WILD CHILD

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Enhanced regeneration and superhuman senses make Wild Child an excellent tracker.”

First appearing in Alpha Flight #11, Kyle Gibney, aka Wild Child, was a fairly minor character in terms of the larger Marvel Universe when he was re-envisioned for the Age of Apocalypse crossover.  In the crossover, Kyle was made into a feral creature, kept in check by the universe’s more heroic Victor Creed.  His non-verbal set-up meant he didn’t really get much added depth from the story, but at least it granted him a fair bit more visibility, by virtue of spending most of the story line chained to one of the story’s most memorable characters.  Of course, now we’ve got Wild Child and no Sabertooth to go with him…Ah well, might as well review him.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Wild Child is figure 4 in the Sugar Man Series of Marvel Legends, and marks the first time that Wild Child has gotten a proper figure.  Previously, he was included as an un-articulated figurine with Toy Biz’s 5-inch AoA Sabertooth, but that’s it.  So, good for Kyle, I suppose.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  He’s built on the Pizza Spidey body, which is certainly scrawny enough for Wild Child, but seems like it’s a bit too tall for Kyle, who I feel should be a fair bit smaller, at least going by the AoA illustrations I recall.  Additionally, the joints are a little bit limiting for getting Wild Child into his proper crouched over poses.  I know that this body was designed for Spider-Man, and he’s prime for getting into all sorts of crazy poses, but it for some reason feels stiffer for Wild Child than it was for Spidey.  He gets a new head and shoulder overlay, as well as making use of the Superior Venom hands and feet.  The new parts are decent enough.  The head is certainly dynamic, and does its best to capture how Wild Child was depicted in the comics.  It’s not a terribly attractive head, but I guess that’s pretty much on par for the character.  The color work on Wild Child is okay, but not quite perfect, largely due to the mismatch between the plastic on his torso and his limbs.  It should all be one jumpsuit, but he kind of ends up looking like he’s wearing two separate bits.  Beyond that, the paint application’s all pretty clean, for what there is of it.  He’s ultimately pretty sparse on details, which is in keeping with the character’s design.  In a first for this assortment, Wild Child actually does get an accessory!  It’s the chain that keeps him on a leash.  It connects to the back of his collar, and pretty clearly is meant to go around *someone’s* arm at the other end.  Gee, I wonder who that could be.  Wild Child also gets another piece to Sugar Man, this time being his…back?  Yeah, let’s got with that.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Despite the very first Wild Child (and the AoA Sabertooth that was really more the star attraction) from Toy Biz being my very first introduction to anything AoA, I can’t say that I’ve ever had much of an attachment to the character in the slightest.  AoA Sabrertooth I’ve grown to like, but Wild Child?  Meh.  So, getting him but no corresponding Sabertooth doesn’t exactly thrill me.  I mean, I have no doubt in my mind that Sabertooth is coming, but until then, Wild Child feels a bit…incomplete?  He’s not a bad figure, but he’s not a particularly great figure either.  He’s just sort of here.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for Marvel Legends, or other toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.