Sunday, March 24, 2013

MORTAL KOMBAAAAT (robot ninjas)

 
Were you folks aware of the Mortal Kombat toyline?  If not, then you don't go to Toys R Us, 'cause that's the only place you can get it.  In fact, that's the place where you can get a lot of Jazwares products!  Anyway, I only bought a few things: One Scorpion, and this pack.


It's all one Mortal Kombat line, but the classic ones follow in the footsteps of genius because replacing a C with a K is as 90's as you can get without replacing the S's with Z's.  They made modern versions of a lot of the characters as well, but I only bothered with Scorpion.  And I don't think I took any pics of him...

Anyway, I bought this pack without question, 'cause I always wanted figures of these cyborgs.


Yellow is Cyrax, red is Sektor, and blueish-gray is Smoke (Smoke started out as a gray ninja, but this is his cyborgization-against-his-own-will form).  They're actually pretty impressive!  At the time, it made me want to get more of the standard classic ninjas, but they were fifteen bucks each, then down to ten, and totally NOT worth that price.  I mean, consider that Joes right now are ten bucks and they're packed with accessories, then look at the ten dollar Mortal Kombat ninja with NO accessories and often times a backwards limb, paint screwups, and two left feet or arms or just joints that look like they're gona fall off when you open the package. 

*ahem* But this pack was great!




They move well and come with enough articulation to put 'em in some dynamic poses without going overboard.  And if you're wondering about scale:




Standard 3.5 that's probably closer to 4 nowadays, but Joe scale; you know what I mean.


I don't think this pack is still out there, but it's pretty much the only thing I can suggest from this line.  The rest may actually be good now, 'cause although Jazwares makes some crap sometimes, they also do some REALLY cool stuff and they are on the ball when it comes to fixing mistakes.  The problem there is that the fixes come in later waves, so that means waiting for the trash to filter out (meaning that people are buying them, sadly) and hoping you can recognize the better version.  I never bothered with the ninjas - which sucks, because I was really looking forward to them - because I just couldn't pay the price for no accessories and constant, very visible screwups on the figures.

Anyway, final say on these figures is that Cyrax, the yellow one, is in the B.A.T. color scheme!  Oh wait - for those who don't buy G.I. Joes, a B.A.T. stands for Battle Android Trooper, and they're the standard robots in the Joe line.  Usually colored in black and yellow.


So in the end I certainly don't regret getting these guys, but I really wish the rest of the classic stuff had followed suit with the quality of these guys...unless I just got lucky with this set.  It just sucks that Jazwares is so black and white on the scale of quality.  There's no gray area - it's just great or trash.  I guess I should be thankful for the heads up at least - with any toyline you have a chance of getting a dud, but with Jazwares you can see the duds right in the package!

...alright alright I'll end this on a sweeter note.  Jazwares isn't terrible, but you can see that I'm constantly back and forth with these guys.  They keep getting the properties I've always wanted to see, and they keep making things either with quality or a stunning lack of it.  The Sonic the Hedgehog series, for instance, is fantastic!  Mega Man, on the other hand, was terrible and they STILL own the license and won't try again.  And if they did?  I wouldn't know if they would do something random or use the folks who make the Sonic line to at least assure some quality.  So I love Jazwares.  I just also don't understand how they can keep screwing things up and act as if they have no idea what else is going on in the world of action figures.  It's your business, folks!  Pay attention and don't reinvent the wheel when you don't have to.

6 comments:

  1. I meant to get these guys but they dissappeared before I nabbed it.

    If you see it, get Shao Kahn's throne room. It has an awesome backdrop of the final stage from MK9, Kahn's skull throne, and four pillars with chains to set up other figures on it. It's Joe-sized and worth the $40 or so I spent on it. Kahn himself is an okay figure, but surprisingly much better than the bigger MOTUC sized Kahn.

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    1. Whoa, I missed that! Sounds like something I woulda seen by now. I'll have to check that out. And heck, I would like a figure of Khan. I'd like a lot of these figures, to be honest - I just can't seem to find ones without flaws.

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  2. The Cyber-Ninja 3-pack has been one of my favourite purchases in the last year or so.

    Free of all problems too.

    Just 3 rather superbly sculpted MK figures. The only other ones I have are the MK9 wave 1 and 2. And only Baraka came with a mishap (2 left biceps), Raiden was pretty naff anyway but Scorpion, Sub-Zero and Reptile are fine).

    Been meaning to get the Klassic Ninjas, because like the Cyber Ninja's and female-Ninjas they're my favourite designs from the MK3-Trilogy era.

    I also need the Shao-Khan throne set, Goro vs Johnny Cage and the single carded Lui-kang and Nightwolf.

    I think that's all they've done so far. They really need some female characters, and that Shang Tsung w/MK1 arena Guards pack they had at last year's toyfair (cardboard cut out stand ins)

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    1. All I really want is those ninjas, but I just can't get past the price and the flaws. There was supposed to be a big multipack which was actually quite a deal, but I never saw it.

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  3. These guys are more like "Mortal KomB.A.T."! Am I right? ... Anyone?...

    *ahem*

    I don't think very highly of Jazwares, and I was pretty disappointed by the MK stuff. I think what hurt the most was that I was really looking forward to these figures. The only cyber-ninja pack I ever found was overpriced in a hobby shop and the paint wasn't great in that set. I did manage to find the human ninja 6-pack with decent paint, so I grabbed that and I did enjoy it. I just wish the figures were better and the line did well enough to get us some more obscure characters.

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    1. GAH, why didn't I think of that?!

      *ahem*

      I have the same problem: I was really looking forward to this toyline, but it seems like every other pack I pick up has obvious flaws. I do wish I had found that 6 pack though, 'cause the price made them a lot cheaper than buying them separate. I would have at least been down for that. Still can't bring myself to get the ninjas now, even if they seem flawless. Why ten bucks, ya know? At least put SOME sort of accessory in there! Either that or find a new factory that can make your figures for less like everyone else.

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