Tag Archives: Marvel

#3451: Wild Thing

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

WILD THING

MARVEL COMICS 2 1ST APPEARANCE (TOY BIZ)

“The young woman known as Rina Logan is the daughter of the mutant Wolverine and the ninja, Elektra.  Trained by her parents from childhood to take their place as a superpowered hero, she uses her inherited mutant healing factor and enhanced senses along with her incredible martial arts skill to fight for what’s right as the Super Hero code-named, Wild Thing.  Unlike her dad, Rina slices through her opponents with claws made up of psychic energy instead of Adamantium and prefers to fight alone instead of as a member of a team.”

Ah, yes, Wolverine and Elektra.  The classic pairing.  There are no two more entwined than these two.  When you think of one, how can you not think of the other?.. Have I done the bit enough?  Can I stop now?  Cool.  So, as I was touching on last week, some of the legacy characters in MC 2 were pretty natural, and some were…less so.  Wild Thing seems to largely exist because Wolverine and Elektra were both popular in the ’90s, and they’re thematically similar enough to sort of work? Well, whatever the case, she got a toy.  Here it is.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Wild Thing is the  final of the four figures in the PX-Exclusive MC2 1st Appearance line that Toy Biz released in 1999. She, like American Dream, hasn’t had any figures since this first one. Also, despite her parentage, she’s easily the most minor of the four characters in the line-up.  The figure stands just shy of 5 inches tall and she has 9 points of articulation.  Most of her articulation is honestly pretty pointless. The neck can’t move because of the hair. Shes got nothing at the elbows, and there’s the dreaded v-hips.  The shoulders are at least pretty useful, so there’s that.  Wild Thing is built on a modified version of the Death Bird body. It’s decent enough, if perhaps a little stiff.  She gets a surprising number of elements specific to her design, as well as an all-new head sculpt.  It’s an alright offering, but you gotta love the sheer absurdity of the Wolverine mask with the Wolverine hair and then a pony tail on top of that.  In general, it’s a decent enough sculpt, on par with most of the others of the era, but of the four in this line, she definitely feels like the weakest.  She does get a little bit of a mixed media thing, with a proper cloth sash, rather than a sculpted one.  Wild Thing doesn’t have a particularly thrilling or pleasant color scheme, but that’s hardly the fault of the figure.  The paint application’s a little fuzzy on the edges, but overall, things look alright.  I do really like the clear pink plastic used for the psychic claws.  Wild Thing was packed with the break-apart doors previously included with Battle-Ravaged Wolverine, which are really always a fun piece to see crop up.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve got no attachment to Wild Thing.  I know her exclusively because of this figure.  If I weren’t aiming to get the whole Toy Biz run, I’d definitely pass her up.  In fact, I really only bought her at all because the antique store where I found Stinger *also* had her, and if I was already buying one, I might as well buy the other.  She’s honestly better than I’d expected.  Still my least favorite of the four, but I’m glad she came along for the ride.

#3449: Commander Rogers

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

COMMANDER ROGERS

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Steve Rogers is chosen to take a lead role in global security after the dissolution of Norman Osborn’s corrupt H.A.M.M.E.R. agency.”

And we’re back on over to Marvel!  In the ’00s, Marvel had this thing where they just kept moving from status quo shift to status quo shift.  It was all rather frustrating, honestly.  Like, there were good things mixed in, but you couldn’t really focus on them, because of everything else that surrounded them.  Wedged into all of that was Ed Brubaker’s run on Captain America, which brought back Steve’s long -dead partner Bucky, killed Steve, had Bucky take over the mantle, brought Steve back, and had him take over S.H.I.E.L.D.  It was honestly kind of cool, except for that part where they left Steve dead for a while and refused to admit that he was coming back.  But, at the end of it all, we got Steve as Commander Rogers, and that’s super cool.  And here’s a Legend of that!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Commander Rogers is figure 6 in the Totally Awesome Hulk Series of Marvel Legends.  He’s the last figure to contribute a Build-A-Figure part, the second to last comic figure, and the figure where we really loose grip on the theme of this set.  I’d say that both Steve and Carol are “Captains”, but this is a Steve from when he was emphatically *not* a captain, so we lose the thread again.  Whatever, I’m just happy to have the figure.  This is the second time this look’s been in Legends form (third if we’re counting the variant, but they’re really no that different), but it’s been a while.  Back when the first one was released the suit was still relatively new, whereas now it’s retro.  Crazy.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 30 points of articulation.  Commander Rogers is built on the Reaper body, which Steve has been on and off since its introduction.  The build works fine, but like with Pizza Spidey, this one’s a little outdated, and puts this assortment at three out-of-date re-uses.  Still, it does at least look pretty solid.  He re-uses the shield harness from the 20th Cap, and gets a new head, hands, shins, and feet, as well as new add-ons for his belt and wrist straps.  The head keeps the Steve likeness we’ve been seeing on more recent Cap figures, which I definitely like.  The hair I’m not super sure I love, but it’s something different than the unmasked head from the 20th figure, so I can appreciate some variety.  The new pieces for the outfit mesh well with the re-used parts, do a good job of capturing the comics look, and get a good deal of sharp detail work.  Rogers’ paint work is nice and sharp, especially on the suit, which gets a lot of pop.  The head also gets some really solid accenting on the hair, as well as the usual printing for the face, which gives him a nice lifelike quality.  Rogers is packed with the holographic Cap shield and the head of Totally Awesome Hulk.  The shield is built on the Cap Wolf version, rather than the new 20th mold; it’s smaller, but I suppose that isn’t that weird for the holo shield.  He notably doesn’t include the guns or even hands to hold the guns like the older figure.  In general, he seems a little light, especially given the re-use and the fact that he’s got the smallest BAF part.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

When the first Legends Commander Rogers was released, I was still on the fence about going back to Legends, so I didn’t get one.  And then, after many years, I finally tracked one down…about a week before this one got released.  You win some, you lose some.  Whatever the case, I was pretty pumped about getting this guy, and while he’s a little light on the extras, he’s still a pretty darn solid figure.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review. If you’d like to see a video of this figure (and the rest of the series) in action, I helped out with one for their YouTube channel, so check that out.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3447: Karnak

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

KARNAK

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Through mental discipline, the Inhuman known as Karnak has mastered the ability to perceive the flaws and weak points in any person or object.”

Remember back in 2017, when Marvel was desperately trying to make The Inhumans a thing?  And remember when it really didn’t work out, and they gave up and just waited to get the X-Men back so they could use mutants again and not push the Inhumans anymore, so they dropped all their merch like a sack of wet potatoes?  Pepperidge Farm remembers.  No, wait, they probably don’t.  They’re a snack company, and probably not super into The Inhumans.  Well, enough time has passed that I guess it’s safe to do something more with The Inhumans.  Let’s bring that Legends line-up on up to a whopping three, with Karnak!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Karnak is figure 5 in the Totally Awesome Hulk Series of Marvel Legends.  He’s the second of the four comics figures in the line-up, and the next step down in the relevance of the comic figures to the overall theme.  I mean, the Inhumans were a Kree experiment, and so is Carol Danvers, so I guess that’s something.  As noted above, Karnak is our third Inhuman in Legends format, following Black Bolt, Black Bolt, Black Bolt, and Medusa.  There’s been a lot of Black Bolts.  Oh, sorry: Blackagar Boltagons.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  Karnak is using the Pizza Spidey body as his starting point.  It’s not a terrible fit, given Karnak’s usual skinnier build, but it’s still got the visible pins on the elbows and knees, and its generally a little outdated, especially with the AF Spidey in use now.  In particular, the butterfly shoulders really seem to be wearing out on this mold, so I worry about long-term longevity.  Karnak gets a new head, forearm guards, and belt/loincloth.  The new pieces are actually quite nice; the head’s got the proper weird shaping for the character, and the face makes for a good likeness of a more evergreen take on Karnak.  The guards sit well on the arms, and help to break up the base body a bit.  The belt piece is a bit too free floating for me, but otherwise looks alright.  The color work on Karnak is largely handled via molded colors, which keeps it pretty clean.  There’s still some paint to make things work; some of the edges are a little fuzzy, but overall things look quite nice.  Karnak is packed with two sets of hands, one in fists, the other in flat poses, as well as the right arm of Totally Awesome Hulk.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Getting one cohesive set of Inhumans is apparently an impossible feat.  Across four different styles, we’ve had four differently incomplete takes on the team.  Legends has been at the lowest set up until now, but I guess it’s turned itself around by virtue of at least matching up to Marvel Universe, so now there’s only three differently incomplete teams across four styles.  Progress!  Karnak, like Marvel Boy from last week, is a pretty by the numbers figure, really only hampered by the odd choice to put him on such an old body.  Still, he could be worse.  He could be a lot worse.  Now, can we please get the rest of the team before the line ends?

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review. If you’d like to see a video of this figure (and the rest of the series) in action, I helped out with one for their YouTube channel, so check that out.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3446: Stinger

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

STINGER

MARVEL COMICS 2 1ST APPEARANCE (TOY BIZ)

“Cassie Lang, the daughter of the retired miniature Super Hero Ant-Man, followed in her father’s footsteps by becoming a brilliant scientist, as well as a costumed adventurer. She possesses the ability to shrink to the size of an ant, fly on wings that sprout out of her back while in miniature size and shoot powerful stinger blasts from her wrists. She currently uses her vast intellect, courage and battle prowess as a member of the next generation of Avengers, A-Next.”

The MC2 universe was big on legacy characters for its future, and while a lot of those legacy characters existed only for that universe, there were some preexisting characters that got aged up for their roles. One such character was Cassie Lang, who took on the role of Stinger, a sort of merging of Wasp and Ant-Man.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Stinger was released in the PX-exclusive Marvel Comics 2 1st Appearance series, which hit in 1999. This was our first Cassie figure, but not our last. We’ve even gotten Stinger as a Marvel Legend (though, officially she was the mainstream Cassie, but still). This was still the first one, though. The figure stands about 5 inches tall and she has 14 points of articulation.  Stinger, like American Dream, is built on the Vindicator base body.  It’s a decent enough starting point.  Perhaps a little bulky for Cassie, but it’s her MC2 version, so she’s supposed to be a little older.  She gets a new head, forearms, and a modified torso to add attachment points for her wings.  The head seems a little bit small, especially since it’s supposed to be helmeted and all, but it’s decently sculpted beyond that.  The new forearms add her gauntlets, which are pretty nice, and something notably not featured on her later Legends figure.  The new torso and wings are decent enough, though the actual joints on the wings are a little loose.  Stinger’s color work is pretty solid.  The application of the paint is all pretty cleanly handled, and like American Dream, she’s got some pretty cool accenting.  Her skin tone is a little inconsistent, but beyond that it all looks pretty good.  Stinger is packed with a launcher base, re-used from Invisible Woman, but in translucent purple, as well as a trading card.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Stinger is a very recent addition to my collection, which is honestly surprising, because she’s the one figure from the set that I kept meaning to go back for, what with her being the first Cassie Lang figure and all.  I wound up snagging her from an antique store that I hit up on a day trip with the family a few weeks ago.  She’s not a perfect figure, but she’s pretty fun, like the other two I’ve looked at.

#3444: Marvel Boy

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

MARVEL BOY

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“A Kree warrior from an alternate reality, Noh-Varr aka Marvel Boy is the self-appointed protector of Earth and member of the Young Avengers.”

The third Marvel Boy (following Bob Grayson and Vance Astrovik) and the fifth Captain Marvel (following Mar-Vell, Monica, Genis-Vell, and Khn’nr), Noh-Varr does sure like some borrowed names.  Created in 2000 by Grant Morrison and JG Jones, the character’s one of those ones that Marvel likes to really push every so often.  It’s been a little while since the last push, but with the rumor of actor Park Seo-joon playing the character in The Marvels, perhaps we’re due for another?  Well, in the meantime, he’s got a new Marvel Legend, so let’s look at that.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Marvel Boy is figure 4 in the Totally Awesome Hulk Series of Marvel Legends, and is the first of the assortment’s four comic-based figures.  Of the four, he’s certainly the one with the best ties to The Marvels, even if he doesn’t show up in the movie.  This marks Noh-Varr’s second Legend, though its his first billed as Marvel Boy (the last one was from his Protector days).  He’s depicted here in his garb from the Gillen/McKelvie run on Young Avengers, which is honestly his best look, and probably the character’s best run.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation.  Noh-Varr is based on the 2099 body, which seems a good enough fit for the character, even if still has the visible pins on the elbows and knees.  He gets a new head, hands, and an add-on for his belt piece.  The head is a pretty solid recreation of McKelvie’s take on Noh-Varr, while still keeping him in line with the Legends house style.  I especially dig that they got the one stray strand of hair that was always present in the book.  His hands get new sculpted detailing on the backs, as well as actually having dual trigger fingers, which is a plus, and the belt is a pretty by the numbers addition.  Beyond that, it’s down to paint work to make it all happen.  It’s generally pretty solid.  The application’s pretty clean, and the colors match up well with the printed appearances.  Noh-Varr is packed with a pair of blasters, which are pretty fun and unique pieces, as well the left arm of the Totally Awesome Hulk Build-A-Figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Noh-Varr is a character I had little attachment to prior to his run with the Young Avengers.  I greatly enjoyed his addition to the team, and his interactions there, but honestly, I haven’t really clicked with him beyond that run.  This figure being pretty explicitly based on that version of the character definitely works for me.  While I can’t say this figure was at the top of my list for this set (in fact, he was probably the one I was least looking forward to, if I’m honest), he’s a strong by the numbers offering.  And, hey, it’s another Young Avenger.  We get those so infrequently, that any of them getting made is a real cause for celebration.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review. If you’d like to see a video of this figure (and the rest of the series) in action, I helped out with one for their YouTube channel, so check that out.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3442: Ms. Marvel

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

MS. MARVEL

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Kamala Khan has encountered much in her Ms. Marvel adventures, but nothing could prepare her for a cosmic adventure alongside her idol Captain Marvel!”

Following up on her solo Disney+ series from last year, Iman Vellani’s Kamala Khan makes the jump to the big screen this November in The Marvels, where she’ll get to interact with both Carol Danvers and Monica Rambeau.  Vellani’s performance as Kamala is one of the MCU’s best page-to-screen portrayals, so there’s a lot riding on getting to see her interact with the wider MCU cast.  Like the other two members of the titular group, she’s gotten a brand new look for the movie, and, by extension, that leads to a brand new figure!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Ms. Marvel is figure 3 in the Totally Awesome Hulk Series of Marvel Legends.  She’s the last of the movie-based figures in the set.  This marks the fourth Kamala Khan Legend, and the second time her MCU incarnation’s gotten a figure.  The figure stands 6 inches tall and she has 29 points of articulation.  Compared to her last figure, this one’s definitely a step-up on the articulation front.  Not a tremendous one, mind you, since she’s still rather restricted at the neck and hips, and the shoulders are also rather tight.  The arms are double jointed, though, which is pretty cool, and, though it may still be restricted, the neck is still more mobile than the prior figure.  Ms. Marvel’s sculpt is almost entirely an all-new one.  The scarf is shared with her prior figure, but everything else is new.  Like the articulation, it’s an improvement over her last figure.  The head sports a much better likeness of Iman Vellani; still not 100% spot-on, but it at least actually looks like her this time.  The hair is also a lot less flat, and her body sculpt isn’t nearly as skinny.  In general, it’s just a better sculpt, start to finish.  The paint work continues the trend.  The colors wind up a lot less muddied this time around, just by swapping the blue out for a darker shade.  It gives the whole look a lot of pop, and just makes everything feel really sharp.  The application is pretty clean for the most part, apart from some slight bleed over on some of the gold.  Ms. Marvel is packed with two sets of hands, in open gesture and fist/gripping combo, as well as a Flerken (who doesn’t appear to be Goose, given its coloring), and the torso of Totally Awesome Hulk.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The show Ms. Marvel figure was a pretty big let-down for me.  She really didn’t look the part, and wound up as more a phoned-in comic figure than a proper live action version of the character.  I really dig the new design for her in the movie, and the new figure winds up being a lot better than the last one.  I’m a lot happier with this one, and she feels a lot more unique than the first, which is a definite plus.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’d like to see a video of this figure (and the rest of the series) in action, I helped out with one for their YouTube channel, so check that out.  And,if you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3441: American Dream

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

AMERICAN DREAM

MARVEL COMICS 2 1ST APPEARANCES (TOY BIZ)

“When Captain America disappeared, Shannon Carter took over the battle to uphold his fight for truth and justice. Calling herself “American Dream”, she uses her fighting skills, acrobatic abilities and keen strategic mind to help defend the world from the forces of evil as a member of A-Next, the next generation of Avengers. American Dream originally threw miniature discs to knock out her opponents, but now proudly uses the indestructible shield passed down to her by her inspiration, Captain America.”

After the success of Spider-Girl led to the launch of the whole Marvel Comics 2 line, they were in need of some characters to fill things in.  What resulted was a mix of old and new, with a definite theme of lineage and legacy in play.  The Avengers’ legacy was carried forward by “A-Next,” which included amongst its members Shannon Carter, niece to Captain America’s old flame Sharon (who was herself the younger sister niece grand-niece to Cap’s old flame Peggy…), who took up the name “American Dream,” and served as the team’s analogue to Cap.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

American Dream is another figure from the four figure Marvel Comics 2 First Appearances line, released in 1999 as a Previews-exclusive.  She’s one of the two characters in the set who hasn’t gotten any sort of update.  Perhaps one day we might see a Legend, but today is not that day.  The figure stands about 5 inches tall and she has 12 points of articulation.  American Dream uses the Vindicator body as her starting point.  It’s honestly not a terrible piece of work; proportions are still a little skewed, but that was the norm for this era.  She got a new head and forearms, as well as tweaked shins and feet, which give her the proper change-ups for her design.  Due to the nature of her hair sculpt, her neck articulation is pretty limited, but beyond that, things all mesh together pretty well.  The arms and legs add the small little discs, which served as her main offensive attack in her earlier appearances, which is definitely cool.  The paint work on the figure is appropriately bright and eye-catching, as you would expect a Cap-inspired patriotic scheme to be.  There’s some sloppiness, especially on the red and white striped section in the middle.  There’s some pretty impressive air brushed accenting on the costume, which actually really gives the sculpt a great deal of pop, and is decently consistent from piece to piece.  American Dream is packed with Cap’s shield, which she eventually added to her arsenal alongside the discs, as well as a trading card.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As I noted in my Spider-Girl review, I didn’t get any of this set as a kid.  Once I got back into my Toy Biz collecting, this one was the first of them I snagged, partly due to my love of all things Cap, and largely because she was just one of the first two I found in-person.  I don’t know that she’s quite as good as Spider-Girl, but she’s still pretty solid, and certainly a lot of fun.

#3439: Photon

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

PHOTON

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Monica Rambeau’s life changed forever at Westview, where her exposure to reality-altering energy imbued her with the power to perceive and manipulate all energy along the electromagnetic spectrum.”

Remember when the first Captain Marvel came out, and despite Carol Danvers having held the title for the better part of a decade by that point, people were all mad about a female Captain Marvel?  Wanna know what’s even funnier?  She wasn’t even the first one.  Nope, back in the ‘80s, that honor went to Monica Rambeau, the first person to carry the mantle after Mar-Vell’s death.  I know, a black woman was Captain Marvel.  And she was even the leader of the Avengers for a while, too.  Who could imagine such a thing.  Monica unfortunately got herself wrapped up in some seriously bad writing towards the end of her run with the mantle, but she was fortunately enough of a fan favorite that she didn’t totally disappear when the Genis took the title, and she instead got a new codename.  Okay, actually a couple of new codenames.  They definitely bounced her around a bit.  But, the best of them was definitely Photon, and that’s the one that seems to have stuck the best for marketing purposes, including her MCU counterpart, who’s gotten her first figure for The Marvels. 

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Photon is figure 2 in the Totally Awesome Hulk Series of Marvel Legends.  She’s the middle figure of the three film-tie-in figures for The Marvels.  This marks Monica’s second time as a Legend, following her comics counterpart getting a figure in the A-Force boxed set.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and she has 29 points of articulation.  Her articulation is a bit restricted in the middle section of the figure, but the head gets a pretty great range, and she’s got double elbows, which is certainly cool.  Photon is sporting an all-new sculpt, and a pretty good one at that.  In particular, the head’s likeness of Teyonah Parris is certainly the best of the three in this assortment, if not just one of their best MCU likenesses in general.  They even managed to translate the hair pretty decently, which is impressive in its own right.  Her body sculpt sports a very nice, rather realistic set of proportions, matching pretty closely with Parris.  The color work on Photon is pretty solid.  She’s got the usual face printing, which works very well, and there’s some accenting on the hair, that definitely helps to bring out the sculpted details.  Her uniform’s black and white scheme is dynamic and eye-catching, and the application for it is quite clean.  Photon is packed with two sets of hands, in fists and open gesture, as well as the right leg to Totally Awesome Hulk.  She feels a little bit light, and it might have been cool to possibly get an extra head with her powered up eyes, but not having seen the movie, I don’t know if that’s still a thing she can do.  The hands are at least a bare minimum.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve always been a fan of Monica, no matter what name they saddled her with, and I’ve also liked Parris in everything I’ve seen her in, so seeing her turn up as Monica in the MCU was super cool.  I’ve been waiting to see more of her since the end of WandaVision and also waiting to finally get her in action figure form.  She was certainly high on my list for this series, and, slight lack of accessories aside, she didn’t disappoint.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.

If you’d like to see a video of this figure (and the rest of the series) in action, I helped out with one for their YouTube channel, so check that out.  And, if you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3437: Captain Marvel

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

CAPTAIN MARVEL

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“No amount of problem punching can repair the broken promises Carol Danvers has made. Captain Marvel is a powerful solo act, but now has a real shot at redemption as team member of The Marvels!”

Since launching as a solo act in 2019’s Captain Marvel, Carol Danvers has actually been in the role of team player for all of her subsequent roles. She’s back to headlining her own film in this fall’s The Marvels, but now with Kamala Khan and Monica Rambeau as her co-stars. New movie means new look, which means new toys. And that? Means new review. Let’s jump on into that!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Captain Marvel is figure 1 in the Totally Awesome Hulk series of Marvel Legends, which serves as the tie-in assortment for The Marvels. While she had reversed her colors and gotten a drastically different hair cut when we saw her in Endgame, by the time of her reappearance in Ms Marvel’s teaser scene, she’d gone back to a look more similar to her solo movie design, and that’s what we see here. It’s a bit more dressed down, with a less armored appearance and rolled up sleeves which suggest a more relaxed fit. In a way, it almost feels like Carol’s equivalent look to Steve’s Nomad design from Infinity War.  The figure stands about 6 inches tall and she has 29 points of articulation.  Her articulation scheme is pretty basic, especially for an MCU figure.  The joints are pinless, and the range is fair.  She’s an improvement to the mold they used for the last few versions of Carol, so that’s a plus.  The sculpt itself is all-new, and I actually quite like it.  It’s a bit cleaner than the last one, and the head seems to have a closer likeness of Larson, especially for her longer haired look; I’m still partial to the Endgame version, but this is very close too.  The build on this body also feels a bit more accurate to Larson; the last one was really skinny, which didn’t seem *quite* right.  In terms of color work, Carol is pretty basic for the most part.  She does get the printed face, which looks pretty nice, as does the slight accenting to the hair.  The body work is decent if not the most exciting.  The painted skintone on the forearms doesn’t quite match with the face and neck, but there’s enough distance between them that it doesn’t become a major issue.  Carol is packed with two sets of hands (in fists and gripping/gesture), two effects pieces, and the left leg to Totally Awesome Hulk.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The Endgame Captain Marvel is kind of my end-all version of the character, for a good number of reasons, but I was intrigued by this look when it first cropped up in Ms. Marvel, and I liked the look of the figure.  She turned out pretty well, and I definitely dig this secondary design for her.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.   If you’d like to see a video of this figure (and the rest of the series) in action, I helped out with one for their YouTube channel, so check that out.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3436: Spider-Girl

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

SPIDER-GIRL

MARVEL COMICS 2 1ST APPEARANCES (TOY BIZ)

“May ‘Mayday’ Parker is the daughter of Peter Parker, the one true Spider-Man. Like her famous father, she has the proportionate strength, speed, agility, and early warning danger sense of a spider and she can crawl up walls. May first became a costumed crime fighter in order to save her parents from an attack by the Green Goblin and now uses her powers to continue her retired father’s battle against the forces of evil, while still trying to maintain a normal life as a teenager.”

During the continuity dumpster fire that was “The Clone Saga,” one of the story elements introduced to give the “real” Peter Parker a reason to pass the role to Ben Reilly involved Peter and Mary Jane having a child. By the end of the story, the child seemingly died, leaving Peter and MJ childless and carefree(ish) once more. The whole angle was rather quickly revisited in the pages of What If…?, and proved popular enough to launch a whole line of alternate universe stories, dubbed “MC2.” Central to the whole thing was Peter and MJ’s daughter, now a teenager, going by Spider-Girl. While the rest of the universe did well enough, Spider-Girl was a break away hit. Her series ran 100 issues, and she’s even made return appearances in crossovers such as “Spider-Verse” and “Spider-Geddon”. She’s had a few figures over the years, including he debut figure during Toy Biz’s 5-inch days, which I’m taking a look at today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Spider-Girl was part of the four figure Marvel Comics 2 First Appearances line, offered up in 1999 as a Previews-exclusive.  She’s by far the star piece of the set, and is one of two Spider-Girl figures offered that year (and one of three Mayday Parker figures, if you count the Earth X Venom), with the other being the similarly PX-exclusive Famous Covers figure.  The figure stands about 5 inches tall and she has 13 points of articulation.  She represents Toy Biz experimenting a bit with articulation, before going totally crazy with Spider-Man Classics and Marvel Legends, so she’s a bit more mobile than the average 5-incher, albeit with the v-hips that I don’t generally dig.  At least everything else distracts from them, I suppose.  Spider-Girl was a mix of old, new, and shared parts.  The beginnings of her sculpt come from the Alpha Flight line’s Snowbird, from whom she borrows her arms and most of her legs.  She gets a tweaked torso piece, which she shared with the Greatest Moments Dark Phoenix figure from the same year.  She also gets her own head and feet, as well as add-ons for the web-shooters.  The head is basic, but different from the Spidey heads, which is cool, and the feet are flat-footed, rather than high-heeled, making her a far more stable figure than the others built from similar parts.  It’s all a pretty solid recreation of her comics design, and a pretty balanced looking figure overall.  Her paint work is actually rather decently handled; the webline detailing is all sharply applied, and the base colors don’t have any notable issues with slop or bleed over.  There’s a little bit of wonkiness on how her spider-emblem is placed, but it generally works.  In terms of coloring, there were two different color set-ups for the Ben Reilly costume at this point, so this figure sort of splits the difference between the two, which is honestly the best of the three choices, really.  Spider-Girl was packed with a large web piece, as well as a trading card.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I very much recall when these figures were released, but I didn’t read any of the comics at the time, so I didn’t know any of the characters, and as such I passed on the whole lot.  I’ve come to regret that a bit over the years.  Thankfully, I’ve been able to slowly piece together a full set.  Spider-Girl was the second of them I got, grabbed from a comic store that was doing a clearance on a bunch of 5-inch Marvel figures, in fact.  She’s honestly a pretty great figure, especially for the time.  Also, fun fact: I shot these photos with the assistance of my daughter Aubrey, who was absolutely fascinated with her the whole time!