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NHL Series 3 Goalies

We have a new guest reviewer today - please welcome Ryan Bradshaw!  He's here with a look at the McToys Goalies from the last series.  Take it away!

First I’d like to apologize for the crappyness of my digital camera, and yes they’re taken on my washing machine in my kitchen… but let me introduce myself. My name is Ryan. I live in Toronto, Canada. I'm 21 and have been collecting action figures for about 5 years now. I tend to stick to the McFarlane's but I'll buy whatever I like, really. Be it The Muppets, or Marvel Legends... that kinda' stuff. But for this review it'll be the 3 goalies from ' McFarlanes Sports Picks NHL Series 3 ‘: Olaf Kolzig, Chris Osgood, and Roman Turek. I tend to stick with the goalies since it's the position I favor, and they're just so damn cool. There's just something about the equipment. That, and I can't afford to buy all 9 figures in the series. To the review!





Packaging - ***
If you've seen any newer McFarlane figure, you know what to expect. The heat-sealed plastic bubble thing. It does its job well. Shows the figures attractively, holds up to some abuse, and has some nice player/team specific graphics. The back has all the players in the series, including the teams they play for, numbers and positions. Open up the paper insert, and you get more of the same, with some added ads for his other sports lines. All in all, good packaging, just a pain in the butt to open.

Sculpting - Kolzig ****, Turek ****, Osgood **
All of the sculpts are excellent. Very action oriented, middle of gamesque. Exactly what you'd want a hockey figure to be. Every detail is here: straps on the pads, tape on the sticks, stitches on the gloves, folds in the jersey... I can go on, really I can. Even the actual likenesses of the players are great. Right down to facial hair or lack there of. Another thing I love about these figures is that their poses are different than all the other goalies in the past series'. Except for Osgood. Hence the two star deduction. His pose/sculpt is identical to the Brian Boucher figure (from the NHLPA series 2 I believe). The only difference is the head/mask sculpt. I won't be displaying those 2 side by side. 

Paint - **1/2
All the figures have pretty good paint ops. I only noticed a few problems. There were a couple spots on each figure where a 'fold' or 'crease' in the jersey was missing a certain color of a stripe, or a little slop here or there. But all the crests, logos, and company name were all clean and crisp. The face details were all clean looking. Better than expected for being covered with a mask.

Accessories - **1/2
Each player comes with an ice base, net, puck (useless with Turek's pose) and water bottle. Is it just me or is McFarlane starting to skimp a bit when it comes to this kind of thing? Everyone's complaining about the Movie Maniacs posters, and now this. In the first few series' of these figures the bases actually looked like ice. It was painted beautifully, with skate scratches and all. Now we get a white plastic bases with a sticker. I also had problems with air bubbles that I had to push out. The net itself is changed a bit as well. Now the net also comes unassembled in three pieces. Not a big complaint but one I thought was worth noting. The water bottles have the PowerAde logo on them, and the puck has the NHL insignia. The base has the player’s name and team logo.

Articulation - *1/2
No one should be surprised here. These figures are very pose oriented therefore articulation is basically useless. There are 5 points on both Turek and Kolzig (both wrists, head and both legs) and 6 points on Osgood (both wrists, both legs, head and left arm). All hidden nicely.

Value - **
Each figure was $16.99. A little more expensive than the usual McFarlane. It's in Canadian funds so take that into effect. I remember buying the previous series' at around $13. But that was at Wal-Mart and they're always a little cheaper, but get them a little later. They always tend to sell out of the goalies quickly so I had to grab them when I had the chance.

Overall - ***
I buy 'em cause I like 'em. They look cool, the fit into my collection therefore I'm will to live with the few things that weren't perfect. The price is a bit up there, but I don't mind. I hope the future series continue to have original poses. The less recycling of bodies the better. 

Where to Buy - 
I bought mine from the only online retailer in Canada that I could find. A great comic and action figure store called The Silver Snail. Good selection and fast delivery. 


Figure from the collection of Ryan Bradshaw.

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