CHITAURI FOOTSOLDIER

MARVEL SELECT

When the Avengers movie was a few months away from release, solicitations and advertisements started coming out for the various tie-ins. The interesting thing about them was that they all listed Loki’s army under the term “REDACTED.” Speculation ran rampant about just who these mysterious foes were. Everything pointed to the Skrulls, but Fox still held the movie rights to them, thanks to the Fantastic Four license. When it was confirmed they wouldn’t be Skrulls, my first thought was “As long as it’s not the damn Chitauri.” Well…it turned out to be the damn Chitauri. However, it wasn’t all bad. See, in the comics, the Chitauri first appeared in the Ultimate universe, where they were the boring, grey, completely joyless stand-ins for the Skrull. Essentially, they just had all the fun sucked out. But, when they were brought into the Cinematic universe, the damn Chitauri were redesigned and given their own style and characterization. And now they suck less. Yay!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Chitauri Footsoldier was released as one of the Avengers movie tie-ins in the Marvel Select line. Most of the time, Marvel Select is just single releases without any series layout, but the Avengers tie-in actually offered a whole series of figures. The Chitauri Footsoldier is based on the lower ranking aliens we saw the Avengers tearing through in the final battle in New York. The figure is 7 ¾ inches tall and features 29 points of articulation. The sculpt is completely unique to this figure. In all honesty, it’s not the most accurate depiction of the movie design. In Diamond’s defense, the figure was more than likely based on early design work, before the Chitauri were fully rendered. The helmet seems the most off; it’s a bit too squat and too wide. The eyes are a bit far apart, and overall, the figure’s details are a little smoother. The overall look isn’t too bad, and at the very least, the body’s proportions are pretty good. Point is, no one will confuse this figure for something else. The paint is about on par with the sculpt. It doesn’t have incredible details, but it’s bold and cleanly applied. The colors are also pretty close to what they should be. The Chitauri Footsoldier includes a stand, which seems to depict some sort of rooftop, and appears to be able to link up with the stands included with the other figures from the series. It would have been nice to get a blaster like the one all the Chitauri were carrying, but seeing as the only figures to include that piece are the Hot Toys versions released two years after the movie, I’d say licensors weren’t provided with the design early enough to implement such an accessory.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

While I did like the redesign of the Chitauri, I didn’t have enough of an attachment to it to pay full retail for a Marvel Select figure. However, just a few weeks ago, Cosmic Comix was doing a 40% off sale on all their MS figures. At that price, I figured the Chitauri Footsoldier was worth it. The figure’s design definitely strays a bit from the movie one, but in my opinion, all the changes are for the better, resulting in a figure I thoroughly enjoy.