SILVER SURFER

SILVER SURFER (TOY BIZ)

“Deep in outer space, far beyond Earth, there wages a never-ending cosmic battle between good and evil. With the power-hungry Titan known as Thanos leading the forces of evil to destroy the universe, all hope seems lost. Together with the bounty hunter, Raze, Thanos is virtually unbeatable. The fate of the universe now rests in the hands of Drax the Destroyer and the noble Silver Surfer. Can the two of them stop Thanos and Raze and bring peace to the universe? The decision – and the power – is yours!

Possessing extraordinary cosmic powers, the Silver Surfer soars through space on his board in search of his homeworld, the planet Zenn-La. On his endless voyage, the Surfer happens upon a war-torn planet plagued by the evil Thanos. The Surfer knows he must stop the mad Titan, and engages Thanos in battle. Channeling his cosmic power through his cosmic star blaster, the Surfer produces a blast that sends Thanos reeling!”

There were a whole bevy of Marvel cartoons running in the ’90s.  While shows like Spider-Man and X-Men met more wide success, there were also a bunch of shorter run entries.  In 1998, we got one season of a Silver Surfer cartoon, launched on the tails of those two more successful shows.  It didn’t quite gain its foothold, but it did at the very least get a decent little toyline out of the deal, with a bunch of cosmically-themed characters and, of course, a bunch of variants of the title character.  I’m looking at one of the Surfers today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Silver Surfer was released in the “Cosmic Power Blasters” assortment of Toy Biz’s Silver Surfer tie-in line, which hit in 1998, alongside the show.  He was the main version of the Surfer for this particular set, and had two color variants: standard silver and blue.  This one is the standard.  The figure stands a little over 5 inches tall and he has 12 points of articulation.  Though decently articulated, the figure does suffer from some slightly loose joints, especially on the legs, which can make it a touch tricky to keep him standing.  The sculpt was a new one, and its a bit of a departure from his prior variants from Toy Biz.  He’s definitely got a style about him, though it’s oddly not really the one from the show.  He’s got some odd proportions and notably a very boxy pair of hands.  He’s also a little pre-posed, with the legs having a sort of a crouch to them.  Like a couple of the earlier TB Surfers, this one’s vac-metalized, so he’s got a fancy chrome finish.  It’s definitely cool, but also a little prone to scratching.  Mine was scratched right out of the box.  He gets some additional paint for the eyes, but that’s really it.  Surfer’s board is worked into the “Power Blasters” gimmick.  It’s hollow and attaches to the included stand, allowing for the launching of a sort of strange light-up disc projectile.  Getting the whole thing to balance isn’t super easy, and the actual launching part is also not super smooth.  And, to top it all off, the pre-installed battery that lights up the disc is very, very corroded on mine, so that one ain’t lighting up.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The Silver Surfer line, though it ran for multiple years, was still kind of a blip at retail.  None of them really seemed to linger.  I remember the line, but only owned one figure from it growing up, and it wasn’t even a Surfer.  The line’s one I always keep my eye out for when hunting for Toy Biz, but I only see them every so often.  I got this one during my summer vacation this year, courtesy of Yesterday’s Fun.  He’s goofy, but fun, and reminds me that I definitely want more of this line.