Ace, Peter, Paul and Gene are back together again and with your help they can all play nice too! Check out these prototype pics of some really awesome classic KISS merchandise that will have the KISS Army mobilized and totally worth a Deuce! (Yeah, the Rock and Roll all Night puns are well done and over with 😉 )
And we’ve only just begun…
Now, Go Play! – Jim 1/08/2015
May 17, 1980 – Peter Criss left KISS to pursue a solo career. Truth be told it had more to do with Peter’s drug addictions than musical aspirations. Thankfully Peter did get clean, rejoined the group in the late 90’s for a farewell tour and then joined the gang one more time to be inducted into the rock n roll hall of fame. And despite it all he is still the Catman, an entertainment legend and another reason why my Toy Box is the coolest place to hang out. God bless you, Peter.
Long time visitors to the site will remember I’m a big fan of Ace. Always have been, always will be. No Regrets! Just like his book that I reviewed many moons ago. This figure helps ensure that fanboy happiness remains!
The new sculpt is great! It has a far better resemblance to Ace than the original Mego version. Plus he’s not staring up into the stars. The only thing that takes away from the sculpt is the hair. This is not a huge distraction though. Considering the style of Ace’s real hair I can see where the production process on this scale could be a real bear to capture it properly.
The costume is great. The FTC folks took some liberties with the rhinestones but that’s OK as far as I’m concerned because honestly without them the suit looks very boring. The shoulder rings are also very cool to. I am truly impressed with their design process here. It’s an extra step that really adds so much pop to the whole figure.
The shoes are very good as well all though this particular version of Ace’s garb is my least favorite. Something about a Spaceman wearing high tops just doesn’t work for me. Actually it’s never really worked out. Just ask Michael Jordan when he went on his Space Jam.
Again I can’t stress how much I am impressed with the improvements to the body. Now that the bands are the proper length you can pose Ace in that classic stance with his Les Paul. Mind you the figure doesn’t come with a Les Paul but you can do like I did and make one or I can make you one for $5 shipped to your door. I’m doing the same thing with Paul and Gene’s guitars as well. Order your Ace guitar by clicking here:
Overall this is a fantastic figure that I can easily recommend. Be sure to check out the reviews of Peter, Paul and Gene too! You get back where you came from by clicking HERE.
Now, Go Play!
Jim 04/10/14
8 Inch Figures
12 Inch Action Figures
Carrying Case
Show your KISS colors!
Fun Stuff
PLUSH
Figures Toy Company has done something that I can’t help but applaud loudly:
While their first series of KISS action figures made me all giddy as you may recall these new figures blew me away. All of my complaints except for one has been addressed and corrected. In a totally backwards fashion I’ll go ahead and start with that one gripe just to get it out of the way.
That gripe? The packaging. Still huge. Takes up too much real estate and the card art is far from inspired. And the reproduction album jacket is still pretty lame. But honestly I could care less about those things because these bad boys demanded to be freed from their giant plastic prisons! I was more than glad to oblige.
The “Alive” series of KISS classic Mego style 8 inch action figures have improved heads and shoulders above the first series I reviewed back in 2012. New sculpts from the incredibly talented Farrow; the wonderfully stylized costumes that capture the essence of the “Alive” stage show; and last but most certainly not least the improvement in the stringing of the bodies. No longer are they twisted and tough to pose. These figures are most certainly ready to Rock N Roll all night and party every day!
Considering each character is its own personality it seems only fitting to devote time to each one Solo album style….Click on the corresponding Solo Album to get to the individual review.
In my Sheldon Cooper review I put the Bif Bang Pow body to the test by manhandling the figure. It passed with flying colors all to the Kid’s Bop version of “Can’t touch this”. This time however I had a much better stress tester; my 4 year old daughter. Actually I didn’t have a choice. She really wanted to play with these figures. Being that I’m not an over the top IT MUST REMAIN MINT CONDITION collector these days (and I love watching my daughter play) I said, you know what? Go for it baby! And she did.
The figures held up wonderfully. I’ll be honest I held my breath for the first few poses but by golly they took the playtime like true toys should. And that really, really impressed me. Not only was I pleased with the looks of the figures and felt that those positives alone justified the retail price, seeing my daughter actually PLAYING with them made my purchase completely satisfying.
How much do I like these new figures? So much now I and Kaitlynn want ‘em all! Except the Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer figures. Thanks to Paul I could really care less about those two. They are now scrubs and impostors in my eyes. I will say though that the sculpts do look really good and I’d venture to guess that the quality is up to par overall. For me though the characters have no nostalgic connection. If I want a spaceman I’ll buy another Darth Vader. If I want a Catman I’ll just do a gender swap and get a Catwoman.
Seriously though these figures are excellent and I will most certainly be saving my pennies to pick up the Dressed to Kill figures. Probably some extra sets actually so I can trade out the Love Gun and Hotter than Hell with these new sculpts. Still need the first album figures too. I also hope that Figures will continue the line with at least Dynasty. Sure it was a lack luster album but the costumes were sweet.
Be sure to click out all of the individual reviews including the review of Paul’s new book as well as my take on the KISS / Rock N Roll Hall of Fame Debacle.
Now, Go Play!
Jim 04/ 10/14
8 Inch Figures
12 Inch Action Figures
Carrying Case
Show your KISS colors!
Fun Stuff
PLUSH
Confession time. I saved this review for last as far as actually doing the write up and pics. Why, Jim? Why? What do you have against the Catman? Nothing at all. He’s just boring compared to the other three guys. Sorry Peter but it is what it is. Still love you though.
The sculpt is great! Mego completely dropped the ball with the repurposed Lex Luthor head back in the day and as such the first series fell on this dagger as well. I don’t fault FTC for that considering their goal was to offer reproductions of that line. In that they nailed it. For this new line however they did the right thing in again reaching out to The Farrow to create a brand new sculpt. The only detractor to this head is the hair. But as I’ve stated in my review of Ace, this is forgivable considering the production process, scale and cost. Plus everything else about it is so very right even if it is a bit boring.
To clarify, when I say boring I don’t mean that in a negative way at all. This is a very well made figure. The costume is really simple and clean. The quality of the boots are top shelf. But that’s about it. Nothing else really jumps out at me. Again nothing bad to say and I can easily say you should get this figure without reservation. But then again having one and not all four is just out of balance.
But that’s about that. Unlike his counterparts I don’t have a drum set for him but that may change in the future. I’ll keep you posted.
Now, Go Play!
Jim 04/10/14
8 Inch Figures
12 Inch Action Figures
Carrying Case
Show your KISS colors!
Fun Stuff
PLUSH
I wanted the best and I got the best! These figures are simply amazing in their detail for this format. There is so much more I want to say and share about these but time is not my friend today. I will share these pics to tie you over. But don’t wait for my “final word” to go order yours today!
Howdy gang! Sorry for the in and out for those that are following me everyday. I’ll be honest with you, it’s been some crazy rockin’ and rollin’ going on back stage and not always in the good way. But I won’t trouble you with that pity party because this is a fun place, and by golly I’m going to keep it that way.
As mentioned before I have decided to scrap the broadcast television show (for now) but I’m far from not throwing stuff out into the ether. What I’m doing is creating some 60 second mini featurettes that I will be posting here as well as broadcasting on TKO 8 television where you’ll find me doing the day job stuff. I really want to introduce more folks to the things you see here but I don’t want to kill myself doing it. Plus I enjoy the various mediums available these days and as such I want to play with them all. Multi media Jim in progress J
One thing that I do feel like sharing with you at the moment is my process. I’m a Henry Ford kind of guy when it comes to production. The efficiency I find in an assembly line structure really works for me. Feds my analytical side and I’ve found as I do the steps (photo’s / video. Writing, graphics etc…) in this way my creativity flows better. I mention this only because coming back to this realization has helped me tremendously in getting back into the groove again.
Another thing I am extremely stoked about is the coming additions to the Toy Box: The Figures Toy Company 8 inch Alive series of KISS Mego style action figures. Recently my good buddy Tom got me plugged back into some of the fantastic branches of the KISS Army and I can’t thank him enough. I’ll go more into all of the “why’s” that makes this so important to me once I get to the review. In a nutshell though I’ll say that reconnecting with one’s earliest influences and inspirations does a mind, body and soul good.
Looking at the clock on the wall I gotta scoot to get back to work on some voice tracks for another fun project I’m working on. In the meantime thank you all again for stopping by and showing your support and love for me and the Toy Box. Below is a gallery of pics from some things to come very soon. It was the best picture day ever!
Now, Go Play!
Jim 04/02/14
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