Stikfas: Super Hero and Villain
by Mr. Stinkhead

It's been a while since I reviewed the Mechana segmented robot. I found it so beautifully executed in function and design, we awarded it the 2003 Toy of the Year. Since that time, I was introduced to and fell in love with the Stikfas/Hasbro love child that is Xevoz. Now that Xevoz are dead in the water, I felt it was time to pick up where I left off and take a look at what Stikfas has been doing. YouBuyNow.com sent us the Super Hero and Super Villain to perhaps get back in the Stikfas groove. These toys impressed the pants off me, but will I be changing my name to Mr. Stikhead?? Time will tell.

Getting them started
Not to start off with a negative point, but it's the only negative point, so here it goes. I really miss the Xevoz baggie of separate parts. I don't like having to break off each point from the plastic tree. I do understand this is part of the assembly process, and the figures would not only lose some of their charm, they'd be a little more expensive if they didn't come this way. However, I'm getting more feeble in my years, and I poked myself a couple of times and it really hurt [Ed note: wah wah wah, baby]. It didn't hurt so much that I'd never touch these again... I just miss the Xevoz style. Call me spoiled. [Ed note: and a cry baby]. I recommend using sand paper to rub out some of the nubs that are left over.

Anyway, there were no directions, but these were very intuitive to assemble. There were tiny L's and R's engraved on the left and right pieces, respectively, and that helped here and there, but from the cover of the box, these went together very easily. One of the things I love here is that you get two complete Stikfas bodies per box. The Hero set gives you orange and white. The Villain set gives you purple and green. The great thing here is you can go nuts mixing and matching pieces. And on top of that... the pelvis and lower leg pieces are now segmented in a way you can now split them in half and switch out colors. AND you can mix in parts from older sets, like I did with the Mechana.

The Accessories
I really dug the amount of accessories they gave you here. There's plenty to custom build your own hero or villain to your liking. The first one you notice is the soft rubber cape. The Hero comes with a Superman-esque "flying" cape, and the villain comes with a Batman-esque wraparound lurking cape. These are a fantastic pliable rubber. There's enough "give" that the Stikfas limbs will resist the rubber a bit and hold a pose, but it keeps its form. Nice.

You also get some cool rocket boots (on the villain) or winged heels (for the hero) that snap right on to the bottom of their shoes. The villain has a sweet gun, and a forearm mounted rocket. The hero has some nice stylistic "blasts" that look like they're coming from his hand. I do wish the Hero had a sword or something. But that's just my preference.

Both sets come with a series of helmets... some cover the eyes, some expose most of the face. Another minor complaint, maybe I'm unskilled, but once the helmet went on, I could not get it off. I did like that between the mix and match options, and the amount of "flair" you can pop on your figure, it really opened the door for some great customization, and they sparked the imagination a bit. If you can't tell by the number of Photoshopped pics below, then I pity your cold, emotionless existence.

I had fun putting these together and taking pictures. I do miss what Xevoz brought to the table, and these predecessors have continued on and gotten quite specific with new genres. You can now get Stikfas styled gladiators, astronauts, pirates, knights... just to name a few... and they're now re-releasing older sets in new color schemes. Cool!

Of the whole experience, I had more fun posing these guys and taking pictures than puncturing my fingertips [Ed note: oh knock it off], but I am definitely going to putting together more Stikfas kits.

Swing by YouBuyNow.com to see their great selection on Stikfas kits.

Want to chat with other Stikfas fans and enthusiasts? Get your block to The Stikfanatics Asylum for news, pictures, customs and great conversation.

Don't forget to check out Stikfas.com for info on some of the cool upcoming Stikfas model kits, and check out our coverage of Stikfas at the 2005 Toy Fair.

Article and all images ©2005 MillionairePlayboy.com