Tag Archives: Iceman

#3459: Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends

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

SPIDER-MAN, ICEMAN, & FIRESTAR

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Using their fantastic powers, Spider-Man teams up with fellow heroes and former X-Men Iceman and Marvel’s Firestar to battle the world’s most dastardly villains from their secret crime-fighting lab.”

Going back to the ‘60s, Spider-Man has never been a stranger to animation.  He typically brings with him his own cast of characters, centered around just him.  Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, however, took a different approach, partnering him off with two other heroes, Ice Man and the show-original-creation Firestar (who was created when Human Torch was unavailable due to the same licensing issues that led to the creation of H.E.R.B.I.E.), which not only gave the an additional spotlight, but also opened the door for the wider Marvel universe as a whole, providing one of the deepest mainstream cuts of Marvel characters for a good couple of decades at least.  The show was without merchandising at the time of its release, but has found its way into wider Marvel toy lines a few times in recent years.  Hasbro gave us the first fully cartoon-based set back during their Marvel Universe line, and they’ve followed that up with a proper update to their current Legends scale.  So, let’s check that one out!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Spider-Man, Iceman, and Firestar are a Marvel Legends three-pack, originally released at the beginning of the year. Like Tuesday’s Iron Man, this set was initially a Pulse-exclusive, but it has since moved over to a wider Fan Channel release, going to other retailers at the end of the summer.

SPIDER-MAN

Spider-Man is, of course, no stranger to Legends treatment, but the last year in particular has seen a lot of reinventing of the standard Spidey, thanks to the 60th Anniversary stuff.  This one is another take on that.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and has 34 points of articulation.  He’s a re-use of the Amazing Fantasy figure from the Anniversary line-up.  I was a really big fan of that one, and I’m still a big fan a year later.  It’s got such an amazing range of motion, and really balances it well with the proportions.  The big change-up here comes down to coloring; the first release was in his first appearance colors, where as this one does him in his classic red and blue.  It’s largely just a straight palette swap, but he does change-over to the proper updated spider-emblems as well.  I had no issues of slop on this one, but he’s still got the slightest bit of mismatching on the reds.  AF Spidey was pretty jam packed when it came to accessories; this guy gets a bit of a down grade on that.  He still gets the three of the four sets of hands (thwipping, fists, and open gesture; gripping gets dropped), but he loses the webline and the two sets of web-wings.  The web-wings he didn’t have in the show, so I get that.  The spots are still there to plug them in, if you’re still wanting a classic Spidey with the wings, though.

ICEMAN

Though not a total stranger to the line, Iceman is certainly less frequent a release than Spidey.  Our last one was back in 2021, and that one was an AoA variant, so he’s *technically* not even the same guy.  For classic, we’re going all the way back to 2019.  So, maybe another one’s not such a bad thing.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  He’s built on the Pizza Spidey body, calling back to his Juggernaut Series release.  I honestly rather like the sizing of it for Bobby, especially for his Amazing Friends incarnation.  Its only downside is the visible pins, but even that’s pretty minor.  He gets the head from the retro carded version from 2019, which is a solid choice for a classic Iceman, and it sits pretty well on the changed out body.  The last few Iceman figures have all gone transparent in some way, but this one goes for an opaque look, which better fits the animation.  He’s got a little bit of cel-shading going on.  It’s a little odd from some angles, but it’s largely pretty versatile.  The only thing I don’t like is the white eyes.  In the show, they were yellow (or possibly green, depending on how you view the exact shade), so as to further differentiate them from the rest of his face, and they should really be that way here, but they’re not.  It’s an odd choice.  Icemen is packed with two sets of hands, open and in fists, as well as the small ice-sled piece from the retro card release.

FIRESTAR

Firestar’s run with Legends is a very recent thing; she just got her first figure back in 2021, covering her classic look, with both comics and animation looks covered.  What new ground does this one cover?  Well…umm…elbows and knees?  See, the last one had disc and pin elbows, and visible pin knees.  This one has double elbows and knees, which are both pinless, by virtue of her re-using the arms and legs from Shriek, in conjunction with the all the other parts from the last Firestar.  And I do mean *all* the other parts, including the extra head and hands, the effect pieces, and even Ms. Lion.  The only change-up is that Ms. Lion is now in her cartoon colors, as opposed to the comics colors of the single release, which is actually a pretty nice touch.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

When this set was an exclusive, it was an easy pass for me, because there was nothing here I *needed*.  I’ve got close enough versions of all three, so why bother going to the extra effort?  Once it got the wider release, it really *wasn’t* any extra effort, so I figured why not?  It’s an interesting set-up, because nothing here is new or ground breaking.  Every figure here is just a slightly better figure of something else out there.  I do like having the better versions, of course, and I’m sure I’d be singing a different tune if I hadn’t snagged the other versions previously, but it does beg the question who this set was for, especially when it comes to the Firestar figure, who was a Fan Channel exclusive on her own not that terribly long ago.  Still, I do like the set.  Firestar’s just a little better, Spidey’s classic colors on my favorite Spidey body, and Iceman feels like a more complete package than the other versions.  So, it’s an overall win.

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

X-Men vs Magneto

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

X-MEN VS MAGNETO

WRITTEN & ILLUSTRATED BY ETHAN WILSON (AGE 8)

Hey guys!  What’s this?  Me posting on a Sunday?  What did we do, go back in time two years?  Nah, but I just had something cool to share, and I thought that today being Father’s Day, it might be an appropriate day for such a post.  In the last few months, my son Matty has been getting into creating his own comics and stories with friends at school.  He was mentioning this to my dad, who informed Matty that I had done some similar storytelling when I was younger.  As proof of this, my dad pulled out his copy of my third grade class project, “X-Men vs Magneto”, which he’s been saving for some 22 odd years now.  And, just for the heck of it, I decided to the craziest thing possible:  I updated it.  So, check out the fancy new version (using my verbatim words from the original), as well as the original!

 

#3190: Iceman

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

ICEMAN

X-MEN (TOY BIZ)

“Iceman has the mutant ability to turn himself into a being of living ice. Once he does that, he can create almost anything he wants: ice slides, ice weapons, ice shields, not to mention icicles and snowballs. And when he really concentrates, he can create a blinding snowstorm even in the middle of July! But most important of all, the X-Men know that no matter how hot the battle, Iceman always keeps his cool.”

Sometimes in the toy world, you discover an issue with an item way too late in the production process, or perhaps even completely after the production has wrapped, leaving you with no way to actually fix the issue.  So, what are you to do?  Well, sometimes you just ignore it.  Other times, you decide to double down on the money train, and do something to fix the issue quickly, all so you can rake in that sweet, sweet cheddar.  Or, ice, as it may be in this case.  This case being the first Toy Biz X-Men Iceman, whose clear plastic and thermochromatic paint caused issues with the intended “stick him in the freezer” gimmick, and meant that the figure just broke.  But it’s okay.  They made another one!  And this time he’s different!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Iceman was released as part of Toy Biz’s first dedicated Repaint series of X-Men, released in late 1993/early 1994, around the main line’s 4th and 5th assortments.  He was perhaps the most sensible of the repaint choices, given the issues with the first release.  The figure stands a little under 5 inches tall and he has 9 points of articulation.  It’s the same mold as the prior release, which is a respectable classic Iceman sculpt, and fits in quite nicely with the early line figures.  The major difference between this one and the original is now he’s blue.  It’s a nice, consistent, transparent blue, which looks really cool, and makes him immediately different from his Series 2 counterpart.  He includes the same ice sled piece, which can still work with the freezing gimmick, with a little bit less risk of him breaking right away.  That said, you have to be careful with these things, especially given the age of the plastics.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Back when I was a kid, this was the Iceman that my dad had in his collection, so I got to use it with my collection from time to time.  I never had one of my own, but did eventually get the re-release of the clear version from KB a few years later.  I eventually found this guy on his own in a bin of loose figures a few years ago, and, viola, now I have both.  Woo-hoo!

#3016: Iceman

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

ICEMAN

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Iceman joins with the X-Men to stop Apocalypse and prevent the catastrophic culling of humankind in a harsh dystopian future.”

A jovial and somewhat silly character in the mainstream universe, the “Age of Apocalypse” universe made Iceman into a far more serious character, with a much more effective mastery over his powers.  Elements of this were first shown before AoA, when Bobby’s body was taken over by Emma Frost for a period of time, and were built on post-AoA when the mainstream Bobby decided to try to train more seriously with his abilities, but they got a very definite focus in AoA.  The AoA Iceman is not without toy treatment, but rarely in such an explicit fashion, at least until now.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Iceman is figure 5 in the Colossus Series of Marvel Legends.  This marks the AoA version’s first time as a Legend, as well as the first time a figure has been actually labeled as an AoA Iceman, rather than just being inspired by him.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  Iceman is a mix of old and new parts, at his core being built around the Bucky Cap base body.  The lower arms and legs are shared with the Juggernaut Series version of Iceman (who was actually built on the Pizza Spidey body, not Bucky Cap), and he gets a new torso, shoulders, and head.  While others in the set have been far more dialed-in on their specifically ’90s crossover designs, Iceman is notably based more on his more recent appearances, from the handful of revisits to the AoA universe.  It’s not a bad look, but it does mean he clashes ever so slightly with everything else we’ve gotten.  The biggest change is really the hair, which hung forward a little more on the earlier illustrations.  I personally would have preferred he stick a little more to the ’90s appearances, but this one translates well enough.  This release of Iceman is far bluer than the last couple of Legends releases, going for a rather dark shade that pretty closely matches the old “Muntant Armor” figure, which served as his ’90s AoA figure.  I can certainly dig that.  There’s some slight frost detailing airbrushed in a few places, which works out pretty well.  I do wish there were some of it on the face, again like the ’90s figure, but the overall application works nicely.  Iceman is packed with an alternate set of spikier hands, borrowed from Carnage, as well as the right arm to the Colossus figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

AoA Iceman’s not a major change-up from the standard in terms of design, but that actually gives his figure some extra appeal, since it means he’s got multiple purposes.  I’ve always liked the spikier Iceman look, so this one’s pretty cool.  I wouldn’t mind seeing a tweak on this mold that does the 616 version’s spiky look, but in the meantime, this one’s a pretty solid figure that does what he needs to, and adds a little more depth to the AoA display.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website.

#2630: Iceman II

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

ICEMAN II

X-MEN (TOY BIZ)

“One of the youngest X-Men, Bobby Drake always resigned himself to the role of the jokester, using his ice powers to cool off the attitudes of his more serious team-mates. But for the short time the White Queen inhabited his body, Iceman’s powers were pushed to the max, affecting his appearance and the performance of his mutant ability. Now back in control of his own body, Iceman has begun to redefine himself, testing his limits to discover how powerful he really is.”

Though a founding member of the team, Iceman was not really one of the X-Men’s most prominent members in the ‘90s, at least when it came time to make the cartoon and pick its main cast of characters.  He got one guest appearance, but that was all, and subsequently, he didn’t get a *ton* of coverage in the toy line at the time, either.  Granted, he still got a little bit of coverage, by virtue of that whole helping to found the team, thing, so he wasn’t left completely high and dry.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Iceman II was released in the Invasion Series of Toy Biz’s X-Men line.  In the comics, Bobby’s body had been taken over by Emma Frost for a brief period of time, and she’d unlocked Bobby’s ability to actually make himself out of ice, resulting in a slightly different appearance for the character, which this figure was based on.  The figure stands 5 inches tall and he has 9 points of articulation.  I’ve actually looked at most of this figure before, as all but the head was re-used for the Mutant Armor version of the character.  It’s not a bad sculpt at all, and the head included here is a rare look at a proper Bobby Drake face, albeit a slightly icy one.  The whole sculpt was used again for a two-pack release with Pyro in 2000, but with a slightly different coloring (which is the one seen next to Wilson in the photos).  The standard release of this one was molded in clear blue plastic, with a little bit of white airbrushed on to help give him that frosted appearance.  It didn’t work so well on the Mutant armor release, but I think it looks a bit better here.  For the two pack, he was a more opaque blue, which also isn’t a bad look.  Iceman II (and the two pack release) was packed with two ice hand attachments, done up to match the figure’s finish.  They’re a pretty cool extra.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

While I didn’t have the original Iceman II in my collection as a kid (though I did have the two-pack version, who I mostly got because I wanted the Pyro he was packed with), I do remember looking at him during the mega 5-inch figure purchase period that was local comic shop Ageless Heroes going out of business back in 2000.  I almost picked this figure up at the time, as I was working on putting together a set of Champions figures.  However, I already had *an* Iceman, even if it wasn’t this one, so I refrained in favor of someone I didn’t already own (fairly certain it was Black Widow).  This one here came into my collection via a bunch of figures that just came into All Time a few weeks ago.  He was complete and I didn’t already have him, so why not?

#2125: Iceman

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

ICEMAN

MARVEL LEGENDS VINTAGE (HASBRO)

“Iceman has the mutant ability to turn himself into a being of living ice. Once he does that, he can create almost anything he wants: ice slides, ice weapons, ice shields, not to mention icicles and snowballs.”

Of the original X-Men, Iceman is probably the one with the most raw potential, power-wise.  As a way of keeping him in check, he’s also the one saddled with the most regressive personality, a permanent goof-off who never quite advanced forward the way the other four members did.  Rather tellingly, when the time-displaced versions of the original five were introduced, the two Icemen were virtually identical, and most of his storyline revolved around confronting some long-theorized ideas about his sexuality, rather than the “what did I become?” plot that faced the other four.  Bobby is just very consistent, I suppose.  So consistent that he’s really only got a handful of looks, which can be tricky when it comes to action figures.  While it means that figures can often play double or triple duty in era-specific displays, it also means that he can go a while between updated figures.  Fortunately, he didn’t have to wait too long this time.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Iceman is part of the X-themed third assortment of Hasbro’s Vintage sub-set of the Marvel Legends brand.  He follows Cyclops’ trend of being a direct homage to a vintage Toy Biz figure, specifically the first Iceman figure, released in Series 2 of Toy Biz’s line.  This pretty much means he covers Iceman’s look post-snowman and pre-ice armor, which is a period of about 25 years.  Not a bad stretch of coverage.  It’s also a look that has been done before in the scale, with both his original Toy Biz Legends release and the ANAD boxed set release covering the same ground.  Both of those figures, it should be noted, had some definite issues, meaning another go at the design is far from a bad thing.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation.  Iceman is built on the 2099 body, in contrast to his last figure being built on the skinnier Pizza Spidey body.  It’s honestly a better fit for the character, especially the version they’re going for.  He gets a new head, as well as an add-on piece for the belt.  Unlike a lot of the heads we’ve gotten for the 2099 body, I actually think this one is pretty well scaled to the body, and doesn’t sit too high on the neck.  I quite like the slight grin on his face, as well as the blocky construction of his features.  The belt isn’t designed to be removable, which is a slight point against him, since the belt’s presence in his ice form was very much dependent on the artist.  I think making it more easily removed would have added more to the figure, but it’s not the end of the world as is.  Iceman’s pant is minimal, with the only details being the whites of his eyes, and the x-logo on the belt.  There’s still some interesting colorwork going on with the molded plastic, which is a slightly translucent affair.  It’s more opaque than the last figure, and lacks the blue tint, which honestly makes it look more like actual ice.  It’s worth noting that there’s a fair bit of variance between copies of this Iceman’s coloring, with some being darker and some lighter, likely dependent on when in the run they were produced.  Additionally, nearly ever figure has a seam running down the face, but the exact placement and how contrasting it is with the plastic around it is variable.  Iceman is packed with an ice sled stand, simulating the one his original Toy Biz figure included.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was more or less content with the Juggernaut Series Iceman.  He’s not a perfect figure, but I liked him for what he was, and he’s been filling that spot in my X-Men set-up since I got him.  This one’s announcement didn’t exactly blow my mind, especially given the figures he was shown alongside.  Even when I picked up my set, I wasn’t really sure about the figure.  After taking him out and playing with him a bit, I’m pleasantly surprised by this figure.  He’s not going to be my favorite in the set or anything, but he’s certainly our best Legends Iceman, and he’ll go well with the rest of the ’90s line-up.

I picked up Iceman from my friends at All Time Toys.  If you’re looking for Marvel Legends, or other toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#1046: Iceman

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

ICEMAN

MARVEL LEGENDS SERIES (HASBRO)

IcemanHas1a

“Iceman keeps his cool in battle with his ability to turn water to ice and freeze his own body to temperatures below zero.”

Iceman is probably the founding X-Man with the most untapped potential. He’s been with the team longer than anyone barring Cyclops and he’s one of 10 confirmed Omega level mutants (making him one of the more powerful characters in the Marvel universe).  Nevertheless, he’s frequently little more than a prankster, just there to goof off. Which is really a shame, because he’s really a (pardon the pun) cool character. Anyway, he’s at least gotten his fair share of action figures over the years, with his latest being an all-new Marvel Legend, which I’ll be taking a look at today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

IcemanHas2Iceman is figure 3 in the Juggernaut series of Marvel Legends, which was just released a few weeks ago. This marks Iceman’s third time as a Marvel Legend, following the boxed-set version from two years ago and the single release from Toy Biz back in 2005 (reviewed here). He’s specifically based on Iceman’s Wolverine and the X-Men appearance (the comic, not the show), though he effectively works for any version of Iceman post-early 90s. The figure stands just shy of 6 ½ inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation. Iceman is built on the Pizza Spidey base, which is reasonable, since Iceman’s shared a body with Spider-Man more than once. I’m still not entirely sure how I feel about the body being used for non-Spider-Man characters (the exaggerated proportions work for Spidey, but are off on others), but this body works better for him than any of the other bases currently in Hasbro’s inventory. He gets a new head, forearms, hands, shins, and feet, as well as a clip-on piece for his shoulders. The overall appearance is pretty cool. He certainly captures the look from the comics IcemanHas4well. If I were to get really nitpicky, I might say I’d like for the head and hands to be a touch smaller in scale, but it’s a pretty minor issue. Probably the most pressing issue facing this figure is the soft plastic used for his arms and legs. It makes him a little difficult to keep standing, and can also cause his arms to fall off from time to time. It’s a definite bummer (though, I’ll take rubbery limbs over flat out broken limbs like the Toy Biz version). Paint on this guy is the definition of minimal. There’s some white for his eyes. That’s it. The rest of him is just molded in a semi-transparent plastic with a slight blue tint. I feel like it might actually be a bit too transparent, causing the inner workings of the joints to be a little bit distracting. Iceman has no character specific accessories, just the left arm of the B-A-F Juggernaut. I wouldn’t have minded some sort of ice blast attachment or something, but the actual figure has enough new pieces that he doesn’t feel too light.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Iceman was the first figure in this set that I personally found in the store (at a Walmart, to be specific), which was quite exciting, I guess. Of all the figures in the set, my anticipation for this guy was somewhere in the middle. Ultimately, I think he’s the weakest of the set that I’ve picked up so far. To be fair, I do think he’s the best Marvel Legends Iceman available, just due to the last two attempts being even weaker. He’s certainly not a bad figure, and I’m happy to have gotten an update, as the Toy Biz version was looking quite raggedy as of late.

IcemanHas3

#0360: Iceman, Bobby Drake, & Sentinel(s)

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

ICEMAN, BOBBY DRAKE, & SENTINEL(S)

MARVEL MINIMATES

Of all the original X-Men, Bobby Drake, aka Iceman, is probably the most straight forward. It’s all there in the name. He’s a guy who does stuff with ice. That’s pretty simple. Interestingly enough, he was also one of the first X-Men to make it big, thanks to his role as one of the titular friends in Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends. He’s often looked at as rather goofy, but he’s actually got one of the more impressive power sets on the team. Anyway, Bobby has distinctive looks for his powered up and powered down forms, and it’s rare to see the powered down form in the toy world. Diamond is using their recent All-New X-Men themed wave to break convention and give us both versions of him, as well as one of those wacky, purple, mutant-hunting robots, the Sentinels.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These figures were released in Series 59 of Marvel Minimates. Each of the Icemen was packed with a Sentinel, with the iced-up version being the more plentiful version and Bobby Drake being the one-per-case variant for this series.

ICEMAN

Iceman pretty much breaks even on the whole “All-New” thing. Bobby really hasn’t had much happen to him since the early days of the X-Men, so his character has remained relatively the same. Still, you can’t bring all but one of the original X-Men forward in time; they’re kind of a package deal. Iceman is about 2 ½ inches tall and he’s got 14 points of articulation. He’s in his iced-up form, but you can make out most of his Immomen-designed costume. Iceman is a “vanilla ‘mate,” which means he’s built out of the standard Minimate body with no other add-ons. It’s not really a surprise, since that’s in line with the design. This means the figure is entirely reliant on the paint. The good thing here is that Iceman easily has the cleanest paintwork in the series. He’s molded in solid white plastic, which is a departure from the usual semi-transparent plastic we’ve seen on previous figures. I think I like it better because the detail lines stand out much better. The detail work is really great, with all the proper line work for his uniform, as well as some additional texturing to really sell the ice look. Iceman includes an ice blast, an ice sled, and a clear display stand. Both of the ice structures are new to this figure, and they look really great, sculpt wise. The ice sled is a piece I’ve been waiting to see for quite some time now.  However, the pieces are a little bit yellowed, which doesn’t seem right.

BOBBY DRAKE

Ah, yes, the illusive Bobby Drake. So, this is what Iceman looks like powered down. How about that? Like his icy incarnation, Bobby is about 2 ½ inches tall and features 14 points of articulation. He’s completely powered down, allowing you to see his All-New X-Men uniform in full detail. Bobby makes use of the standard Minimate body with one sculpted addition: his hair. Now, here’s where things get interesting. Bobby’s hair is a re-use of the T2 Kyle Reese’s hair, but that’s not what’s in the pictures. Somehow, my Bobby ended up with a different piece. This one is from T2’s young John Connor. I’m not sure how it happened, but there it is. Both pieces are respectable hair pieces, though neither one is a direct match for Bobby’s hair in the comics. If I’m honest, I probably prefer the hair I got, so I don’t mind the mix-up. Bobby’s paint is pretty well done. It’s not as clean as Iceman’s, but it’s a bit more complex, so there’s that. The initial prototype for this figure was missing the black details on the shoulders, due to Bobby’s comic design being changed before print, but DST managed to get it fixed before the figures saw release. The coolest thing about Bobby is that the detail’s line up perfectly between him and Iceman, very nicely conveying that they are one and the same. Bobby includes an ice blast, a chunk of ice that a figure can be placed in, and a clear display stand. The ice blast is shared with the main Iceman, and the chunk of ice was originally seen with the Frozen Captain America from the CA: TTA set.  They too seem a bit yellowed, which is a shame.

SENTINEL(S)

The final figures in the set are the Sentinels. This marks the fourth version of the Sentinel in the line (not counting Nimrod, since he’s kind of a different thing). The Sentinel is a little over 2 ½ inches tall and sports 12 points of articulation. As is a common issue with the Sentinels in this line, he’s woefully out of scale, but that’s just a thing everyone has to live with. The Sentinel is a hybrid of multiple designs, with a leaning towards classic. The figure makes use of the basic Minimate body with sculpted add-ons for the helmet, upper torso, waist, gloves, and boots. The parts on this figure are 100% re-use. The helmet is from the Marvel vs Capcom 3 Sentinel, the hands are from the TRU exclusive Omega Red, the torso cover is from the TRU exclusive Extremis Iron Man, and the waist and boots are from the TRU Exclusive Box. These pieces are pretty well chosen, though the upper torso is just a bit too distinctive to Iron Man. The changed colors mean this isn’t too noticeable, but it’s there. The paint on the Sentinel is pretty good overall. The base colors are a bit more drab than what we saw on the DoFP Sentinel, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. There’s a bit of slop on one of my Sentinels’ torso pieces, but nothing too distracting. The torso and waist feature full detailing, allowing you to remove the covers and display the Sentinel in a classic set-up if you so choose. The Sentinel includes two tendrils (courtesy of Omega Red), a blast off base (previously used on the Marvel vs Capcom 3 MODOK), and a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Iceman and his corresponding Sentinel were purchased from my local comicbook store, Cosmic Comix, just like the other two sets. However, my store had already sold Bobby, so I had to order him through the always reliable Luke’s Toy Store. Iceman is the real star here, but Bobby and the Sentinel are still respectable ‘mates in their own right. Bobby is just slightly off from the source material (which is true even with the right hairpiece), and the Sentinel’s only real fault is that I don’t personally like it as much as the recent DOFP Sentinel. Still, this is a good set of figures, and the series as a whole is really a lot of fun.

#0242: Iceman -Armored

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

ICEMAN – ARMORED

X-MEN

IcemanArmored

Like I said yesterday, the 90s X-Men line was very important to me when I was growing up. It’s still one of my favorite lines, and I still enjoy picking up figures I don’t have when I see them. Today, I’m looking at another version of founding X-Man, Iceman. Let’s have a look!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Iceman was released as part of the “Mutant Armor” Series of the Toybiz X- Men line. Or, if you’re a fan of typos on mass released toys, the “Muntant Armor” Series. The figure stands around 5 inches tall and features 9 points of articulation, as well as an action feature that allows the height of the ice on his back to be raised. The figure is based primarily on Iceman’s design from the 90s X-Men crossover “Age of Apocalypse.” The figure creates this look by reusing the body of Iceman II, released in the “Invasion” series of the X-Men line, with a new head. The body is a nice replication of the “spiky” look that Iceman sported for a good portion of the 90s. The head features the character’s mouth-less look from the crossover, which looks pretty cool! The figure’s paint is a little uneven, in all honesty. They’ve attempted to do an air-brushed mist look on the figure, but it doesn’t really work. It’s really heavy on the head and neck, but practically non-existent on the rest of the figure, which makes for a jarring change. Being part of the “Mutant Armor” Series, Iceman is packed with hand and feet attachments to armor him up.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Just like the last 3 reviews, this Iceman was purchased from the Balticon dealer’s room. I mostly picked him up because he was a 5-inch X-Men figure I didn’t already have, and he was $3. He’s a pretty neat figure, and probably one of the more interestingly sculpted figures in the line. He was definitely worth the purchase!

#0241: Iceman

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

ICEMAN

X-MEN

Iceman

I’m not quite sure how much I’ve touched on this, but Toybiz’s X-Men line from the 90s was incredibly important to forming my collecting habits. It was a very expansive line, and offered me the opportunity to own almost every character from the 90s cartoon in plastic form. To this day, it remains one of my all-time favorite lines of figures. Sure, some of the figure’s haven’t aged the greatest, but they instill me with lots of fond memories. Today, I’ll be taking a look at the coolest X-Man around, Iceman!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

This version of Iceman was actually released twice. Once in the third series of Toybiz’s X-Men line, and later as part of another X-Men line released exclusively to Kaybee Toys a few years later. This particular is from the later release, but the two figures are virtually indistinguishable. The figure stands just shy of 5 inches tall and features 9 points of articulation. The figure is based on Iceman’s classic design, but the cuffed boots seem to indicate his late silver age design. The figure is molded in clear plastic so as to replicate Bobby in his full ice mode, after he learned how to actually transform himself into ice. The sculpting is actually pretty good for an early 90s piece, though his hands do seem a little bit on the large side. Still, the figure has a grade blocky sculpt that really makes him look like he’s been chiseled out of ice. The paint work is pretty simple but what’s there is pretty good. They’ve used some white paint to do some “icicle” detailing. It looks a bit strange to be honest, but it’s not too apparent when the figure is on display. Iceman includes a stand shaped like an ice sled. There’s a block around the foot pegs that could be filled with water, which could in turn be frozen around the figure’s feet, allowing you to make an actual ice sled. It’s gimmicky, but it’s an entertaining gimmick at least.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This figure was purchased in the Balticon dealer’s room this past Memorial Day. This is actually the second of this figure I’ve bought. I got the first one years ago from Kaybee Toys. However, I used that one’s freeze gimmick numerous times, and little did I know that this would cause the figure’s clear plastic to become more brittle. My poor first figure’s legs bot snapped off at the hips, which was a serious bummer (that’s actually him in the Wilson photo; you can even see the apoxy holding his legs in place). When I saw this figure in a box with a bunch of other 5 inch X-Men, I was more than happy to once again have this guy in my collection. I certainly won’t be putting this one in the freezer!