Monthly Archives: August 2023

#3418: Hyperion & Doctor Spectrum

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , , , ,

HYPERION & DOCTOR SPECTRUM

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Hyperion convinces Doctor Spectrum and the Squadron Supreme to use their vast superpowers to solve Other-Earth’s problems by remaking it into a utopia by any means necessary”

I’ve spoken a few times before about the Squadron Supreme, Marvel’s in-house stand-in for the Justice League.  They’ve managed to have a surprisingly enduring popularity over the years, but admittedly, not a ton of merchandising, since they exist just outside the mainstream.  We’ve gotten a few Hyperions, and a few Nighthawks, but it’s rare we get past those two.  Hasbro’s decided to give a proper line-up an actual go, it would seem, and are kicking things off, unsurprisingly, with another Hyperion, but also resident Green Lantern stand-in Doctor Spectrum!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Hyperion and Doctor Spectrum are a Fan Channel-exclusive Marvel Legends two-pack, the first of a set based on the Squadron.  Later sets indicate that this line-up is meant to be based on the “Squadron Supreme of America” version of the team from Jason Aaron and Ed McGuinness’s Avengers run, but in the case of these two particular figures, that means they also double as classic versions of the characters.  This set hit right around the same time as yesterday’s Franklin and Valeria pack, right at the end of June/beginning of July.

HYPERION

Hyperion has had one Legend before, way back in the Hit Monkey Series.  While that’s *technically* within the modern Legends classification, he was a weak figure even when he was new, and the base body that he introduced to the line is more or less retired, so a new version’s certainly not un-called for.  The figure stands 6 3/4 inches tall and he has 31 points of articulation.  He’s largely working with a fairly basic articulation set-up, but he does get a ball-jointed mid-torso set-up, which is quite nice for posing and aesthetics.  Hyperion is built from absolutely no parts from the Hyperion mold, if you can believe it.  He’s got the arms and legs of two different Hercules figures, plus a new head, torso, and cape.  The head, handle by sculptor Paul Harding, is based on Hyperion’s earliest appearances, when he was still sporting the short hair and the domino mask.  I appreciate how it’s got just a touch of a Superman vibe, without being just straight up Superman.  He’s still his own character.  The color work on this figure is very bright and eye catching. There’s a slight mismatch on the exact shades of red, which seems to happen a lot, but otherwise things work out okay.  His actual paint is all pretty clean, and I like how the hair gets the darker accenting to help bring out the sculpted details.  Hyperion is packed with an extra pair of gripping hands.  Not really sure why, but I guess he might want to hold some stuff occasionally?

DOCTOR SPECTRUM

Doctor Spectrum’s only prior figure is a Minimate, which wasn’t a super plentiful one at that.  Despite being one of the team’s higher profile members, he’s just never gotten the spotlight.  But hey, here he is now.  Yay!  The figure stands about 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  Spectrum is based on the supposedly retired Bucky Cap base body, which just sort of keeps showing back up.  It’s like a Baby Boomer that just won’t stay home, or something.  This time around, it’s got a new set of arms, with pinless construction on the elbows.  They don’t quite sit flesh with the body, which is a touch awkward.  Why they didn’t just use the newly developed Vulcan body is anybody’s guess.  I assume there’s some sort of logic behind it, and I’m not gonna try to figure it out.  He also re-uses the Blizzard head, which honestly is pretty hard to go wrong with.  It’s a basic full face mask.  Not like there’s a lot of different ways to do that, right?  Doctor Spectrum’s distinctive color scheme is largely handled via molded colors, but there’s a fair bit of actual painting on the torso.  Some of the edges are a touch sloppy, but they’re not awful.  The only thing I’m really not big on is way the blue continues around the shoulders; it just doesn’t look right when posing.  The Doc is packed with two sets of hands, one open gesture, the other gripping, two effects pieces, and his Power Prism.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The Squadron Supreme are a fun concept, and it feels like all we ever get are Hyperion figures.  Well, and Nighthawk too, I suppose, but his are usually his Defenders costume, so it doesn’t really count.  I have a particular affinity for Doctor Spectrum, what with him being the GL equivalent and all, so I’ve long wanted some proper toy version of him.  This one’s admittedly a little phoned in.  But, at the same time, it’s not a *bad* figure, and certainly preferable to no Doctor Spectrum at all.  Hyperion, despite being yet another Hyperion, is actually a pretty cool figure, so I can get behind that, I guess.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with these figures to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3417: Franklin Richards & Valeria Richards

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , ,

FRANKLIN RICHARDS & VALERIA RICHARDS

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Genius children of Fantastic Four’s Reed and Sue Richards, Franklin and Valeria Richards explore the wonders of the multiverse with their Moloid friend Turg as part of Marvel’s First Family”

Comics, by there very nature as a serialized medium with only so much space to tell in a given installment and slower pace of release relative to the real world, are almost always required to move at their own pace.  For long-spanning universes, such as Marvel and DC, this requires the use of a sliding timeline, where things happen at a different pace in-universe.  Marvel, in particular, likes to have milestone moments to showcase the characters are moving forward.  One of the biggest ones for them, especially in their earlier years, was Franklin Richards, the son of Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Woman.  Reed and Sue began in Fantastic Four as simply dating, then got married, and eventually had Franklin, all under the tenure of their creators Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, in their first decade of existence.  Franklin is a rare character that was born within the narrative, who has actually gotten to grow up in-universe, going from infant, to toddler, to child, to teenager.  Sure, it took him 50 years to get to being a teenager, but, still.  Along the way, Reed and Sue had a second child, Val, who, like her brother, has also gotten to grow up, albeit at a slightly faster pace.  The two of them aren’t exactly ripe for toy coverage, but they’re not entirely without it either, which is how I can be talking about them right now.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Franklin Richards and Valeria Richards are a Fan Channel-exclusive Marvel Legends two-pack, capitalizing on the increased profile of the characters following Dan Slott’s revival run for the FF.  The two of them are based on their more modernized teen looks, with outfits to match the rest of the team as we saw them in the Super Skrull Series.  Or other versions of the team as well, since they actually kept these suits past the main team ditching them as the run progressed.

FRANKLIN RICHARDS

Franklin’s had a surprising number of figures, in that the number he’s had before this one isn’t zero.  In fact, this isn’t even Franklin’s first time as a Marvel Legend, since he was included in Toy Biz’s FF boxed set back in 2004.  It’s the first time Hasbro’s tackled him, though, so there’s that.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation.  Franklin is based on the Amazing Fantasy Spidey body, which is honestly a fantastic base body that hasn’t gotten much play thus far.  It’s perhaps a bit too tall and too muscular to *really* be spot-on for Franklin, even as a teenager, but a proper base body would have required a completely new sculpt, and Franklin’s not the sort of character that really warrants that.  So, I guess we’re just making do with this one.  Franklin gets a new head sculpt, based on his post-teen-angst-driven-dying-of-his-hair look (which, per Dan Slot, was done so that Franklin wouldn’t get confused with Johnny in long shots of the team), which is a very different look for him, but it’s also his current one, so I can dig it.  It looks the part, based on the art, and adapted to the usual Legends stylings.  His color work is pretty closely matched to the modern FF costumes, which is proper for his design.  The actual painting is one the limited side for the uniform, but what’s there is cleanly handled.  He’s got the standard printed face as well, which works pretty well.  Franklin is packed with two sets of hands, in fists and gripping, plus the two beakers we got with Lizard and Beast, as well as a pair of blast and a pair of smoking effects, which are compatible with the tops of the beakers.

VALERIA RICHARDS

While Franklin’s had his share of figures, Val has thus far been without any at all.  Admittedly, she was a baby and a toddler for a good while, so not quite as toyetic.  But she’s got one now, and that’s what really matters, right?  The figure stands about 5 3/4 inches tall and she has 29 points of articulation.  Val is built on the Spider-Girl base body, which, like we saw with Franklin, does seem maybe a touch too mature for Val.  Again, though, she’d need a totally unique base, so we’re again working with what we’ve got.  It’s a good base body, at least, so it’s not the worst thing ever.  Val gets a new head sculpt, which, like Franklin, is a good approximation of the art, while also fitting her in with the rest of the line.  There’s also a familial resemblance between her and Franklin, which is certainly appropriate.  Val’s color work is pretty similar to Franklin’s, with the expected change-ups for the head and hair, of course.  Val is packed with three sets of hands, in fists and two styles of gripping, as well as the data pad from the AIM Supreme, and her teammate Turg the Moloid.  Turg is re-using the base and dome from What If…? Scott Lang.  I was a little bummed to see she didn’t get her goggles, as they were a pretty key part of her look (and they differentiated her from Sue in much the same way that Franklin’s hair differentiated him from Johnny).

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve had this odd sort of fascination with Franklin Richards figures since I was a kid.  I guess maybe I just really connected with him at the time?  I don’t know.  I do know that one of the first comics runs that I actually actively kept up with was Waid and Wieringo’s Fantastic Four, and Franklin and Val are both pretty important to that run.  I also really enjoyed how Slott worked them into his run.  This pack is perhaps not a star piece of the collection or anything, but they’re a fun way of getting two pretty important supporting players, and I’m definitely down for that.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with these figures to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3416: Rocket

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , ,

ROCKET

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“As Rocket takes on more leadership duties within the Guardians of the Galaxy, his past actions have consequences that come back to haunt him.”

Though certainly a character that was always in the focus in the movies, Guardians of the Galaxy‘s Rocket was typically more of a quirky supporting player than an outright lead for most of his appearances.  In Guardians Vol. 3, Rocket takes on a far more central role, and one that grants the character a lot more nuance than we’ve seen out of him previously.  Resting the emotional core of your story on a CGI talking raccoon is an iffy prospect at best, but Vol. 3 makes it work.  It makes it work very well.  And Rocket gets to really shine because of it, which is honestly pretty awesome.  You know what else is awesome?  Toys.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Rocket is figure 4 in the Cosmo Series of Marvel Legends, which, as noted previously, is the tie-in assortment for Guardians Vol. 3.  The whole team is present, and Rocket’s also Rocket, so his inclusion makes perfect sense.  Curiously, this marks the first time that a Legends MCU Rocket has been released without any sort of Groot packed alongside him (though that was technically flipped this time, since the deluxe Groot included a baby Rocket).  Like the rest of the team, he’s seen here in his swanky new uniform, which is definitely a good look.  The figure stands 3 inches tall and he has 28 points of articulation.  Like his last go-round, Rocket is still a fully articulated figure, and he’s even a little bit better this time around, since his ankles are rocker joints and the wrists are universals, rather than the straight swivels that we got the last time around.  If nothing else, it certainly makes him a bit easier to stand.  Rocket is sporting an all-new sculpt, courtesy of Rene Aldrete, which is certainly a respectable recreation of Rocket’s on-screen model.  He’s not the drastic step-up in quality we saw with the last release, but that’s largely because the last one was really, really good already.  This one largely sticks to that, just giving him the new uniform, and working in the articulation just a tad bit better.  Rocket’s color work generally matches with the rest of the team suits; the red is still a little sloppy, but it otherwise works okay.  There’s some more intensive work on the head and tail, which captures the detailing of the fur pretty well.  There’s something about the eyes on this one that, much like Mantis, just seem a bit off to me, however.  I’m not sure exactly what it is, but it’s the only thing that I prefer on the older version.  Rocket is packed with the same large blaster rifle as the Vol 1 version, which, I’ll be honest, I was never much of a fan of.  It was awkward and hard to hold the first time around, and it remains so this time around.  Rocket is also packed with the head and main body of the Cosmo Build-A-Figure, which is by far the largest section, since he’s by far the smallest figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The original Rocket figure was honestly one of the worst the line ever put out.  The second, on the other hand, was one of the best.  There wasn’t a ton of room to improve, but this figure found some, and it went for it.  I’m not big on the eyes or the backpedalling to the weird bulky gun, but I do like the core figure a lot, and I also really like having a cohesive set of Guardians.

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

#3415: Gamma 1 & Gamma 2

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

GAMMA 1 & GAMMA 2

DRAGON STARS (BANDAI)

Okay, not gonna lie, I’m starting to get just a touch burned out on Marvel Legends, so I’m gonna do my best to mix in a few non-Legends reviews here, just for my own sanity. So, let’s talk about a thing I don’t talk about here too often: Dragon Ball. My primary association with the franchise is Z, specifically the Android and Cell Sagas, and I haven’t really had much interaction with its current iteration, Super. That said, last year Super did a sort of continuation of those two sagas for their latest movie, Super Hero (which, for those playing at home, makes the official title the somewhat redundant sounding Dragon Ball Super Super Hero), a Piccolo and Gohan-centered story that brings back the Red Ribbon army. Our two new androids for the movie are the super hero-inspired Gamma 1 and Gamma 2, who I’ll be looking at today.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Gamma 1 and Gamma 2 are plot across the two Super Hero tie-in assortments of Dragon Stars, with 1 being in the first and 2 in the second. The first set hit just before the film’s US release, and the second just at the beginning of the summer. Both figures stand about — inches tall and have — points of articulation. I’d only handled one Dragon Stars figure before these two, and wasn’t exactly thrilled with the movement on that one, so I was iffy on these ones. Obviously, they’re not sporting Figuarts level articulation, but it was better than I was expecting, especially on the upper half. The lower half is less practical, in part because of the “skirt” piece blocking the hip movement, in part because of the difficulty getting the ankles to turn on both axises, and in part because of the tendency for the waist on both figures to pop apart if you push them too far. All that said, I did find the tolerances on Gamma 2’s joints to be just a touch better than Gamma 1’s. In terms of construction, these two are largely the same. The body sculpt does a good job of capturing their retro super hero-style attire from the movie, with plenty of sharp detailing on the outfits. The capes are both made from a softer rubber, which I think works pretty well. They hang flat, rather than going for anything dynamic, but I think it works out okay. The difference between the two figures lies in their heads, which get differing numbers of fins, corresponding to their own respective unit numbers. Additionally, they also get slightly tweaked expressions, with 1 being a bit more stoic, while 2 is slightly more jovial. It’s minor, but it works well for their respective characteristics. The paint work between the two is again pretty similar, swapping reds for blues between the two. Application is clean on both figures for the most part. Both figures are packed with two sets of hands and a blaster designed to match their respective head design. I found the hands a bit tricky to swap the first time around, but on Gamma 2, they seem to swap just a little bit easier.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I really only care about the Android and Cell Sagas of DBZ, so I haven’t kept up with everything since. That said, I was immediately intrigued by the designs for these two, which made me kinda want the figures. Once Gamma 2 hit it was even harder to resist, so on Jason’s recommendation, I sat down and watched the movie, and about 20 minutes in, I knew there was no way I was passing on these. I was a little hesitant to go back to Stars after being disappointed in the only other figure I’d gotten from the line, but I actually really like how these two turned out.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with these figures to review.  If you’d like to see a video of these guys in action, I helped out with one for their YouTube channel, so check that out.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3414: Fang

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , ,

FANG

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Wolverine takes advantage of his likeness to Imperial Guard Fang and impersonates him to infiltrate the Shi’ar.”

Okay, so, like, that’s….that’s not right. Like at all. Ignoring the very obvious issue that the bio above is talking about Wolverine, and not the actual character this figure is meant to represent, there’s also the fact that while Wolverine and Fang do sport similar characteristics, they certainly don’t look enough like each other for one to impersonate the other. Also, Wolverine didn’t impersonate him to infiltrate the Shi’ar. What actually happened was that Wolverine, in need of a new costume after his was destroyed in battle, stole a replacement from Imperial Guardsman Fang, an expy of the Legion of Superheroes’ Timber Wolf, who was himself something of an inspiration to Wolverine. It gave Wolverine a new look for a few issues, and gave Fang’s design a little extra highlight, which serves as a decent justification for making a Fang figure. I’ll take it!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Fang is figure 2 in the Ch’od Series of Marvel Legends. He’s one of the three Phoenix Saga related figures in the set, as well as the second Guard in the line (after Gladiator), and Fang’s first actual figure. The figure stands about 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation. He’s using the cleaned up version of the Spider-UK body that was previously used for Strucker, which is decent enough, but in a perfect world, I think it might have made more sense to put him on the Wolverine body, since they’re depicted as being similarly sized and all. But, they opted for this one, so here we are. He gets a new head sculpt, courtesy of Paul Harding, as well as new add-on pieces for the necklace, belt, and boot and glove cuffs.  The new head is a mix of a few of Fang’s looks from over the years, but it captures the general feel of the character pretty well.  The new add-ons have a little difficulty staying in place, but we’re not quite at the level of 90s Cyclops’s leg bands, so it’s not awful.  The whole thing winds up as a solid recreation of his comics design.  Aiding in that is the color work; it’s basic, but it’s clean, and the color scheme looks like it should.  Fang is packed with two sets of hands, in fists and open claws, as well as the head for the Ch’od Build-A-Figure, and his little animal companion.  He does *not* include any Wolverine parts, which feels like a missed opportunity, and also like it might have been a slight change of plans, especially given the character bio he received.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Honestly, this figure surprised me.  I mean, I thought a Fang Wolverine was a longshot, so just a Fang figure, with no Wolverine connection at all, seemed downright impossible.  But, I guess not so much.  Fang is overall fairly by the numbers.  I’m admittedly a little bummed by the lack of Wolverine parts, but he stands out well enough on his own, and I’m certainly not upset about getting another Imperial Guard member.  Here’s to hoping we see some more of them!

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

Mutant X Re-Read #02: Overpowered…by the Swarms of Moot!

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Mutant X Re-Read

NO WAY OUT

MUTANT X #2 (MARVEL COMICS)

“In another place–in another life–Alex Summers led a team of mutants in a battle against oppression. His methods were extreme, his tactics questionable, but–in his soul–he knew that he was fighting for the greater good.

Now that soul has been transferred to another world, and Summers, also known as Havok, has found himself living a lie, allied with a team of mutants who are sinister, parallel versions of his friends and family. It is to this dark, new place that Havok has come, where he stands as a man alone… a mutant alone. Alex Summers is Mutant X.

Fear him. Fear for him.”

25 years ago, Marvel Comics launched Mutant X, a Havok led X-spinoff. I recently came into a complete run of the series, and so now I’m going to re-read the series once a week, and you guys get to come along for the ride!

This week, Havok encounters the Fantastic Four of another world, in “No Way Out!”

THE ISSUE ITSELF

Mutant X #2 is cover dated November 1998 and its story and art were handled by Howard Mackie, Tom Raney, and Andrew Pepoy.

The Six answer a distress call from the Fantastic Four, who are battling Moot and his insectoids. The Six make quick work of the insectoids, allowing Reed Richards to take out Moot. When Alex tries to talk to Reed about being stranded in an alternate dimension, he discovers there is history between the other Alex and this world’s Reed and Sue. After returning to Bannerman’s Castle, Alex talks with Scotty about Scotty’s knowledge of the alternate dimension situation. Alex promises to bring Scotty’s real dad back, and goes back to Reed to ask for his assistance in returning home. Alex reveals his predicament to Reed, who attempts to dissect Alex, revealing that Reed has been taken over by Moot. Moot offers to help Alex return home if Alex will become his ally. With the help of Sue, Johnny, and Ben, Alex defeats Moot and restores Reed to normal. Alex talks with the real Reed about his inter-dimensional nature. Reed runs some tests and comes to a conclusion: Alex is suffering from brain damage, caused by the Sentinel blast last issue. Reed calls Madelyn and informs her of this news, and leaves Alex in her custody.

This issue is clearly aiming to fill out the universe a bit more, especially after the first issue’s heavier X-focus. It’s refreshing to see more than just X-characters in play, and the hints at history between Sue and Alex are fun, as is having the FF be powerless adventurers. The twist at the end where Reed thinks Alex is just crazy is an interesting misdirection, but it’s ultimately not executed in an all that thrilling fashion, making the final panel of the issue a rather mundane shot of Alex and Maddie flying home. Unfortunately, the focus is largely just on Alex and Reed this issue, with the rest of the FF and the Six being just bit players. The Six get a fight scene at the beginning and a short character scene when they return to the castle, but it’s still not much to go on. We do at least get a solid scene with Scotty this time around, which helps to set the stage for how central the Alex/Scotty relationship will be to the series.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This issue is the first of many that I’m reading for the first time on this read through. It’s cool to see the ground work for things I know are coming later, but I don’t know how well it works as an issue on its own.

I snagged this whole run from my usual comics stop, Cosmic Comix, so I want to give them a shout out here, because it was a pretty great find.

#3413: Astonishing Ant-Man

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , ,

ASTONSIHING ANT-MAN

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Attempting to save his daughter’s life, ex-criminal Scott Lang steals technology imbued with Pym Particles. Gaining the ability to shrink to the size of an insect, Scott becomes an unexpected Super Hero as Ant-Man”

Alright, I may have wrapped up the Cassie Lang Series of Marvel Legends last week, but that doesn’t mean I’m done with the cool Ant-Man goodness *just* yet!  In 1979, with the Ant-Man identity three names back for Hank Pym, the guise was assumed by Scott Lang, who used it to save his daughter Cassie’s life.  Scott would take on the title officially until his demise during “Avengers Disassembled” in 2004, and would reclaim it following his 2012 resurrection in Avengers: Children’s Crusade, allowing him to again be the main Ant-Man when it came time for the MCU incarnation to make his debut.  Obviously, Scott’s gotten quite a bit of toy love in the last few years, but classic Scott Lang figures are still something of a rarity, which makes today’s offering extra cool!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Astonishing Ant-Man is a Target-exclusive Marvel Legends release.  He hit roughly around the same time as the Cassie Lang Series, which had him timed out to loosely coincide with the home media release of Quantumania.  This is our second classic style Ant-Man under Hasbro, and our third Legends version overall, counting the old Toy Biz release.  Technically, it’s also a one and one for Scott Lang sporting the gear, since the Retro Card Ant-Man Hasbro put out was actually Hank, going by the eye color.  Yes, I brought up the eye color.  Deal with it.  The figure stands about 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation.  He’s using the ANAD 2099 body as his base this time around.  It means he’s still got visible pins on the elbows and knees, which is a bit of a bummer, but I do feel like the build is a much better fit for both Scott and Hank than the Pizza Spidey body was.  Ant-Man gets a new head and belt piece to finish off the look.  The head is just a beautiful piece of work, through and through.  The helmet is a separate, non-removable piece, and it’s honestly never looked better in Legends form.  They always get something slightly off, but not this time.  It’s clean, it’s sleek, and it’s sharp.  The only downside is how the antenna are easily bent out of shape, but a little bit of heating, straightening, and cooling does wonders for him.  Under the helmet, we get a new facial sculpt, which can honestly work alright for either of the two Ant-Men, but is ever so slightly leaning towards Scott, as it should be.  His new belt is very similar to the one used on Retro Ant-Man and Black Ant, but it’s sized correctly to the new base body, and is also much more sharply detailed.  Ant-Man’s color work is very bright, very bold, and very clean.  The paint work on this one is especially sharp, and it really sells the overall look.  They’ve also made sure to give Scott his proper blue eyes, so that you know who’s who.  Ant-Man is packed with two sets of hands, one open, one in fists.  It’s light.  I won’t lie.  But, honestly, Ant-Man’s always light when it comes to Legends.  I think maybe an unmasked head, or even yet another release of that same pack-in mini Ant-Man might make me feel better, but the hands aren’t terrible.  At least he’s not just stuck with fists again.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The Retro Ant-Man was, at best, always just kind of a placeholder for a better figure.  Black Ant as fine on his own, but he’s not classic Ant-Man, and repainting him in classic Ant-Man colors doesn’t magically fix that.  So, he was fine, but he was never really a star piece for me.  That said, this figure, much like his Toy Biz Walmart-exclusive counterpart, is a figure I didn’t realize I needed as much as I did.  Thankfully, Max was able to hook me up with one without much fuss, allowing me to get him in hand and realize that he is, in fact, the best classic Ant-Man figure out there by a very large margin.

#3412: Bombastic Bag-Man

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , ,

BOMBASTIC BAG-MAN

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Left without a costume, a desperate Peter Parker dons a spare Fantastic 4 uniform and a brown paper bag. And so the Bombastic Bag-Man was born!”

We live in a crazy era for Marvel Legends.  Like, I just can’t be clear enough about that.  It’s an era of getting, serious, actual, fully planned out figures of gag concepts.  Case in point: Bombastic Bag-Man.  After discovering that his black costume was an alien symbiote with its own agenda, Peter Parker enlisted the help of Reed Richards to remove the symbiote.  Left without a suit, he borrowed an older FF suit and a paper bag.  In true Spider-Man fashion, Peter has to stop a crime on his way home, still sporting his makeshift costume, and introducing himself as “The Bombastic Bag-Man.”  It’s silly, and really not a marketable Spidey look, but it’s also a fan-favorite.  It’s come close to figure form a few times, never quite making it to the finish line.  Hasbro, however, has finally made it actually happen.  Crazy.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Bombastic Bag-Man is a Target-exclusive Marvel Legends release.  He’s a one-off on the Marvel Super Heroes style retro card, and he was part of Hasbro’s overall celebration of Spidey’s 60th Anniversary.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 30 points of articulation.  Bag-Man is built on the Reed Richards modification of the Pizza Spidey body.  Why they didn’t just use the Pizza Spidey body straight is anybody’s guess; perhaps they just thought this one was more Fantastic Four-y.  I’m a little bummed that it means he loses the butterfly shoulder, but it’s still a decent body.  He also re-uses the feet from Shang-Chi, made evident by their lack of peg-holes.  The figure’s topped off by a new head sculpt, for the full Bag-Man effect.  The bag and the actual head are separate parts; the bag isn’t removable, and the head beneath only actually gets eye and chin detailing, but it gives everything the appropriate depth.  The actual bag sculpt is also just really good; it honestly looks just a real paper bag that’s been shoved over his head, down to the mis-shaping for his nose.  The color work on Bag-Man is largely meant to mimic the colors on the Walgreens FF releases.  It’s appropriate, since it’s supposed to be one of the same uniforms, and all.  That said, it’s not an exact match.  The blue is a slightly brighter shade, and the exact sizing of the “4” logo is a bit larger.  Granted, for true accuracy, he’s meant of pair off with the Byrne-era costumes anyways, so it doesn’t truly have to match, I guess.  Bag-Man is packed with two sets of hands (fists and open gesture) as well as the “Kick Me” sign Johnny stuck on his back.  That piece is gonna get a lot of use for sure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As I’ve gotten into a few times here, I’ve given up on the exclusives game for the most part.  But, somehow most of it ends up in front of me, just the same.  I dig Bag-Man as a silly concept, so I was glad to get a chance at one when he came into All Time.  He’s not perfect, but he’s certainly fun.  And we live in a time where there’s a freaking Bag-Man figure.  Crazy.

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