Tag Archives: Hulk

#0546: The Hulk

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

THE HULK

MARVEL LEGENDS (TOYBIZ)

Hulk1stAppML1

Countdown to Avengers: Age of Ultron: 10 days remaining.

The original, founding members of the Avengers are an interesting bunch. Iron Man and Thor made sense. They were two of Marvel’s more popular heroes of the time. Ant-Man and Wasp, as minor as they may be now, also had a decent following. Hulk? He was the oddball. The character was only moderately successful, and his whole thing was not playing well with others. In fact, he was also the first member to leave the team, quitting after only two issues. Officially, his founder status was given honorarily to Captain America, and the Hulk remained separate from a team. In the last few years, thanks in no small part to The Avengers movie, Hulk has found his way back to the team, but only after moving away from the whole green rage monster thing. But that’s less fun, so let’s look at a figure of the more rage-y variety.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Hulk1stAppML2Hulk was released as part of the ninth series of ToyBiz’s Marvel Legends, also known as the “Galactus Series.” In case you hadn’t gathered, the series featured Galactus as a Build-A-Figure, and it’s noteworthy because it’s actually the series of Marvel Legends that introduced the concept. This particular figure was officially dubbed “1st Appearance Hulk” and he was offered in two different color schemes: Grey and Green. The green version, which I’ll be covering today, is the variant of the grey version, and it’s actually NOT a 1st appearance Hulk, due to the coloring. The figure is 8 inches tall and features a whopping 38 points of articulation. The sheer size and bulk of the figure means that most of that articulation is rather limited in range of motion. In fact, the joint in his torso is almost completely inert, making you wonder why they bothered at all. From the neck down, Green Hulk’s sculpt is identical to that of his grey counterpart. It’s rather typical of a ToyBiz Legends sculpt of the time. There’s lots of detail and texturing, which is really great, but the figure also suffers from some odd proportions, and some spots where the articulation interferes with the quality. The feet are probably the worst offenders. The ankles are set too far back and the toes are too wide and flat in comparison to the rest of the foot, resulting in something that looks more like a duck’s foot than Hulk’s. At the very least, I guess they make him stable. The head is unique to this particular version of the figure. It’s not much different from the grey version, but this one is showing teeth, while the other had a closed mouth. Apart from that, it’s actually a very nice translation of Jack Kirby’s version of the Hulk, in his more Frankenstein’s Monster-like state. It’s definitely the best part of the figure. Hulk’s paintwork is really quite well done, and features some nice subtleties. The basic green and purple are admittedly a little dark for my tastes, but they aren’t bad. In addition, there’s some brown airbrushing on the green parts, which help to make him look a bit more organic. Hulk’s only accessory was a piece of Galactus.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

When Series 9 was first released, I quickly assembled a complete set of figures so that I could get my Galactus just as quickly as possible. However, given the scarcity of Legends figures in general at the time, I picked up the regular grey version of Hulk first. A little while later, I was walking through my local Walmart. There weren’t any Legends on the hangers, but I happened to bend down to check something on the bottom shelf, where I noticed a stack of Marvel Legends. The stack was three each of the variants for the Series 9 Hulk and Bullseye. So, I grabbed one of each for myself and placed the others in their proper spot (because I certainly wasn’t going to scalp!) While the figure hasn’t aged spectacularly well, I still really like this version of Hulk, and it remains my go to Hulk for Legends set ups.

#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

#0429: Infinity Minimates

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

SPACE SUIT CAPTAIN AMERICA, ARMORED HULK, INFINITY THANOS, & THANE

MARVEL MINIMATES

Marvel Minimates is really just the line that keeps on giving. I have a pretty substantial back log of figures I already had before the site was started, so they were already going to show up a lot. However, they also provide new releases on a very regular basis. Which makes for even more frequent reviews. Yay.

Marvel Minimates is also one of the few Minimates lines to be fairly consistently supported by Toys R Us. TRU has carried 18 of their own exclusive series of the line. In addition, they’ve offered fans the opportunity to influence the line a bit with Fan’s Choice boxed sets based on certain events. Today, I’ll be looking at the most recent of those sets, based on last year’s Infinity cross-over. Full disclosure: I haven’t read any of Infinity, so I can’t really speak to any story specific stuff. I know the general gist of it, and I know who the one storyline specific figure in this set is.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These four were released as part of a Toys R Us exclusive four-pack. The line-up was chosen via a poll on Toys R Us’s website. There were two other figures, Ronan the Accuser and Space Suit Iron Man, who did not make the cut for this set, but will be appearing in the TRU Series 19.

SPACE SUIT CAPTAIN AMERICA

There have been a fair number of Captain America ‘mates, especially recently, but this is the first time he’s been space worthy. It’s also the third ‘mate based on Cap’s Marvel Now! appearance. Cap’s clearly the “safe” figure in this set, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The figure is about 2 ½ inches tall and he sports 14 points of articulation. He’s based on Cap’s space-faring look from Infinity, which I understand is the look he had for most of the story. It’s basically just a tweak on his regular Now! design and it looks pretty good. The figure makes use of the standard Minimate body, with non-standard upper arms and hands, as well as add-ons for his helmet and space-y web gear. The hands and helmet hail from the previous two Now! Caps, which is a sensible re-use. They’re well-sculpted pieces that are accurate to the source material, so it’s a win-win. The upper arms originally appeared on the Series 49 Mark 42. They aren’t quite as warranted as the hands and helmet, but they’re reasonable enough as a generic set of tech-y arms. The web gear is the only really new piece present. It’s well enough sculpted, and it seems to be pretty accurate to the source material. It’s not the most exciting piece, but it does its job. Cap’s paint work is pretty decent. For the most part, everything is clean, and the details are sharp. However, the paint on the helmet/head is applied in such a way that is impossible for me to get the helmet off his head, which is rather annoying. Cap includes his mighty shield and a hand wield said shield (both reused from the previous Now! figures), as well as a hair piece (also from the Now! Cap), and a clear display stand. The shield is a bit sloppy paint-wise, and the hair is ultimately not very useful due to the issues with the helmet.

ARMORED HULK

Hulk here is a bit less space-ready than the Cap figure. As the name implies, he’s just an armored version of the character. The figure is over 2 ½ inches tall, closer to the 3 inch mark, and he features 12 points of articulation. He’s based on the character’s Now! look. This is the second Minimate based on the look, but the first one was more armor-lite. This is what the character’s looked like for most of the Now! run. The figure is built on the basic Minimate body, with non-standard pieces for the hands and feet, as well as add-ons for the hair, torso, upper arms, waist, torso extender, and upper legs. The hair and upper arms first cropped up on the Series 41 Mega Rage Hulk, the feet first appeared on TRU’s Hulk as Nul, the hands are from the Hulk TTA Maestro, and the torso extender, waist cover, and upper legs are from the TRU 16 Now! Hulk. The chest piece is the only truly new part, however it’s nicely handled. The reused pieces are used a such a way that it wasn’t immediately obvious that the torso was the only new part, which is a sign of good re-use. The shift from sculpted detail lines on the armor on the torso and upper legs to painted on the feet is a little bit jarring at first, but it’s not too bad. Hulk’s paint alright, but it could be better. There’s some bleed over on the transitions from armor to skin, and there’s some pretty bad slop on the back of the figure’s head and torso. The figure also suffers from the same stuck pieces that plagued Cap, something that is a common theme in this set. Hulk includes a clear display stand.

INFINITY THANOS

Thanos here is probably the biggest draw of this set. This is the third version of Thanos in the Marvel Minimates line, but it’s been five years since his last figure. If you’re a faithful follower of my reviews, you’ll recall I didn’t think the last one was very good. Plus, he’s set to be a major player in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the next few years, so it’s really good timing. Thanos is the largest ‘mate in the set, coming in at just shy of 3 inches tall, and he has 12 points of articulation. He’s based on Thanos’s recent redesign from Infinity. It’s not far off from his original design, but there are a few differences in the execution of some of the details. Thanos uses the basic Minimate body as a starting point, with non-standard hands and feet, as well as add-ons for his helmet, torso, upper arms, waist, torso extender, and upper legs. The upper arms and legs are from the Series 41 Hulk, the extender is from the TRU 16 Hulk, and the waist cover is from a whole bunch of Minimates (I’m not sure who used it first). The helmet, torso cover, hands, and feet are new to Thanos, and they’re pretty good overall. The torso is probably the best piece. It has a lot of ornate detail work that looks really good. The hands and feet are decent, though they seem a little too rounded. The helmet is good in theory, but not quite in practice. It’s well sculpted, but it sits too low on the head, which obscures a lot of the details on the face. Thanos’s paintwork is pretty clean overall. There are a few spots with some bleed over, but most of it’s pretty sharp. The face in particular looks really good, and it definitely improves on the last one. Unfortunately, Thanos was not exempt from the stuck paint issues. His helmet was practically glued on when I got him and took quite a bit of effort to remove. Thanos includes a clear display stand. It would have been nice to get an Infinity Gauntlet that matched this figure, but since it wasn’t in the story, I can understand its absence here.

THANE

Hooo boy, Thane. This guy. So, Thane is the one new character in the set. He’s also new to the storyline, and he has a sort of important role, so I guess his inclusion makes sense. In case you were unaware, Thane is Thanos’s son and he’s half Inhuman, which sort of makes him a bit of a mess. The figure is about 2 ½ inches tall and has 14 points of articulation. Thane is based on the character’s appearance post-Terrigen Mist exposure, which is notably Thanos-inspired. It’s an okay design, though not particularly thrilling. The figure is mostly a “vanilla ‘mate” with his only unique piece being his left hand. This piece is re-used from the DC Minimates Series 6 Cheetah figure. It’s a pretty standard clawed-hand, so that’s good. The rest of Thane’s detail is done with paint. For better or worse, Thane exhibits the best paintwork of the lot. The base colors are clean and even, the colors are pretty bold, and the detail lines are nice and sharp. Thane didn’t have any issues with stuck pieced due to paint, although that’s likely due to his lack of add-ons. The figure includes a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I found this set while killing some time during one of my brother’s rehearsals. Obviously, I got it from Toys R Us, it being an exclusive and all. I did participate in the vote on this one, and three of the four I voted for are in the final set, so I guess that’s cool. Unfortunately, Ronan, the one I wanted the most, lost out to Thane, which is a bummer. Guess I’ll have to wait for TRU 19. All in all it’s a pretty good set. Cap and Hulk are fun variants and Thanos offers some nice improvements to the last one. Thane is good on a technical level, but sadly neither the character nor his design is particularly exciting.  But hey, three out of four ain’t bad!

#0386: Grey Hulk – Transforming & Iron Man – MK29 Armor

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

GREY HULK – TRANSFORMING & IRON MAN – MK29 ARMOR

MARVEL MINIMATES

So, one of the cool things about the Best Of sub-line of Marvel Minimates is that it’s a great way for Diamond to fix some issues with previously released figures. Figures that were almost there, but just the slightest bit off. They also can offer some much needed updates to important looks of popular characters. Both of these can be seen in today’s set, Grey Hulk and the Mark 29 Iron Man.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Hulk and Iron Man were released as a two-pack in Series 3 of the Best Of Marvel Minimates line. Like yesterday’s set, both characters featured here have had a previous figure in the Best Of line.

GREY HULK – TRANSFORMING

The story of Hulk’s skin color is kind of an interesting one. See, he was originally supposed to be grey (and he is in his first appearance), but the printing standards of 1960s comics weren’t up to the task of consistently printing the color, resulting in Hulk coloring changing a few times in his initial appearance. So, they decided the color had to change, and they went with green, as it was the accidental coloring they liked the best. And so, green became the Hulk’s distinctive color. It’s worth noting that Hulk’s change in palate was never mentioned in the comic itself, but it also came coupled with a slight change in the beast’s personality, which was used by writer Peter David to bring back the original look as a separate personality. As such, Grey Hulk has claimed a place as one of the key looks for the character. The last real Grey Hulk Minimate was released back in Series 7 of the main line (and even then, it was just a rerelease of an exclusive released at the same time as Series 1-4), so he was definitely in need of an update. The figure is a little over 2 ½ inches tall and he sports 12 points of articulation. He makes use of the standard issue Minimate body, with an assortment of “bulk-up” pieces. All of these pieces have seen use on previous Hulks. The torso, upper arms, upper legs, upper legs, and feet are from the series 41 Mega Rage Hulk; the hair is from the TRU exclusive World War Hulk; the torso extender is from Series 27’s Ultimate Hulk; the hands are from Series 45’s Movie Hulk. The torso cover is also a re-use piece, which has seen use on countless figures over the years. This is the best assortment of Hulk pieces available, so DST definitely chose well. The paint on Hulk is pretty great, but perhaps not as exceptional as some of the others in this series. There is a tiny bit of bleed over on the ends of his pants, and the black detail lines seem just the slightest bit muted. Underneath of the torso and waist covers, there are fully detailed pieces, which, with the addition of a spare set of hands and feet, as well as a new head and hair (courtesy of Tomb Raider’s Roth), allow Grey Hulk to be displayed as Bruce Banner, mid-transformation. It doesn’t work quite as well as the previous Series’ fully civilian Bruce, but it still looks pretty cool, and the angry face is a wonderful addition to the range of Banner emotions. In addition to the transformation pieces, Grey Hulk also comes packed with a clear display stand.

IRON MAN – MK29 ARMOR

Sometimes, Diamond, for all their efforts, doesn’t get a figure quite right on the first try. Such was the case with the original TRU release of this armor. The figure featured a unique set of upper legs, but the sockets for the hip joints were too shallow, giving the figure an odd look and making it virtually impossible to keep the legs on. Fortunately, Iron Man’s a popular enough character that a second release wasn’t unwarranted. This figure represents Iron Man’s Mark 29 armor, which is one of the iterations of his Extremis armor from the comics. Not one of my favorite looks, but he did sport this general style of armor for a while, and it’s not too far off from his movie look. The figure is about 2 ½ inches tall and he features 14 points of articulation. The figure makes use of the typical body, with character specific upper arms, as well as add-ons for his helmet, upper torso, belt, gloves and boots. The helmet, upper torso, belt, and boots are from the Iron Man in the 14th TRU exclusive series, and the upper arms and gloves from Series 45’s Iron Man Mark 7. These pieces all mesh very well together and present a nice amalgamation of the various Extremis designs. The only real issue is the feet, which are at just the slightest angle, making the figure fall backwards if he’s not posed correctly. The paint is another dividing factor from the previous release. Where the last one used metallic red and gold, this one goes for a more straight red and yellow. This is a bolder look, and it makes the figure pop a bit more. It also does a nicer job of showcasing the sculpted pieces. All of the paintwork is nice and clean, and the detail lines don’t suffer from the washed-out appearance of those on Hulk. Underneath of the helmet is a Tony Stark face. It’s clearly a modern Tony, and it has just the right amount of self-assuredness. Iron Man includes a spare hairpiece (first used on Series 27’s Ultimate Cap), a flight stand molded in clear orange, and a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like the other three sets in this series, I picked up Hulk and Iron Man from my local comicbook store, Cosmic Comix. My primary reason for picking up the set was Hulk; for whatever reason, I never picked up the original Grey Hulk. This figure provides an exceptional update to that figure, and brings Grey Hulk up to the same quality as the Green Hulk offered in the previous series. While this Hulk’s Banner look doesn’t excite me the same way as the earlier version, it’s still a fun extra look, and it adds extra value to an already awesome figure. While I’m not the biggest fan of this particular look for Iron Man, this is still a solid figure, and he offers some much needed fixes to the previous version. The third series of Best Of Marvel Minimates is a solid addition to the Minimates line-up.

#0300: The Hulk

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

HULK

AVENGERS (HOT TOYS)

hulkb

I still have two more Avengers Infinite reviews to do, but I’ll be taking a break from them today. Why, you ask? Because, surprisingly enough, I’ve made it through 300 of these reviews.  I can honestly say I haven’t stuck with any of my projects for this long. I think the most surprising thing here is that you guys are still reading my reviews. Maybe I don’t suck after all! In honor of another milestone review, I’ll be doing another “Deluxe Review.”

This is another figure from Hot Toys, a company renowned for their high-end action figures. Their bread and butter in recent years has been super hero movies, and one of their most successful licenses was 2012’s The Avengers. I’ll be looking at the biggest (in more way than one) release of the line, the Incredible Hulk!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Hulk is part of HT’s Movie Masterpiece Series, which is their primary line. Hulk is number 186, which places him right after the previously reviewed Iron Man Mark VII in the numerical sequence. Hulk is just about 18 inches tall in height, and he features 18 points of articulation. 20 if you count the individually moving eyes. He’s based on Hulk’s design in The Avengers, obviously, but more specifically Hulk’s look during the final battle, which can be determined by the darker color of the pants.

Aside from a pair of tattered pants, the Hulk relies mostly on sculpting for his look. This is different from a lot of HT’s figures, but makes sense with the Hulk’s design. Hulk has a fairly unique body type, which means he got an all new sculpt to reflect that. The design is undoubtedly based on the 3D model designed for the movie, but it was sculpted by hand, so there’s a few areas that are a little off. Let’s start with what is on model. The head sculpt is virtually indistinguishable from the Hulk in the movie. You can definitely see some of Mark Ruffalo’s likeness shining through. It’s truly a magnificent head sculpt. The arms and legs are pretty similarly accurate. They have superb detailing, that makes this figure look possibly more lifelike than the CGI version in the film. The knee joints are a bit distraction, but they aren’t too had to hide with some careful positioning of the edges of the pants. This big issue is the torso. It’s just too… defined. One of the nice things about Hulk in The Avengers was that he looked like a real person. He had a certain degree of, for lack of a better word, flab. This figure doesn’t have that, and it diminishes the overall look ever so slightly. It doesn’t ruin the figure by any means, but it is a bit disappointing.

Paint work is one of HT’s strongest suits, and this figure is no exception. Every surface has amazing detail. There are beads of sweat on his face for Pete’s sake! That’s a serious commitment to detail. The teeth look like real teeth, minor yellowing and all. His skin is a bit uneven, his veins are a slightly different color from the rest of his skin. Everything looks absolutely spot on.

Perhaps the figures one downfall is accessories. Given the immense size, it’s forgivable, but it’s a bit of a bummer compared to other HT releases. As it stands, Hulk’s only accessories are a pair of alternate hands with poseable fingers. They aren’t a bad addition, but it would have been nice to at least get a stand with his name on it, just so he could fit in with the rest of the Avengers. Oh well.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As is the case with most of the HT figures I own, Hulk was obtained via a pre-order on Sideshow Toys’ website. Like Iron Man and Captain America before him, Hulk was a figure I wasn’t quite sure I was going to get. But as pictures started to come in of the prototype, I got more and more impressed. I eventually folded, but not before the figure had sold out through Sideshow. Fortunately, they have a very helpful Wait List tool, which allowed me to get on the list in case someone else cancelled. Sure enough, someone did and I was able to get the jade giant for my collection. He’s the most I’ve ever paid for a single figure, but I don’t doubt for a minute that he was worth it. He’s definitely a stand out piece, and he makes The Avengers display work.

#0176: Avengers Boxed set

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

HULK, GIANT MAN, CAPTAIN AMERICA, & KANG

MARVEL MINIMATES

If there’s one toyline I like more than all others, it’s Minimates, particularly the Marvel Minimates subset. Frequent readers should be well aware of this fact, given the sheer volume of Marvel Minimates reviews present on this site. Anyway, I’ve got another Marvel Minimates review for today. This set is important in that it heralded the first release of long-demanded villain Kang!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

This was one of two boxed sets released exclusively through the Disney Store in 2012. The sets were both Avengers related, in an attempt to tie into the movie release. The sets featured three all new figures packaged with five re-releases from Marvel Minimates series 44.

HULK

The Hulk is one of the three re-packs in this set. He’s based on his Professor Hulk incarnation, from Peter David’s run of Hulk. The basic idea was that Banner’s intelligence remained when he turned into the Hulk. It was a pretty big moment in the comics, and it definitely deserves a Minimate. This is actually the second Minimate of Professor Hulk, but the less said about the first one, the better. The figure is built on the standard Minimate body, with sculpted add-ons for bulk. He stands a little over 2 ½ inches tall and has 12 points of articulation. Most of the bulked up pieces are the same ones seen on other large characters, but he does feature a new set of feet, new hair, and it’s the first official release of the basic bulked up hands. All of the pieces look pretty good, and it’s nice to finally get a hairpiece that accurately resembles Hulks occasional bowl cut look. The paint work is good overall. There’s a bit of slop a few places, but all detail work is sharp. Hulk includes two rock slabs.

GIANT MAN

GiAnt Man is yet another of the repacks from this set. He’s based on George Perez’s redesign of the character from his and Kurt Busiek’s run on The Avengers in the 90s. The idea behind this redesign was creating a look that could easily morph between Hank’s Giant Man and Ant Man personas, hence the GiAnt Man title. It’s not a bad look, so its inclusion here is fair. He’s also built on the standard Minimates body, so he’s about 2 ½ inches tall and has 14 points of articulation. The number of add-ons depends on how you set him up, but amongst them are a Giant Man helmet, an Ant Man helmet, a belt, a torso extender, a pair of tall feet and a pair of short feet. The figure seems to be a case of better in concept than in execution, as the Giant Man set-up looks a bit strange, the Ant Man set-up is a bit too large, and neither helmet actually fits his face properly, leading to his mouth being too far down, making him look silly. The figure also includes a spare hairpiece to display him unmasked. It’s a re-use of Renfield’s hair from the Dracula set, and I’m not sure it quite fits Hank. Overall, this figure had some potential, but ends up being a bit of a mess.

 

CAPTAIN AMERICA

Cap is the final repack in this set. He based on Cap’s typical look, though it does take some of the more specific cues from George Perez’s work. The figure is on the standard body, so he’s got the usual stats. He features six sculpted add-ons: mask, glove cuffs, shield strap, and boots. All of these are reuse from previous Captains, but it’s kind of a case of “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” The paint work is all pretty good. Everything is nice and clean, and he’s even got little details, like the scales on his shirt or the blue shorts he’s sometimes depicted wearing over the pants. One area that is a bit off is the face, which seems a little bit angry looking for Cap. Other than that, he’s a pretty great standard Cap release. He includes his mighty shield (in metallic colors!), and a spare hairpiece, which is a re-use from one of the Back to the Future Marty McFly figures.

KANG

KAAAAANG!!! Yeah, he was a pretty big deal. Kang is the only exclusive figure in this set. For those of you who don’t know Kang, he’s one of the more pivotal Avengers foes. He was a conqueror from the future that came back in time to take over earlier. The Avengers of course would always stop him, as they do. For a quick explanation, I’d recommend checking out the character’s appearances in Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, which is currently available for streaming on Netflix. Kang is built in the standard Minimates body, so he has all the typical stats. He features 7 sculpted add-ons: helmet, gloves, shoulder armor, belt, and upper arms. The upper arms are the same ones seen on Betsy Braddock and the Hydra Elite. They aren’t my favorite piece, but they do work for depicting more billowy shirt material, which Kang does have. I think the rest of the pieces are new, though the gloves mightbe a re-use. The paint work on Kang is pretty good. Nothing spectacular, but it isn’t bad and everything is nice and sharp. Kang includes two guns and a pink teleportation stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was pretty excited about this set. The update on Professor Hulk was much needed, and the release of Kang was super cool! I wish Giant Man had been a bit better, but overall, this is a pretty good set. I got this set from Disney’s online store, as none of the Disney Stores near me carry Minimates. I like the idea of Disney exclusives, if it gets us cool sets like this, but they should definitely work on distribution.

#0059: Rescue & Robot Hulk

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

RESCUE ARMOR IRON MAN & ROBOT HULK

MARVEL MINIMATES

Today marks the final entry from the most recent Toys R Us exclusive series of Diamond’s quite expansive Marvel Minimates line.  For the last review, I’ll be looking at not quite Iron Man, and not quite the Hulk.  So, maybe it’s not quite a review…

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

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

RESCUE ARMOR IRON MAN

First up, it’s Iron Man…according to the box anyway.  In actuality, it’s Pepper, Tony’s on-again-off-again-love-interest.  She recently (okay, in the last five years or so) got her own suit of armor and took up heroing under the name “Rescue.”  I guess Toys R Us wasn’t interested in a figure just called Rescue, but add Iron Man to the end, and their on board!  That ends up being a little awkward for Pepper, who really doesn’t qualify as Iron MAN, but if anyone can bend gender stereotypes, it’s Pepper Potts!  The figue is built on the basic Minimate body, with a few sculpted add-ons, so she’s got 12 points of articulation and stands about 2 ½ inches tall.  She’s got sculpted boots and gloves, as well as a slip over mask.  All these pieces have been used before, but are put to a good effect.  The paint on Rescue is quite well done, with no noticeable slop, smudges or fuzziness, and lots of fine detail work.  The metallic red and silver are also nice and consistent.  Rescue includes a blast off stand, a clear display stand and a spare hair piece to display Pepper unmasked.  That last accessory is great because, Pepper’s unmasked face is one of the highlights of the figure.

ROBOT HULK

Next, it’s Robot Hulk, the robot approximation of Hulk.  Yeah, it’s a complicated concept.  He’s based on…the minds of toy makers everywhere.  Robo Hulk is based on the basic Minimate body with sculpted parts, so he’s got 12 points of articulation and stands a little over 2 ½ inches tall.  He’s got sculpted hair, torso cover, hands, thigh covers and feet.  All but the hair were previously used on the Marvel vs Capcom Sentinel, and the hair is taken from one of the recent Colossuses.  The reuse is warranted and gives him a nice angular, robotic look.  The paint work is all nice and sharp.  Like yesterday’s Venom, Robot Hulk also has a whole nother Minimate underneath all of his sculpted parts.  This time around, it depicts a terminator like rob-suit, piloted by long-time Hulk and Iron Man foe the Gremlin.  It’s a great touch and really adds a lot to the figure.  Robot Hulk is topped off by a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As with the rest of this series, the two were ordered from TRU’s online store, with a shocking amount of ease.  Rescue gives us a great comic styled Pepper, which has been a long time coming.  Robot Hulk is kind of filler, but he’s really cool filler, and his importance is helped by the little image of Gremlin piloting, kind of making this a new character.

#0006: Avengers First Appearance Boxed Set

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

ANT-MAN, WASP, HULK, IRON MAN, THOR, & GIANT-MAN

TOY BIZ AVENGERS FIRST APPEARANCE BOXED SET

Now a days, pretty much every one knows who the avengers are, but back in the mid 90s, they were  kind of obscure outside of the comic collecting community.  So, sets like the one I’m reviewing today were kind of a big deal.  I’ll be taking a different approach to these, and reviewing the whole set all in one shot.

ANT-MAN

THE FIGURE ITSELF

First up is Ant-Man, the first of the two Hank Pym figures included in this set.  He’s a good deal smaller than all of the other figures in the set, but that’s to be expected.  He’s got 7 points of articulation, which is good for the scale.  The most impressive part, I feel is the removable helmet, which is astounding on a figure this size.  And it looks great to boot!

WASP

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Next is Hank’s girlfriend, then wife, then ex-wife, then it got really complicated, Janet Van Dyne, aka The Wasp!  The Wasp is depicted in her original uniform, as is appropriate for an Avengers #1 set.  It’s not my favorite look of hers, but it’s not bad.  The figure shows the look off pretty well.  Wasp is about the same height as Ant-Man and has pretty much the same articulation, though his works better.  It would have been nice to get a regular sized Jan as well, but this one worked fine.

HULK

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Next is the jade giant, the Incredible Hulk.  Hulk is in his shown here wearing his Avenging shorts (I mean, that has to be their purpose, right?  Because we only ever see him wearing them with the Avengers).  Hulk is well sculpted, but the paint leaves a little bit to be desired.  Or more specifically the choice of plastic color.  They went with this sickly looking pale green, which doesn’t befit Dr Banner at all.  He looks like he needs a little sun.  Overall, a fine figure.

IRON MAN

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Onto the armored Avenger, Iron Man.  He’s depicted in his second suit of armor, the same as his original, but gold plated.  To emulate the coloring properly, Toybiz offered two versions of the set.  One came with a Vac Metalized shiny, gold chromey paint job, and the other came with a dull, brozish style of coloring.  My original was the dull version, but when his helmet got stepped on and crushed, I upgraded to the shiny one, found loose at a toy show.  Oh, and that helmet I mentioned?  Yeah, it was removable, which was definitely this figure’s coolest feature! Just look at Tony’s handsome mug!

THOR

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Oh boy.  This Thor.  Man this Thor.  This was not a good Thor.  Though, amazingly, it was the only Thor figure I owned until late into the Marvel Legends line.  But it’s not a very good figure.  The Chrome helmet and chest-circle-thingies (technical term!) are cool, and the basic body’s okay.  But then you look at that face.  Oh, man that face.  It’s bad.  And to top it all off, he has this weird poofy cloth cape, which pretty much never looked right.  I’m fairly certain this figure is the reason why I didn’t like Thor until the movie came out in 2011.

GIANT MAN

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Lastly, we have what I consider to be the best figure in the set:  Giant Man!  He’s the second version of Hank Pym we’re looking at in this set, and he’s actually not quite accurate, what with Hank not being Giant Man until Avengers # 2, but man this is a cool figure, so I’m willing to overlook it.  The coolest thing about this figure, I feel, is the size.  He had some serious scale on his side.  Plus he’s just about a picture perfect representation of Hank in this costume.  The paint is sharp, the sculpt is good.  This figure’s got some serious win on his side!  He once had a set of antenna, but they fell of after a few months of play.  But at least they both fell off, preserving the symmetry.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

These figures are pretty important to me, because they represent a first for me:  waiting for a figure to be released.  In the early days of the internet, I remember seeing the control art for these guys on Raving Toy Maniac.  I was absolutely thrilled.  I printed it out, and made paper figures to hold me over.

I finally saw these figures on an end-of-the-school-year shopping trip with my Nanna.  They were on an end cap and I eagerly picked them up and informed her that I didn’t need to look at anything else.  I was done.  She didn’t really get it.  Who were these characters?  Didn’t I want a Spider-Man, or a Batman instead?  Nope.  I wanted my Avengers and that’s what I got.  And man was it a great day!