Well they're finally here, Captain Action and Dr Evil; the way we remember them, in long boxes!  Like Aurora before them, the long boxes are part of the sixties and seeing the Captain and Doc this way is sure to bring a tear to any nostalgiac's eyes.  Now, this is being written on Jan. 6, and as far as I know, these guys have just arrived on the West Coast.  We had to wait an extra week over East Coast fans but thats the toy biz.  Now for the review...

In pure visual terms the repacks are hugely successful.  I've purchased 3 of each with, no doubt, more to follow.  Now the nitty gritty.  The boxes themselves are beautiful.  The colors are bright and the graphics are really perfect.  It's a first rate job.  Also, I like the Gold Sticker on the shrink-wrap (Figure 1). I've included pics of the sides for those who haven’t picked them up yet (Figure 2  Figure 3  Figure 4 Figure 5). I also like the large sticker on the back (Figure 6). The boxed figures now include "Action Points".  One question though, what will the Action Points be used for?  I guess we will have to wait and see.  The addition of the silhouettes is cool and it's nice to see the Speed Racer characters side by side with the old favorites.  Overall the box rates a perfect 5 Aliens!  Keep up the good work Playing Mantis!

On opening the Captain (Figure 7) the first thing you'll see is the new face paint (Figure 8).  Now, for me, the Captain is first about nostalgia and second the coolest Action Figure on the planet.  So the closer to the original the better. That being said, the new face paint is an improvement over the face paint on the Captain Action figure included with Flash Gordon (Available from KB at this link Captain Action as Flash Gordon ).  The overall face seems to be a little darker.  The shape of the brows is better, the eye paint fits the eyes (on my Flash Gordon the painting was more on the lower lid then the eye) and they toned down the rouge. Also the lip color is darker.  Although nice, this is not my Captain of choice.  My Captain is the one that closest to the original, which was PM's first issue.

Getting back to vintage, PM does have a wonderful surprise in the box, a metal emblem.  The emblem is thicker than a vintage one but adhered great and is now proudly displayed in my collection.  It covered the old emblem completely and I'm sure some of these guys will find homes on vintage suits.  The bagged accessories are the same as the first PM issue and are great.

Now moving on to the good Doctor (Figure 9).  The first thing you’ll notice when you open this box is that the Doctor needs braces (Figure 10).  I never did notice that Dr Evil had teeth and now I wish he never did (on the originals the mouths were painted red).  This repaint is just too goofy for me.  I'm sure there will be people who will praise this work but for me the first issue was closer to the vintage.  I appreciate the effort but this guy is staying in the box.  The bagged accessories are the same as the ones included with the first issue and they too are great.  One thing that did occur to me was the question of the Brown Dr Evil (Included in the Ming the Merciless set, available at KB Dr Evil as Ming the Merciless ).  Is he discontinued?  I stocked upon them, just in case PM decides not to make anymore.

One special note, they included a card advertising Michael Eury's soon to be released new book (Figure 11).  It's really nice to see the cover and I know we all can't wait to get our copies.

Overall the repacks are great, and as a collector who never really looked at packaging before, it's surprising what a difference a new box can make.