I’m always excited when the Four Horsemen send a box of review samples along, but there is something a little more special when we get to the main events like the Infinity Editions of the Outer Space Men or today’s review, the fully realized Power Lords characters of Adam Power and his powered-up self, Lord Power!
Now both Vault & I have reviewed most of this figure before in the form of the Power Corps Soldiers. To get the skinny on Adam Power below the neck, check out my review of the first Power Soldiers. And while Lord Power has a new upper half, you can also check out Vault’s Soldier review for anything… well, below the waistline. I’ll cover anything newly tooled here, but those reviews will catch you up to speed on the existing parts.
The first thing about these new Power Lords is the packaging. I’m a big fan of the 4H’s resealable packaging and they’ve brought it back again here. The card itself is based on the classic and has a great retro feel. I love the file card and isn’t it always great to have that big white canvas back there with all the various figures available or upcoming. I’m not sure what the focus groups on toy packaging tell the big two, but nothing beats the classic layouts if you ask me. Oh, and not to mention, that artwork on the front is more great work from site friend and artist extraordinaire, Nate Baertsch!
Once I popped these first two figures open, I was really struck by how well done they are. If that sounds par for the course for the praise I tend to give the 4H, it is. As a collector of multiple scales, I think we tend to allow for more mediocrity as we get smaller. A sixth scale toy is expected to be pretty flawless. Twelfth scale needs to be done well, but we’ll let thing slide here and there. Eighteenth scale? I’m sure there are enthusiasts who expect the very best, but it seems we’re more okay with iffy paint and sculpting on the little guys.
The nice thing about the 4H working in this 4” scale is that they don’t lower the bar to the height of the figures. We already knew the sculpting was great on these from the previous releases and the new upper body for Lord Power and the two new heads are no exception. They’re fantastic. The original Adam Power had this somewhat worried look on his face and the 4H have recaptured that here. Lord Power, meanwhile conveys… almost a godliness; there’s just a stern power oozing from the sculpt.
In addition to the new bits, it’s the paint that finally brings these sculpts to life. Just like the Infinity Edition OSM, I was already enjoyed the releases leading up to now, but I love these painted figures. Both of these guys are painted head-to-toe so that the colors are just right. And the paint is very well done. There are a few tiny things here and there, of course. They are mass produced pieces. I think the only paint that bugged me here was the blue paint on Adam’s chest not quite reaching the red ribbing like it should, but the facial details and other line work throughout the figures leaves that a minor quibble. Continue to Page 2…
Here’s a quick scale shot that ended up getting left out:
and here I was thinking Lord Power looked like the lovechild of Manhattan and Adam Warlock! LOL 😉
I probably would snatch these up if I were still collecting any 1/18 lines, be it Joes, MU, or whatever excuse for DC Matty puts out (JLU was *IT*). As it is, I’m barely cherry picking select figures, these days.
I’m getting pretty pared down myself. Doesn’t seem to be much at retail right now, at least of interest to me.
cool review! how I wish that Lord Power figure was in 6 inch scale. It would have been an inside head swap onto a Keldor/Faker figure..
Thanks! 6″ Power Lords would be cool, but pricey as all get out!
By the power of powder blue!
That’s a great group shot. “We’re bluer than blue, sadder than sad…”
LMAO at the third to last pic. The one thing this line needs is humor. Sydot is the comedy relief/sidekick, right?
Excellent homage to the vintage “transformation” ad in the next to last pic. The best thing about these guys is that they have actual backs!
I love that they’re seperate figures too, but don’tcha kinda want the 4H to do a fused, six-fingered upper torso? 😉
Sydot will be a lot of I suspect!
Sweet review, excellent pics.
Ended up ordering a Ggripptogg from BBTS. Might get a few more of the alien baddies and perhaps Sydot.
Thanks! Normally, I won’t hard sell ya, but I’d recommend grabbing one of the humanoids at some point too. They’re well done and they’ll enhance how alien the aliens are. I know it sounds weird, but I’ve taken group shots… lol
That recreation of the old comic-book advert at the end is just too rad.
Thanks! I was so excited when I thought of it!! lol
Great review! I’m definitely tempted by these, despite not collecting 1:18 scale figures and not being too familiar with the original line. That’s the sign of well-produced figures – as a toy fan they appeal to me simply because they look great and fun.
I will say, despite never having the toys, I’ve always been aware of Power Lords thanks to that transformation ad. That’s how effective advertising works!
Lastly, keep up the great work writing reviews. More and more people are doing video reviews now…it’s great that there are still sites putting out well-written reviews like this regularly. Thanks for that!
Thanks! I have some favorite video reviewers, but I like text reviews a lot so I’ll be sticking to them!
I think you summed it up well, these are great toys and are enjoyable for non Power Lords fans, no problem.
And that ad? I wonder if they knew it would indelibly burn in young minds as the most most pervasive remnant of the old line?
95% of the video reviewers i’ve seen clips of have one glaring problem: their online persona. they are so cartoonish and carsalesmanish that it hurts the credibility of the overall viewing/listening experience…
OR they are so willfully ignorant that they can’t string together two coherent sentences. i don’t care if street slang is cool or not, a toy is not a joint nor a whip, and if anything is sick, it’s these douchetools’ command of the english language. and it’s not cool to do the review in a voice that says at any moment, mom may yell down from the kitchen that your frittata is getting cold.
the only folks i will totally forgive are the foreign guys who don’t speak english well, as it’s not their language.
the strength, for me, of the video review, is seeing the handling of the figure. i can get a sense of the range of motion, where the articulation is, and if bits of the toy keep falling off. poor range of motion, lack of sensible articulation, and non-flimsy kibble are some of my biggest priorities when making a purchase decision, and that can be difficult to express in print. i’ve seen some gorgeous TF and import toy reviews for toys i was genuinely excited about, but when the review was released, and an arm kept falling off, or you couldn’t get the damned thing to stand upright… unsold! it’s far easier to fudge details like in a text review (though i know in video, some allowance must be paid for operator error on a figure or piece that the host just doesn’t understand)
a great example of this was the recent DCC swamp thing deluxe fig. he looked great to me in the ads, and in some of the text reviews, but on seeing a couple videos on the engineering of his feet, and the weight issues with his wings, i decided to pass. the toy doesn’t do some things i wanted it to, and it has a hard doing something i need it to… so no sale.
that said, a well executed text review with good photos is fine and dandy most of the time. i’m not leaving the IAT ship till the women and children are off. 🙂
Hear, hear! I rarely watch video reviews anymore. Most of the time I just feel as though I don’t want to sit there for ten minutes watching a review. The good ones are scripted, edited well, and concise. If you can’t get your point across in 5-7 minutes you fail (unless of course it’s something which warrants an extended review, like say, Castle Grayskull). Also when you have to sit there for a minute or two watching intros and logos before you get to the actual meat it’s a fail!
The one thing that is keeping me from getting this line is the T-crotch. If they had the DCUC H-hinge I’d be in. But for $15 a pop, even for a “boutique” line, the T-crotch is a deal breaker.
T-crotches are not our friend, ’tis true. On these figures though, it’s kinda akin to the one thing that wakes you up when you’re in a dream. It’s just not right!
i’ve always laughed at the notion of “museum quality” when that gets tossed around as a descriptor… a lot of museum pieces are there because they’re 1 tiny accident away from becoming complete shite. museum quality if in many cases the very last stop at the end of total oblivion.
BUT THAT’S BESIDES THE POINT!! please to further describe the phrase “two piece ball joint” cuz my head can’t seem to wrap about that notion. i’m very curious about it, being a lover of articulation engineering. it is sad about the lack of hip functionality, but i’d be lying if i said that was the only thing holding me back from going all in on these. i really hope the mythic legions solve the articulation issues that seem to populate the OSM and power lords, as for me, they just aren’t posable enough to warrant the scale change for me.
The irony of the term museum quality is has to do more with auctions then museums, but “auction quality” just doesn’t sound fancy.
The two-piece joint is just injection molding. It’s normal ball-joints, I’d say, though some sites prefer to call them hinge-swivel joints or pin & disc joints while leaving the term ball-joint to the one-piece variety like the head is here. I typically only make the distinction when we get both kinds of ball-joints on the same figure.
I totally agree that the painted necks make the helmets kind of a waste. If they didn’t want to include an extra part it seems like it would have been a good idea to tweak the design so that it didn’t need a painted neck in the first place. I also think not having both helmets for the soldier figures is a mistake. Maybe it’s because I’m used to Onell Design’s figures but not having the extra display option really makes me feel like I’m not getting enough value for my money.
I think Onell is part of it. Matt has, in a way, spoiled us and the other Glyos lines don’t feel the same if they’re not packing Matt’s punch.
That’s true, no one goes out of their way to provide extra value like Matt. I’m just afraid the Horsemen may have picked up some bad habits from that other company they’ve worked with so much.
Perfect recreation on that last shot, Noisy!
Agreed! Awesome!
The ad pic was brilliant!
Believe it or not, I used to be freaked out by that Adam’s powers transformation form. I remember seeing it as a kid in the ads and comic books, then I would close my eyes on reaction and quickly turn to the next page. Lulz. It used to scare the sh*t out of me. But, now I can fully appreciate it without putting the blanket over my eyes.
I hope they come out with Arkus. I was thinking of picking up the vintage figure a few years ago but never got around to buying it. Maybe now, I don’t need to.
That final shot really made me smile.
You nailed the final ad shot. Awesome. Really takes me back.
Seems like that ad ran on the backs of comic books for MONTHS. I think it’s pretty much ingrained in our collective memories. Nicely done!
I’m now a total GLYOS-ite thanks to you. The Outer Space Men and Power Lords totally sold me. Now I’m biting my fingernails that the Skeleton Warriors get made and have my eye on the Stealth line over at Onell. My wallet may not like you very much, but I’d like to thank you for opening my eyes to some of the most fun I’ve had with toys since I was a kid.