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Post by bjd on Mar 27, 2006 17:47:36 GMT -5
I recently got these in the mail from a purchase I made on the Spawn.com forums. I acquired all three figures for the total price of 38$ delivered, which is about 12.50 per figure, no more than I would have paid after tax, had I acquired them in stores. I will do some brief reviews, mostly pictures, since these are figures of two of my favorite players of All-Time... and Alex Rodriguez. MLB 14 Alex Rodriguez:       This is the fourth single release Alex Rodriguez figure through 14 Series of McFarlane MLB sportspicks, despite being a modified re-use of the MLB 8 A-Rod pose. This figure doesn't make a whole lot of sense, as it is a shortstop pose, and Alex Rodriguez has played all of five games at short for the Yankees. Third basemen really don't range to their left very often. If you put that aside, its a nice figure, and a step in the right direction for McFarlane. For once, the pinstripes are not "grooved" but painted on, and look magnificent and clean, the way they should look. The number on the back of his jersey also benefits from this, as it is no longer plastered over ridges. The modifications from the MLB 8 pose, in which Alex was depicted as a Ranger, include longer sleeves, a different right hand sculpt, and sunglasses, which don't appear to be removable(although I'm sure you could if you worked at it long enough). While not as good as Alex's MLB 11 figure in his batting pose, this figure is still a nice representation of Rodriguez.Two more coming... |
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Post by bjd on Mar 27, 2006 18:02:40 GMT -5
Cooperstown 3 Don Mattingly:         This figure is the second release of Don Mattingly, as he was released last year as a Toys R' Us exclusive in 3" form. While this figure is great, I still have a few problems with it. First being the batting gloves, which stand out as being too light blue. If Mattingly wore gloves that color, it must have been brief, because I don't remember it. Second, the sleeves. Mattingly wore long sleeves occasionally, so I can't get too down on that, but I don't remember it as often as I do as him not wearing them. Third: Whats with the soul patch? Mattingly had a mustache for most of his career, so I want my Donnie Baseball no other way, but I seldom remember him having that much defined hair under his lip. Yes, there are some pictures that pick up some shadowing under his lip, but I think they made it too defined. Other than that, McFarlane did the Hit Man some justice. His facial sculpt is fairly good, and they included his trademark mustache and eye black. I wouldn't have minded a 6" fielding pose Mattingly, but I'm glad they opted to go with a hitting pose, as I will always remember Donnie for his awesome gap power. Again, the pinstripes are not grooved... which disappoints me, because there should be a grey road chase for this figure. |
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Post by bjd on Mar 27, 2006 18:12:43 GMT -5
Cooperstown 3 Mickey Mantle:          Cooperstown 3 marks the debut Sportspick for the greatest overall ballplayer to ever live: The Mick, Mickey Mantle. There were so many ways to do Mantle, fielding, running, hitting(left or right handed)... either would have worked. As one of the most prolific power hitters in MLB history, I'm glad they opted to make Mantle in a power hitting pose. He his posed in a partial follow-through pose, likely blasting a 658 foot home run to deep right field off some ham & egger pitcher who didn't belong on the same field as him. I love this figure, and its probably my favorite sportspick I own, as you can probably tell... Mantle is my favorite athlete ever. McFarlane did a great job with Mickey, capturing his stance, and face perfectly, down to his crooked teeth. The variation is a hat variant, which I am not interested in, but I will definately be purchasing the collectors edition, which features Mantle in Pinstripes. |
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Post by ThugSuperstar on Mar 27, 2006 18:20:47 GMT -5
Nice reviews, Brian. My main complaint about Mattingly is also the batting gloves. The blue is way too light, IMO. Other than that, I think the figure is all around excellent. I'm just glad they did a new pose for him and didn't just end up doing a 6" version of the Toys R Us 3" Mattingly.
A-Rod I was somewhat dissapointed with...mainly because I think that they should have done an away uniform version of A-Rod 3 since it's easily his best figure yet. I guess they didn't want to bother altering the sculpt of A-Rod 3 since it had the "groove" pinstripes molded into it and if they did make an away version, they'd have to alter the mold slightly. The only reason why I bought it was because I collect Yankees SP.
Mantle is phenomenal, I agree. I'll definitely be getting the Collectors Edition Mantle in the home jersey...I may get 2, one loose and one MOC to display with the Collectors Edition Ruth.
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Post by bjd on Mar 27, 2006 18:29:18 GMT -5
The only thing I dislike about the A-Rod is the fact that it makes no sense. How often does a third baseman range to his right(the left side of the field) like that? Mattingly has a few flaws... Mantle is perfect.
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Post by ThugSuperstar on Mar 27, 2006 18:32:21 GMT -5
Yeah, I agree. If they were going to re-use that old pose, they could have at least done a new accurate base for him to stand on. Maybe one where you can see the 3B bag and also part of the foul line running down the left side of the field.
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Post by blu3blazer on Apr 1, 2006 15:47:05 GMT -5
Thanks for the pics. Mattingly was my favorite player when I was a kid. Like you said, what's with the soul patch? Did he ever even have one?
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Post by Gangrel-Brood on Apr 2, 2006 10:49:18 GMT -5
The thing holding the ball up on A-Rod's base looks like a golf tee. Surely they could've done something just as sturdy, while making it less noticable.
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Post by bjd on Apr 2, 2006 19:45:07 GMT -5
Well, they made it clear plastic... there isn't much else you can do. Metal would be more noticable, and green wouldn't be any less so.
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