Tag Archives: Amadeus Cho

#3454: Totally Awesome Hulk

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

TOTALLY AWESOME HULK

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

In 2005, Marvel relaunched Amazing Fantasy, the anthology from the ’60s that had spawned Spider-Man, with a similar purpose: creating new characters.  Fittingly, the series’ most successful character would come out of its 15th issue (much like the original), when they introduced Amadeus Cho.  Amadeus would become a recurring supporting player, typically revolving around the Hulk side of things.  In 2015, following the Secret Wars event, Amadeus got to take over the title of Hulk himself, albeit in a different, decidedly more Totally Awesome way.  And it’s led to him getting a totally awesome figure.  Totally awesome!  Let’s check that out now!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Totally Awesome Hulk is the Build-A-Figure for the self-titled series of Marvel Legends.  Amadeus’s ties to the overall Marvels-theming of the set are loose at best; he was on the Champions with Ms Marvel for a while in the comics, so I suppose that’s something?  Sure, let’s go with that.  Look, it got me an Amadeus Cho figure; I’m not gonna question it.  The figure stands 7 3/4 inches tall and he has 30 points of articulation.  Amadeus is using the Endgame Hulk body as a starting point, which isn’t a terrible option; it keeps him a little more svelte than the typical comic Hulk, in keeping with Amadeus’s smaller stature, but keeps him noticeably larger than the standard-sized figure.  He gets a new head, pelvis, legs, and an add-on for his wrist band.  The head sculpt is a nice piece; it’s definitely leaning into Frank Cho’s version of Amadeus, which is a solid choice.  It also helps to keep him in line with the overall style of the line, and makes it clear that he’s a different character than Bruce.  The new legs mean he’s got pinless knees; still not pinless on the elbows, but it’s better than nothing.  Totally Awesome Hulk’s color work is largely handled through molded colors on the plastic.  The colors are nice and bright, and he’s very eye-catching.  He’s got a little bit of paint, mostly on his face, which gets some solid accent work.  Amadeus is packed with two sets of hands, one in fists, and the other in open gesture.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve been an Amadeus fan since his “World War Hulk” appearances, and I’ve followed him since.  I’ve always wanted a figure of him in some form, but most of the time he’s just an average looking guy, so he’s not super toyetic.  Once he got Hulkified, I hoped that might speed up the process, but it’s still been a heck of a wait.  At this point, I’m just glad that I got some version of Amadeus, but on top of it all, he’s actually a pretty darn cool one.

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.

#0999: Taskmaster & Iron Spider-Man

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

TASKMASTER & IRON SPIDER-MAN

MARVEL MINIMATES

IronSpider&Taskmaster1

Zounds! Is this another Minimate review? Why yes it is! I feel like I’ve been doing a lot less of them as of late, so two in a row’s kind of cool. This is another animation-based set, from the Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon. This set includes the somewhat controversial Iron Spider (here called Iron Spider-Man) as well as long time Marvel villain Taskmaster. Let’s check these two out!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Taskmaster and Iron Spider-Man were released in Series 2 of the Walgreens-exclusive Marvel Minimates line. As noted in the intro, both figures are based on their designs from the Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon.

TASKMASTER

IronSpider&Taskmaster6Taskmaster makes his third appearance in the Minimates line. This is also the second time this year that this particular look has gotten a figure, after the Marvel Legend. This one’s a bit more strictly faithful to Taskmaster’s (second) animated design. The figure stands about 2 ½ inches tall and he has the usual 14 points of articulation. Taskmaster gets two add-on pieces, for his hood/shoulder pads and his belt. Both of these are new to this particular figure, and they do a pretty decent job of capturing the animated look. The hood greatly restricts neck movement, though, which can be a bit frustrating. Taskmaster’s paintwork is pretty solid all around. There’s a good level of detail, and, unlike a lot of animated-style figures, he really shouldn’t have trouble fitting in with comic-styled ‘mates. Taskmaster is packed with his shield, a sword, and a clear display stand.

IRON SPIDER-MAN

IronSpider&Taskmaster7This is the third time we’ve gotten an Iron Spider Minimate (though only the second one to actually have the proper mechanical arms). For the purposes of the show, it’s just another Spider-Man look, but in the comics it was very much tied to the less-than-well-received original Civil War story, which has given the design a slightly…colored history. At least for me. This figure uses the same selection of pieces as the TRU-exclusive Iron Spider from the beginning of the year: he’s mostly a vanilla ‘mate, with a four piece backpack/mechanical arms add-on piece. It’s a pretty fun piece, and it even gives him an extra 3 points of articulation, which is really fun. The last two Iron Spiders had metallic paint schemes, but this one, being based on the animated appearance, uses flat colors with some creative shading. It’s not a bad look at all: the colors are really vibrant and all of the application is nice and clean. Iron Spider includes an extra, face revealed head, a jumping stand, and a clear display stand. If I’ve done my research right, I think that the face shown isn’t Peter, but Amadeus Cho, who wore this costume on the cartoon (which, by the way, makes this the first Amadeus Cho action figure).

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like Gamora and Drax, I found this set while looking for a pair of shoes. Fun times. I didn’t yet own either of these characters, and they’re also both pretty fun figures, so I’d definitely consider this set a win!