Tag Archives: Marvel

#1114: Iron Fist

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

IRON FIST

MARVEL LEGENDS

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Hasbro seems to have a lot of trouble placing Iron Fist.  Why?  Well, the guy’s now gotten two different figures from their re-branded Marvel Legends line, and in both cases, he was the one figure in the set whose connection to the overall theme was tenuous at best.  I’m not complaining, mind you.  I like me some Iron Fist.  And, since he’s got his own Netflix show on the horizon, it’s not exactly a huge surprise that Hasbro opted to get out another figure of him sooner rather than later.  Now, if someone can explain to me what he’s doing in a Dr Strange set, we should be all good to go!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

ironfisthas3Iron Fist (who, like so many figures in this line, gets that “Marvel’s” possessive added to his name, just so you don’t mistake him for someone else’s Iron Fist) is part of the recent Dr. Strange-themed Dormammu Series of Marvel Legends, where he’s figure 8 in the lineup.  He’s seen here in the green jump-suited look he had during Matt Fraction and Ed Brubaker’s defining run on the character.  It’s one of those modern updates I can get behind, where it takes all of the important elements of the character, but also removes some of the sillier, more dated bits, like the huge collar, deep, deep, (deep!) neckline, and slippers.  It’s also nice to see it here because, despite being the character’s main look during a very popular run on his series and for some time after, it hadn’t yet gotten the Legends treatment (it got the Marvel Universe treatment, but the less said about that, the better).  The figure is about 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation.  Iron Fist is built on the Pizza Spidey body, a choice that surprised a few people.  Generally, Iron Fist is depicted a little larger than this body (it’s been a story point that he can convincingly double for Daredevil, who was on the Bucky Cap body).  That being said, this body allows him a wider range of posability, and it’s not too far removed from the build David Aja gave him when he first started wearing this costume.  Danny gets a new head sculpt and sash, which are similar to those seen on the prior Iron Fist, but notably improved in a few ways.  The head in particular is less boxy and smooth than the last one, which is a definite step up.  He also gets a new set of forearms, with two sets of swappable hands.  Sadly, he doesn’t have the huge selection of hand poses that the last figure possessed, but he does get a pair of translucent fists demonstrating his power, as well as a pair in thick wraps.  I prefer the wrapped look myself, but both sets are pretty cool.  Iron Fist’s paintwork is pretty solid.  The colors match up pretty well with those seen in Immortal Iron Fist, especially the slightly muted green.  In addition, everything is pretty solid in terms of application, and the wrapped fists even have a nice wash to bring out more of the details.  In addition to the previously mentioned swappable hands, Iron Fist also includes a pair of flame effect pieces, which can easily fit over either set of hands, as well as the shoulder pads of Dormammu.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I wasn’t 100% sold on this figure, since I already had the Allfather Series version of the character.  When I found Mordo at the store, I also found this guy, but I had planned on leaving him there for a later time.  Of course, Super Awesome Girlfriend wouldn’t stand for this and ended up buying him for me anyway.  I’m actually really happy I got this guy.  In hindsight, I’ve realized that the last Iron Fist was already pretty dated when he came out and has become even more so in the last year and a half.  Plus, this costume is more linked with the character for me, and the new choice of body is pretty solid.  Now, if only we could get a decent Luke Cage to go with him…

*Want an Iron Fist figure of your own?  He’s currently in-stock with our sponsors over at All Time Toys!  Click here to check him out!

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#1113: Karl Mordo

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

KARL MORDO

MARVEL LEGENDS

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Last week, Marvel Studios’ latest film Dr, Strange hit theaters. Like Guardians of the Galaxy and Ant-Man before it, it was viewed as a slightly risky move for Marvel, since it would be rather different than prior films in style and “Dr. Strange” isn’t exactly a household name.  Also like Guardians and Ant-Man, the gamble seems to have paid off.  I saw Dr. Strange Thursday night and very much enjoyed it, from start to finish.  One of the standout parts of the film for me was Chiwetel Ejiofor’s turn as longtime Dr Strange foe Baron Mordo.  I’ve like Ejiofor since I saw him in Serenity (okay,fine, since I saw him in Love Actually.  Richard Curtis is my dude).  The guy is good at taking antagonistic roles and making them very likeable, and there’s a lot of that going on with his portrayal of Karl Mordo.   

THE FIGURE ITSELF

karlmordo2Mordo was lucky enough to be one of the three movie-based figures in the recent Dormammu Series of Marvel Legends (in fact, he’s the only non-Strange figure in the three).  The figure stands about 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 29 points of articulation. In the comics, Mordo just sports a green bodysuit and a cape (he’s also bearded white guy who’s nothing more than a two-dimensional card-carrying villain, but that’s another matter).  His movie design mixes things up a bit, presumably to make him not only fit in a bit better with the rest of the movie’s designs, but also to make him a little more visually interesting.  The design is still definitely in keeping with Mordo’s comics look, and the comic incarnation certainly wouldn’t look out of place wearing something like this.  For the figure, he’s lacking his larger over cloak, which sort of replaces the cape stylistically.  Though it’s cool in the movie, it’s also only really present for a few short scenes, so Hasbro’s decision to go with this look (which goes with their MCU Dr. Strange, being the look Mordo has during the film’s climax) is certainly sensible.  The figure gets an all-new sculpt, which does a fairly decent job capturing Mordo’s onscreen design.  The details on his robes could maybe be a little sharper, but they aren’t bad at all.  I did notice one small inaccuracy on the belt: the small brown leather belt should really be the outermost belt, but on the figure, the it’s under his sash.  It’s entirely possible it was originally assembled as on the figure and Ejiofor just wore it slightly differently when actually filming.  The figure’s head sculpt presents a passable Ejiofor likeness.  It’s not spot on; certain angles are better than others.  It has some very nice detail work regardless.  The one thing that really jumped out at me was the lack of Ejiofor’s trademark scars on his forehead.  They were particularly noticeable in his performance as Mordo (to me, anyway), so their omission is just a slight letdown.  Mordo’s paintwork is pretty good for a Hasbro figure.  The colors match up pretty well with his on-screen counterpart, though he could really stand to have a few more variances of green on the robes.  They look a little bland as is.  This is a figure that would be greatly aided by adding just a little bit of accent work, just to make him pop a little more.  Mordo is packed with what I’m assuming is supposed to be the staff of the Living Tribunal, which is the relic that chose Mordo and is his primary weapon for the film.  That being said, the included piece really doesn’t look like the staff from the film at all.  It’s far too long and lacks the notches and other details seen on Mordo’s staff, as well as the strap Mordo uses to carry it on his back.  Like the issue with the belt, it’s possible Mordo was set to use a different prop initially and this changed during filming, but it’s still a little annoying.  Mordo is also included the right leg of Dormammu, as well as new versions of the flaming skulls included with the SDCC Dormammu, but this time in green and blue, which looks really cool!

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As I noted in the opening, I’ve been a fan of Ejiofor’s work for a little while, so I was very excited to hear he would be in Dr. Strange, and intrigued by the new take on Mordo that the film was presenting.  He was easily the figure I was most anticipating from this particular set.  I ended up finding him at a nearby Walmart (like a day before the Hurricane hit, actually).  I loved the character in the movie, and while the figure isn’t perfect, he’s still a very good representation of the guy.

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

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#1109: Daredevil

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

DAREDEVIL

MARVEL LEGENDS (3.75)

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Given how long he wore it, Daredevil’s yellow costume is rather disproportionally popular.  I guess it’s just different enough that it stands out.  It’s also a pretty easy variant for toy companies to release, what with using the same selection of parts as the normal Daredevil costume and all, so there’s lots of incentive to make figures of the design.  So far, its shown up in just about every major scale of Marvel figure, including 3 3/4-inch, which I’ll be looking at today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

ddyellow375bDaredevil was released in the second series of the smaller-scale Marvel Legends line.  He’s the second smaller-scale Yellow Daredevil figure we’ve gotten, but the last one was built on one the less than stellar bodies that Hasbro used to kick off Marvel Universe, so an update was much needed.  The figure stands about 4 inches tall and he has 28 points of articulation.  Structurally, he’s the same as the Daredevil vs Bullseye two-pack version of Daredevil from the  Marvel Universe line.  Since that figure’s tooling was already paid for, it means this guy gets to keep all of the articulation, giving him about 10 points more than his compatriots from this same series.  Like with the Marvel Legends Daredevil I looked at a few months back, the sculpt here seems a little too well-built for an early in his career Matt Murdock, but it’s not like it’s a bad sculpt or anything.  In fact, he was probably one of the better sculpted Marvel Universe figures.  Paint is the key part here, and it works alright.  The color scheme is pretty much the same as we saw on the larger figure this year.  The brown isn’t my favorite thing ever (I prefer black with red highlights), but it looks decent enough, and everything looks pretty sharp.  The logo on the chest is still a little on the large side, but it’s not quite as bad as on the larger figure.  Daredevil is packed with his billy clubs, which are the same as those included with all the prior small-scale Daredevils.  They work pretty well, and seem a bit less rubbery this time.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Daredevil was picked up for me at the same time as Rage, mostly to keep my Yellow Daredevil collection going.  There’s not really much new here, but I liked the basic version of this figure, and by extension I like this one.  There’s certainly nothing wrong with a simple repaint when it’s appropriate, especially when it means I get another Yellow Daredevil!

#1108: Rage

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

MARVEL’S RAGE

MARVEL LEGENDS SERIES (3.75)

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There are a lot of rather obscure characters in comics.  It sort of comes with the territory, since you can’t expect every single character who appears in a monthly installment of serialized fiction to be beloved by the masses.  What’s interesting with some of these characters is how close to high profile they get.  Take today’s entry, Rage, for instance.  Rage was a member of the Avengers, for over a year no-less, but most people would be completely unable to ID the guy if they saw him.  He did get something of a cult following from his stint with the New Warriors, and now he’s even got an action figure, so maybe things are looking up for him!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

rage2Rage is from the second series of the 3 3/4 inch scale Marvel Legends line by Hasbro.  Thanks to Living Laser’s presence in the set, he may not even be the most obscure character from the series, which is kinda saying something.  The figure stands a little over 4 inches tall and he has 19 points of articulation.  The reduced articulation of this line is something I’ve addressed a few times, and mostly I don’t find it ruins or holds back the figures too badly.  However, Rage seems far stiffer in terms of range than prior figures, and on top of that, his head can’t actually turn more than a few degrees before popping off, which is really annoying.  Rage is seen here in his original costume.  It’s not a particularly attractive design, but let me tell you, he’s had far, far worse during his career.  Rage is built on one of the larger male bodies, with character specific pieces for the head, lower arms, and lower legs, and add-ons for his jacket and belt.  The jacket and belt are definitely very strong pieces, and the hands and feet are pretty good too.  Something about the body and the head seems a little too smooth for me.  Like he’s unfinished or something.  It’s hard to say, but it really feels evident on the torso.  It’s on par with a lot of the other stuff from this particular line, so I can’t really say he’s an outlier in that regard, but I also can’t say that’s much of a point in his favor.  I just sort of wish the whole sculpt matched the quality on the vest.  Rage’s paintwork is generally pretty straight forward.  It’s mostly just solid color work, which works fine for the character.  There’s a little bit of accenting on the vest and pants, which goes a long way, and gives him some much needed pop.  Rage has no accessories, but I can’t really think of what you’d give him anyway.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Rage here was picked up for me by totally rad brother, who got him for me while I was away with Super Awesome Girlfriend and her family.  Back when the Marvel Universe line was in full-swing, I put a lot of effort into tracking down as many Avengers in that scale as I could get ahold of, so from that perspective, Rage is pretty cool to finally have.  Could he be better? Probably, but this is quite possibly the only Rage we’re ever going to see, and he’s far from the worst thing ever.

#1104: Cyclops

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

CYCLOPS

X-MEN: METALLIC MUTANTS (TOY BIZ)

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I’ve discussed Toy Biz’s larger 10-inch-scaled Marvel figures in the past.  Essentially, since Toy Biz did the prototypes for their successful 5-inch line as two-ups, they had an easy time re-using those sculpts for a line of slightly cheaper 10-inch figures (though, interestingly, the line was originally billed as a deluxe line of figures.  It was only later, when they decided to focus more on building as many figures as they could out of a limited pool of parts that it became “cheap”).  Toy Biz’s 10-inch X-Men line, like it’s smaller scale counterpart, was the most successful of the initial lines, even managing to get its own spin-off line, Metallic Mutants, where certain figures were re-released with metallic color schemes.  Today, I’ll be looking at the Cyclops figure from that line.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

cyclopsmetallic2Cyclops was from the first series of X-Men: Metallic Mutants. The whole Metallic Mutants line was available exclusively at KB Toys (who would also become the exclusive retailers of the entire 10-inch line a few years later).  The figure is about 10 inches tall and he has 9 points of articulation, which was a whole extra point more than his 5-inch equivalent had.  The figure is a straight repaint of the basic 10-inch Cyclops, who was himself patterned on the sculpt of Cyclops II from Toy Biz’s main X-Men line.  The sculpt is a little bit different.  He lacks the light-up feature of the smaller figure, which results in him getting the neck articulation the smaller figure lacked.  Aside from that, the sculpt is pretty much the same.  It’s okay for the time, but certainly isn’t one of Toy Biz’s stronger sculpts.  Due to the light-up nature of the smaller figure, the torso was made a bit larger to house the battery compartment, and that’s still seen here.  While the legs seem to match up okay with the larger torso, the arms and head feel rather under-sized by comparison, which makes him look rather odd overall.  Each piece of him seems fine on its own, but as a whole he looks a bit patchwork.  I will admit, there’s a certain quaintness to the sculpt that I appreciate, though.  The big deal on the figure, of course was the paint.  It’s certainly metallic, there’s no denying that.  The costume looks cool in the metallic shades, but what sort of throws him off is the decision to do his skin and hair in the same gold as the “yellow” bits of the costume.  Clearly, Toy Biz caught on to this being weird, since the second set of Metallic Mutants just had the metallic colors on the costumes, not the actual faces.  Cyclops included a blaster thing, in the same gold as used on the body, which is cool I guess.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As hokey as this guy is, I’ve actually always wanted one.  Growing up, I had the little product booklet that came with the TB Galactus, which had these guys all pictured in it, and I always wanted Cyclops in particular.  I ended up finally getting this guy for my birthday this summer from my parents, who bought him from 2nd Chance Toyz.  Is he weird and goofy and strange?  Yes.  Do I love him? Emphatically yes.

#1103: Ant-Man & Falcon

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

ANT-MAN & FALCON

MARVEL MINIMATES

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There are a lot of different standout characters in Civil War.  For a great number of people, it was Spider-Man, and for an almost equal number it was Black Panther.  Me personally?  Vision and Scarlet Witch all the way.  There was also a pretty sizable contingent of people whose favorite bits centered around Paul Rudd’s (Gi)Ant-Man, who made the most of his screen-time.  As such, it’s not a huge surprise to see the character turn up amongst DST’s offerings for the film.  Alongside him, my favorite character from the last Captain America film (as well as one of my favorite parts of the Ant-Man film), Sam Wilson, aka the Falcon.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Ant-Man and Falcon are the second TRU-exclusive set for Civil War, and were released alongside Series 67 of the main line (meaning the hit in late July/early August).  It’s easily one of the better pairings we’ve gotten so far.

ANT-MAN

antmanfalconmm11Like so many characters before him, Ant-Man was one of those MCU characters who’s costume changed just enough from one movie to the next to warrant a new figure (hey, at least he’s more different than Vision).  I myself never got the basic Ant-Man from his solo movie (bad me), so this guy was actually pretty cool to get, and I can’t deny that the new design is pretty sharp.  The figure is built on the basic ‘mate body, and as such stands a little under 2 1/2 inches tall and has 14 points of articulation.  He has one add-on piece for his helmet.  It’s new to this particular figure and is a pretty faithful recreation of the helmet he was sporting in the movie.  The paintwork on Ant-Man is nice and sharp, detailing all of the various bits of his costume, and overall looking pretty accurate to the source material.  That’s especially refreshing with regards to the helmet, since none of the Ant-Man movie merch got his helmet down right.  Ant-Man includes a spare hairpiece for displaying Scott sans helmet, as well as a clear display stand.

FALCON

antmanfalconmm10As cool as I think Falcon’s comic book costume is, it’s understandably a little hard to adapt to real life.  So, it wasn’t much of a surprise that he was sporting more or less real-world fatigues in The Winter Soldier.  That being said, it wasn’t the most exciting design.  Over the course of his cinematic appearances, his uniform has slowly evolved into something a bit more akin to his comics appearance.  His Civil War design is his most exciting yet, keeping the real world nature of the Winter Soldier design, but also adding the the color scheme from his comics incarnation.  Structurally, Falcon uses add-ons for his goggles and backpack, as well as a unique set of upper arms (with removable posable wings), and two different gloved hands.  The end result does a very nice job of converting his onscreen appearance, and improves in a number of ways on the last MCU Falcon (which was already a pretty awesome figure).  The paintwork on Falcon is decent, though not quite as clean as the work on Ant-Man.  The detail lines are all pretty sharp, and the colors are nice and bright.  The only real downside is the sloppiness on some of the basic color work, mostly on the shoulders.  The overall look is pretty cool, though.  Falcon includes a handgun (why just the one is a little baffling, since he always has two in the film), Redwing, two different styles of flight stands (one for him, one for Redwing), and a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I grabbed this set while out and about looking for those pesky X-Men Legends at various TRU’s.  I was actually quite happy to find it, since these are two of my favorite characters from the movies (and the comics, truth be told).  Ant-Man is a pretty solid addition to the roster of Ant-Men, though he may not be the most exciting ‘mate to people who have the last two ‘mates.  Falcon is a really nice improvement over the last MCU Falcon, and even more welcome since that one’s a bit hard to find now.   Probably one of best sets to come out of the Civil War Minimates. 

#1102: Agent 13 & Mercenary

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

AGENT 13 & MERCENARY

MARVEL MINIMATES

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One of the nice things about the Marvel movies is that their various tie-in products give us a much better coverage of some of the heroes’ supporting casts.  This is especially true of Minimates, where the multipack nature of the line allows for more than a few extra characters, who might otherwise get overlooked.  I think Captain America has perhaps faired the best of all the heroes.  The first movie got us a Peggy Carter and a few of the Howling Commandoes, the second got us the likes of Jasper Sitwell and Batroc the Leaper.  Cap’s third film, Civil War, is a bit more jam-packed with named characters, so there isn’t quite as much room for Cap’s supporting cast.  That being said, we still managed to get Agent 13, aka Sharon Carter, who is a pretty important character in the Cap mythos!  Oh, and there’s like a mercenary or something too.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Agent 13 and the Mercenary were released as part of Series 67 of Marvel Minimates, which is the second of the two Civil War-themed sets of ‘mates.  These two are one of the specialty-exclusive packs, alongside the Thunderbolt Ross and Merc set.

AGENT 13

agent13merc3I’ve been eagerly awaiting this particular ‘mate ever since the character was announced to be in Winter Soldier, so it’s nice to see her finally turn up here.  This marks Sharon Carter’s first Minimate, though some of the non-comics geeks might miss that, since she’s only referred to as Agent 13 on the box, including in her bio (which also doesn’t mention her relation to Peggy).  I guess Marvel wanted to keep that “reveal” under wraps until everyone had seen the movie.  Ah well, Agent 13 sounds cooler anyway.  The figure is a little under 2 1/2 inches tall and she has the standard 14 points of articulation.  Agent 13 uses the basic ‘mate body, with add-ons for her hair, the bottom of her jacket, the knife sheath and her two holsters.  Everything here is a re-use, with the hair coming from Peggy Carter (clever re-use there), the bottom of the coat coming from Kill Bill’s Elle, and the holsters and sheath being standard use pieces.  They’re all decently chosen parts.  I don’t remember exactly when Sharon sported this look in the movie, but it’s the one featured on all the promotional stuff and concept art, so I can’t complain.  As far as paint goes, Agent 13 is pretty standard for a ‘mate.  The details are all nice and sharp, and the face bears a passing resemblance to Emily Van Camp.  The color palette isn’t the most exciting thing in the world, but it’s accurate.  Sharon includes two silver handguns, a knife, and a clear display stand.

MERCENARY

agent13merc2Ah, yes, the Mercenary.  Who could forget the Mercenary?  Most people, I’d assume, including me, at least until I re-watched the movie.  This is supposed to be one of the guys working with Crossbones at the beginning of the movie.  Why this figure was packed with Agent 13 and Ross is anyone’s guess.  The Merc is built using the standard body, with add-ons for the mask, tactical vest, belt, and holster.  The mask, belt and holster are just standard pieces, and the vest comes from Series 55’s Batroc.  The end result looks more or less like the Mercs from the movie, though the mask is more an approximation than anything.  One presumes this is due to keeping this guy within budget, which seems fine by me, especially when we’re talking about a generic army builder that’s on screen for maybe 15 minutes.  Paint-wise, this guy matches pretty well with what we saw on screen.  He’s a little dull in terms of color, but has some nice bits of “pop” like the goggles.  The level of detail is pretty impressive, especially for a no-name character.  Under the mask, there’s even a fully detailed face, with a buzzcut and everything, which both gives him some extra character, but also can work as more than one guy.  The Mercenary includes a sub-machine gun, a handgun (in a dark metal grey), and a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

So, I got this set at the same time as Widow and Crossbones (who I’m just now realizing I didn’t mention to origin of), courtesy of my parents for my birthday.  I was really looking forward to Agent 13, and she’s a pretty solid ‘mate, even if she’s not the most exciting figure ever.  I didn’t expect a whole lot from the Mercenary, but I actually quite like how he turned out.  He’s a nice accent piece for yesterday’s Crossbones.

#1101: Black Widow & Crossbones

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

BLACK WIDOW & CROSSBONES

MARVEL MINIMATES

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Gosh, Civil War feels like two forevers ago, but it really was released just earlier this year.  I suppose part of why it feels so long ago is the overall lack of toys I’ve picked up from it.  I mean, the last thing I got was the Giant-Man series of Legends, and that was back in July.  Back in May, when the movie hit, there was a series of Minimates dedicated to the film, which I reviewed. However, given the sheer number of players in the film, one series wasn’t enough to cover everything, so we got a follow up, which hit at the end of July.  And I’m just now reviewing them.  Yes, I know, bad Ethan.  Today, let’s have a look at Black Widow and Crossbones.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Widow and Crossbones were released in Series 67 of DST’s Marvel Minimates.  The whole series is based on Civil War, and these two are no exception.

BLACK WIDOW

widowcrossbones2Widow’s really not a stranger to Minimates, especially not her movie incarnation.  This is the sixth time that we’ve gotten a Scarlet Johansen Black Widow as a Minimate.  But this time she’s got different hair, I guess.  The figure is a little under 2 1/2 inches tall and has 14 points of articulation.  Widow is built on the standard ‘mate body, with add-ons for her hair and her two thigh holsters.  The holsters are the usual pieces we’ve seen several times before (if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it), but the hair looks to be new.  It’s a decent piece, and captures the styling of her hair in the movie, but it seems a tad high-sitting for me.  She looks like she’s got a bit of a receding hair-line.  Just one of the limitations of the style, I suppose.  In terms of paint, Widow’s pretty solidly done.  The detailing on her bodysuit is the sort of thing that could easily be overlooked, but it’s really strong, and it conveys all of the little details of the suit very nicely.  The likeness on the face is a decent approximation of Johansen.  I think the Winter Soldier face is still the closest, but this one’s a strong contender.  I like that she’s got a fighting face, so she can fit in with Cap and Iron Man in that respect.  Widow includes a pair of batons (which aren’t clear like the AoU versions, but are still cool, I suppose), two handguns, and a clear display stand.  Pretty standard faire as far as Black Widow ‘mates are concerned.

CROSSBONES

widowcrossbones3This marks Crossbones’ fourth time overall as a Minimate, and his second as an MCU ‘mate (provided we’re counting Winter Soldier’s Rumlow).  His inclusion in this set is definitely a sensible one.  While he only gets ten minutes or so of screen time in Civil War, he’s a fairly important figure to the plot, and he gets some decent fight time with Widow to boot.  Plus, how can you not love his new design?  Crossbones has add-ons for his helmet, torso/shoulder armor, fighting fists, and thigh holster.  The helmet is just a standard slip cover piece, and while that means we can’t see the eyes on the actual head, it still works pretty well.  The holster is the same piece as Widow’s and it works for what it is.  The armor and fighting fists are new pieces, which turned out quite nicely.  The armor could perhaps stand to be a little less bulky, but the fists are really cool.  Once again, the paintwork is really sharp here.  Crossbones doesn’t have quite the high level of painted detail as Widow (since he’s a bit heavier on sculpted parts), but what’s there is very well rendered.  In particular, I really like the work on his boots, and especially like how the face under the helmet turned out.  For accessories, Crossbones has a spare hair piece (Lt Gator’s from the Platoon set, which is a piece I’m always happy to see), a pistol, a pair of standard black hands, and a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This is definitely the set I was most anticipating from the second round of Civil War ‘mates.  While this particular Widow isn’t quite as good as the Winter Soldier version, she’s still a very solid addition, and another chance for people to get such an important character is always a good thing.  Crossbones is the real star here of course, and it’s unlikely we’ll be getting another movie version anytime soon, so the fact that this one turned out so well is pretty awesome.  Plus, fighting fists.  How can you go wrong with fighting fists?

#1100: Spider-Man

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

SPIDER-MAN

SPIDER-MAN 3 (HOT TOYS)

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We just got through the whole “three years” hubaballu, and now we’ve got another monumental review?  Sheesh, I gotta space this stuff out more.

Hi there readers, and welcome to the 1100th review on The Figure in Question.  As with my other “00” reviews, this is another deluxe review, where I look at a slightly higher-end figure.  Today’s figure once again comes from out friends at Hot Toys.  While HT has been making their mark with a number of figures from the very successful MCU films, they haven’t shied away from some of the pre-MCU films.  In addition to a few Wolverines, and a handful of characters from Blade, HT put out three figures from Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy (well, specifically Spider-Man 3, for whatever reason).  The figures hit right on the cusp of Hot Toys exploding in terms of popularity, in much the same way that the movies hit right on the cusp of the whole super hero movie explosion.  It was pretty fitting really.  Today, I’ll be looking at the basic Spider-Man figure.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

spidermanht2Spider-Man was figure 143 in HT’s Movie Masterpiece Series, placing him between their two Tron: Legacy figures chronologically.  He was released in mid-2011, which is a bit odd, since Spider-Man 3, from which his appearance is taken, was released three years prior.  As noted, this figure is based on the main costume design from Spider-Man 3.  It’s essentially the same design that was used in Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2, but, like the Stormtroopers in Star Wars, there are small details on the costume that change from film to film, which someone with a more mindful eye then my own could probably point out.  Of course, all three versions of the costume are in turn based on the classic Spidey costume from the comics.  The only real difference between the movie and comics designs is the movie designs have raised silver webbing, rather than the printed black webbing from the comics.  Spider-Man stands about 12 inches tall and, going by the Sideshow website, he has “over 30 points of articulation.” 

spidermanht3Unlike most HT figures, Spider-Man possesses neither an actor’s likeness, nor any real discernible head sculpt to speak of, for that matter.  I mean, there’s a head, and it’s unique to this figure.  The sculpt is certainly important, but in a different manner than usual.  The mask is cloth, but there’s a “blank” head underneath, which gives the mask a proper shape.  It’s actually very nicely done in that respect.  The shape matches pretty well with the appearance of Tobey Maguire in the mask from the movies.   The tailoring of the mask itself is pretty good, though it could perhaps be a little better.  The seam right at the top is sort of annoying (and it was something that future HT Spider-Men removed); it really should have gone somewhere more inconspicuous.  There are also a few issues around the neck of the costume, with it bunching up at certain points in a rather unrealistic way.  A lot of this stems from HT’s decision to make the mask and suit all one piece, presumably to emulate the look of the film (where movie magic makes the whole thing look seamless).  Unfortunately, it doesn’t translate quite so well to the smaller scale.  The later symbiote Spidey forewent the idea entirely and just had the break right at the base of the skull, which looks quite a bit better.  The head is topped off with a set of sculpted lenses (which hold the whole mask in place on the head), and they work pretty nicely (though there’s a slight scratch on one of mine), as well as a small bit of rubber for the webbing.

spideyht1The costume on this figure is technically made up of three parts, though they really function as one big body suit.  The main suit is pretty well done.  As with the head, there are some issues with the cloth bunching up weirdly in a few areas, which has a lot to do with the one-piece nature of the design.  That being said, it’s very well tailored to the body, is incredibly flexible, and offers a really great range of motion.  The suit ends at the wrists, but there’s enough extra material to cover the wrists and join up pretty well with the sculpted hands. The boots are a separate part (which you’d really only know if you had to disassemble the figure like I did.  More on that in the next section), starting halfway down the calf.  They’re actually a pretty clever in design.  There’s a sort of a skeleton calf and foot, to keep the articulation at the ankle, which is then incased in a rubber material to maintain a more natural shape.  The actual visible boot is really just a sock that slides over the foot, and it’s all held in place by a plastic sole that clips into the base of the foot.  The figure was originally shown with plastic boots (like the ones sported by most of my prior HT figures), but after some fans brought up how it ruined the seamless nature of the design and would also rob him of ankle movement, HT changed it for the final product.

The underlying body is, I think, unique to Spidey, though I’m not 100% sure on that.  It’s a good body for him aesthetically, being lean but still muscular.  It also offers a good deal of posability, and it looks good from under the costume.  That being said, the major issue that plagued this body was its durability.  Remember how I said I had to disassemble the boot?  Yeah, that’s because when I got this guy he couldn’t stand, due to his ankle joint being broken into three pieces.  Fortunately, the foot is easy to access and repair, but I’ve heard stories of figures breaking at the hips, shoulders, or even the neck, places that are virtually impossible to fix due to the design of the suit.  In addition, to make sure they blended with the costume, Spidey’s wrist pegs were cast in red plastic.  Red plastic is notoriously fragile if you don’t pay for a very high quality product, which it seems HT did not.  The pegs are only good for about one hand swap, and then they’re pretty much done.  Fortunately, this figure was released after a spare set of pegs became the standard, but it’s still very frustrating.  I myself have already broken one of the pegs (which is why you only see him wearing one pair for most of the pictures).

spideyinventorySpidey included a fairly decent accessory complement.  He has four pairs of hands, several different lengths of webbing, the edge of a building to perch on, and the usual display stand.  The hands are in fists, open gesture, web gripping, and web shooting poses.  Apart from the issues swapping them, they’re pretty cool.  The open gesture ones are my personal faves.  The webbing is fairly cool, and tow of the pieces can be slipped over the wrist pegs to look like he’s firing it from his wrists, which is a fun touch.  The perch is a pretty cool base, though he has a little trouble actually standing on it.  The basic stand is exactly what it says on the tin, but it works for its intended purpose.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Despite being a huge fan of the Raimi Trilogy (even Spider-Man 3!), I didn’t get this guy when he was new.  At the time, I didn’t have the funds for Hot Toys figures, and he fell right between my birthday and Christmas, so I couldn’t even really ask for him as a gift.  By the time I got into HT collecting hardcore, his price had gone up a fair bit.  I thought about getting the black suited version, but it wasn’t really the same.  I ended up finding him on Ebay for a reasonable deal, from a collector who had opened him and put him on the shelf, but that was it.  Despite his issues, I really like this figure a lot, and he’s probably one of my favorite HT figures I own!

#1095: Adam Warlock

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

ADAM WARLOCK

MARVEL OVERPOWER CARD GAME

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Around this time last year, I discussed the interesting case of the US Agent figure from Toy Biz’s ‘90s Iron Man line.  He was slotted for the third series of the line, but dropped at the last minute when Toy Biz cut all of their lines back to six figures per series.  US Agent’s mold would bounce around for a bit, and he was ultimately only available through a difficult to acquire, non-Toy Biz or Marvel sanctioned release. 

Running concurrently with the Iron Man line was a Fantastic Four line, which was also subject to the downsizing of assortments.  US Agent’s equivalent in this line was Adam Warlock, who was presumably dropped from the FF line-up because he, like US Agent, was the only character not to be featured on the cartoon the line was meant to tie-in with.  Adam would prove far more fortunate than poor US Agent in regards to his figure’s release, however, with Toy Biz actually finding a venue to put him out.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

adamwarlocktb2After being dropped from the third series of Toy Biz’s Fantastic Four line in 1995, Adam Warlock was ultimately released in 1996 as part of a small KB Toys-exclusive line of four figures designed to coincide with Fleer’s Marvel: Overpower Card Game. The other three figures were straight forward repaints of earlier figures, and much more popular characters to boot, making Adam seem like an odd choice.  I guess Toy Biz just really wanted to get him out there!  Adam is seen here sporting his early ‘90s design, which was kind of a merging of his two previous looks.  It’s my favorite of his looks, but it’s entirely possible that I like it because it’s the one I saw on all those card backs in the ‘90s.  The figure is just over 5 inches tall and he has 8 points of articulation.  Because of the light-up feature integrated into his eyes and Infinity stone, Adam doesn’t get any neck articulation, which results in him feeling rather stiff, even when placed with this compatriots from the same time period.  Stiffness aside, Adam’s sculpt is pretty good.  It’s certainly on par with the rest of the ‘90s FF figures, which is good, overall.  The proportions are a little weird in some areas (especially the upper arms; those things are huge), and the head’s a little soft in terms of detail, but he generally looks pretty good.  Warlock has a removable cape, which actually a fair bit different from the cape his FF prototype was sporting.  This one is much more dynamic in pose, and fits more with the stuff Toy Biz was starting to put out in 1996.  I kind of prefer the prototype version, if I’m honest.  The flow of this one kind of clashes with the style of the figure proper, since he’s just sort of standing there, and it’s all crazy wind-blown.  It also has some trouble sitting right on his shoulders, which can get very annoying.  Another thing that was changed from Adam’s prototype to thee Overpower figure is the paint scheme.  It’s not terribly different, but the yellow was swapped out for gold, and the red has been made a little less vibrant.  Like the new cape, it’s more in keeping with the sort of work TB was doing in 1996, but it results in him not fitting in quite as well with the FF figures as he should.  The gold paint has also not stood the test of time, meaning some of the details get lost.  Adam included his signature staff, as well as an Adam Warlock  Overpower card.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like US Agent, Adam Warlock is a figure I always wanted, due to his presence on the back of the Iron Man and Fantastic Four card backs, but was never able to find, due to the lack of information on such things at the time (the internet was around, but we toy geeks hadn’t quite migrated to it yet).  I’ve known about the existence of this particular figure for several  years, and I’ve even seen him once or twice in person, but I never got around to picking him up.  I ended up finding Adam while exploring the new area I’m living in, at a very cool shop called Power Comics.  Adam’s not quite as fun as US Agent, mostly due to Toy Biz changing so much from ’95 to ’96, and this guy getting hit with some weird amalgamation of those two years’ styles.  If he’d been a straight recreation of the figure as originally intended (like US Agent was), I think he might have been a bit better.  As it stands, I think he’s still the best version of the guy out there.

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