Tag Archives: Hank Pym

#3735: Giant-Man

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

GIANT-MAN

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

Hey, guess what time of year it is!  It’s time to review a Haslab!  Man, it’s crazy how I do this *every* year with no breaks.  What’s that? There was a break?  I missed a year?  Oh, man, how did that happen?  Oh, yeah, Engine of Vengeance.  Boy was that a whole thing.  But also, it seems so quaint nowadays, doesn’t it?  Ah, well, at least we got back on the horse…or Giant-Man, as it may be.  Yes, continuing the trend of updating Build-A-Figures from the Toy Biz days, Hasbro provided an update for was probably the hardest to complete of all the Toy Biz Build-A-Figures, Giant-Man.  First appearing in Tales To Astonish #49, Hank Pym’s second identity, Giant-Man, was an inversion of his previous shrinking powers, adding an important switch-up that would remain key to his identities going forward.  The identity also debuted alongside one of the greatest Marvel villains of all time that no one remembers, the Living Eraser, which I think is pretty noice.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Giant-Man is the fourth Marvel Legends HasLab project, and the third to successfully meet its funding goal.  The campaign for Giant-Man ran last year from September 9 to October 23, needing 10,000 backers to go into production.  It ultimately ended with 13,889 backers, putting it at just 111 shy of the third stretch goal.  It’s the lowest backer count of the successful Haslab projects, but it’s not a huge shock given that it’s Giant-Man, and he’s got more limited appeal than the other two, and also isn’t getting caught up in all the pandemic speculation buying.  This guy started shipping out to backers at the end of last month.  The figure stands 24 inches tall and he has 90 points of articulation.  While he’s the shortest of the three HasLabs, he’s also the most articulated, which feels like a good trade off.  In general, he does just feel a but more mobile than the other two, which is honestly pretty nice.   The only thing I’m not crazy about is how sticky the finger articulation is.  I’m very concerned about breakage, because they just don’t seem as solidly constructed as prior offerings.  Where Galactus and the Sentinel both used more modernized versions of their designs for the purposes of the HasLabs, Giant-Man is based more specifically on his classic look, specifically the second iteration with the “suspenders.”  Giant-Man is sporting an all-new sculpt, courtesy of sculptor Rene Aldrete.  It’s generally a pretty strong one, taking the classic design and adding enough additional “real-world” details to fill in the larger canvas a bit more.  It also generally maintains consistency with the smaller Giant-Man we got in the two-pack earlier this year.  Giant-Man’s color work is largely reliant on molded colors fitted together, which looks appropriately striking, and just generally works well.  There’s some smaller accent work that works okay, and, much like the sculpted details, fills in some of the larger canvas a bit.  At the start of the campaign, Giant-Man had three swappable face plates, and three sets of eyes.  The faces are standard, smiling, and angry, and the eyes are *supposed* to be straight ahead, off to the left, and looking down.  Unfortunately, on the eyes, it seems a rather sizable portion of the figures are actually shipping out without the correct selection of eyes.  In my case, there are no straight ahead, just two looking off to the side, which is more than a little annoying.  It seems Hasbro is planning to get replacements back out to people, but it seems things are still in the early stages there.  So, for right now, I guess he’s got a bit of Todd McFarlane syndrome going on.  Ultimately, it feels like it might have been a few too many moving parts for what’s ultimately a minimal adjustment.  The three faceplates also offer up some variety, but ultimately, I don’t see myself using anything but the standard for actual display.  Partway into the campaign, Hasbro also offered up interchangeable antenna, so that he can have either black or white.  I thought I’d prefer white, but I actually think black works a bit better at this scale. There were two possible stretch goals, both pertaining to extra looks on the head.  The one we got was the zombie one, which provides an extra faceplate, eye set, and antenna set.  Honestly, I wasn’t much sold on it, but it works surprisingly well.  It’s too bad we don’t have any other “classic” zombies to go with him, but he still looks nice with the What If…? Cap we got.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Just when I was out, they pulled me back in!  After Galactus, I really thought I was done with HasLabs.  The Engine of Vengeance came along and seemed to confirm that for me (not that I was rooting for its failure or anything; I thought it was a decent product, I just didn’t have the space for it), but then this one showed up, and how could I say no?  I never did get to finish the Toy Biz one, so this was a cool opportunity.  He’s definitely fun.  Does he top the Sentinel and Galactus?  No, but also I didn’t expect him to.  He’s a more basic style of figure, and, apart from some slight hiccups, it works.

#3614: Giant-Man & Wasp

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

HANK PYM — GIANT-MAN & JANET VAN DYNE — WASP

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

Fun FiQ Fact #0093: Hank Pym was not originally intended to be a super hero, and was simply the star of a story of a man who shrank to the size of an ant, before being retooled into a superhero in subsequent appearances.

When the Giant-Man HasLab was in swing, the lack of a matching Wasp in the current line was brought up a few times, and Hasbro eventually showed off a Wasp prototype, noting that she’d be released in some fashion later this year. Well, here we are, apparently, with not just Wasp, but also a conspicuously not so giant Giant-Man. Let’s jump right in, shall we?

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Giant-Man and Wasp are a Hasbro Pulse-exclusive Marvel Legends two-pack. They were shown off in April, with the intent for them to go up for preorder the following day. Then it turned out that pre-order was actually just actively in-stock, at least for some batch of them. The pack is a continuation of the Beyond Earth’s Mightiest anniversary celebration from last year, and is also intended to loosely tie-in with the Giant-Man HasLab shipping some time in the fall.

HANK PYM — GIANT-MAN

Hey, it’s Regular-Sized-Man! It’s not as much of a novelty now to get a standard-sized Hank in his Giant-Man costume, since we’ve had a few, but it was a big deal a while ago, when it never happened. Of course, this is the first time his original Giant-Man costume has gotten the treatment, so it’s still a little bit special. The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation. He’s using the updated ANAD 2099 body with the pinless arm and leg construction, which all makes sense. Hank isn’t super bulky or super skinny, so this threads that needle. He gets a new head and belt. The head is decent. Obviously, the HasLab will be more detailed, given the scaling, but this one looks okay, and fits with the depictions of Hank we’ve gotten more recently. The belt is basic, but it works. His paint work is okay for the most part,m. There’s a spot of black on the upper torso that shouldn’t be there, but it’s otherwise pretty clean. I’m not a huge fan of the painted red on the tops of the boots, but it’s either that or painting the whole shin blue, which seems impractical. Hank is packed with an unmasked head (reused from the West Coast Avengers pack), a soft goods lab coat, four hands (a gripping/fist combo and an open gesture pair), two beakers/flasks, and a miniature Quinjet.

JANET VAN DYNE — WASP

The real star here is Wasp, who isn’t a stranger to Legends, but isn’t as frequent with *good* ones. Also, this particular look, which is her original one, has only been offered as little mini figures previously, and never as a full-scale figure of her own. The figure stands just over 6 inches tall and she has 34 points of articulation, plus a moving head-set piece.  Wasp re-uses the pinless double jointed arms and legs from Shriek, since they’re pretty basic.  The head, torso, skirt, and forearms are new, and they’re quite nicely handled.  I was especially impressed with the head sculpt, which manages to translate her pointy-headgear without it looking too silly, and I really like the moving head-set piece.  She’s re-using the wings from the prior comic Wasps, which are decent enough, so there’s no reason to change them at this point.  Wasp’s color work is a lot cleaner than Hank’s, which I certainly like to see.  Since the sculpt is a more complex assembly, there’s a lot more molded coloring in place, which makes it generally a much sharper looking piece.  Wasp is packed with two sets of hands (open and fists), a tablet (re-used from AIM Supreme), and an alternate head without the cowl.  It’s a little lighter than Hank, but she’s also got a lot more new parts than he did, so it makes sense.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

I, of course, backed the HasLab Giant-Man during his campaign window, so I’m in the group of people patiently awaiting his arrival.  I was definitely looking for a good Wasp, so this one was very high on my list.  I kind of thought we might see a standard sized Hank alongside her, and I’m honestly all about it.  I wasn’t expecting to get them quite so quickly, but Max hooked me up with a set on the earlier side, and, well, here we are.  Hank’s fine.  Nothing special, but nifty enough.  Jan is very nice, and she’s gonna be my default version of the character going forward.  And now I finally have the whole Avengers #4 line-up in one cohesive style!

#3487: West Coast Avengers

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IRON MAN, MOCKINGBIRD, TIGRA, SPIDER-WOMAN, & HANK PYM

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

In 1984, Marvel decided they had too many Avengers for just one team, and split them off into two separate entities.  The original team remained in New York, while the spin-off team, the West Coast Avengers, moved out to California.  Originally launching as a 4-issue mini-series, with the original plan being to alternate issues of the main book between the main team, West Coast Avengers was a breakaway hit, and got its own standalone series, which lasted 102 issues, and frequently outshined the original book.  Despite the impact of the team, the direct acknowledgement of them in toy form has been rare.  Thus far, we’ve had a single three-pack in Marvel Universe.  But, Legends is in for some more recognition, so now we’ve got a boxed set on that side, too.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Iron Man, Mockingbird, Tigra, Spider-Woman, and Hank Pym make up The West Coast Avengers box set, which is an Amazon-exclusive Marvel Legends offering.  The set is also branded under the “Beyond Earth’s Mightiest” banner, which serves as the celebration of the main team’s 60th anniversary.  Iron Man, Tigra, and Spider-Woman are all tweaks on existing figures, with Mockingbird and Hank being all-new offerings.

IRON MAN

When the WCA first got together, it was during Rhodey’s time in the classic Iron Man armor, following the fall-out of “Demon in a Bottle.”  By the time of the ongoing series, however, Tony had reclaimed the title, and was sporting his Silver Centurion armor, which is proudly showcased on the cover of the first issue.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 30 points of articulation.  This guy is using the exact same mold as the Walgreens-exclusive version, which makes sense, since it’s the same armor and all.  It’s still got the visible pins on the elbows and knees, but that’s honestly pretty minor.  The notable change-up to this guy comes down to the color work.  While the Walgreens version made use of metallic silver for the silver parts of the armor, this one goes for a slightly pearlescent white.  On paper, I wasn’t so sure about it, but in person, I actually really like how it turned out.  Iron Man is packed with the same two sets of hands as his single release, as well as the smaller blast effects, in blue this time.

MOCKINGBIRD

Oh, look, it’s Mockingbird, aka the whole reason I wanted the set.  I’ve certainly never had this exact thing happen before with a West Coast Avengers boxed set…Where was I?  Oh, yeah, buying a whole boxed set for a Mockingbird figure.  As you do.  This is Mockingbird’s second time as a Marvel Legend, but the first one was decidedly more modern than what she wore during her time with the WCA.  It’s not her *first* outfit she wore with the WCA, since that version had legs on the body suit, but it’s the one she wore for the longest stretch of time with the team.  The figure stands a little over 6 inches tall and she has 29 points of articulation.  Mockingbird is using the frankensteined torso that once belonged to Phoenix, as well as the lower legs from Captain Marvel, and what might be a new set of upper legs between them?  They’re skinnier than the pinless ones that have been used in conjunction with the Phoenix body recently, but they are still pinless, so they’re not anything from before that.  It looks like they might be shared with the Moondragon figure, but I don’t have her to compare.  She definitely gets new parts for the head and arms, though.  I really like how the head in particular turned out; the separate piece for the mask works very well.  Mine has a spot of glue on the face, which I’m not a fan of, but it otherwise is a very strong sculpt.  The arms are a little odd; they kind of are bound to be, given the actual design of her sleeves in the comics was usually cheated for the page, so I think they’ve done their best with the situation.  Her paint work is pretty strong; there’s a little bit of fuzziness on the edges of the shirt, but the detailing on the face in particular is great, and I love the accenting on the hair.  Mockingbird is packed with two sets of hands (gripping and a fist/flat combo), as well as Gambit’s staff, and Netflix Daredevil’s billyclub.  It makes for a good approximation of her battle staves, and is certainly a closer representation than what we got with the last one.

TIGRA

Tigra was not only a founding member of the WCA, she also one of the team’s longer lasting members, apart from that part in the middle of the run where she, Mockingbird, and Moon Knight split off on their own.  She also got a figure very recently as part of the Retro line.  This one is…well, very similar to that one, really.  The figure stands just over 6 inches tall and she has 30 points of articulation.  She’s using almost exactly the same sculpt as the last release.  That was a really, really good sculpt, certainly one of my favorites.  There’s not much better you can do for Tigra, so I guess it makes sense that you would want to keep using it.  The only sculptural change-up is to the calmer of the two heads, which now gets a new hairpiece, which has more volume to it, better matching her ’80s appearances.  She also gets a new color scheme; the first Tigra was far too pale, while the more recent one got complaints of being too orange.  This one meets in the middle, and it works very well.  The patterning on the stripes remains the same, but her bikini is now a very dark blue, and the faces are printed, rather than strictly painted.  The faces in particular are the biggest improvement of the bunch.  Like her single-packed counterpart, Tigra gets two sets of hands, in fists and clawing poses.

SPIDER-WOMAN

Julia Carpenter’s Spider-Woman was a pretty late-stage addition to the team, first assisting them in issue #70, and officially joining in #74.  Julia Carpenter got a Legends release back during the tie-in to Far From Home, making this one seem initially as if it’s just a retread…but it’s actually not?  Yeah, I was a bit shocked by that, myself.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and she has 29 points of articulation.  Despite being the same look as the last figure, this Julia Carpenter shares exactly one piece wit her: her lower torso/pelvis, itself borrowed from the Phoenix mold.  The upper torso gave me a heck of a time ID-ing, since it’s really basic, but I eventually worked out that it was from Dagger, and it appears it hasn’t been used since.  I actually like it, since it’s without all of the odd peg holes that the Phoenix torso has picked up over the years, so it looks a lot cleaner.  She re-uses the arms and legs from Shriek, so she’s got the pinless set-up there.  She also gets a new head, with hair that better matches her earlier appearances, and a much sharper face sculpt.  The color work on this figure is very clean.  Digging the stark black and white.  I do miss the accenting on the hair, but it’s ultimately not the end of the world.  I think the current look still works.  Spider-Woman is packed with two sets of hands, in fists and open gesture.

HANK PYM

Starting with the first issue of the ongoing West Coast book, Hank Pym was a recurring supporting player for the team.  His journey back to the Avengers following his fall from grace served as a background for the rest of the characters’ antics, and slowly built him back up, until he was ready to join the team properly after 20 issues of character growth.  After four different identities, he decided to just stick to being himself, rather than going back to the costumed hero route.  He spent a lot of time in a basic red jumpsuit, which isn’t super toyetic or anything, but it’s gotten a figure just the same.  Said figure stands 6 3/4 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  He would have 33 is not for the seized waist joint on my copy.  Hank makes use of re-used parts from the Red Skull jumpsuit body.  He gets a new head and torso, sculpted by Paul Harding.  The head is a solid recreation of Hank of the era, and it all fits well with the pre-existing parts.  Unfortunately, that means that the figure is a little too large, just across the board.  Hank’s just an average guy when not using the particles, so he’s about a half an inch too tall.  Hank’s color work is decent enough.  It’s very basic, but that’s expected.  The face gets printing, which is definitely cool.  Hank is includes two sets of hands, a pair in open gesture, and a fist/grip combo.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The West Coast Avengers line-up is something I’ve been trying to build in toy form since the 5-inch days, always to limited success.  Legends has been the best spread thus far, but there were definitely some holes in the line-up.  The boxed set seems like a great idea on paper, but I’ll admit to being less than thrilled by the final line-up being 3/5ths re-releases.  So, I wound up holding off, at least until Amazon knocked 30% off of the price for Prime Day.  Mockingbird is exactly the figure I was hoping for, and hands down my favorite release of the three figures the character’s gotten.  Hank has issues with scaling, but I’m generally just glad to have this version of the character at all.  Spider-Woman was actually a pleasant surprise, as she winds up being just an across the board improvement to the older figure.  Tigra and Iron Man are both rather unnecessary, but I do kind of like these versions a little more than the prior ones.  Not so much that I really feel like they justify themselves, but what are you gonna do?

#2910: Ant-Man

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

ANT-MAN

AVENGERS: UNITED THEY STAND (TOY BIZ)

“As the leader of the Avengers, Dr. Hank Pym is Ant-Man! Ant-Man blends brilliant battlefield strategies with a guide-by-example bravery to unite Earth’s mightiest heroes against the forces of evil. The symbol on his chest means Ant-Man will always heed the call, ‘Avengers Assemble!'”

In 1999, after the massive success of their Spider-Man and X-Men animated series (and in light of the at least moderate success of Iron Man, Fantastic Four, and The Incredible Hulk), Marvel tried to bank on a few more cartoons.  From the “big team of colorful heroes” angle, we got Avengers: United They Stand, an ill-fated attempt at getting Earth’s Mightiest Heroes out to a wider audience before the MCU would do so far more successfully.  I’m an unashamed fan of the show, but it didn’t really hit with most people, and has generally been seen as a black mark on the team’s reputation in larger media terms.  Something notable about the show was its shift away from the big names in favor of focusing on the lower tier mainstays of the team.  In accordance with that, for the purposes of the show, the team’s leader wasn’t Captain America or Iron Man, but rather Ant-Man, specifically of the Hank Pym variety.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Ant-Man was released in the first series of Toy Biz’s tie-in line for Avengers: United They Stand, not that it was anything other than a clerical numbering, since all of the figures from both assortments shipped at the same time.  The figure stands about 5 1/2 inches tall and he has 16 points of articulation.  He’s remarkably posable for this era of figures, which certainly makes him a very playable figure.  Ant-Man had an all-new sculpt, based on his design from the show.  The show gave a good portion of the cast some rather radically different designs, Ant-Man included.  He got a whole armored appearance within the show, removing him quite a bit from his classic attire.  In retrospect, it’s not quite as crazy different, though, since elements of it would make their way into Scott Lang’s early ’00s re-design, and likewise would become part of the character’s MCU design.  He’s actually closer to the MCU Ant-Man than the classic is in many ways, making him a fair bit more recognizable.  I guess that’s an unintended bonus.  The sculpt does a respectable job of capturing the style of the show’s animation and translating into a working figure.  It honestly ends up looking pretty darn good, and may even be the best of the sculpts this line produced.  Heck, it’s just one of Toy Biz’s best 5-inch Marvel sculpts.  He’s even got a fully removable helmet, which was pretty great at the time.  The only slight oddity to the sculpt is his “action feature”; in order to simulate his ability to grow into Giant-Man in the show, they gave him extending limbs.  It’s not the worst concept in theory, but it doesn’t really give the intended effect; he just looks like he’s really stretchy.  Fortunately, it doesn’t at all impede the figure’s function at normal scale.  His paint work’s not bad for the era.  It’s a lot of base work, and it’s pretty cleanly applied.  There’s a little bit of wear on the hair on mine, but it’s otherwise held up pretty well in the two decades I’ve owned it, so I’ll consider that a win.  Ant-Man was packed with his removable helmet, a miniature version of himself, and the mini-ship he would ride around in on the show.  The ship could be placed on his back, like on the show, and could be fully deployed by using the magnet on his forearm to unlock it.  I’ve lost half of mini Ant-Man, because he was literally an inch tall and I was 7, as well as the hatch for the vehicle, because, again, 7, so, you know, that’s how it works.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I absolutely love this figure.  He’s probably my favorite figure from this line.  He just really works.  Despite that, he’s one of the very last figures I actually got from the line.  The line was rather scarce at launch, so finding multiples of figures wasn’t super likely.  Because of this, my dad and I wound up sharing most of the line, at least at first.  He wound up getting the first Ant-Man.  However, as the line began to become more plentiful, I started getting more of them, and Ant-Man was one of the last three I had left to get.  I mentioned this to my Grandmother, and she asked for a list of the three I was missing.  The next week, when I went over to their house, she pulled this guy out for me, having bought him in the mean time, and he very quickly became one of my favorites.  He holds up remarkably well, and I still really like him.

#2345: Goliath

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

GOLIATH (w/ ANT-MAN & WASP)

MARVEL LEGENDS (TOY BIZ)

“Hank Pym started small. After shrinking his way to worldwide renown as the super-heroic Ant-Man, founding member of the mighty Avengers, he ascended to even greater glory in the guise of Giant-Man. Now, as Goliath, he continues to prove that size matters: His greatest asset is his big brain and knack for invention! Due to years of exposure to the size-altering properties of Pym Particles, Goliath can increase in stature at will and to a maximum height of 100 feet of shrink to the size of an ant. He grows by drawing additional mass froman extra-dimensional source, to which it returns when he reverts to normal. Goliath can shrink an entire laboratory or an array of firearms to the size of a microchip when not in use. The various compartments of his uniform straps contain a wide variety of miniaturized equipment.”

Toy Biz’s run on Marvel Legends was full of a lot of rather frustrating choices on their part, all in the name of trying to foster some sort of after market value for their figures.  It was…well, it wasn’t the best time to be a collector, but it was a really good time for scalpers.  Yay?  One of their ideas was chase figures, figures that were not advertised on the back of the package and were shipped in very low numbers, and were just short of including a note on the front that said “scalp me.”  The concept only ended up lasting for two assortments, Series 4 and Series 5.  I’ve looked at Red Skull, the chase for Series 5, but now I’m looking at the figure that officially launched it, Goliath!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

As noted in the intro, Goliath was the chase figure for Series 4 of Toy Biz’s Marvel Legends, and was subsequently the one figure in the assortment not listed on the back of the packaging.  He’s officially supposed to be based on Hank’s first Goliath costume, but, well, there’s some caveats to that, which I’ll touch on in a bit. The figure stands 8 1/4 inches tall and he has 12 points of articulation.  That’s a pretty low count for a Legends release, and there’s a good reason for that: he’s not a Legends sculpt.  Instead, he was a wholesale repaint of the Giant-Man figure from their classic Avengers boxed set from the ’90s.  Now, you may recall from my (astoundingly short) review of that figure, that I was pretty fond of the sculpt.  It’s honestly one of he nicest sculpts to come out of their 5-inch days.  That being said, it didn’t really fit all that well stylistically with the Legends Toy Biz was putting out at this time.  I mean, he’ll look okay with the Iron Man and Cap, but beyond that he’s gonna be out of place.  Additionally, the sculpted details of the costume are pretty specific to Giant-Man’s costume, but those don’t line-up with the Goliath costume they opted to go for.  He shouldn’t have the antenna or the circle, and he should have goggles, and a completely different belt.  We wound up getting a couple of more accurate renditions of this costume once Hasbro took over, but for this one, Toy Biz was clearly wanting a cheap extra figure to produce and went with the “close enough” philosophy.  The paint work kind of rolls with the differences of the sculpt, and pretty much makes no attempt to hide them, because, honestly, it’s not like there’s much that can be done.  It’s a pretty nifty color scheme, and I certainly dig the metallic blue used on the body suit.  In order to distract a bit from the re-used mold and the lack of a base sculpt, Goliath was packed with repaints of the Ant-Man and Wasp figures from the same boxed set as Giant-Man.  They work a little better with the Legends aesthetic, though they’re not super-poseable or anything.  The new coat of paint does look nice, though.

 

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Despite the somewhat lazy creation, I always wanted this guy when he was new.  Perhaps because I was giving into the very forces that Toy Biz was counting on, or perhaps because I just always liked this Goliath costume.  Whatever the case, I didn’t get one, because the after market for him was stupid expensive for a good long while.  Then the people paying the stupid money for him actually took a closer looked at him, realized how lazy a creation he was, and two much better versions of the costume were released, and now this guy can be had for a much more reasonable sum.  He ended up traded into All Time about a year and a half ago, allowing me to finally add him to my collection.  He’s not anything to write home about, but I can love him for what he is.

#1893: Ant-Man

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

ANT-MAN

MARVEL LEGENDS VINTAGE (HASBRO)

“What matters most is not the size of the man in the fight, but the size of the fight in the man — and the bad guys take big hits from Ant-Man!”

A few weeks ago, I looked at *most* of the latest Vintage sub-series of Marvel Legends, but didn’t quite cover them all.  The two missing were Ant-Man and Hawkeye, and, while I still haven’t found a Hawkeye, I did manage to snag an Ant-Man.  So here he is!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Ant-Man is another piece of the second series of the Marvel Legends Vintage line, and is the natural pairing to the Wasp figure from this same assortment.  The set hit stores right around the time of Ant-Man and the Wasp’s home media release, so I guess they were pretty sensibly timed.  In terms of the character he’s representing (that being a Hank Pym version of Ant-Man), he’s actually a first for Legends, though in terms of the actual figure, he follows the rest of the assortment’s trend of being a lot of revisited ground.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  Sculpturally, this Ant-Man is identical to the Walgreens-exclusive Black Ant from 2015.  Technically, it’s not a pitch-perfect translation, since the two designs hive some slight discrepancies, but it’s close enough that we’ve all pretty much been expecting this exact figure since Black Ant was first shown off.  That it took Hasbro so long to deliver it is the reals surprise.  His paintwork is the main difference, of course, as it returns Ant-Man to his classic red and blue.  It’s a striking combo, and the hues chosen are bold and eye-catching.  The silver for the helmet is just the raw color of the plastic, so it’s got that slight swirly effect going on, but it works alright for this particular design.  There are some slight flaws, most notably a spot of missing paint on the figure’s nose, but he overall looks pretty decent.  I was going to rag on this figure’s boots for being straight across the top and not jagged like his gloves, but a quick review of classic Ant-Man appearances shows that the boots were just as often depicted this way, so hey, Hasbro’s not wrong.  Since Ant-Man is designed to pair off with Wasp, he comes with the natural counterpoint to her mini Ant-Man accessory: a mini Wasp.  It’s the same one used twice before in the Marvel Universe line, but this time painted up to match the Wasp figure from this assortment.  I really do wish she had included a flight stand of some sort, but oh well.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Ant-Man’s a figure I’ve been waiting for, and I certainly didn’t want to miss out on him.  That said, I was willing to be patient, even when he wasn’t among the first round of these figures I found.  Fortunately, the same connection that got me Vision and Wasp was also able to snag Hank for me, so now I’m one step closer to a complete set.  Though there’s not a lot of new going on with this figure, the starting point was already a pretty good figure in the first place, and the new colors definitely make him pop.

#0825: SDCC Ant-Man Minimates

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

SHRINKING ANT-MAN, SHRINKING YELLOW JACKET, ANT-HONY, & SCOTT LANG

MARVEL MINIMATES

AntManSDCC1

Ant-Man seems to be that movie I keep forgetting when looking back on 2015. It’s a shame, really, because I actually enjoyed the film immensely, and thought it was a highlight of the summer. But, I keep forgetting about it. For instance, there were two sets of Marvel Minimates based on the film, both of which have been readily available since November, and I’ve only picked up one. Furthermore, I’ve had said set since November and not yet gotten around to reviewing it. Today I fix that.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These four were one of the SDCC exclusive items this year, offered via a partnership between DST and Action Figure Xpress. This set is meant to accent the main specialty release set… which I don’t have. Oh well.

SHRINKING ANT-MAN

AntManSDCC2As the main character, it’s only natural for Ant-Man to get one or two variants. That said, the suit maintains a pretty standard look throughout the entirety of the film, so coming up with a compellingly different version of the character can be a little difficult. Enter the “shrinking” variant, which is certainly different. Structurally, he’s the same as the normal Ant-Man. He uses the standard Minimate body, so he stands about 2 ½ inches tall and has 14 points of articulation. He has add-ons for his helmet and belt. They’re decent enough matches for the film designs; the helmet is a little off, but that’s true of all the figures for the movie, since the mask was changed somewhat last minute. Regardless, the pieces look pretty great. The paintwork is kind of the key thing with this figure. He’s (mostly) molded in clear plastic. The torso of the figure has some white detail lines, outlining a few different Ant-Men, each smaller than the last, to make it look like he’s shrinking. The effect works well enough, but you do really have to view him head-on to get it to look right. Under the helmet, instead of Scott Lang (like on the regular release) it’s a younger Hank Pym. The likeness is pretty fantastic, and I love that we actually got a young Hank Pym. Ant-Man includes a hairpiece (re-used from BSG’s Apollo), a normally painted torso piece, a slab of rock, a smaller ‘mate painted up in Ant-Man’s basic colors, an effect base, and a basic display stand, made up like a giant penny.

SHRINKING YELLOWJACKET

AntManSDCC3If you have two main characters with shrinking abilities, it’s not really fair to give just one of them a figure replicating the shrinking feature. So, here’s shrinking Yellowjacket. Like Ant-Man, he’s structurally the same as his normal release version. He’s got add-ons for his helmet and harness/extra legs. These are pretty decent parts, but I don’t feel they’re as strong as Ant-Man’s, and I do wish the legs were actually poseable. Still, they work well enough, and he certainly looks the part. His paint is handled very similarly to Ant-Man’s, with the necessary changes for the differences in character designs. Under the helmet is Darren Cross. His expression is a bit more angry than the regular version, so there’s a bit of variety there. The face doesn’t really look much like Cross in the movie, especially the stubble, which just seems to be too heavy. Yellowjacket includes a normally painted torso, a slab of rock, a smaller ‘mate in black and gold, a flying stand, and a display base painted like a bottle cap.

ANT-HONY

AntManSDCC5Scott’s ant buddy Ant-Hony was definitely a surprisingly enjoyable character, and who would have thought he’d actually get three whole figures? I certainly expecting the ‘mate, though. Ant-Hony follows the lead of ‘mates such as the Brood drone, moving away from the standard Minimate build. Ant-Hony uses the head and arms (three sets of them, actually) of the basic ‘mate, along with the six-armed torso piece, which has been used a few times before. The figure also uses the little nubby feet pieces from the Brood, wings from the Wasp, and all-new pieces for the top of the head and his lower half. The end result is a slightly odd looking figure, but it approximates an ant’s shape fairly well. The paint is mostly just the same dark brown, but he does also have detailing for his eyes. Ant-Hony comes packed with a flight stand.

SCOTT LANG

AntManSDCC4Civilian variants are fairly commonplace with movie ‘mates, so getting a basic Scott in this set is to be expected, especially since he’s not the one in the Ant-Man suit. He’s based on the look he sports when breaking into Pym’s mansion early in the film, which is easily the most distinct of his non-costumed looks. The figure is entirely reliant on re-used parts, with the hat from Punisher: Warzone’s Looney Bin Jim and the coat from Big Bang Theory’s Leonard. The parts are both pretty generic, but they certainly work well to capture Scott’s look from the film. Scott’s paint is pretty straightforward; it’s mostly just a bunch of dark blues (which is film accurate). There’s not an overabundance of detail work on the body, but the waist of his pants has a bit of line work. His face is actually a really great likeness of Paul Rudd, and I love that he’s got the little bandages on his brow. Scott includes an extra hair piece, a spare set of short-sleeved arms, ungloved hands, a backpack, and a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As noted several times before on this site, I didn’t go to SDCC 2015. So, I had to wait for this set to show up elsewhere. Specifically, I waited for it to come into stock at Luke’s Toy Store, my preferred Minimate retailer. I wasn’t expecting a whole lot from this set, but I was pleasantly surprised by every ‘mate contained. Definitely a worthy purchase.

#0680: Ant-Man Boxed Set

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

GIANT-MAN, GOLIATH, & HANK PYM

MARVEL’s ANT-MAN

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Marvel is definitely pushing Ant-Man pretty hard right now. The movie was a resounding success, in spite of all the negative press that seemed to be surrounding it, he’s joined the cast of the Avengers Assemble cartoon, and he’s headlining one of the best solo comics the company is currently publishing. Things are definitely looking up for the bug-sized hero. Marvel licensee Hasbro has been joining in on the fun, and two of their San Diego ComiCon exclusives this year were based around Ant-Man. Today, I’ll be looking at what I feel is the more impressive of the two exclusives.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Giant-Man, Goliath, and Hank Pym (along with two smaller Ant-Men) make up an Ant-Man-themed boxed set, released this year at SDCC. The set was also available after the convention on Hasbro’s online store, which is how I got mine.

GIANT-MAN

AntManSet2Hey! Haven’t I already looked at this guy? Well, sort of. Yes, this figure uses the same costume design as the Ant-Man Marvel Legends Infinite Series Giant-Man. However, unlike that figure, this one lives up to the name-sake a bit better. The figure is 12 inches tall, making him twice the height of the Infinite Series version, and he has 32 points of articulation. The figure is built on Marvel Legends Icons Cyclops body, which was previously used for the Marvel Universe Gigantic Battles Goliath and Bill Foster figures. It’s a body that was good at the time it was created, and was still pretty serviceable when it was used for Gigantic Battles, but has started to look pretty dated in recent years. The proportions and sculpted details are still okay (though he does look a little underfed), but the range of motion on the joints is rather restricted. In addition, the body has a lot of sculpted details that are specific to Cyclops, and thereby look out of place on Giant-Man. In the case of seams and the like, it’s easy to overlook them, but the straps/buckles on the wrists and the clear outline of the boots on the calves are quite distracting. It doesn’t seem too unreasonable to want Hasbro to at least retool those particular pieces. Giant-Man does get a unique head and an add-on for his belt. The head is pretty decently sculpted, though, for some reason, the antennae look sillier here than they did on the smaller figure. The belt is decent enough, but it seems a little bulky, especially compared to the painted on belt of the MLIS figure. The paint on this figure is pretty decent, aside from the obvious issues with sculpted details not lining up with the costume. The black sections are slightly glossy, and incredibly sharp at the edges, which is nice to see. One minor issue: the two black lines emanating from the circle on his chest end at the shoulder joints, instead of continuing around the shoulders like they should.  Giant-Man includes no accessories of his own.

GOLIATH

AntManSet3Moving downward on the scale chart, we get to my personal favorite figure from the set, Goliath. He’s based on Hank Pym’s first costume for his third identity. Confused? That’s okay. Most people are. This figure ends up being the most unique of those offered in the set, mostly due to his color-scheme. The figure stands a little over 6 inches tall and has 32 points of articulation. He’s based on the ML Infinite Series Bucky Cap body, just like the single release Giant-Man. The body’s a pretty great base for a lot of characters, and it fits Hank rather nicely. Goliath gets a new head sculpt; it’s a little on the soft side as far as details go, but it’s pretty good overall. It’s a nice, classic hero-style head, and it isn’t too struck with the level of same-ness we’ve seen on a lot of Hasbro’s male heads in this scale. The figure also gets a new add-on piece for his belt, which is a little bit loose, but pretty well sculpted. While I like this figure a lot, oh boy did he get hit with some seriously messy paint. The colors are pretty nicely chosen, but the flesh tones are really thick and goopy, and the yellow has been applied too thinly in many areas, causing the blue of the plastic to bleed through. He’s also got some random scratches of blue on both forearms, where the glove paint has chipped. Viewed as a whole, the figure is alright, but he would have been a lot nicer if the paint had been even a little bit better. Like Giant-Man, Goliath has no accessories of his own.

HANK PYM

AntManSet5Moving down the scale chart again, we find our way to another version of Hank Pym, as well as our first actual Ant-Man figure in a set with Ant-Man plastered all over it. Hank’s presented here in his Ant-Man costume, but with a lab coat over top of it, which is a look that Hank’s been known to sport rather frequently, when he’s in an inventing mood. It’s an important look that’s largely been absent from toy form. The figure is about 4 inches tall and has 22 points of articulation. Structurally, Hank is very similar to the Ant-Man figure from last year. He uses the torso, legs, and feet from the basic skinny male body. It’s kind of an outdated body, but I guess it’s at least consistent with the last Ant-Man. He also has the arms and hands from the AIM Agent/Ghost Rider body, which are good for the AntManSet7looser sleeves, but are a little too long for the body. For the lab coat, he re-uses the add-on piece from G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra The Doctor figure, which isn’t a perfect fit for the body, but it isn’t too far off. The head appears to be a new piece, though it’s generic enough that it could potentially be a re-use. It’s an okay sculpt, but it seems a bit too angry for Hank. The paintwork on the figure is pretty decent. The actual Ant-Man costume is identical to the regular Ant-Man, which is good, I guess. It would be nice if the lab coat were more detailed than just straight white, but oh well. Hank gets the only actual accessory in the set: an alt helmeted head. It’s exactly the same as the normal Ant-Man’s head.

ANT-MEN

AntManSet8Last up, it’s the two mini Ant-Men, who are really more accessories than outright figures. The larger of the two is based on Scott Lang’s Ant-Man costume from the 00s. It’s definitely a more modern design, but I like the enclosed nature. The figure AntMan2stands about an inch and a half tall and features no articulation. He’s got a unique sculpt, and he’s actually pretty nicely detailed for such a small figure. The paintwork is also pretty decent, with three different colors and no visible slop. The smaller Ant-Man is once again based on the classic Ant-Man design. It’s actually just the same smaller Ant-Man as was included with the Avengers Infinite Ant-Man. It’s under an inch tall and is, predictably, pretty light on the details.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

So, as noted above, I picked this set up after the con from Hasbro Toy Shop. I detailed the ordeal in my Book of the Vishanti review, so I won’t go into that again. Ultimately, I have to admit I’m a little underwhelmed by this particular set. Giant-Man and Hank Pym are both held back by outdated bodies, and Goliath has some rather annoying paint issues. The Scott Lang figure is kinda neat, I guess, but I’d have preferred to get a larger scale version. All-in-all, I certainly don’t feel like this is a bad set, and I don’t regret purchasing them, but they just seem a bit off.

AntManSet4

#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.

#0633: Giant-Man

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

GIANT-MAN

MARVEL LEGENDS INFINTE SERIES

GiantMan1

So, the Ant-man movie has finally found its way to its US release today. By the time you read this, I’ll have already seen it, and hopefully have enjoyed it. Now, Scott Lang, aka the second Ant-Man, takes the lead role in the film, but in both the comics and the movie, things are kicked off by Hank Pym. Pym actually moved out of the Ant-Man identity relatively quickly in the comics, becoming the slightly more useful (though also less fun) Giant-Man!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

GiantMan2Giant-Man is the sixth figure in Hasbro’s Ant-Man Marvel Legends Infinite Series. The figure is just over 6 inches tall and features 32 points of articulation. Yes, you read that right: Giant-Man is normal sized. This has caused a little bit of contention within the collecting community. Ultimately, though, Giant-Man can change his size, and we’ve never gotten him at normal size, so I’m pretty happy about it. Giant-Man is based on his most recent design, which he first started wearing following his return to the identity after being the Wasp for a little while, right when he began teaching at Avengers Academy. It’s modern, but also not far from his original costume. I miss the blue, but it’s actually a pretty nice design. For the most part, the figure is just the Bucky Cap body, with a new head thrown in for good measure. The body is still a good one, and it’s well chosen for a normal sized Hank Pym. The head is fairly straightforward, but it’s still pretty good. The antennae were a little bit warped straight out of the package, but they go GiantMan3back to their proper shape pretty easily. The face has some of the trademarks of the post-ROML male faces, which aren’t my favorite sculpts, but the angles are softer here, so it’s not horrible. Giant-Man is a Hasbro figure, which almost always means questionable paintwork. This figure isn’t an exception. The general application is alright, and the base red plastic is nice and bright, but some of the edges are fuzzy and a few of the black sections don’t line up quite right. Also, the red on the tops of the boots doesn’t match the rest of the figure. However, as a whole, the figure doesn’t look atrocious. Giant-Man included no accessories of his own, but he did come with the right leg of Ultron.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Giant-Man was the only figure absent from the ones I found at my local TRU. As the figure I was most anticipating from this set, that bummed me out a bit, but I was able to get one courtesy of their online store. Ultimately, some of the issues with his paint, coupled with my unexpected enjoyment of Bulldozer, has resulted in him not being quite as exciting as I’d hoped. Still, he’s not a bad figure, and he does look pretty good when posed with the smaller scale Marvel Universe figures.

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