Paintwork on the figure was pretty solid. There were a few little slop areas where lines were missed, but those are exaggerated in my up-close pictures. In person, Jack looks slick in his orange space suit and black trim. I love the colors on the belt as well as the “wings” and Nasa-esque logos on his chest. I do wish the Earth logo on his chest was a little less dolphin-like. Colossus Rex had a fantastic Jupiter tampo on his armor. It’s a shame something similar couldn’t be done on this pace.
Jack included a lot of gear inherited from Terra Firma. There’s the three-part helmet which splits in half to be removed and has the flip-down visor. It’s an oversized, but classic piece that fits the retro aspect of the line perfectly. I can see Jack flipping the visor down whenever he’s done talking. “What’s that? I can’t hear you in here.”
Jack also came with an American Flag and pistol, both also from Terra Firma. The Flag is a nice touch, but I do prefer the pistol. The 4H were genius – they painted Jack’s gun in the same silver/gold color scheme as Terra’s but opposite. The pistols are a great sculpt and look great as a set thanks to the smart paintwork!
Finally, what may be my favorite piece: the anti-gravity back pack. It is so retro it’s like a flashback. It’s essentially a giant magnet with energy radiating out that allows the Human Astronauts to do their thing. It looks amazing on their back, but I kinda like it more as a weapon! Unfortunately, the OSM hands don’t have standard Glyos ports for their clutching hands and since the backpack uses a standard one to plug into their back – none of the OSM can hold it. Boo! The upside is that the Armorvor or any other Glyos guy can steal the ordnance for his own deal. I’m still hopeful the 4H will make a connection piece that has one side scaled for the little accessories and a Glyos port on the other end. That’s much needed!
Overall, Jack is a fun figure. He looks slick with the others, his head sculpt is fantastic and fun to plop on all sorts of other Glyos bodies. Fun accessories. And the modern astronaut colors look slick on this buck too! It’s more than enough to keep me interested in the OSM line – particularly when there are at least two more human astronauts mentioned in these bios here. I’d love to see those released (though I’d like to see a new female buck if we do get ‘em, but more on that in Terra’s review). Anyway, the only thing for me not to really like is the name and to go all highbrow and quote Shakespeare, “that which we call a rose; by any other name would smell as sweet.” That’s definitely true here. Jack is available now at the Horesemen’s Store!
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Great review, pics, and comics. Wish I could’ve picked these OSM figures up, but money, space, and limited numbers made that impossible.
The fully-painted Infinities are usually easy to come by; that doesn’t do much for the first two problems though. 🙂
His dad is Kick Asteroid. lol This is why I love IAT!
Subtlety is my thing. 🙂
The name, the cockyness, all that stuff is 100 percent Mel Birnkrant. I think we’re all just jealous that Jack gets to hang out with Terra Firma and we don’t. 😉
I also like the fact that a senior citizen names his character Jack Asteroid and a taht much younger reviewer waves his finger at him and shouts “Tut! Tut!”
I hope I retain my capacity to alienate youngsters when I’m that old! 😉
I have little doubt that you will capably alienate people well into your golden years. 😉
I think you kinda hit the nail on the head in terms of them being 100% Mel. Having poured over his site like a kid in a candy store many times, so much of what he talks about in regards to the OSM is about him getting out of their way. The newer figures just don’t feel like they came from the same place as the others to me, but everyone’s mileage will vary.
I was going to ask about the dolphin. You can kinda see NA, but for SA, you have to look at it at the right angle to see it.
and you missed out on some Duran Duran jokes. 😉
Do share any missed jokes. 😉
I don’t mind the artistic Earth there really, but that Jupiter on Rex is soooo cool.
It just comes across as trying to be clever instead of actually being clever. It’s like someone wants to giggle every time his name is said aloud.
You just need to use longer dramatic pauses between the two words.
I do talk really fast, so I’d fall for this hook, line, & sinker every time.
Also, I just tried your slowing down suggest five or six times. I think it’s worse. 🙂
Though not as bad as doing the “Bond”: Asteroid. Jack Asteroid. lol
The newer figures come from exactly the same place (Mel) just 40 plus years later. Mel loves puns and he has a delightfully naughty sense of humor.
If you’re ever been in Mel’s living room and seen an incredible vintage Marionette of a burlesque dancer you would know where the inspiration for Terra Firma’s proportions come from.,
Sadly, the most Jack Asteroid does for me is wish with all my heart for a Major Matt Mason revival from Mattel. Oh, sure, they’d COMPLETELY screw it up, overprice it, focus on the wrong figures and other ‘internet outrage’ worthy atrocities, but dammit, at least TRY, ya know?
Here, I’ll lay out what I would want done: Figures would be scaled and 100% compatible with the vintage figures. Solid plastic with lots of points of articulation hidden by the joints of the space suit. Female astronauts would join the team, at least one. There would be versions of the figures in non-spacesuit style. There would be at least one new vehicle styled in the same way as the vintage toys. If the tooling could be found, vintage vehicles/accessories would be remade.
Yeah, that’s completely insane, I know. If Mattel can’t make house-owned property MOTU a sustainable evergreen product line, what chance, in this ‘turn our backs on Space’ world we currently live in, would Major Matt Mason have?