underneath that costume. (Super7 Ultimates! are actually MOTUC 5.0 figures). So his biceps keep it from happening.

I already mentioned how I just about lost that arrow. It is very thin…think about that thin plastic they use to strap figures into packages. The kind of stuff you hand a price tag on a piece of clothes with. Super thin stuff. As such, it is bent and there won’t be any repairing that. It came out of the box that way, and using a hair dryer won’t do anything but make it gummy and even more floppy.

All of Mattel’s promotional material show her aiming the bow and arrow and looking good doing it. I would rather have a bow-and-arrow sculpted and painted together, pre-posed, out of stiffer plastic than this. That is what I would rather have. They could have given us that AND a non-posed bow. But this is what we got.

Besides this, Sharella could really use a spear. How hard would that have been to include?

SPARTANNERD RATING OF Origins Sharella

PICTURED: Mythic Legions Boreus ridden by equestrian Origins Sharella. She is armed with GI Joe Classified Series Law and Order’s dagger. She might as well use it…he didn’t come with a sheath and she doesn’t look right with her accessory!

Sharella looks great, and this is her main job. She is a good bit shorter than any of my other female barbarians…actually even shorter than GI Joe Classified Shooter. But as a female figure in Origins scale, she does this job well.

I wish she came with more accessories, but she comes with what is apparently “on par” with other Origins figures. Her packaging looks great and kind of offsets her low accessory count. (But how hard would it have been to give her a spear?)

BUT…the difficulty of getting her into archery poses is a problem. I mean…this is WHO SHE IS. All of Mattel’s promotional photos show her knocking an arrow and aiming. Sadly, this doesn’t really work. The bow is sculpted and painted well, but the action doesn’t work, and this is where a point has to be taken off.

The SpartanNerd rates Mattel Creations Origins Sharella 4/5. I expect one day we might have a Masterverse figure of this, and I will definitely get that if they release it. Hopefully they learn from their missteps about the bow and arrow system.

G.I. Joe Classified Law and Order – SpartanNerd unboxing and Review

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See the video review at my YouTube channel here!

As a longtime G.I. Joe fan and now the owner of a real-life German Shepherd, this Classified called my name throughout December. Between nostalgia from the G.I. Joe movie and modern Classified Series design, Law and Order was exactly what the SpartanNerd wanted with some of his Christmas money.

(What I really spent it on was Heatboys TMNT Donatello…you’ll have to wait for that review to drop…let’s just say SOLID 5/5!)

Packaging

Law and Order came in the typical GI Joe Classified Series window box. The last two Classifieds I reviewed came in that dumb windowless box. But I’m not sure they could sell this figure without such a good window where you can especially see the K9 dog.

The side has artwork similar to other GI Joe Classified series figures. I will be removing this and adding it to my diorama.

The back features a photoshop scene from the 1987 GI Joe movie. Law was one of Beach Head’s new recruits in training. Beach Head sent him in to a mockup town to find a bomb. But what Beach Head didn’t know was that Law was going to cheat, calling in Order to help. Order finds the bomb right away and brings it to Beach Head, but wants to play tug-of-war with it. Law gets it away and throws it, where it explodes away from the town. And then Beach Head says a famous line, (but doesn’t cuss this time), “I hope you both get fleas!”

Too bad the figure didn’t come with a bomb accessory. I kind of hoped that I just couldn’t see it in the package, but nope. There would be no hiding it with this window, and there was no surprise bomb this time. (Jokey Smurf reference!)

Of course, the other side of the box is useless, containing the coded bio symbols and a QR code that links to Hasbro’s main site.

What Do You Get in the Box?

  • Law action figure
  • German Shepherd K9 figure “Order”
  • Order has a K9 helmet and, collar, and harness
  • Multiple interchangeable hands
  • Alternate snarling dog head
  • Removable hat
  • Handcuffs
  • Nightstick (tonfa)
  • Uzi submachine gun
  • Pistol
  • Dagger

I mention the K9 helmet, as it wasn’t clear that it was removable. (for all we know it could be hard-sculpted on.)

Articulation

Law

Law features the standard G.I. Joe Classified articulation we’ve come to expect: excellent range of motion at the head, shoulders, elbows, wrists, torso, hips, knees, and ankles.

His removable hat fits well, and his tactical vest appears removable with some effort, but I don’t feel the need to take it off. (There might be a glued seam under one arm. Sculpted details like the flashlight and body cam add realism, making Law feel like a true modern military police officer.

Order

Order can rotate his head and has a slight up and down on his neck joint. He has jointed knees and elbows, as well as ankles on some kind of joint that can be angled in any direction. His tail is also on a ball joint. His front and back legs have “splay” and he can stand very well. There is also a mid-body articulation (do we call this a “torso” on a dog?)

The mouth does not close—Order always has his tongue out in the default head sculpt—You can swap the head for a more menacing “snarling” look.

Accessories

We have a lot of similarities…We can remove our helmets, and have large scary pets! PICTURED: Masterverse New Eternia Battle Armor Skeletor and Panthor, and GI Joe Classified Series Law and Order. Both are posing with their helmet and pet.

The Uzi machine gun is painted green-on-black, and looks like real guns I have likely seen at shows or just around my son who was in the army. I don’t know hardly anything about guns, but this one looks very realistic.

PICTURED: Law leads some NPC GI Joes and Tunnel Rat, while busting Cold Slither. Notice Zartan is escaping! All GI Joe Classified Series figures.

Be careful with these handcuffs. They are made of the thinnest plastic. Honestly they feel like that plastic that Hasbro uses to tie figures into a blister card. Flimsy stuff. There isn’t a way to unlock them…they are permanently closed. If you want to put them on a figure you have to remove their hands.

My son says he believes this pistol is not styled after a real pistol. I tend to believe him…

PICTURED: Masterverse New Eternia Man-E-Faces and GI Joe Classified Law. Both showing off their fictitious pistols.

The knightstick is a nice piece, but I wish the flashlight wasn’t permanently attached to the belt. I know some real police, and these flashlights are also meant to be used as nightsticks if necessary.

The dagger…I never could find a place on the figure where this dagger was supposed to sheath to. This was some kind of oversight at the Hasbro I believe.

Order- OK. This isn’t an accessory if you ask me.

Mythic Legions Belualyth’s Chimera is OK to take apart…but I am not showing this heroic K9 disassembled.

No problem removing his helmet. It comes right off past the ears with a little force. BUT, in order to remove the harness…this is where there is a problem. There is no buckle or snap on this harness, instead you have to remove the head and neck (the neck doesn’t come off easy), and the two back legs.

It works, but it feels wrong—especially for younger collectors or anyone sensitive to pulling apart a dog figure. But he looks great without it on, and I prefer him not to wear it, though I know he is supposed to.

PICTURED: Super7 Ultimates! Snake Eyes Timber and Order. I have nine dogs. I see this scene every day.

Order is of a similar scale to Mythic Legions Belualyth’s Chimera skeleton pet, Super7 Ultimates! Snake Eyes Timber wolf companion, GI Joe Classified Series Gnawgahyde’s Porkbelly warthog is bigger, but I believe this is accurate. (In a fight, my money is on the Warthog)

PICTURED: GI Joe Classified Series Law and Order and also Porkbelly, Gnawgahyde’s pet warthog.

SpartanNerd Rating of GI Joe Classified Series Law and Order

Such a good boy…he has Cobra Commander’s gun!

I am rating GI Joe Classified Series Law and Order a 5/5. I award points for sculpt, paint, articulation, accessories, and “feels.” The set gets all of these, especially the feels point because I also now have a German Shepherd, but also because of my love for the 1980’s GI Joe movie. I believe I will be completing the “team” of Beach Head’s recruits, because now all I need are Beach Head, Jinx, Big Lob, and Lt. Falcon.


I rate GI Joe Classified Series Law and Order a 5/5. Do you agree or disagree? Do you have a German Shepherd of your own?


Let me know in the comments, and don’t forget to like, subscribe, and check out more GI Joe Classified Series reviews on SpartanNerd.com.

Mythic Legions Belualyth- SpartanNerd Review

by

5

The SpartanNerd has a ton of action figures…so much so that I no longer can comfortably display them all. And I have a lot of lady action figures also, with several Teela and Evil-Lyn figures among them. But until now I have had no Mythic Legions or Cosmic Legions ladies. Belualyth is my first one. So how did she turn out? Keep reading!

PACKAGING

Belualyth comes in the typical Mythic Legions box, but she is a deluxe figure, so this box is larger than the general standard figures. Think the same size as the box that the Ogre Scale Accessories came in. It is a large window that you can see the figure in very well.

On the side we get a little bio. Evidently Belualyth is big daddy evil skeleton god guy’s daughter. It also mentions the Turpiculi, a figure that I know I will get before the end of the year very likely. (Maybe more than one?)

On the back you can see that Turpiculi as well as other figures in this “wave.” You also see the big bads on the back. I don’t know enough about Mythic Legions Lore to tell you much more about them other than the skeleton god is “Necronominus,” who this wave is named after.

Don’t know who all these characters are. The guy with wings is definitely Poxxus…I saw his figure in a store. Necronominus is the flying skeleton god. I don’t know the other two. The cross sell is Necronominus, Belualyth, Turpiculi, and Undead Legion Builder.

WHAT DO YOU GET IN THE BOX?

Rather than take her out, I decided to get the top blister off. First of all, a little baggie came off of the backing card (that features the sort of generic D&D artwork that includes a dragon, some flames, and a demon). That baggie contained the additional hairpiece)

So going around the box clockwise

  • Birdcage with snake skeleton inside
  • Bird skeleton, probably a vulture
  • Alternate undead head with rotten nose
  • Belualyth figure
  • Shoulder pauldron with strap
  • Cage hanger
  • Bone saw
  • Alternate hands…gloved fist and ungloved fist for the other hands
  • Chimera skeleton pet
  • Witchy alternate hands
  • And also, alternate hairpiece

So Belualyth comes with a lot of pieces, and this was one of the big draws for me to get her. I have a ton of SpartanPets, and so I can relate well with her. If she is a good pet owner, then she is good people. (Maybe…)

Stop and think about all this. She didn’t cost that much! So WOW!

FIGURE REVIEW

Fully loaded!

Her sculpt and paint…we are talking about the Four Horsemen Studios. You know it is among the best in the business! There is a cloth skirt piece, and that belt hangs loosely there. Speaking of, that belt is one of the best pieces, featuring different animal skulls and a skelly hand. There is also a chain and a whip, and a pouch on the back for us to wonder what is in it. (The Four Horsemen are known to add these as details).

She is what is termed a “Mythic Legions 2.0” build, meaning she consists of smaller skinnier parts than say, Demistros, or the Gold Knight Legion Builder. The SpartanNerd has two such other figures…Undead of Vikenfell and Father Christmas. The addition to my collection then is the upper torso, which is obvious female.

She has very good articulation, with no real stupid problems. She stands well, even overnight on what I term to be a difficult surface to accomplish that on (Magic the Gathering playmat). Everything moves like you would expect, and the pieces are also modular like basically all mythic legions. (You can swap them with parts from other figures…be careful though. Use a hairdryer to soften the plastic).

I have never successfully removed the “normal” head from the neck to use the noseless head. Just saying…my example is on tight! I could do it if I really wanted to, but I don’t like that head. I prefer my ladies to have a nose, thank you! There are two hair pieces if you want to give her a different look. And I haven’t done it, but I can’t wait to try using the alternate wig on other action figures. (Maybe in October)

ACCESSORIES

It seems the pets are such an ingrained piece of the character I almost reviewed them in the above section!

Let’s start with the bird. It is stuck on the arm guard. If you have ever witnessed a falconer, then you know they have to use a tough piece of leather on their arm to protect themselves from razor sharp talons. It appears that Belualyth is worried about that, but unfortunately the bird doesn’t come off of that arm guard. You can’t have it stand any other way except by precariously balancing it on something like the tree in the snake cage. (We’ll get to that in a minute).

To get that bird on her arm, you don’t have to remove the forearm. At first I thought you had to, but I’m glad I came to my senses after looking at some photos of her online. Just remove the hand and slide it over the forearm bracer.

And now the snake in a birdcage. The cage comes apart, letting you get a better view of the skeletal snake and the tree perch inside. The snake is bendy, but I wouldn’t stress it too much. It seems to be a delicate piece and I would hate to break it. But you can wrap it around things or characters arms or whatever.

The pet tree can be used to prop the vulture, but it is a delicate and precarious process. It looks good in pictures though!

You can’t put the bird in the cage. And this is kind of a shame. The Four Horsemen missed an opportunity here if they had just designed the cage or the bird a little bit differently.

So about propping it on Belualyth’s back. I totally get why she would want to carry all these pets with her everywhere she goes!

Pearl
Love
Toby

The SpartanNerd has lots of pets, and he loves them so! AND his wife has a sticker on her Jeep…”There’s like a lot of dogs in here!” She takes her pets everywhere, and so why wouldn’t Belualyth do the same? I think this is why the character appealed so much to me.

So to get the birdcage on her back, you have to use this hanger that I discussed in the above section. And it snapped right in the spot on her back like it was supposed to twice, but then it was too loose. The Horsemen thought of this, and that is why the shoulder pauldron is different for this than what we usually get with say the knight characters. The strap is necessary to hold the piece to her back.

(I couldn’t tell what the shoulder pauldron even was until looking at photos on the store horsemen. It looked like it might go with the pets or something).

This strap is a tight fit, but totally necessary. And the pauldron keeps her from having the “cold shoulder.” Remember that talk about how good her balance is? This is crucial to having the character be displayed properly.

Now onto the biggest most obvious pet. The Chimera…originally I thought it was a Cerberus. But it actually only has two heads, but also the tail of a snake. It is about the size of a German Shepherd in comparison to Belualyth. The heads are some kind of tiger skull and antelope or cow skull. Both are on ball joints and could be used on other figures. AND that’s a double neckpiece that is removable and could go on another figure.

There is a leash that is permanently attached. Its four legs are articulated only at the shoulders and hips, and there is a slight splay on the back legs, but not much. The tail is a snake head. It seems to be a little bendy, but I wouldn’t push it too hard. It does have a swivel joint so you can move it some, but if you do it looks a little awkward at the joint where it breaks up the vertebrae sculpt. And I guess I need to mention this one other thing. When I reviewed Maxillius the Harvester, you can see that they have sculpted and painted blood wings and organs, etc into that figure. They didn’t do that here…for reasons of cost I’m sure. I’m just saying that for a customizer, there are some opportunities to improve the details between the ribs and around the joints. But the paint isn’t bad at all! I’m actually comparing a full price figure to what is an accessory!

PICTURED: Super7 Ultimates! Snake Eyes and Timber, and Mythic Legions Belualyth. They are giving belly rubs to their pets! The pets are doing the leg thing…

I could complain a little bit about the articulation and such on these pets in light of some other better articulated pets in competing lines, but she is an absolute Michael Jordan slam dunk of a figure. Where say the GI Joe Classified pets might be more articulated, the paint and sculpt on those isn’t as great.

PICTURED: Mythic Legions Belualyth with Chimera, bird, and pet snake in a cage, and GI Joe Classified Gnawgahyde with Porkbelly and Yobbo. Notice that both characters have their knives ready.

OH yeah! Almost forgot about the weapon. She comes with a bone saw, which is highly detailed. It is a bone saw made of bone…not creepy at all, right?! There is a razor end and a serrated piece. There are spikes on the backside of the hilt. In other words, Belualyth could really mess somebody up with this if they got past those pets.

SPARTANNERD RATING OF MYTHIC LEGIONS BELUALYTH

I just mentioned complaints. I really don’t have any except writing the name Belualyth is hard to spell and harder to type! Let’s break these points down

  • Sculpt- Awesome!
  • Paint- No slop here. she is a drab figure, and is painted wonderfully so in sickening hues of blue and with bronze patina. Her nails are black. Her eyes stare vacant.
  • Articulation- Terrific! The only hindrance comes when she is wearing the hairpiece and the cage. But you can work around these problems easily for display purposes. And no real stupid problems.
  • Accessories- Are you kidding me? Maxillius came with a lot of accessories…the Undead of Vikenfell came with a lot. The undead builder pack basically IS accessories. But Belualyth has managed to just about outdo them because she came with three pets and a weapon.
  • The feels point- Well she adds a female Mythic Legions to my collection…that counts for something. But look how great she looks in my diorama of skeletons and undead guys. Yeah…she adds a lot.
All kinds of necromancy here. PICTURED: From left to right. Demistros, MASTERVERSE New Eternia Evil-Lyn, Undead Legion Builder, Maxillius the Harvester, Undead of Vikenfell, MASTERVERSE New Eternia Skeletor on the Havoc Throne, Skeleton Legion Builder, MASTERVERSE New Eternia Panthor, MASTERVSERSE Revelation Scare Glo, and Mythic Legions Belualyth

THE SPARTANNERD AWARDS THE MYTHIC LEGIONS BELUALYTH 5/5.

You might think I am going easy on her, considering that my recent review of MASTERVERSE New Eternia Teela was also a 5/5. But there really isn’t a comparison of the two. The MASTERVERSE figure was way cheaper and still hits the same sort of boxes that a 5/5 hits. This Mythic Legions among other Mythic Legions absolutely is a solid 5/5, compared to say Warrior Beasts Head Hunter.

Do you agree or disagree, Hub City Geeks? Let me know in the comments!