NECA Kratos and Atreus 2 Pack - God of War

In 2005, Playstation released the first of the God of War games which would become a mainstay on their platform for years ahead. You play this action-adventure in the role of Kratos, a Spartan warrior who has been used and manipulated by the Greek gods, and quite frankly, is pretty mad about it!
In the other games, he slaughters many of the gods and obtains items along the way. Kratos is usually portrayed as a very angry man, who is shouting and brutally murdering his enemies. Classic Greek stuff. There have been a few games released since then, mostly on the PlayStation 2 or 3.

I was not interested in playing any of the games until a friend really sold me on God of War (2018); how interesting the characters are, as well as the world discovery that you get to do. This God of War game is that Kratos is seeking some redemption, and has a son that has an important role in the game. This smooths out the character I find and makes him more interesting rather than a single-minded, brutal character with no other facets. Anyway, the gameplay, graphics, dive into Norse mythology and the ending make it a really amazing game. Even the flavour dialogue between Atreus and Kratos gives you a deeper look into their characters.

This 2 Pack of figures is an example of when NECA does it all so right. The proportions, sculpt and paint are AMAZING. Seriously I doubt you can do much better even on a bigger scale.  The accessories are plentiful and reflect nearly every part of the combat gameplay. The joints are a bit stuff and you have to be careful, especially with Atreus who has some of the smallest double joints I've seen since the Damien and Superboy 2 pack.  I'll review these two as one, as they have nearly identical qualities in many respects, minus a point of These are top 10 figures for sure!

Bandai Figure Rise Model Kit - Naruto Uzumaki

So I saw this model kit advertisement last year and thought "What...a Naruto action figure from Bandai that I don't own?!" and rectified it immediately.  Now these Figure-rise model kits from Bandai cover a huge range of characters from Dragonball, a few Batman figures, and of course one hojillion Gundam figures. As far as I know, this is the only Naruto figure they have made.

I have to say the figure looks good in a stance, and I'm pleased with some aspects of the look, as well as the accessories. The most fun part of it was actually building it though! Cutting out the pieces and going along with instructions felt like lego assembly all over again...except with stickers...and adding some lining with a permanent marker.

It's definitely my least favourite Naruto Uzumaki figure but that at the price he was at(25 CAD before shipping), it was totally worth it!

I Am Elemental - Courage

Now, this is something a little different: a small company that kickstarted in 2014 with the goal of creating a dynamic, more realistic body proportioned female action figure. I Am Elemental is a group based in New York has received several awards as well as hints of movie deals for their action figure line.

I had seen a few other reviewers with these and with my desire to find a female action figure, ordered Courage (who also came with a Buy One, Donate one figure to a childhood cancer patient, so it was for a nice cause). The figures are inspired by female heroines in history, and this one is inspired by Joan of Arc.

I am really pleased with how well they executed this figure, and aside armour pieces and extras, this seems to be the basic mould for all the female figures. All the figures feature a less sexualized bust to hip ratio and more proportional legs. The figures also have WAY better articulation and yes, they FINALLY made a female figure at this price point that has very good diaphragm articulation.

S.H. Figuarts Spike Spiegel - Cowboy Bebop

I've already written a full Gemr Guest Blog post which you can find here about our friend Spike:
Figure Review: Spike Spiegel

As per the new rating system, see his rating here!

Update: Rating change

Although I've been using my rating system based on how some other reviewers rate their figures, 

I've decided to remove the Price/Availability category from the rating system. 

Previously it went like this:

Price/Availability:  /5 
1- You are made of money and can find one or two sources that even sell online! Damn scalppers.... 
2 - Hard to find. Available online or from the rare collector. Easily 200%+ of its original value.
3 - Mostly available online only from few sellers. Expect to pay 125-150% of original value. 
4 -Available most places at standard price, or fewer places at a decent discount (10-50%). 
5- Either available everywhere at standard price, or heavily (50%+) discounted. 

It seems it can skew a figure when the rest of the figure is excellent or a poor figure receive a higher rating. On top of that, it seems that a figure can rapidly change in its price and availability over time, making the current rating of it more or less useless after a while. I will still mention price and availability near the end of a review, but it'll be kept off the numbers! 

To this end, Verdict will now be out of /20 with the following guide:

1-5: Poor: Very underwhelming, even if you like collecting the particular type or line of figures. 
6-10: Limited: Some poseability or paint/sculpt and accessories. Limited but disappointing. 
11-15: Good: Pretty good figure on its own merits, even if you lack interest in the character/line
16-19: Great: Great aesthetic with lots of play, options and more. Get it right meow! 
20: Amazing. Best figure. Top 10 in your collection. 

Mafex Batman - Batman Begins

Nolan's first film Batman Begins wasn't his best Batman film but it definitely set the tone, cinematography style and realism of his Batman vision. I still very much enjoy watching it to this day, and I thought it was clever how he ingrained Ras Al Ghul into Batman's origins. I also liked that he didn't jump from traumatized kid to full Batman. It was a gradual step into the cowl. He had to figure things out, realize he can't just walk into someplace wielding a gun on the big criminals of the city.

This figure does a lot of things well given it was one of the first Mafex Nolan Batman figures released in 2017. He's got a very wide range of movement, smooth joints and a lot of great accessories. AND if you got the Scarecrow you've almost got a second action figure! I'm not 100% sure that I would have gone with a floating belt and a massive torso gap. The head can turn and ankle slightly under the cowl edge but has nothing at the neck joint. This is fairly accurate both to the real costume and the general flexibility issue of wearing a fabric/armoured cowl connected to a cape. I love that they included an unmasked head but it definitely looks less like Christian Bale than the newer Mafex Bruce Wayne from the Nolan films.

Mafex Scarecrow - Batman Begins

Dr. Johnathan Crane is a psycho-pharmacologist who probably should have had a psych eval done on him before he became a professor or anyone who is allowed to come in contact with people in general! He is the secondary antagonist in the first film of the Christopher Nolan trilogy, Batman Begins. He is one of the few characters to appear in all three Nola films in one role or another with his biggest role in the first movie.

As per classic Scarecrow, he is using his fear toxin to experiment on people as a psychiatrist at Arkham. He is in cahoots with Ra's al Ghul to destroy Gotham. In exchange for conducting research and testing out his toxins, Scarecrow releases the inmates to cause chaos in the streets. Wouldn't be the first or last time inmates get out of Arkham. The terrible security at that place is like, 50% of Batman's work.

This figure is once again an amazing representation of Scarecrow and Dr. Crane. The likeness is incredible, the articulation is once again great and the accessories are everything you really need. To top it off (and yes, this is some of the reason I bought the figure), it includes an alternate cape, head and hands for the Mafex Batman Begins figure to replicate his fear toxin look when he doses Crane with his own gas (also a classic staple of having Scarecrow as a villain...eventually he gets a taste of his own medicine).

Mafex Two-Face - The Dark Knight

I've already talked a little about Two-Face in my previous post on the Arkham City version (if you haven't seen it, look here! Arkham Two-Face review. I find him to be a much more dramatic and powerful character in The Dark Knight than I have in other movies or shows. He also has a true purpose for his wrath, as opposed to just for the sake of being a small-time criminal. Aside from his character's motivation, I think Aaron Eckhart delivered a good performance, and I don't say that often about him!

This is one of the few figures I own that is in a suit and tie, and I have to say Mafex really pulls it off well. With a figure like this, you don't need a ton of articulation, but it is surprisingly good despite some limits, such as on the jacket bottom. He comes with every accessory possible for his role in the show with the options of changing him into pre-burnt Harvey Dent!  His sculpt and facial features are actually fairly close to the actor, though the eyes seem to be overly squinted for either head sculpt.

DC Collectibles Batgirl & Oracle - Arkham Knight

Appearing in Arkham Knight as Oracle, Barbara Gordon is once again Batman's eyes and ears in Gotham. She mostly operates from the clocktower in a secret room behind the clock itself, feeding Batman information and occasionally getting abducted! It's the first time you get to see Oracle up close and as a fantastic added bonus, the game designers actually made a DLC where you get to play Batgirl pre-shoot in the spine!

I loved loved loved playing the DLC as Batgirl because she wasn't simply another Batman character with the same moves and tactics. She had a much more sophisticated set of options for hacking any and all tech in her area as well as combat moves. I like the design they did for the character and it's definitely based on her New 52 look. I like the Rebirth look with the purple and yellow, but the black and yellow will always be my favourite. I also like Oracle's design with her clothes having bright, interesting colours. One odd thing though is Oracle's wheelchair. Not only is the wheelchair not super high tech, but it's not even a basic electric wheelchair. It's literally the oldest looking design for a wheelchair I've seen. It looks as if she got it from a haunted asylum and brushed off the cobwebs. Surely your dad as chief police commissioner can afford better. 

DC Collectibles Catwoman - Arkham Knight

This is another Gemr review so for the full text check out the link! Gemr Catwoman Review

Here's the rating breakdown!