Tag Archives: Avengers

#0712: Scarlet Witch & Quicksilver

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

SCARLET WITCH & QUICKSILVER

MARVEL MINIMATES

SW&QSMM1

Oh wow, more Minimates! What a shocker, right? So, yeah, today I’m jumping a little ways back into Marvel Minimates (which just released its 63rd Series not too long ago) and looking at two characters that are certainly a lot more prominent now than they were when this particular set was released: Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

This pair was released in Series 16 of the Marvel Minimates line. Series 16 was an Avengers-themed series (not the first, but a close second), and was notable for being entirely made up characters that were new to the Minimate form, these two included. It was also the first comic-based series to feature new tooling, following the complete reliance on re-used parts by Series 10-13.

SCARLET WITCH

SW&QS2Wanda was arguably the second most important Avenger to debut in this series (after Thor). She’s presented here in her classic costume. She stands about 2 ½ inches tall and has the usual 14 points of articulation, though the neck movement is definitely limited by the combination of the hair and the cape. Speaking of the hair and cape, both of these were new to this figure. While they don’t have the level of detail that the more modern sculpts do, they’re both good for the time, and they fit in pretty well with other ‘mates from before this series. The details are a little softer than I’d like, but it’s mostly forgivable. The rest of the figure’s look relies on paint, which is handled decently enough, but not amazingly. Mostly it’s just basic color work, which looks fine. There’s some nicer line work on the torso, which sets her apart from some of the preceding Minimates. The weakest part is definitely the face, which just doesn’t look like Scarlet Witch. I can’t say exactly why, but it doesn’t feel like the character at all. Scarlet Witch was packed with a little spellcasting piece, which is the same as the “Chi energy” piece from Iron Fist. It’s not a lot, but it’s on par with other sets from the time.

QUICKSILVER

SW&QS3So, he’s not as important to the Avengers, but Pietro’s still a character with quite a history at Marvel, meaning his inclusion here was nice to see. Like Wanda, he was presented in his classic look, which is actually his second costume (his first was green). He too is built on the standard Minimate body, but his articulation is left totally un-hindered. Quicksilver’s lone add-on piece is his hair, which is actually a re-use from the Series 3 Ultimate Wolverine. It’s certainly not a perfect match for Pietro’s distinctive ‘do, but, like the more recent Quicksilver ‘mate, this piece works in a pinch. It would be nice for a future ‘mate to give the poor guy his own hairpiece, though. The paint work on Quicksilver is pretty decent, if a bit basic. The blue used here is just a bit too turquoise for my taste, but it’s not too far off. He’s also missing the black shorts that this costume was usually depicted with, but they weren’t always there in the comics, so I guess it’s alright. If there’s one leg up this guy has on his successor, it’s his face. It’s still not perfect (those eyes are a little big), but it looks pretty good overall. Quicksilver included no accessories.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Series 16 holds the notoriety of being the first series of Marvel Minimates of which I was actively awaiting the arrival. I really like me some classic Avengers, and they were originally supposed to be released on my birthday of that year. Unfortunately, the series got pushed back a month, but my Dad was still nice enough to buy them for me when they were finally released. These two may not have aged the best, but they were my only versions of the characters for a while, which gives them a special place in my collection.

#0683: Scarlet Witch

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

SCARLET WITCH

AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON

ScarletWitchAoU1

It’s September and I’m still making my way through the Age of Ultron toys from the beginning of the summer. It’s not like I’m just now getting these figures or anything, I’ve just had a ton of stuff to review over the summer. Anyway, I’m finally getting around to reviewing these guys, so yay. Let’s take a look at yet another of one of the film’s breakout characters, Scarlet Witch.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

ScarletWitchAoU2Scarlet Witch was released in the second series of Avengers: Age of Ultron 3 ¾ inch figures. As such, she stands roughly 3 ¾ inches tall and she has 5 points of articulation. The lowered articulation on these guys still really sucks, but I guess it’s consistent. Wanda has a unique sculpt, but it’s similar in a lot of ways to her smaller figure from the 2 ½ inch line, at the very least in terms of pose. Given the larger scale, the sculpt is understandably more detailed. Her clothing in particular is a fair bit more textured, which adds a nice touch of realism. The larger scale has also allowed for slightly better proportions on the figure, as well as a better likeness of Elizabeth Olsen. In general, this is probably one of the best sculpts the 3 ¾ inch line has produced, which makes the reduced articulation a little easier to swallow. The paintwork on Scarlet Witch is passable, but nothing amazing. She’s got the most basic colors, without much variation, which is true to the rest of the line. At the very least, it’s pretty cleanly applied, with no real slop or bleed over. So, that’s good. Scarlet Witch is packed with a pair of spellcasting effects, which are the same pieces as the ones included with the recent ML Infinite Series Scarlet Witch.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

After giving the first 3 ¾ inch Scarlet Witch I found to my Dad, I was finally able to find one for myself a few weeks later. It seems more cases of this set have started hitting, so Scarlet Witch is a lot easier to find. That’s good, because she’s one of the better figures the line has had to offer.

Looks like it was a shorter review than usual! Not a whole lot of new stuff to say!

#0678: Avengers #1 Boxed Set

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

HANK PYM, GOLDEN ARMOR IRON MAN, INCREDIBLE HULK, & WASP

MARVEL MINIMATES

AvengersFA1

The Avengers may be a hot commodity now, but about ten years ago, they were mostly unknown to the public at large. This meant that they were somewhat absent from the whole merchandising thing. When Marvel Minimates was launched, the Avengers were few and far between, with only a few of the mainstays showing up here and there. Fortunately, things started turning around, right around the release of the first Iron Man. With the announcement of the Avengers Initiative in that film’s stinger, people seemed to be on board for merchandise based around Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. DST met demand by offering a boxed set based on the team’s first appearance in Avengers #1.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Hank Pym, Iron Man, Hulk, and Wasp were released as a boxed set in the fall of 2008, based around the first appearance of the team. Thor, the other founding member, was noticeably absent from the pack. He wouldn’t see another Minimate for another year, and his classic design wouldn’t be seen again for another year after that, which proved a bit frustrating for fans just getting into things with this set. This set also has the notoriety of being the final boxed set to be packed in a window-less box.

HANK PYM

AvengersFA3Henry Pym, man of many names, made his Minimate debut with this set. He had the option of being displayed as Ant-Man or Giant-Man, giving fans two of his identities in one fell swoop. Since this was an Avengers #1 boxed set, let’s consider Ant-Man the main look. The figure stands about 2 ½ inches tall and has the usual 14 points of articulation. He used the basic Minimate body, with an add-on for his helmet. The helmet was new to this figure, and was also used on the recent Best of Series 3 Ant-Man. It’s a very well sculpted piece, and it manages to capture the comic design of the helmet without looking too goofy. The paint on Hank is nice and bold; the colors are bright, and the line work is pretty clean. The face AvengersFA6under the helmet looks maybe a bit too chiseled for Hank, but it’s not bad. Hank included a separate mask, torso cover, and waist cover to transform him into Giant-Man, as well as a spare hairpiece to allow him to be unmasked. The Giant-Man parts are alright, but not great. They bulk him up a lot, but don’t add any height, so he looks rather off. It’s clear they were trying their best, but he just doesn’t quite work right. The hair is perfectly fine; it’s a re-use from the classic Battlestar Galactica Starbuck, which seems odd for Hank stylistically, but it doesn’t look too bad once it’s in place.

GOLDEN ARMOR IRON MAN

AvengersFA7Iron Man was at the top of his game in 2008, so seeing him turn up in this set was pretty much a guarantee. This was his eighth Minimate that year alone! He presented here in his second armor, which was really just a repainted version of the Mark 1. It’s the armor he was wearing for the first two issues of Avengers, and it’s also a pretty memorable look for the guy. He was built on the usual body, with 5 add-ons: helmet, torso, skirt, and bracelets. The helmet and bracelets were both generic pieces, used on numerous figures around the same time. The torso and skirt pieces were re-used from the AFX exclusive First Appearance IM, released a few years before. That’s a pretty sensible re-use, since they were supposed to be the same armor in-universe. The IM-specific parts are nicely crafted. They don’t have tons of sculpted detail, but the look from the comics is captured well. Paint on this figure is kind of a mixed bag, mostly due to the fact that, in its current state, it really doesn’t represent how it AvengersFA2looked out of the box. The gold paint seems to have not adhered very well to the plastic, resulting in a rather chipped and tarnished looking figure, which is a bit of a disappointment. Subsequent gold-based figures have remedied the issue, but this one is left looking somewhat lackluster. On the plus side, the detail lines are all very well handled, especially on the underlying torso and face, which you don’t even see in the main set-up. Iron Man is packed with a spare hairpiece, for unmasked display, a hammer attachment for his hand, and a spare set of flesh-toned arms so that you can display Tony in re-charge mode.

INCREDIBLE HULK

AvengersFA5He may not have been quite as successful as Iron Man, but Hulk was pretty big in 2008 as well, making him another heavy hitter in this particular set. Hulk is presented here in his purple shorted look, which was rather short(heh!)-lived in the comics, but was the look Hulk had in the two issues this set is based upon. So, it’s an interesting enough variant of the character. The figure has a unique head sculpt, as well as add-ons for the torso, waist, and the infamous “duck feet.” The torso and waist pieces were both re-used from Series 20’s Abomination, and are both rather basic pieces. The head was only ever used on this figure, most likely due to the negative reaction it garnered from fans. It seems to try to capture the more Frankenstein’s Monster-inspired head of the early Kirby Hulk, but it comes out looking a bit lumpy. And then there’s the “duck feet.” They were one of Diamond’s first attempts at adding extra height to figures, and they built up a rather infamous reputation in the Minimate community, due to their general goofiness and lack of adherence to the usual Minimate style. Fortunately, Hulk included a spare set of regular feet, so no one was stuck with the weird ones. Hulk’s paint is decent enough. I think this might actually be my favorite shade of green for Hulk, and I do really like the Kirby inspired line work.

WASP

AvengersFA4Wasp was another character that debuted in this set, though, unlike Hank Pym, she’s yet to actually get a follow up. Which is kind of a shame, since she’s had a boat-load of different costumes over the years. She’s presented here in her original costume, which has gotten a fair number of figures over the years. The figure makes use of 7 add-on pieces, used for her headgear, vest, gloves, skirt, and wings. The parts are a little on the bulky side, especially for Wasp, but they balance each other out pretty well, I guess. The skirt is a lot boxier than later pieces would be, which makes the whole figure look rather stiff. The wings are probably the best part of the sculpt, and they actually do a decent job of replicating the comic look. The paint on Wasp was pretty decent from a design standpoint. The line work is all pretty well laid out,AvengersFA8 and everything. The real issue is in assembly. The figure was clearly assembled before fully drying, so several pieces, the wings in particular, were stuck, almost to the point of breaking. Wasp made out pretty well on the accessories front, including a spare hairpiece, a set of normal hands, an alternate mask, and an extra wing mount so that she can be displayed without the bulky vest piece.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

So, I actually ended getting a couple of this set when it was released, without even trying. I got one from my friend Lance, and then won another in a contest, and then eventually picked up a few more from Record and Tape Traders at super marked down prices. The set itself is pretty decent, if maybe a bit out of date when compared to more current stuff. Ant-Man and Wasp were definitely the stars here, and they both still hold up pretty decently.

#0597: Iron Legion

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

IRON LEGION

AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON

IronLegion1

It seems that not everyone agrees, but I thought that Avengers: Age of Ultron was a pretty fantastic movie. I was thoroughly entertained from start to finish, and after having seen it five times, I feel it really holds up to repeat viewings. For me, perhaps the most disappointing piece of the movie experience has been the rather light offering of movie-based action figures. Hasbro’s offerings in particular seem to be missing several key pieces of what made me love the movie just as much as I did. Interestingly enough, more than one line of figures is placing a decent-sized focus on the Iron Legion, who ultimately have a minor role in the film. But, hey, new toys is new toys, so I got one.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

IronLegion2The Iron Legion figure is part of the second series of Hasbro’s 3 ¾ inch line of Avengers: Age of Ultron figures. The figure stands roughly 3 ¾ inches tall (not a huge shocker there) and has 5 points of articulation. It’s disappointing that Hasbro’s decided to switch to the lower articulation count, but I guess it’s, at the very least, consistent. The Iron Legion figure appears to be an all-new sculpt. It does a nice enough job of translating the movie’s design to the smaller format. The proportions are all pretty good, and the details seem to be well-placed. The sculpt is a little on the soft side in terms of details, but it’s about on par with the rest of the line. Overall, not a bad sculpt. Paint? That’s a different story. Hasbro desperately needs to work on the paint on their figures. It’s consistently their downfall. First of all, this guy is missing more than a few details. The blue is only applied to about half of the places it should be. Also, while they’ve chosen the red accent color (which I think belonged to either 03 or 05, depending on which one of those was Ultron Mk 1), they haven’t actually put in a number or done any of the detailing outside of a small section of the torso. The worst thing is that, with the exception of the small bit of red, all of the paint is very sloppily applied, with fuzzy edges, bleed over, inconsistent coverage, and splats of paint where there shouldn’t be. It’s an incredibly messy figure. The Iron Legion’s one accessory is some sort of an energy blade clip-on. Not really sure what it’s supposed to be, but I don’t think it was in the movie. At least it’s not a missile launcher…

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Getting the Iron Legion was sort of bittersweet. I found him along with an entire case of Series 2 figures, which is really great. However, the figure I wanted most, Scarlet Witch, is only packed one per case (which is super dumb). My Dad really wanted one (he’s a long-time Scarlet Witch fan) so the single Witch I found went to him. So, I got this guy and an Ultron to hold myself over until I can get a Scarlet Witch for myself. The trouble is, he’s not particularly well done, nor is he a figure I was desperate to own, so my opinion of him is rather “meh.”

#0565: Quicksilver & Scarlet Witch

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

QUICKSILVER & SCARLET WITCH

MARVEL MINIMATES

QS&SWAoU1

Let me kick things off here by saying that Avengers: Age of Ultron was a really, really, really, really, really good movie. Just fantastic. If you haven’t seen it, you should do so. I’ve seen it three times and I still feel like I should see it a few more.

As a Marvel Studios movie, it is of course entitled to the usual tie-ins, specifically Marvel Minimates, one of my favorite lines. The first round of them hit just before the film’s release, so I’ll be taking a look at them over the next few days. Let’s kick things off with newcomers Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch are the Toys R Us Exclusive two-pack from the first assortment of Avengers: Age of Ultron-based Marvel Minimates. They were released to coincide with Series 61 of the main line.

QUICKSILVER

QS&SWAoU2Quicksilver gets to go first because he’s technically 2 minutes older. Also fast. The figure is roughly 2 ½ inches tall and he has 14 points of unimpeded articulation. He’s based on the character’s appearance in the film’s big climactic battle scene at the end. It’s a good choice, given that it’s the look that sees the most action. Pietro is built on the standard Minimate body, with an add-on piece for his hair. The hair was previously used on Series 58’s Young Magneto figure. Father and son sharing the same hair piece really appeals to the comic nerd in me. The hair piece is a pretty decent approximation of what his hair looks like in the movie, so it was well chosen. The rest of the design is handled via paint. There’s some good, some bad, and some just plain annoying on that front. The good is that the face features an excellent Aaron Taylor-Johnson likeness and the detailing on the torso and upper legs does a fantastic job of evoking the costume details from the movie. The annoying is that the patterns on his arms don’t line up quite right, resulting in some colors being too thin and some lines being much more jagged than they ought to be. The bad is that the brown detailing of the lower portion of his hair has been missed entirely. This leaves his hair a stark white, which isn’t accurate to his depiction in the film and also looks rather bland. As a whole he isn’t a bad looking figure, but he could be better. Quicksilver includes a dust cloud base to simulate running, as well as a more conventional clear display stand.

SCARLET WITCH

QS&SWAoU3Quicksilver may have been first, but Scarlet Witch is definitely my favorite of the twins, both in the comics and the movie. This marks the fourth time that Wanda has graced the Minimate form, beating Pietro by one. Like her brother she is about 2 ½ inches tall and she sports 14 points of articulation. The articulation here is a little more impeded than it was with Quicksilver; the hair and skirt both do their share of restricting. Scarlet Witch is also based on her final battle look, I’d gather for much the same reasons as Quicksilver. She uses the basic body, with add-ons for her hair, jacket, and skirt. All of the add-ons are re-used. The hair is from Series 50’s Songbird, the jacket is from Knight Rider’s Michael Knight, and the skirt is just one of the generic skirt pieces. They add up to a pretty decent approximation of Wanda’s film appearance. The only piece I’m not 100% sold on is the hair, just due to how it sits, but it isn’t bad. Wanda’s paintwork is actually quite good. I can definitely see Elizabeth Olsen’s likeness on the face and the outfit features plenty of great detail work. She’s even got little gold rings on her hands, which is an easily overlooked detail. Wanda’s only accessory (unless you count her brother) is a clear display stand. She feels kinda light without any extras. Something to illustrate her powers, such an energy piece for her hand or an extra head with red eyes, would have been a very welcome addition to the figure. Oh well.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Oh boy, the story of getting these guys. Well, my local Toys R Us sold out of this set before I got there. So, I had to resort to ordering via TRU’s online store, which is really never a fun experience. The item shipped, and I got my tracking information. Like any good collector, I religiously watched the tracking, waiting to see when it would arrive. The item was marked “Out For Delivery” a whole two days before the expected delivery. Cool, I was gonna get it early. But, then it didn’t arrive that day. Or the next. Or the one after that. Another day passed and I finally called my local postal service about it. I was informed that someone would look into it, and I’d get a call back shortly. The next day, after not hearing back, I actually drove to the post office to check on things. I was informed that it was on a truck somewhere and I should come back the next morning before business hours. So, the next morning, I got there before business hours. And no one was there. So, I called them from outside the building and had a long, rather uninformative chat with someone in the back. They told me to go home and wait. Finally, these guys actually arrived, a week after going “Out For Delivery.” Yay, I guess. Anyway, I have them now. To be honest, they aren’t the most thrilling Minimates, but I like them well enough, and I’m damn sure going to enjoy them after all the stress of actually getting them.

QS&SWAoU4

#0535: Thanos

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

THANOS

MARVEL LEGENDS INFINITE SERIES

ThanosML1

Hey, man, remember back in 2012 when Thanos showed up at the end of Avengers and nobody knew who he was (well, nobody who didn’t go in with a preexisting knowledge of the character). When I saw it, a guy in front of me totally went “Hey, look, it’s Hellboy!” and his friend was all like “No, you idiot, that’s Darkseid!” and I just sat back and laughed quietly to myself. Well, now a lot more people know who he is! Okay, a few more people. I checked with Super Awesome Girlfriend, and she recognized him, but couldn’t name him. Don’t know where that places the guy. Look, the point is that he’s sort of becoming a big deal, and he’s gonna be important in the next few years. So, perfect time for him to get a Marvel Legend!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

ThanosML2Thanos here was the Build-A-Figure for the second series of Hasbro’s Avengers Marvel Legends Infinite Series. Interestingly enough, this is actually the very first figure of Thanos ever in the whole of Marvel Legends. For a line this long-running and all-encompassing, that’s a little surprising. The figure is about 7 ½ inches in height and he features 30 points of articulation. Before I delve too much into the figure, I should point out that the left calf on my figure is turned the wrong way around in all the pictures. This is apparently a rather common occurrence with this figure. It’s a super easy fix; all you have to do is spin it the right way around. I just didn’t notice until after. Sorry everybody! In a rare move, Thanos is head-to-toe a brand-new sculpt. He’s presented here in his latest look, which debuted during the Infinity cross-over event. It’s not a bad look, and it maintains a lot of the classic Thanos sensibilities. The only real downside is that it means he doesn’t get the Infinity Gauntlet. The sculpt is really solid work. The head is my favorite piece, by far. It’s a perfect translation of the character’s comic book appearance to three dimensions. The texturing on the skin is great and the head gear is sharply detailed. I know not everyone likes the grin, but for me it’s the perfect expression for the character. He is the “Mad Titan” after all, so an insane grin doesn’t seem too far-fetched. The body is appropriately structured to maintain Thanos’ solid, boxy look, without ending up too hulkingly huge. There’s also a fair bit of detailing present on the armor. He’s got plenty of etching and layering, all of which looks really great. If I had one complaint, it would probably be that the collar, as a separate piece, has a tendency to pop out of place a lot. Thanos’ paintwork is generally pretty solid. Once again, the head ends up being the best part. There’s a lot of variation in the purple on the face, the eyes have a great amount of depth, and the head gear is nice and clean. The rest of the body maintains the overall clean nature of the paint, with little, if any, slop or bleed over.  As a Build-A-Figure, Thanos himself is an accessory, so he doesn’t get any of his own, but given the level of quality present in the sculpt, that’s easily forgiven.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Thanos is the culmination of getting the entire second series of figures from the line from Amazon and Big Bad Toy Store. He was a big piece (heh!) of me getting the whole line-up of figures, so there was a lot riding on him to be a good figure. I’m happy to say that he’s far and away the best part of this series, and he’s definitely one of the best Build-A-Figure’s Marvel Legends has ever seen. Hasbro really knocked it out of the park on this one!

ThanosML3

#0534: Hulk

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

HULK

MARVEL LEGENDS INFINITE SERIES

HulkAoU1

One of the breakout hits of the first Avengers movies was very definitely the Hulk. After his two movies were met with a rather cold reception, a lot of people moved away from the character, including both of the actors who played his alter ego, Bruce Banner. But then Avengers brought us Mark Ruffalo, who thoroughly (his words) “Ruffal-ized the Hulk,” and he became a “smashing” success. It’s no shock that Marvel has decided to give Ruffalo’s Hulk a prominent role in this year’s sequel, Avengers: Age of Ultron. And it’s also no shock that Hasbro’s merchandising the crap out of him. So, let’s look at the only one of the Hulk figures I’ve picked up so far!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

HulkAoU2Hulk is the 6th and final figure in Series 2 of The Avengers Marvel Legends Infinite Series. He’s also the third of the three Age of Ultron-based figures in Series 2. The figure stands about 8 inches in height, with 31 points of articulation. For Age of Ultron, Hulk has ditched the usual “tattered remains of Banner’s pants” look in favor of more of a stretchy pants look. For a guy that triples in size on a regular basis, that seems like a pretty sound move. Initially, it seemed like AoU Hulk would be an excuse for Hasbro to re-use a lot of pieces from the Hulk they released for the first Avengers movie (ala Iron Man and Captain America). However, the final figure ends up only having a few pieces in common with his predecessor. The arms, right hand, calves, and feet are from the 2012 figure, meaning this guy gets an all-new head, upper and lower torso, hips, thighs, knees, and left hand. The old pieces are definitely a good starting point. The feet are probably the best, and they actually look like real feet, so that’s a plus. The calves work, though the fact that the pants are just painted on rather than sculpted is a little off-putting. The arms are decent, but the aesthetics are ruined a bit by the elbow joints. The right hand is a pretty good sculpt, aside from the palm not going quite deep enough. For the new parts, the head is really where the best work shows up. It manages to be a pretty good translation of the Ruffalo Hulk, and there’s plenty of texture work. The torso is decently proportioned and well-built aesthetically, but it’s rather devoid of texture, which is a shame. The legs, however, are not devoid of said texture, and end up actually looking pretty great because of it. The left hand has been done to mirror the right, which is all well and good, but I kind of wish they’d kept the open hand for variety’s sake. Hulk relies on a lot of properly colored plastic, but he does still get a few spots of paint. The head exhibits most of the paintwork, and is overall very clean looking. Hair and eyebrows are clean, and the eyes don’t look too wonky. There’s also a little bit of red striping on the legs, and the bottoms of the pant legs, which, while not super thrilling, are at least well-handled. The fact that all of the exposed skin is just straight green, with no accents is a little bland, and only exacerbated by the more simple sculpting of the torso. Hulk’s lone accessory is the right arm of Thanos, but given the sheer size of the figure, the fact that he even gets that is rather impressive!

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

So, yeah, Hulk was another figure in the Big Bad Toys Store order. Like several others in the series, I didn’t really feel drawn to this guy. Mostly, I just bought him for the Thanos piece. Hulk’s certainly a big figure, which does help him seem worth the current going rate of a Marvel Legend, but the paint and sculpt aren’t really anything exciting. All-in-all, he’s a well-executed figure, and he’s a nice addition to the series, and that’s more than can be said about some figures on the market these days. Plus, there is that Thanos piece. Never under estimate the Thanos piece!

HulkAoU3

#0533: Hellcat – Fierce Fighters

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

HELLCAT – FIERCE FIGHTERS

MARVEL LEGENDS INFINITE SERIES

Hellcat1

Alright, now we get to the real winners. Here’s where we get into the figures that really test how well you know your stuff (wait, Batroc didn’t already test that?). Here’s where we get the figures we all assumed wouldn’t ever happen (again: Batroc?). I’m referring, of course, to Hellcat. “Who’s Hellcat?” you say, “Is she the demon fighting pet cat of fan-favorite Hellboy?” No, she’s actually Patsy Walker, a character who first showed up in the 40s as the star of a teen humor/romance comic. In the 70s, she was reformatted into a costumed hero and added to the roster of the Avengers. Then she joined the Defenders, whom she stuck with for a while. After that, she died for a while and stuff, but that was, unsurprisingly, temporary. Nowadays, she’s working as a private investigator for She-Hulk. And she also has an action figure! Yay! Let’s look at it!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Hellcat2Hellcat is yet another figure from the second series of The Avengers Marvel Legends Infinite Series. She has the title “Fierce Fighters,” which she shares with Spider-Woman, though she’s still listed as Hellcat on the back of the box. The figure is roughly 6 inches tall, with 27 points of articulation. Hellcat appears to be a real exercise in how far Hasbro can get with nothing but re-used parts. She uses the female body introduced with last year’s Storm, with the feet from the Spider-Girl body, hands from Black Cat, and a sash from Iron Fist, all topped off with a brand-new head sculpt. Of the three existing female base bodies, I think the Storm body may be my least favorite. It’s certainly not a bad sculpt, and it’s nice that there’s a middle ground between Spider-Girl and Moonstone. However, something about the lower torso/pelvis piece doesn’t look quite right to me (it also feels hollow, which is just… odd). On the plus side, Hellcat has the sash that hides the waist piece a bit, which looks a bit better. Aside from that one part, the Storm body is actually quite well sculpted, with lots of clean, even pieces, and a very balanced set of proportions. The hands from Black Cat mean that she has the proper claws, but the Spider-Girl feet unfortunately mean that she doesn’t get the appropriate clawed feet, which is a tad disappointing. At the very least, they did make sure to give her flat feet instead of heels. That makes the lack of claws a little less annoying. Hellcat’s all-new head sculpt is definitely the highlight of the figure, translating the character’s cowl-ed look pretty much perfectly. All the lines of the mask are nice and sharp, and the underlying face is also quite nicely sculpted. The hair attaches as a separate piece, glued in place, and, while it’s not a perfect transition from hair to head, it still looks pretty decent. Okay, let’s talk about the paint here. From the knees up, the paint work is pretty much perfect. The line work is generally pretty clean, and there’s some nice, subtle accent work on the yellow body suit. The face, which has the most detail work, is cleanly handled, and the eyes are even properly placed, something that Hasbro’s had a little trouble with. So, what’s the issue? Well, below the knee, the figure’s calves are molded in dark blue, to match the color of the feet. This means that the top portion of the calves had to be painted yellow to match the rest of the leg. Unfortunately, light over dark doesn’t really work out with paint, so the blue of the plastic bleeds through the paint pretty badly. I’m not sure why Hasbro didn’t just mold the calves in yellow and paint the blue over that, like they did on the figure’s arms. It would have produced a far better end result. Hellcat includes a billyclub (shared with the Spider-Man Marvel Legends Infinite Series’ Daredevil) and the head and left arm of Thanos, which were also included with Spider-Woman. Since Hellcat’s never actually used a weapon, the billyclub is an odd-choice, but I guess Hasbro was trying to add some value to the figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like just about every other figure in this particular series, Hellcat came from Big Bad Toy Store. However, there was no apathy towards Hellcat like there was with the others. Hellcat is a figure I was very much looking forward to. This is the first Hellcat ever, and I’ve definitely been waiting for that! The final figure isn’t perfect, but she’s far from bad, or even mediocre. She’s a really good figure with one or two minor drawbacks. And if getting a Hellcat means there are a few drawbacks, I think I can live with that!

*Want a Hellcat figure of your own?  She’s currently in-stock with our sponsors over at All Time Toys!  Click here to check her out!

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#0532: Iron Man – Mark 43

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

IRON MAN – MARK 43

MARVEL LEGENDS INFINITE SERIES

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When it comes to casting comic book characters for the big screen, it can be difficult to find someone who can properly convey such an important, larger than life character. Often times, things end up toned down, causing a less entertaining end result. Occasionally, those casting directors strike gold, and end up finding someone who is irreplaceably brilliant in a role. That’s what happened with Robert Downey Jr in the role of Tony Stark. That guy is just totally spot on! He’ll be reprising the role for the fifth time in this summer’s Avengers: Age of Ultron, which is, of course, getting its fair share of action figures. So, let’s have a look at a figure of RDJ as Iron Man, shall we? (I need to work on my segues a bit…)

THE FIGURE ITSELF

IM43bIron Man is a part of Series 2 of Hasbro’s Avengers Marvel Legends Infinite Series. He’s the second of three figures in this particular series to be directly from Age of Ultron (following Sunday’s Captain America). From the looks of things, Iron Man will have at least three different looks over the course of the film. This figure is based on the first of those, the Mark 43, which appears to be just a re-decoed version of the Mark 42. The figure stands about 6 inches tall and sports 31 points of articulation. Sculpturally, the Mark 43 is 100% identical to the Mark 42 released in the Iron Man 3 tie-in line. Luckily for you, dear reader, I don’t own the Mark 42, making this one all-new to me! It’s a pretty good sculpt; it looks accurate to the film design, it has pretty good internal proportions, and it’s at least a little bit feasible that there’s a person inside of this armor. The legs could probably stand to be a little thicker, as they seem just a tad thin currently, but that’s minor. The details of the armor are all pretty well handled, and everything seems to line up with where it would be on the “real” armor. One issue of note has to do with movement related to the shoulder pads; if the arms are in an upward position for any decent length of time, the shoulder pads get a little bit warped. Previous Hasbro figures with such a design have usually had articulated shoulder pads in order to prevent such issues, so it’s possible that said joints are just stuck on mine (which is a whole other issue). Paint is one of this figure’s key areas, what with it being a re-paint and all. Fortunately, the Mark 43 ends up with a generally well-handled paintjob. The colors all seem right, and everything is applied to the right areas. Some of the gold areas are a little fuzzy around the edges, but they are generally pretty good. The only real issue I encountered on my figure was a bit of paint rub on his right thigh, where some of the gold rubbed off. It’s a minor issue, but one to keep an eye on if you find them in-store. Another thing that separates the Mark 43 from the 42 is the accessory complement. In addition to the requisite Build-A-Figure piece (Thanos’ left leg, in this case), the Mark 43 also includes an extra head with the faceplate up, revealing Tony’s face. It’s a well-sculpted, well-painted piece, and it actually manages to get a pretty decent RDJ likeness. It’s a really great piece to have, especially given how often IM is presented this way in the movies, and it’s even backwards compatible to the Mark 42 figure!

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Okay, if you’ve read the Cap and Spider-Woman reviews, it really shouldn’t be too hard to figure out where the Mark 43 came from. Mostly, I just wanted this figure for the Thanos piece, but I was interested in the figure at least a little bit. I didn’t actually have a proper Movie-style IM in this scale, and I will admit to liking the 43 design a fair bit. The 42 wasn’t bad, but the colors didn’t jibe with me. Reversing them for the 43 really makes it work. Add in that the figure is actually pretty well executed and the inclusion of that pretty sweet flipped-up faceplate head, and you’ve got a figure that is quite a lot of fun. And he also comes with that Thanos piece!

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#0531: Spider-Woman – Fierce Fighters

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

SPIDER-WOMAN – FIERCE FIGHTERS

MARVEL LEGENDS INFINITE SERIES

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When any male comicbook character reaches a certain level of popularity, there inevitable comes the female counterpart. The reasoning for such characters is really just a shrewd business move. See, if Marvel is publishing Spider-Man, and he’s really popular, it’s totally fair game for a completely different company to come along and claim Spider-Woman. In fact, the cartoon studio Filmation almost did, before Marvel stepped in and created a Spider-Woman of their own, just as quick as they could. Now, what’s interesting about Spider-Woman is that she actually doesn’t have anything at all to do with Spider-Man. She just has a vaguely similar power set. Also, a super complicated backstory. It’s easier just to not get into that. Anyway, she’s had more than a few figures over the years, including one in the most recent series of Marvel Legends Infinite Series. Let’s have a look at that one.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

SpiderWoman2Spider-Woman is another figure in Hasbro’s Avengers Marvel Legends Infinite Series. She shares the name “Fierce Fighters” with Hellcat, though they’re both in initial case shipments, so they aren’t technically swap figures. What’s interesting is that both characters are actually listed by their individual names on the back of the box, which I do believe is a first. The figure stands about 6 inches tall and sports 28 points of articulation. As there are two main versions of Spider-Woman, it’s important to note that this figure represents Jessica Drew, who is both the first and the current person to bear the name. She’s only really had the one costume, though initially her hair was contained by the mask. This figure opts for the more common hair out look. As far as the sculpt goes, Spider-Woman makes use of the Moonstone body, with a unique head, bicep pieces, and funky pose hands (previously used on Satanna). The Moonstone body is one of Hasbro’s better sculpted bodies. I don’t personally like it quite as much as the Spider-Girl body, but it’s serviceable. The biggest issue with it is that the waist is really flat, which makes the figure look odd when viewed from the side. A lot of the figures that have used this body have had some sort of belt or something to mask this issue, but Spider-Woman doesn’t, so it’s just kind of there. The hands are sort of pseudo “web-shooting” hands, though they are a little different. They’re decently sculpted, but they seem to be just a bit on the large side. The biceps aren’t much different from the Moonstone arms; they’ve just been retooled to accommodate Spider-Woman’s web-wings. The head is easily the shining point of the sculpt; it’s very attractively sculpted, with lots of nice fine detail work. The hair is a little restricting to the neck movement, but the quality of the sculpt makes up for it. Spider-Woman marks the first figure I’ve looked at from this particular series of Legends who hasn’t disappointed me when it comes to paint. She’s not anything amazingly spectacular, but the colors are nice and bold, the application is even, lines are sharp, and there’s minimal bleed over. There’s even a little bit of darker airbrushing on yellow parts of the costume to help bring out the sculpt, which manages to look pretty good, especially for yellow. Spider-Woman includes two sets of web-wings, in both extended and folded layouts, as well as the head and left arm of Thanos. While the new web-wings are certainly better than the thick rubber pieces on the ToyBiz version, they’re still a bit of a pain to deal with. They figure ends up working a lot better with them removed.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Spider-Woman was purchased from online retailer Big Bad Toy Store, along with the rest of this particular series. While I had a pretty decent interest in the other figures in the series, I wasn’t really expecting much of anything out of this figure. I’m happy to say I am pleasantly surprised by the final figure. She’s got one of the best female head sculpts I’ve ever seen, she’s got pretty good paint, and she’s on one of Hasbro’s better bodies. This figure is just a whole lot of fun!

*Want a Spider-Woman figure of your own?  She’s currently in-stock with our sponsors over at All Time Toys!  Click here to check her out!

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