PETER B. PARKER & MAYDAY PARKER — ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE

S.H. FIGUARTS (BANDAI)

The two Spider-Verse films we’ve gotten thus far have both had a lot of importance placed on growth of characters and definitively moving them forward in their own narratives.  In a world of super hero movies that change the main heroes’ costumes purely for the sake of change, it’s nice to see an approach that works those changes more into the story, and how it affects the characters.  Into the Spider-Verse showcases a Peter Parker at his lowest point.  He’s alone, out of shape, and disheveled, and spends a good portion of the film in a makeshift outfit that further emphasizes that.  Across re-introduces us to Peter as he’s well into his way of recovering, and he’s so not alone that he’s literally got another person strapped to his chest for most of his screen time!  Despite him being more on the mark and put together this time around, Peter B. Parker was surprisingly absent from the toy coverage for Across, with most of his figures actually being repurposed looks from the first movie.  He got a Pop, which is great if you like Pops, but then it was a rather long wait for a proper figure.  Bandai ultimately took the lead this time, with a figure from their SH Figurarts line, which I’m taking a look at today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Peter B. Parker & Mayday Parker are part of the larger sub-line of Across the Spider-Verse figures in the SH Figuarts line-up.  This is the latest of the figures to hit, and it’s the seventh in the set.  Certainly a more in-depth line-up than the prior movie.  Though billed as a two-pack, the set is really a Peter B with a Mayday accessory, so I’ll be treating it that way for the purposes of the review set-up.  Peter stands just over 7 inches tall and he has 40 points of articulation.  Figuarts has always occupied a sort of nebulous “1/12 scale” space, which can make scaling with other nebulous “1/12 scale” lines sometimes hit or miss.  What’s curious about the Across figures is that they land on the opposite end of the nebulous range than usual.  Relative to, say, Marvel Legends, Figuarts tend to run a bit on the smaller side, but Peter here winds up taller than all of the standard sized Legends for the movie.  Not so much so that you can’t fudge things a bit, but it’s a little funny to see him end up taller than Miguel.  Also, it’s not like they’re designed to scale with each other in the first place, but I did find it amusing.  Peter’s articulation is generally decent for a Figuarts release.  They’re definitely less floppy and sort of weird in their articulation schemes these days, so he feels a bit more naturally flowing and intuitive.  I still had some slight issues with stability, especially in the more intense Spidey-style poses, but it generally works okay.  The sculpt is totally new, and it’s doing a few different things at once.  Right out of the box, he’s just a standard Spider-Man in the movie style.  It’s a good match for the film design in terms of proportions and stylization.  The texturing is quite impressive, and there’s a lot of neat visual filler that keeps him interesting.  His build shows that he’s certainly working on getting into better shape then he was in Into, but he’s not quite back to Peter A levels, and I like that.  But, that’s just standard Spidey, and nobody’s really buying this one for a standard Spidey, right?  No, we want the goofy, more put-together, but still disheveled look.  To that end, this figure gets two alternate unmasked heads (with a corresponding neck piece with a lower collar), ungloved hands, and an alternate set of lower legs with socks and slippers instead of boots.  The unmasked heads give us Peter with a more neutral slight smile and with a more intense opened mouth laugh.  Both are very much on model and keep things nice and internally consistent.  The legs are goofy, and fun, and I like them a lot.  And it’s all topped off with the most important part of the whole ensemble: the pink bathrobe.  It’s quite a statement piece and neat counterpoint to his green jacket from Into.  Here, it’s a soft goods piece, which makes a lot of sense.  It’s very soft and fuzzy, and there’s a wire in it for dynamic posing.  Peter’s paint work is all pretty top-notch.  The work on the unmasked heads is by far the best, but even the suit is clean and well-rendered.  As mentioned above, Peter gets all the parts for both of his looks, as well as six pairs of hands (four gloved in fists, thwipping, gripping, and open gesture, two ungloved in open gesture and relaxed), the wrist bracelet goober thingy, and three different weblines.  The weblines are ultimately a bit unimpressive compared to others we’ve seen, but I don’t see myself using them anyway.  The most important selection of extras is Mayday and her associated parts.  The main Mayday is done up in a crawling pose, and is jointed at the neck and waist.  While the arms and legs are separate, they have rectangular pegs, so they can’t be posed, which is kind of a shame.  She does get two heads, so you can do with or without the hat.  Why you’d leave off the hat is anyone’s guess, but the option’s there.  Also included is the carrier for Mayday, which can be attached to the main Peter figure.  There’s a special neck piece that goes in that one of the two heads can be attached to (the hat fits better than the one without), and you can move the arms and legs over as well.  It stays on pretty securely, and scales well to the other figure.  It’s also relentlessly adorable.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Across the Spider-Verse was a well-timed movie for me, because I also had a daughter in the spring of 2023, and Mayday reminded me very, very much of her.  For Halloween that year, my mom knitted Aubrey a spidey hat, and I stole my wife’s pink bathrobe, so that we could be Peter and Mayday, and I assure you, we were also relentlessly adorable.  As we have become rather linked to the look, getting a figure of it was kind of important.  I have the Pop, but it’s just not the same, so I realized I was going to have to make the jump to Figuarts.  But, Rachel and Aubrey got ahead of me on that one, and this was my birthday gift from the two of them this year.  It’s awesome.  I’ve got some quibbles, but they’re minor, and this figure just does so much right.  Just a ton of fun.