Retro Review: Tron Legacy pt. 2

Here's a review I wrote before Grandma died but never got to post.
Enjoy

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So I broke down and got the rest of the Tron: Legacy figures and vehicles. What can I say? I got a good deal. That said let me say that this series, is a mixed bag.

I'll keep this brief as I already have reviewed Sam Flynn and with the exception different color of light, pattern design and accessories (barely on both accounts) most of the are pretty much the same except Kevin, who I'll go into further detail later.

As with Sam, Clu, Rinzler, Black Guard and Clu's Sentry all have the same articulation. Which means these figures are like Marvel Universe figures but w/o torso and double knee joints. Not bad articulation wise, I just prefer the double knee and torso, but I understand the lack of torso since the light up gimmick is in the way.

   

Accessories are pretty much the same as well. They all come with their own ID discs except for Rinzler who comes with two discs, two batons and a nunchuck. Also of interest, Clu comes with a katana. It's yellow and the handle is the same as the standard baton all the figures come with. I guess they do some martial artists in the movie.

And now for Kevin Flynn. In a word, he sucks. The scuplting on his face is horrible and looks like a bad sculpt from the Kenner Star Wars era. Not to say those figures were bad but they often did not look like the actors, except this is worse. In this day and age where figures in this scale are masterpieces, this is trash. I'm under the impression that Jeff Bridges didn't do the final approval of the sculpt and if he did, with all due respect, he needs to have he vision checked. This figure looks SO bad that even if I squint my eyes it does look like him. Even worse is that this figure has a soft plastic robe so it's rather difficult to fit him into his Light Cycle. Hey SpinMaster, wtf? If you MUST own this figure, by all means, go for it, but I, in good conscience CAN NOT recommend it.

On the other hand, Kevin Flynn's Light Cycle is pretty cool. Despite the fact that it can not accommodate Kevin, all the other figures in the collection fit well. It has a light up feature like all toys in this collection, which nice but the kicker is that when you place a figure in it and close it, the lights stays on longer than w/o a figure. Pretty neat and it sort of adds to value of owning one of the figures.

Sam also has a Light Cycle which is different from his father's model. It doesn't close around the rider, like his dad's and is more open. It comes with already posed figure of Sam who has three points of articulation, at his neck and at each shoulder. But the cool thing about it is that you can take the head off of this Sam and put it on the regular 3.75" figure. Which makes a difference since it's a different head on this Sam. As with Kevin's Light Cycle this one also has lights and sounds when you place a figure on it, the one difference that it lights
up when you roll it.

The Light Runner is also another vehicle in the collection and is a sort of F1 formula car but seats 2 passengers. I really like this vehicle for it's styling and features. It has similar light features to the Light Cycles and has a spinning front wheel section which turns up and down from the main part of the car. When I say this I don't mean up and down like with an suspension system but the whole axle spins on an axis. I'm not really sure how to explain it but it's cool.

One other thing to note with the Light Runner, be careful when removing your figures from it. To make a figure fit, you have to push the rear circle part of the figure into a crevice with a button to activate the light features, on the seat which also holds the figure in place. When I first placed Sam in it and took him out, he split in half. I don't know if it's because the glue was weak or there isn't any glue but he opened up like an egg to the edge of a frying pan. Luckily it wasn't broken so I put back together fairly easily. On a side note this car, if you're into customizing, in my opinion could be the base for a Batmobile. Not anyone Batmobile in particular but it has enough to make up your own design.

Once again like my previous review, this line is definitely clearance fodder for it's pricing and not because it's a horrible line, and that's when you should pick it up. And unless you're a completest, avoid Kevin Flynn as he's a total waste of plastic. Well I'm off to finish my Prince of Persia collection because that's on clearance.

Tron Legacy - Sam Flynn review

So I final broke down and got a Tron Legacy figure. And I say this because since these figures started popping up about a month ago or so and I was intrigued but skeptical. Mostly because while I love the original movie, it's sequel had yet to prove itself to me. Once the new trailers gave us some more story about the film it was just a matter of finding it for right price as I've seen them priced as high as $11.49.

I never get lost in the dark!

The main feature of the Sam Flynn and most figures in the collection is the light up feature. This is done to emulate the look of the film. It's a neat feature and it's super bright. So bright as a matter of fact that it could be used as a mini flashlight. Seriously it can, I tried it myself. Unfortunately this feature uses 3 small watch batteries, so the figure loses its torso articulation.


The rest of the figure however, is fully articulated at the neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, knees and feet. If you're familiar with Mattel's DC Universe: Infinite Heroes line then you know how the figure is jointed together. Which is nice and well done but i prefer Hasbro's style of joints. Oddly these figures are made by Spinmaster, which amazes me that they landed such a property. You would think Disney would have their favorite toy makers Mattel make the Tron Legacy toys.

Can you see me?

Out of the 6 figures in the collection only 2 figures have and real scuplting to talk about. This stems from the fact that the other 4 figures are wearing helmets despite the fact that Clu, a character both films, is shown NOT wearing a helmet. I suspect that Spinmasters did this as to not spoil some of the mystery of the movie but astute fans would know what Clu looks like under the helmet. Either way, Sam has an okay face sculpt. It's hard to say much more because his face is partially obscured by the clear part of his helmet. I know this sounds weird but it's true.

Sam also has accessories. He comes with an identity disc, baton and stand. Not much to say here as they just make the figure complete but offer none to very little playability. It also doesn't help that the baton doesn't stay very well on the peg to place it on the figure and the ID disc has nowhere else to be held except Sam's hand. Pretty lackluster...

At the end of the day Sam is an okay figure with a nice light up feature. From what I've read on various message boards, I'm inclined to agree with the popular consensus and wait for the rest of the figures to go on clearance. Well except for the Light Cycle, because who DOESN'T want one, real or just a toy?