Tag Archives: Electro

#3301: Insulated Spider-Man & Electro

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

INSULATED SPIDER-MAN & ELECTRO

MARVEL MINIMATES

In 2009, we were between cinematic versions of Spider-Man, so all of his toy tie-ins were sticking closely to the comics for their inspiration.  This was especially true of Marvel Minimates, who had three dedicated assortments just for comic Spidey, as well as working him into some of the mixed assortments.  Wedged in the middle of the themed set-ups was today’s set, a variant of Spider-Man and one of his classic foes, Electro!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Insulated Spider-Man and Electro were initially released in the fourth TRU-exclusive assortment of Marvel Minimates, before getting a follow-up release in Series 30 of the main line.  The set from this review was the specialty release, but the two sets were effectively identical apart from packaging.

INSULATED SPIDER-MAN

“This alternate costume was created by Spider-Man to counter the devastating electricity powers of the super-villain Electro. By utilizing non-conductive materials and building on his original ‘rubber air mattress’ design, he defeated Electro with ease.”

Introduced in 1997’s Amazing Spider-Man #425, Spider-Man’s Electro Proof Insulated Suit was crafted to battle Electro’s increased powers of the ’90s.  It had graced toy form before during Toy Biz’s run with the license, but with this it had a Minimate.  Different!  The figure was based on the standard post-C3 ‘mate body, so he’s about 2 1/4 inches tall and he has 14 points of articulation.  His only add-on is a full face-mask piece.  They were standard for Spidey for a brief span of time, but this assortment actually dropped that; the only reason this particular figure got the piece was for the extra padded design.  Everything else is handled with paint.  There’s quite a lot going on, but it does a great job of capturing the design of the costume as seen in the comics.  Under the bulked up mask is a standard Spidey mask.  It’s unfortunately saddled with the peg hole in the head, but otherwise it was really great, and the red was designed to be an exact match for the standard Spidey from Series 24 of the main line, allowing a replacement of his bulked up mask piece from the original release.  Spider-Man was without any extras for this release.

ELECTRO

“Given super-human powers by a freak electrical accident, Max Dillon was transformed from an average electric company lineman into the super-villain known as Electro! Able to absorb and manipulate near-limitless amounts of electricity, Electro can only be defeated by shorting out or overloading his powers.”

This marked Electro’s introduction to this line.  While there were another four variants of the character to follow, but this is to date the only one based upon his classic design.  He got three add-on pieces for this release, for his mask and his two glove cuffs.  All three were all-new pieces.  The mask was a little bit deep at the front, but was otherwise a good piece.  The cuffs take what would become the standard approach for the flared gloves, and add the electric effects to the ends.  His paint work is respectable enough; the colors are nice and bold, and the line work is quite detailed.  There’s a ton of work on the face, which would perhaps be overboard on another character, but actually kind of works for Max.  Electro was packed with two electricity effects pieces, shared with Series 29’s Storm.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I bought this set new from my go-to place for Minimates at the time, Cosmic Comix.  I remember being pretty happy about getting an Electro, and the Insulated Spider-Man was certainly a cool design.  The figures both suffer from a little bit of production issues cropping up, but they’re both pretty good overall, and neither found themself with any real replacement.

#2536: Electro

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

ELECTRO

MARVEL LEGENDS RETRO COLLECTION (HASBRO)

“As the villain Electro, Max Dillon wields full control over electricity in his never-ending quest to defeat Spider-Man!”

When Marvel was putting together Spider-Man: The Animated Series in the ’90s, James Cameron was still signed on to put together a live action theatrical film.  He had chosen Electro and Sandman as the villains of the piece, and they were subsequently left out of the cartoon, so as to avoid any brand confusion or competing versions of characters (it’s something that Marvel gave up on pretty quickly, but that DC still holds onto fervently to this day), but as the show got well into its run, it became clear that Cameron’s film wasn’t going to materialize.  Sandman never got to make the transition over to the show since they’d already worked in Hydro-Man to replace him), but Electro did manage to make it over, albeit re-imagined as the Red Skull’s son.  That late into the cartoon, the toyline wasn’t quite as strictly tied to the animation, so Electro never got released on that classic packaging, but, well, here he is now?  Sort of?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Electro is the third figure from the recent Spider-Man-themed assortment of the Marvel Legends Retro Collection.  He’s also the third not to have a ’90s counterpart he’s recreating, but at least in his case, there actually was an Electro figure in the line, just after they had changed the packaging.  This marks Electro’s third time getting the Legends treatment, the second under Hasbro’s tenure.  The last one was a more modern-inspired take on the character, while this one goes strictly classic.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  The last Electro figure was built on the Pizza Spidey, and I thought that worked pretty well for the character.  Hasbro seems to have felt rather differently, so he’s been moved all the way up to the Spider-UK body for this release.  It seems kind of bulky for how I usually think of Electro, but he’s a character who’s fluctuated greatly in size from artist to artist, so this one feels valid too.  Ultimately, I don’t actually dislike it as much as I initially thought I would, and it’s not like the UK body is a bad one by any stretch of the imagination.  Electro re-uses the classic-style head from the previous release, which is honestly just sensible, since it’s not like Hasbro was ever going to do a better classic Electro head.  This one’s just pitch-perfect for the character, and even manages to somehow not look completely ridiculous on this bulked up body.  He also gets a new set of forearms, which add his little electric bolts from the tops of his gloves, completing that classic look.  Electro’s paint work is pretty standard.  It’s very classic, and very bold.  It changes from the slightly metallic shades of the prior figure to just strict yellow and green, and also differentiates the head sculpt by actually painting in the eyes this time around.   On the accessories front, this figure amends the one major flaw of the last Electro by including hands with and without the electric effects.  I’m glad to see them learning.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was very lucky to actually get ahold of the Space Knight Venom Electro, and I was pretty happy with that release, but I figured this guy was coming sooner than later, especially as Hasbro filled in that Sinister 6 line-up.  Personally, I wasn’t terribly excited for him, since, as I noted, I was pretty happy with the prior release.  I also wasn’t big on the base body choice on the prototype.  But, I’m not really turning away any Legends right now, so I bought him along with the rest of the set.  Honestly, he’s better than I’d expected him to be, and it’s really a toss-up as to which version I prefer.  They’re both very nice.

Thanks to my sponsors at All Time Toys for setting me up with this guy for review.  If you’re looking for Marvel Legends, or other toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#1780: Electro – Evil Adversaries

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

ELECTRO — EVIL ADVERSARIES

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Powered up and bent on revenge, these menacing villains are powerful opponents.”

What’s this?  Ethan’s looking at Marvel Legends again?  Shock!  Awe!  Other things as well!  Hey, speaking of “shock” that kind of ties into today’s review.  Oh yeah, it’s Spidey’s most shocking foe, Shoc—I mean, Electro!  Yeah, it’s it’s Electro.  Not Shocker.  That’d be insane.  And redundant.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Electro was released as part of the Space Knight Venom Series of Marvel Legends, which theoretically showed up at retail in late 2016, but was one of the most under-shipped assortments of modern Legends, so good luck finding it.  He was released under the moniker of “Evil Adversaries,” a title he shared with the even more impossible to find Hobgoblin.  This is Electro’s third time as a Legend, and his second since Hasbro took over.  Of course, the last one was from Amazing Spider-Man 2, and I think we’ve decided as a society to retcon that whole thing out of existence, so maybe we’ll just say this is his first from Hasbro, huh?  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  Electro is built on the Pizza Spidey body, and despite my general distaste for non-Spidey characters being built on it, it actually works pretty well for Electro, certainly better than any of the other available base bodies would have.  Topping off that body, Electro gets a brand new head sculpt, detailing his classic 7-pointed mask.  It’s goofy as heck, but it sure looks nice, and I love the mad cackling grin on the face beneath it.  Electro also uses the electricity effects hands from the prior–er, the figure we’ve decided not to talk about.  They do the job well enough, and end up looking pretty cool.  The paintwork for Electro is pretty solid stuff.  The slightly metallic finish of the yellow parts looks really nice, and the overall application is very clean.  Electro included an extra, unmasked head, allowing for replication of his more modern appearance.  While it’s not going to be my go-to for this guy, it’s certainly a quality sculpt, and I dig the completely different expression.  He’s an angry boy when he takes the mask off.  What’s *not* included is an extra set of non-electrical hands, which is rather a bummer, really.  Fortunately, Speed Demon’s hands are a near perfect match, allowing for an easy, and rather cheap, replacement, but he definitely should have included those out of the box.  Also included was a leg of Space Knight Venom, unless of course you’re like me, and you got this guy second hand, and therefore don’t get that part.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The Space Venom Series is my goddamned white whale.  I saw only a few scattered remnants of it, mostly in out-of-the-way Walmarts.  I saw Electro once, I believe, but I hadn’t the money to get him, and I never saw him again after that.  But, as luck would have it, my friends over at All Time Toys got in some loose Legends a few weeks back, and they were kind enough to set me up with a deal I couldn’t refuse on this guy.  I’m glad I finally got one, because he’s a really fun figure, and I’ve always had a soft spot for Electro.

Speaking of All Time Toys, if you’re looking for other Marvel Legends, or other cool toys both old and new, head on over to their website and their eBay storefront and check out what they’ve got!

#0056: Superior Spider-Man & Ultimate Electro

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

SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN & ULTIMATE ELECTRO

MARVEL MINIMATES

Hey look!  More Minimates!  Yes, it’s Ethan’s favorite line to review, up for review once again.  Unsurprisingly these are from the Marvel Minimates line.  I just recently acquired the latest Toys R Us exclusive wave from the ever stubborn Toys R Us website, so I’ll be taking a look at them over the next few days.  First up, it’s the flagship set of the wave:  Spider-Man and Electro.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These two were released as part of the 17th Toys R Us exclusive series of Marvel Minimates.

SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN

First up, it’s the man himself:  Spider-Man.  Okay, actually that’s a lie, and I’ll get into that in a second.  Spider-Man is built on the typical Minimate body, so he stands about 2 ½ inches tall and has 14 points of articulation.  So, why isn’t he the man himself?  Because this figure is based on his most recent look from the current Superior Spider-Man series, where Peter Parker’s mind has been over-written by longtime foe Doctor Octopus.  So, that happened.  Anyway, good or bad, it’s made for some interesting designs, so here we are.  This look in particular is SpOck’s second look, which is somewhat based on Alex Ross’s proposed design for Sam Rami’s first Spider-Man movie.  SpOck’s look is completely conveyed via paint.  All the paint work is pretty good, although some of the red areas are a bit thin, but nothing too bad.  There have been reports of the eyes being misaligned with the web pattern of the mask, but mine doesn’t seem to have that problem.  SpOck also includes an extra unmasked head, a strand of web, and a clear display stand.  The unmasked head conveys the smugness of the new “Peter Parker” well.

ULTIMATE ELECTRO

Second, it’s one of Spidey’s foes, Electro.  Like SpOck, Electro is built on the usual body, so he’s got 14 points of articulation and stands about 2 ½ inches tall.  Electro is based on his look from the Ultimate line of comics*.  Like Spider-Man, he’s just the basic minimate body with no additional sculpted details.  He’s got a few details, and a really great evil grin, all on a really neat clear blue body.  I love me some clear plastic.  Electro is packed with two clip on electricity parts for his arms, a power base, 2 electricity “whips”, and a clear display stand.  Everything but the “whips” is reuse, but it all works well for the character, so no complaints here.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

So, like most of the Toys R Us exclusive Minimates, I got these from the TRU website.  Fortunately everything went smoothly this time, so yay!  As far as the set itself, it’s a really cool set of Minimates, but not of looks that are my favorites.  But well-made toys are always really cool.

*The Ultimate universe was Marvel’s attempt in the early 2000s to create a more realistic, and easily accessible line of comics to lure in new readers.  It was a success for a few years, but has recently gotten incredibly bogged down in continuity and has more recently become Marvel’s place to do more “daring” things that they don’t want to do in their regular universe.