Those who've read my last posting would surely know that I hit the jackpot several days ago when I stumbled across a specialty toy store somewhere in town (I'm in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia by the way) that literally tried to 'dispose' these 3.75" movie Thor figures in one of its shelves. I had no intention to get these figures when the Thor movie came out several months ago, but the temptation of getting them (including those 'rare' ones) at half of their original retail price was too hard to resist really.
Odin
I love the 'Shakespearean-esque' dialogues between Odin and Thor. I strongly suspect that director Kenneth Branagh's stage-play experience might have something to do with it. The actor resemblance (to Anthony Hopkins) is simply insane. I mean, come on, these are <4-inch action figures we're talking about! I've been always amazed of late on how Hasbro had managed to successfully replicate actor/actresses' likeness for their action figures. Remember the G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra figures? These Thor movie figures are equally good.
I love the 'Shakespearean-esque' dialogues between Odin and Thor. I strongly suspect that director Kenneth Branagh's stage-play experience might have something to do with it. The actor resemblance (to Anthony Hopkins) is simply insane. I mean, come on, these are <4-inch action figures we're talking about! I've been always amazed of late on how Hasbro had managed to successfully replicate actor/actresses' likeness for their action figures. Remember the G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra figures? These Thor movie figures are equally good.
What boggles me is that Hasbro consistently failed to do the same for their Star Wars action figures. I wish that they could be more consistent in producing actor/actresses' likeness through out all of their action figures.
Anyway, excellent likeness aside, I'd just like to point out that I WOULD NOT be reviewing any of those ridiculous over-sized accessories (eg. 'action' weapons, shields etc.) so I hope you won't be expecting any of those to appear through out my posting. Odin came with two oversized accessories, a sword and a shield. I don't see any point of reviewing any of those so I just take it that Odin didn't come with any standard sized accessories. But the all-father needs no weapons to unleash his fury right?
Anyway, excellent likeness aside, I'd just like to point out that I WOULD NOT be reviewing any of those ridiculous over-sized accessories (eg. 'action' weapons, shields etc.) so I hope you won't be expecting any of those to appear through out my posting. Odin came with two oversized accessories, a sword and a shield. I don't see any point of reviewing any of those so I just take it that Odin didn't come with any standard sized accessories. But the all-father needs no weapons to unleash his fury right?
Thor: "You are an old man and a fool!"
Odin: "Yes, I was a fool!"
Thor
This is perhaps the most important figure of them all. I mean, ya' can't possibly have a movie Thor action figure collection without the main man himself right? Thor came in several different versions, a light-up version, an 'alternate' costume version, a 'helmeted' version and this one which you're currently seeing in this picture below.
This is perhaps the most important figure of them all. I mean, ya' can't possibly have a movie Thor action figure collection without the main man himself right? Thor came in several different versions, a light-up version, an 'alternate' costume version, a 'helmeted' version and this one which you're currently seeing in this picture below.
The likeness to actor Chris Hemsworth is pretty amazing here as you can already see. He comes with the Mjolnir hammer, but unfortunately I find the one that came with my figure here a bit limp, hence explaining why the hammer looks a bit mis-aligned with its handle. Other than that, I don't have any real complaint about the figure. I really dig the armour. Hasbro did a great job reproducing the armour and we defo have to give them credit for their great work.
Loki
When people started commenting that Tom Hiddleston did a wonderful job in portraying the God of Mischief, I knew I had to watch the movie myself to see whether the masses were telling the truth. When I finally did (many months AFTER the movie was premiered over at our cinemas) I realised that they were not exaggerating to say the least. I'm saying 'not exaggerating' because in my opinion Mr Hiddleston did a great job playing an 'innocent looking' Loki who's actually plotting something sinister to thwart Thor from ascending to the throne of Asgard. He's nowhere like the comic-version Loki though but I guess his rendition worked well for the live-action film.
When people started commenting that Tom Hiddleston did a wonderful job in portraying the God of Mischief, I knew I had to watch the movie myself to see whether the masses were telling the truth. When I finally did (many months AFTER the movie was premiered over at our cinemas) I realised that they were not exaggerating to say the least. I'm saying 'not exaggerating' because in my opinion Mr Hiddleston did a great job playing an 'innocent looking' Loki who's actually plotting something sinister to thwart Thor from ascending to the throne of Asgard. He's nowhere like the comic-version Loki though but I guess his rendition worked well for the live-action film.
I kinda dig the horns but I wish they could've beefed up the armour a bit to make it look more vac-metallic lookin' to say the least. But hey, these are mass-market toys we're talking about and they do look kinda good for a 3.75" action figures. So no real complaint there!
Here's a shot of King Odin with his two sons. Man they look superb together!
And here's Thor's battle with Loki!
Darn....now I feel like re-watching the Thor movie on my DVD again!
Hogun
Next, we got Hogun. Now, to tell you the truth, I don't have any knowledge whatsoever about this character. In fact, I only got to know him when I watched the Thor movie. Nevertheless, this is one good action figure, closely resembling how the character looked like in the movie. I would never have bought this figure if not for that huge discount. Still, having Thor's buddies around him sounds like a cool display idea, so I snatched him.
Next, we got Hogun. Now, to tell you the truth, I don't have any knowledge whatsoever about this character. In fact, I only got to know him when I watched the Thor movie. Nevertheless, this is one good action figure, closely resembling how the character looked like in the movie. I would never have bought this figure if not for that huge discount. Still, having Thor's buddies around him sounds like a cool display idea, so I snatched him.
He comes with a mace-like weapon. In my opinion, Hogun could've come with a Samurai sword or something. At least that would blend perfectly with his getup. Anyway, great details on the armour.
Volstagg
Now, here's a character many would dare say that they're more or less familiar with...Volstagg! He's like the Jughead of Asgard! Yup, he eats his way through but he doesn't really look that obese in the movie. In fact, if you look closely, this action figure looks a great deal like Gimli from the Lord of The Rings movie! He's got great detailing on his armour and he comes with one mean-looking battle axe too.
Now, here's a character many would dare say that they're more or less familiar with...Volstagg! He's like the Jughead of Asgard! Yup, he eats his way through but he doesn't really look that obese in the movie. In fact, if you look closely, this action figure looks a great deal like Gimli from the Lord of The Rings movie! He's got great detailing on his armour and he comes with one mean-looking battle axe too.
Here's a thought....Volstagg should've come with some food items as his accessories! I, for one, would've liked if he came with a chicken leg (half-munched at that too!) we saw him gobbling down in the movie. That would have been sweet.....lol.
Thor's buddies thus far! Still waiting for Sif and Fandrall to complete the gang! And I need Heimdall too (that's the mean-lookin' gate-keeper of the rainbow-bridge 'Bifrost' in case you forgot who he was).
Next, comes the part where I present to you my most favourite figure from the entire Thor 3.75" line. Yes, I ended up liking the villain more than I dig Thor himself! Having King Loki's action figure is one thing, but I've really wanted King Laufey to be amongst my movie Thor line-up. I mean, look at him....he's one mean-looking dude just ready to pounce anybody that dares to be in his way. I totally love the face-sculpt. I think he looks uncannily the same as how he appeared in the movie. He comes with an ice-mace and an ice-helmet (is that even what them Marvel folks call 'em?). King Laufey spots a very cool-looking 'gold-ish' armour...well, actually they're more like bits and pieces of gold-plated armoury on his right shoulder, both his arms and his shins.
I really like Laufey's headgear and his loin-cloth. Look at how detailed those are! And the fact that the figure has excellent paint-job, complete with dark-blue wash pretty much sums it up why many fans are clamouring to get this figure for their collection.
Here's King Laufey with his ice-helmet on.
Here are the two Frost Giants I bought at TRU (yup, our TRU marked these movie Thor figures down too!). Basically they have less detailing on their body as opposed to King Laufey but they spot the same paint job and paint wash.
Having these two minions is a must considering that I already have King Laufey waiting in the wings ready to unleash his command. I wish I could have more to stand behind Laufey (hey, there were practically thousands of these guys in the opening scene of the movie!) but I guess two would do just fine for the time being. Oh, take a look at the size of that ice-shield they're holding....man those look convincing!
What did I tell ya? Ain't this a pretty sight? They're ready to defend Jotunheim!
Well, that concludes my very brief review of the movie Thor figures I 'accidently' procured while making a harmless round at a toy store sometime last week. My only wish is that I'd stumble across Fandrall, Sif and Heimdall soon...so if I manage to find those then you can expect me to do a second review of the movie Thor figures sometime in the near future.
Thanks for dropping by!
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