Matchbox Monday: 2019 #050/100 '17 Ford Skyjacker Superduty F-350

From the 2019 series, '17 Ford Skyjacker Superduty F-350 is part of the MBX Rescue subseries.

I'm more of a Chevy guy...always have and always will be, but this is a nice truck. The fact that is part of the Police theme is just icing on the cake. For a basic model this one has a lot of paint apps and they look great...from the starts across the side to the police emblem on the hood of the truck. While the rear lights received paint, the front grill sadly did not. Expectedly, the tires used are big and chunky. The blue chrome stripe around the wheels looks fantastic against the metallic silver used on the body. 

Matchbox Monday: 2020 #027/100 International Armored Truck

From the 2020 series, International Armored Truck is part of the MBX City subseries.

I've always found armored trucks to be fascinating so when I saw this truck hanging on the pegs I knew I had to pick it up. While I would have preferred a different deco from the Mattel Federal Credit Union, this is still a very solid release. While the body of the truck is plastic, the undercarriage is die-cast metal. There is a great deal of detail molded in, but with the paint apps on the side it means that the front and rear of the vehicle have to do without paint. It's a shame as the grill would look great with some paint apps. The tires and wheels look fantastic, probably one of my favorite combinations.

American Gladiators: Zap

 

American Gladiators was a game show on ABC that debuted and 1989 and lasted for 7 seasons. While I loved watching the show as a kid, never did I wish for toys of the Gladiators. However Mattel did make a series of toys including playsets. I have no idea how I ended up with this figure, but I thought before it went into the donate pile, I'd snap a few quick pictures and create a post...so here we are!

The red blister card has an image of the Gladiator, Zap in this instance, along with a large American Gladiators logo. The figure and the jousting accessories are clearly shown behind the detached bubble. You can see the bubble has yellowed due to it's age (and probably the way it was stored all these years).

The back of the card features a cross sell of the other figures and playsets produced. The only set that looks remotely interesting to me is the Gladiator Assault...that was always my favorite "game" from the show.

I can't imagine this line sold very well...just look at this figure. I never thought Zap was all that attractive Gladiator, but this toy does not help her case. The face sculpt is horrible and with almost zero articulation the figure is stuck in this awkward squat position and to top it off the plastic used leaves a lot to be desired.

One you gear up the figure it's not much better. Granted the figure holds the jousting stick OK, how much fun you really have with this figure? I don't know, maybe back in 1991 when this figure was released it was more relevant and kids had fun with these, but I just don't see the appeal.

Transformers War for Cybertron - Kingdom: Huffer

 

My beloved whiny orange and blue semi truck minibot from Generation 1 is finally back and sporting a brand new look. Huffer has not had a decent new mold in quite some time so I was thrilled to hear that he would be getting the deluxe treatment as part of the Transformers War for Cybertron: Kingdom series.

Huffer comes packaged in the now standard WFC type blister box similar to the Siege and Earthrise. There is a small window on the front that allows you to see the figure inside while the rest of the box is covered in some absolutely gorgeous artwork. The back of the box has two images of the figure, one for robot mode and one for vehicle mode. It lets the consumer know that in just 14 steps you can transform the figure between either mode.

Inside the package Huffer is packaged with his easy to follow instructions, a gun and claw type weapon.

I'm an thrilled with the overall look of Huffer. The designers did a great job at capturing his likeness from the old animated Sunbow television series, while still giving him a modern updated look. The colors and sculpting are spot on, even the head sculpt is fantastic. I should note that you can pull out the cab on his back a little to give his head and shoulders a little more clearance if you will. Most of the photos I took were of Huffer straight out of his packaging.

In the old show Huffer was always whining and didn't seem like much of a warrior, but this version if Huffer means business! Back in G1 the majority of the minibot characters weren't packaged with weapons so its nice to see that Huffer is finally well armed. This gun is rather big for a hand gun, so I'm imagining it as a more of a shotgun. He also comes packaged with a claw/shield that attaches to the side of his arm via a 5mm peg. Personally, I don't care for this piece so I'm glad you are able to stow it on the back of the truck's cab in robot mode if you'd like.

At first glance I loved the way his vehicle mode looked, however after messing around with the figure for a bit there are some aspects of the design that I'm not wild about. Certainly though it's an upgrade from past molds/versions of the character.

Taking a look at the front of the truck, the designers nailed the look of the grill, headlights and bumper. The translucent blue windows looks fantastic against the light orange of the body and silver accents. When we get to the rear of the truck is when my excitement starts to wane a little. The smokestacks/robot arms has always been tough to pull off and while these look OK, I'm just not crazy about the fists being exposed. So much of the robot kibble has been successfully tucked away, but the fists are just there. It's not a deal breaker, but I wish the fists could have folded into the smokestacks and been better concealed.

I also found the clearance in the front to be an issue as the wheels were really close to a gray piece that forms part of the shoulders in robot mode. I was able to work this loose a little to where the front wheels had a better range of movement. The back tail end of the truck was great with the "metal" plate for the trailer connection to the molded tail lights that are painted red. The silver wheels also look good, though the tires are pretty slim.

Huffer's gun separates into two halves and can be attached to the rear sides of his truck mode. Snap on the claw/shield to the trailer connector to complete the look. I for one can appreciate all of the accessories being self contained, but with these pieces attached Huffer looks more like a dump truck (even a certain Autobot Throttlebot).

It's comparison time! What good would it be if we didn't look at "new" Huffer alongside "old" Huffer? As you can see there is a quite a size difference between the two, but I always envisioned Huffer as being bigger than some of the other minibots like Bumblebee, Cliffjumper or Beachcomber. The head is obviously modeled after his animation model and not his G1 toy (thank you!) and the colors on Kingdom Huffer a little more muted than on his G1 self. Again, I think this is to match the animation model.

Studio Series Jazz is a fantastic toy, but I'm so backlogged that I doubt I'll get around to giving him his own review. If we're judging the height of each robot by the top of their head, they Jazz is slightly taller...and should be. Scale is always just a controversial subject with Transformers toys - some fans will be OK with this comparison while others will probably say that Huffer is oversized.

I pulled out Earthrise Optimus and WFC Netflix Bumblebee next and I'm loving this scale. Huffer should rightfully be bigger than Bumblebee. He pulled Optimus' trailer at time or two so I think he's the perfect size when compared to Optimus.

Overall I'm thrilled with Huffer. It's hard to choose a favorite as many of the figures in the current War for Cybertron trilogy have been fantastic. Huffer has always been one of my favorite characters so I may be a little biased here, but this is a must buy. He looks great in both modes and has a fun and easy transformation. If you can find him at retail, buy him...you won't be disappointed.

Matchbox Monday: 2020 Moving Parts #7 Lamborghini Centenario

A first for our Matchbox Monday posts, from the 2020 Moving Parts series we have the Lamborghini Centenario.

I believe this is based off the 2017 model. The metal body sports a metallic gray finish with a yellow plastic undercarriage. This can be seen from the sides and underneath the nose of the car. Paint apps include the headlights and on the tail lights, license plate and rear exhaust. The interior is gray with clear windows.

Being part of the Moving Parts series, both doors lift in a vertical motion. Thankfully this doesn't detract from the overall look of the vehicle as the doors sit nicely on the frame without having any exposed door hinges.

This is a beautiful exotic car and the toy really caught my eye hanging on the pegs. I grew up playing with Lamborghinis as a kid (Transformers Sideswipe & Sunstreaker!), but I've not give the car maker much attention in years. You can tell this car is built for speed, but zero to sixty in less than 3 seconds?! With a price tag in excess of 3 million, this is the closest I (or others) will ever get to something like this! Great car, highly recommended!

This is the 1st use of this mold.

Matchbox Monday: 2020 #010/100 MBX Garbage Scout

From the 2020 series, MBX Garbage Scout is part of the MBX City subseries.

The truck sports a blue die-cast metal cab and undercarriage, however the rear portion of the truck is cast in black plastic. Like many of the Matchbox City type vehicles there are some city images on the side of the cab. I don't believe this vehicle is officially licensed, but from the grill it looks like a Ford to me. Speaking of the cab, all of the paint apps are on the sides of the truck.

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This vehicle's play feature is the included blue plastic trash bin. It comes attached to the truck, but is removable. I know as a kid I would have liked playing with a garbage truck so I can only assume today's youth would find this just as interesting?

This is the 1st use of this mold.

Matchbox Monday: 2020 #025/100 MBX Flatbed King

From the 2020 series, MBX Flatbed King is part of the MBX City subseries.

The truck sports a metallic silver die-cast metal cab while the bed and undercarriage are cast in gray plastic. It has a police deco that happens to match other service vehicles released in 2020.

This is one of the few vehicles that has a play feature - the bed of the truck slides backwards and tilts down to load another vehicle. This Hot Wheels Gran Torino is a little large/long for the bed, but you can improvise and make it work. I think this is a great service vehicle and the added feature is just icing on the cake. 

This is the 3rd use of this mold, but the colors/deco make this version stand out over the previous two release.

Halo: Master Chief

I really have been out of the toy loop over the last year so you can imagine my surprise when I saw new Halo toys hanging on the pegs at my local Target. The popular video game brand was now licensed to Wicked Cool Toys, a rather new toy manufacture. Prior to this line I was loosely familiar with WCT thanks to their Micro Machines license they also held. I loved the Halo games on the Xbox 360 and I like to have little video game related figures to display in my game room, so I thought I'd at least pick up this Master Chief figure to see what these new figures were like.

The packaging is pretty plain as most of it is a large bubble. At least it's easy to see the figure and what is included. The bottom right corner does offer some small artwork. Flip the packaging over and you're treated with a large image of Master Chief himself. I found this rather odd that they didn't use the back to showcase the figure and it's accessories or even a cross sale of other toys in the series.

The figure stands around 3 1/2 inches tall and is very detailed. The olive green armor shows some wear all over, especially the silver blast on the chest. The metallic gold paint used on his visor looks great and looks like it's reflecting light. Both hands are sculpted to hold his weapon in either hand. With today's age of modern action figures I'm kind of surprised additional interchangeable hands were included.

Master Chief comes equipped with his trusty MA5C assault rifle. The weapon is molded in back plastic and the majority of the gun as a dull sheen to it. Part of the gun as added gray paint as well. There is a small peg on the side of the gun that allows it to be pegged into the back of the figure. I particularly like this feature as it makes for some nice poses and it just makes since - especially since Master Chief can only wield two different weapons at one time. A hexagon shaped stand is also included with the figure and appears to be able to connect to additional stands.

Master Chief has all the articulation that one would expect from a modern action figure. The joints were really stiff right out of the package, but I was able to at least pull of this kneeling pose. I say it all the time that if you come here for dynamic action figure photography you will be disappointed because I suck at posing action figures!

Over all I am impressed with Wicked Cool Toys' Halo offering. At the time I picked up this figure the line had just launched so there wasn't much variety offered. Now there are several other figures from the Halo mythos including some really cool looking villains and even vehicles. I've seen the Warthog and the Ghost vehicles and both look fantastic. I don't have much room to display larger toys like vehicles anymore, but based on this figure I'm sure they are just as well made.

If you are a fan of video game toys then I think you'll find this new Halo series to your liking. They aren't as detailed as the older McFarlane line or even the Jazwares, however I believe WTC has done a pretty good job with these.