Matchbox: 2023 Collection, 017/100 - 1970 Ford Ranchero

1970 Ford Ranchero

Final Faction: Krepitus, Bounty Hunter (Kharn)

 

According to Krepitus' bio card, he is a bounty hunter, specifically in pursuit of Torn (who is now a part of Alpha Team 1). When I first found Krepitus at a local Dollar Tree store, I wasn't too keen on his appearance. I thought he looked a little goofy between his dreads and all the gold armor. Once I finally freed him from his plastic prison and got him in my hands it was only then that I came to appreciate his unique look. He looks more like a character ripped from the old Playmates Skeleton Warriors series than some sort of alien, but either way he's pretty creepy looking.

Krepitus features gold paint apps to all of his armor bits as well as his eyes and even his teeth. I'm guessing if he has gold teeth this his bounty hunting business has been good! His gold gauntlets each have a peg hole on the side for his included weapons. He features a hunched over look with the same insect type legs that many of the Kharn have. His feet are rather large as well which helps his stance.

Krepitus comes packaged with two neon green bladed weapons and his companion, Flea. One weapon looks more like a sword while the other looks like an axe. These simply plug into the holes in the sides of his gauntlets. I believe he can still wield most of the traditional Kharn guns that have been released with other figures or from the accessory packs.

At first I didn't know what this was that Krepitus came packaged with. I thought it was a removable piece of armor or maybe some sort of communication device, but nope, it's a small alien "companion". The amount of detailing put into this small piece is rather impressive, however that aren't any paint apps included on this piece.

If you've looking for a unique action figure look no further than Krepitus. He has a great design, decent paint apps and a nice weapons assortment included.

Final Faction: Diabol, General (Kharn)

 

General Diabol is the leader of the Kharn. Diabol is a bit beefier and heftier than most of the other Kharn figures released thus far. While most of the Kharn have darker blue hues, Diabol sports a pink body with maroon extremities. There is a light paint wash to the pink areas which helps bring out the detail sculpted into the figure, such as the partially exposed ribcage. On his back there are several large veins that crisscross each other. The arms sport some black painted "bands" around the biceps and forearm areas. The back of the shoulders have what appears to be large spikes of some sorts. His three fingered hands look pretty menacing as well. Although he doesn't come packaged with any weapons, he is able to wield most of the Kharn weapons that have been released thus far. His legs are shaped like that of an insect, however with his large feet he stands on his own very well.

Articulation wise it's minimal. The head can turn, although it's tight. You also have articulation at the each shoulder and at the hips. For a $1.25 price point you can't expect much, but in reality I think you get a lot for the minimal amount of money. A exclusive pack in weapon would have been nice, but I'm really not complaining. Diabol is a beefy, ugly, menacing looking alien warlord figure and is a great addition to any Final Faction collection.

Transformers: EarthSpark - Swindle (1-Step)

1-Step Changers aren't new within the Transformers family of toys, however I don't think I've ever bothered with them. They aren't exactly aimed at my age group (i.e. old) and the simplistic designs don't usually catch my eye. However I recently ran across Swindle, a figure I've yet to see at local retail. I've not watched any of the show so I had no idea the classic G1 Combaticon character was even in the show, let alone had a new toy. I have been curious however about these new EarthSpark 1-Step Changers so I figured, "why not"?

Swindle has traditionally been portrayed as a jeep, but this version is some sort of military vehicle. He does retain his traditional color scheme of a muted mustard yellow with black and purple highlights. Being of the lower price point, paint apps are limited. The windshield is painted teal, but the side windows remain unpainted. The grill and front bumper are painted black and purple respectively. The rear of the vehicle is unpainted gray plastic.

Before I move on I wanted to point out one flaw of this toy. If you look at the front grill you'll see that it's split in two and there is already a small gap. This is part of the transformation and I'm afraid that the more this toy is played with/transformed the gap in the grill will just get worse.

I wasn't sure what to expect, but once I freed this toy from it's plastic free packaging I was impressed...in simple way. There aren't a lot of frills here, but the vehicle form seems pretty solid, it rolls well on a smooth surface and despite the front not holding together super tight it's still a decent vehicle.

This being a one step transformation, you simple grab the cab of the vehicle and pull it back to trigger the transformation into robot mode. When you're ready to go from robot to vehicle, just simple drop the robot forward and watch it transform before your eyes. Simple, gimmicky, but still little satisfying. I can see kids really enjoying these because they don't have to worry about figuring out how to go from one form to another, rather they can just play with their toy.

The robot mode is where this toy shines. Swindle has a great head sculpt and while it's not a 1:1 with his original G1 self, it still looks like Swindle. The robot mode is lacking a Decepticon symbol, but I believe I've from some Toy Hax labels lying around somewhere I can use to spruce him up a bit. 

Paint apps are again limited. His face is painted white and the crest on his head is purple. His chest has a few places that use the same teal paint as the vehicle windows. Everything else is molded plastic. Being a simple toy, articulation is basically non-existent. His head, arms and legs are in a fix position so don't purchase this thinking you'll be able to snap pictures in dynamic poses. It's basically a small brick, but that's part of it's charm. Growing up in the G1 era I also don't mind bricks!

I'm not sure if I'd buy another one of these 1-Step toys or not, but sometimes curiosity just gets the best of you and you have to try something different. I believe Swindle is part of the 2nd wave and as of this post is just now hitting retail shelves and I'm sure online retailers as well.

 

Matchbox: Jurassic World Dominion - '86 Ford F-150 Truck

 

'86 Ford F-150 Truck

While I'm more of a Chevy guy, I can appreciate this old square body style pick up truck. I believe this is a brand new mold, which makes it that much more special. The truck made a short appearance at the beginning of the Jurassic World Dominion movie, belonging to Chris Pratt's character. Because of this it has a very basic design, unlock the previous truck from this series we looked at. All metal body with a chromed chassis, this is a solid truck. I do expect Mattel to get their use out of this mold and I for one will be buying additional versions.

Matchbox: Jurassic World Dominion - '15 Chevy Silverado

'15 Chevy Silverado

While I'm not crazy about the deco, this is a beautiful casting and too good to pass up. I don't mind the splattered mud and the brown tires/wheels, but I could have done without the dinosaur motif and the scratches. Even with all the side deco, Mattel still managed to find it within their budget to apply detail to the front and rear of the vehicle as well. I am holding out hope we see this mold in a future wave or mainline series as even this version wasn't the easiest to track down at retail.

Hot Wheels: 2022 Mystery Models Series 3, #1 - '16 Bugatti Chiron (super chase)

'16 Bugatti Chiron (super chase)

A new series of Hot Wheels Mystery Models means it's time to go hunting again! I was lucky that the very first gravity feeder boxes I found at a Walmart were still sealed, so I knew what I was hunting for would be in there and it was just a matter of identifying them. If you aren't familiar with these, they come packaged in a plastic wrapper. There is a clear circle in the bottom right corner of the package where you can see a very small portion of the vehicle inside. If you know the color of the vehicle or the wheel design, it's not too hard to find what you're looking for. The super chase car comes one per case, which is two gravity feeder boxes.

I'm not super big on the Bugatti brand, only really becoming to know a little about the automobile maker thanks to the (horrible) live action Transformers movies where one of the Autobots took the form of a Bugatti Chiron. None the less, I sought out the super case and once I got it in hand I've come to appreciate it's beauty. The combination of the matte black body w/ the bronze trim looks fantastic and was worth searching all of those blind packaged bags!