WOLVERINE COMBAT CAVE

X-MEN (TOY BIZ)

“The Combat Cave is Wolverine’s secret training complex in which he works to improve his formidable fighting abilities. A wide array of weapons and traps challenge Wolverine’s slashing skills to the fullest. Only after completing the combat Cave workout can Wolverine be certain that he is ready for the ongoing struggle against the Evil Mutants.”

Last week, I was discussing the presence of vehicles in ’90s action figure lines, and continuing down that path of figure-adjacent items from those lines, let’s follow up with a look into the wild world of playsets!  I’ve delved into them a little bit here on the site, but not in a terribly in-depth sort of fashion, and not for a good long while.  I’m dipping my toes back in today, starting off on the smaller side of things with the Wolverine Combat Cave!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Wolverine Combat Cave was released in 1991 alongside Series 1 of Toy Biz’s X-Men line.  It was one of two small-scale playsets that accompanied the line’s launch, both clearly meant to emulate portions of the Danger Room.  It would be rendered more or less obsolete by the larger X-Men Headquarters playset, which had a more elaborate set-up, but that wasn’t until 1995, so this set had a decent run of its own.  The Combat Cave measures 7 inches tall, 7 inches wide, and 4 1/2 inches deep.  The set required assembly when new, so you needed to pop the three walls into the base, as well as popping in a few other parts.  It’s a pretty small little area, but with a name that features “cave,” you’re not expecting a huge set-up, I suppose.  The sculpting on it’s notably not very cave-like, though.  It’s pretty basic and geometric, without much in the way of actual detailing.  As far as classic Danger Room designs go, it’s alright, I suppose.  The set has a few spots that are designed for more direct figure interaction.  You plug the figure onto the stand (which works with any figure with standard pegs, but is clearly designed to work directly with the Series 1 Wolverine), and there’s a lever to move the stand back and forth, as well as spin the figure on the stand.  All three walls get some sort of feature as well.  There’s an attack thingy mounted on the first wall with a bunch of different weapons, which you can move in and out towards the figure.  The longest wall gets a printed picture of Magneto that’s affixed to a sliding door, which has a circle in the middle that can be punched out.  On the last wall, there’s a “brick” section, which has a spring-loaded release, which flips the top half down.  The vast majority of this set’s coloring is molded plastic, but there are decals for the obligatory X-Men logo at the top, and the Magneto on the sliding door.  There’s also a small touch of paint for the mount for the logo, which I guess is cool.  Other than that, it’s molded red and blue-grey.  It’s an interesting color choice; certainly not my go-to for a Wolverine theme, but I guess it’s alright.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I came into the game a little late for these particular sets.  I recall seeing them in the booklet that came with my Sentinel, but that was really it, with the Headquarters being my main X-playset as a kid.  I added this particular one to my collection when I came across a sealed one for a remarkably good price at Player’s Choice, one of the two comic shops near where I lived when I was in South Carolina back in 2016.  It was sort of a comfort purchase, given it was my first real time away from home, and I rather vividly recall sitting down and assembling it in my old living room.  It’s a kind of a goofy little set, but it’s a fun little stepping stone towards the more complex stuff from later.