Toy Review: Sonic Boom Sticks the Badger

Let's take a look at the Sticks action figure for our next stop on our tour of the Tomy Sonic Boom toy line.

If you're unfamiliar with Sticks, she's a feral jungle badger nearly consumed with paranoia and an obsession with conspiracy theories. Though most of what she spouts comes off as complete nonsense she is right on rare occasions. She's a capable fighter, has a wealth of survival knowledge, and is a master of the boomerang which is her trademark weapon.

Since she's the fifth member of the group she is only available as a single pack which makes her lack of any accessories all the more glaring. They seriously couldn't give her a boomerang? What's worse is that her price point hangs around the same as the 2 pack figure sets.

Aside from the lack of accessories the figure itself maintains the nice quality sculpt and paint job found in the other figures. She has the same joints as well, allowing her to swing her legs back and forth and position her arms in any direction but lacks any joins in the elbows or knees. This is probably for the best though since she's so small.

When it comes to poseability, her skirt gives her the same problem as Amy in that she can only bend over so far before it gets in the way. This unfortunately prevents her from ever being in a sitting position. Despite having the biggest hair of all characters, it does not get in the way allowing you to turn her head any way you see fit. She also stands up on her own very easily.

Once again I would really only recommend her for maybe ages 6 and up as this figure would probably be too fragile for rough play. Price and accessory issue aside you're going to want to pick her up to complete your Sonic Boom team.

Pros:

-Nice paint detailing and sculpt. They even got her shell necklace.
-Packaging is colorful and has a neat design if you're looking to display in their box.
-No problem standing without support.

Cons:

-On average her price is around the same as the 2 packs everywhere I've seen her.
-No boomerang!

Previous: Knuckles and Tails 2 Pack Review

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Toy Review: Sonic Boom Knuckles and Tails 2 Pack

Continuing our look at the Sonic Boom toy line, I'd now like to share my thoughts on the Knuckles and Tails 2 pack. If you missed the first review in this series, click here to check out the Sonic and Amy 2 pack.

The package includes Knuckles, Tails, and a red colored enerbeam. Even though Knuckles and Tails don't really have any signature items they identify with, I still feel like the enerbeam is a lame accessory. They could have given Tails a little wrench and for Knuckles, I don't know, like a dumb bell or something. Anything would be better than this useless accessory. Maybe if it was actually stretchy so you could fling the figures around or something I would appreciate it more, but as it stands it's just a waste of plastic in my opinion. At least their hands are molded so they have no problem in holding any other accessories out there you might find.

Keeping up with the Tomy standard for this toy line, the sculpts and paint jobs on the figures are very nice. They both look exactly as presented in the tv show. I'm a big fan of the goggles, extra belts, and lab gloves on Tails. Knuckles is probably the one character where the sports tape actually fits his new design.

When it comes to articulation these guys are also limited to only 5 joints. Knuckles has the same problem as Amy in that he can only turn his head as far as his spines (dreads or whatever) will allow. If you tried to force it you would only end up damaging the figure. His arms are obviously much larger than the other figures, so I'm disappointed that they didn't give him an elbow joint for more advanced punch poses. I'm sure everyone is wondering about Tails' tails, and no you cannot move them, or at least not on mine. There appears to be a seam half way down his tails that looks like it would pivot but I think this is just from how they assembled him. I tried to move it and it honestly feels like it would break off before it ever agreed to turn. Maybe someone else out there can confirm this for sure. At least it makes him by far the easiest character to stand.

Once again these figures make great display pieces. My kids love to play with them, but if you're a stickler for poseability you may not enjoy them for that purpose. As always, due to the long and thin nature of legs in the Sonic universe I wouldn't risk letting someone who's really rough with their toys play with them because they just wouldn't last.

Knuckles and Tails retail the same as Sonic and Amy at around 7 dollars for the 2 Pack, so for that price I don't think you'll be disappointed, that is except for the enerbeam thing.





Pros:

-Great paint detailing and sculpt work.
-Packaging is colorful and has a neat design if you're looking to display in their box.
-Figures have no problem standing for out of box display.
-Good price point at 7 to 8 dollars for the 2 figures.

Cons:

-Limited articulation. Lots of missed opportunities here.
-Really lame accessory. Seriously I'd rather just not have the enerbeam and shave some of the price.

Previous: Sonic and Amy 2 Pack Review

Next: Sticks the Badger Review

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Toy Review: Sonic Boom Sonic and Amy 2 Pack

You've seen the show and the games, now let's take a look at the Sonic Boom toy line from Tomy. In recent years Sonic has had some really cool toys released from Jazwares. In my personal opinion they set the bar pretty high. So does the Tomy line stack up? I'll be looking at various examples over the next series of entries to find out.

First off we have the Sonic and Amy 2 pack which includes the figures and a blue enerbeam. Right off the bat I was disappointed they didn't include a hammer for Amy. That was the most glaring thing missing as soon as I saw the package. Unfortunately as far as I know this is the only way to get a Boom Amy figure, so you're on your own to figure out a hammer for her.

The figures themselves are sculpted nicely and are a spot on representation of how they look in the show. I especially like Sonic's cocky grin which shows a bit more personality than the trademark smile they usually give his figures. Amy has a simple cute smiling expression but this might be my favorite sculpt of her out of all the Amy figures I've ever seen out there.

Their paint jobs are clean and accurate so no complaints there.

Articulation wise they're pretty limited at about 5 points each which is quite a bit lower than what Jazwares usually did. Their heads can turn, legs can swing back and forth, and their arms are on a hinge/pin joint allowing them to swivel in any direction. There are no joints at the elbows or knees or wrist and ankle rotation. Sonic is acceptable as you can at least do his trademark running pose. Amy however is much more limited because of her design. While she has the same joints as Sonic, she cannot fully turn her head because her hair/quills collide with her shoulder. Her skirt prevents her from being able to sit down or do crazy running poses like Sonic.

That's about it.

Durability wise the plastic seems to be the same quality as Jazwares offerings. That being said, simply due to the Sonic character designs having such thin arms and legs I wouldn't recommend these figures for rough play. Too many hard collisions or drops and a joint may snap somewhere. That's not a fault of the manufacturer but simply because these figures are so small, standing at about 3 inches.

This accessory is a pretty big let down.

Overall at a price point of roughly 7 dollars for the 2 pack, I'm pretty pleased with these. They're really nice as display pieces (they stand on their own very easily) and my kids really enjoy playing with them despite their limited poseability. I would only not recommend these if you or the person you're giving them to are really rough with their toys, or if you like to display your figures in crazy poses.

Pros:

-Great paint detailing and sculpt work.
-Packaging is colorful and has a neat design if you're looking to display in their box.
-Figures have no problem standing for out of box display.
-Good price point at 7 to 8 dollars for the 2 figures.

Cons:

-Very limited articulation.
-Bogus accessory or lack there of.

Yeah I ship it.

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Next: Knuckles and Tails 2 Pack Review

Toy Review: Transformers Age of Extinction Hound

So this evening after having put the kids to bed, I was making my rounds about the house to pick up any toys that may have been left out in their initial pre bed time clean up. I came across a Transformer that Liam received on his birthday and ended up losing about 30 minutes of time transforming this thing back and forth. I came to the realization that as much as I enjoy playing with these things with the kids, (and now apparently on my own) I should be doing toy reviews.

I've never really tried my hand at reviewing toys before so I'm basically just going to touch on the things I like and dislike about them. As always I would greatly appreciate any suggestions or feedback on doing these.

Here we have Hound as he is seen in the Age of Extinction film, which is drastically different from the Hound I remember from my childhood. In fact, I think the only similarities they share are in color scheme and that their vehicle modes are military related.

I haven't seen the movie yet, but from what I gather of screens and the footage I have seen the sculpt and dimensions of the figure represent him pretty accurately. The molding is nicely done, following the movie designs that seem to cover the Transformer's limbs in hundreds of tiny intricate parts. The paint job is simplistic but very clean. There's enough color on the base and accents to make him look nice enough without the molded intricate parts looking too bland as a single color.

He features a "quick draw" gimmick that puts him in the power attackers line of figures. His right arm has a huge cannon in hand that can quickly draw from a side arm position to aiming just by slightly moving the arm. It's a neat feature, unfortunately because of this you cannot remove the gun from his hand. Surprisingly it has held up from my kids flicking his arm probably thousands of times. It sometimes comes off track which causes him to draw the gun at weird angles, but it's easily adjustable to correct.

That being said, he's not very articulate at all. Aside from the quick draw action, the only other movable part on his body is his left arm which can swivel at the shoulder and can bend at the elbow.

Vehicle mode!

His transformation to vehicle mode is extremely simple. He's listed on the box as having 8 steps, but I find that you can almost fold everything into place all at once. The only annoying part is getting his gun to fit in the right place beneath him which will prevent his other parts from closing if not done correctly. Aside from that, I would recommend him as a good starting Transformer for younger children.

Again the paint job looks great, perhaps even better in vehicle mode. Is his disguise convincing? Only if you're looking at him from an angle slightly above I'm afraid. The nature of his transformation and the inclusion of the power attack gimmick unfortunately leaves his fists slightly visible beneath him if you're looking at him directly from the side. There's also nowhere for his head to really go underneath, so if you're looking at him dead on you can see his head sticking out of the bottom. Other than that he makes for a pretty sweet looking military truck.

I recommend Hound for the younger Transformers fans out there who would benefit from a simple transformation and may not care too much about poseability. Older fans looking for more articulation and a more challenging transformation probably won't enjoy him as much.

Pros:

-Nice detailed molding and acceptable color work.
-Neat gimmick that stands the test of continued play.
-Easy transformation.
-Good representation of the character in robot mode.

Cons:

-Extremely little articulation.
-Weapon is not removable.
-Parts showing in vehicle mode that almost makes him look like he wasn't transformed correctly.