Tag Archives: Psycho-Man

#3977: Psycho-Man

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

PSYCHO-MAN

FANTASTIC FOUR (TOY BIZ)

“The mysterious Psycho-Man appeared seemingly out of nowhere with the evil intent of overthrowing the Earth, allowing the denizens of his own sub-atomic world to colonize the conquered planet! Armed with his emotion-stimulator, the Psycho-Man could instantly throw the world into the throes of fear, doubt, and hate. But this would-be dictator didn’t count on two things: the arrival of the Fantastic Four, and his own weapon being turned against him!”

Psycho-Man is a character I’ve reviewed once before here on the site, and, well, I didn’t have a ton to say about him in that intro, so the second time around, I can’t say I’m much better off.  He himself isn’t really much of a major player, but he’s figured into some other notable events in comics, most notably as part of the FF storyline where they finally acknowledged that Sue was actually the most powerful member of the team, and maybe a woman in at least her late 20s, if not 30s, shouldn’t be going by “Invisible Girl.”  But that’s not much about him.  The Fantastic Four cartoon in the ‘90s adapted this story, which served as its main focus on Psycho-Man, resulting in his first figure treatment in the accompanying toyline.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Psycho-Man was released in the fourth and final series of Toy Biz’s Fantastic Four line (he also cropped up as a re-release in the Marvel Universe line; the two figures are functionally identical.  Mine is the re-release).  This set was pretty well tied into the show’s second season, with its three antagonist figures all from early episodes in the run, Psycho-Man included.  The figure stands about 5 3/4 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  Psycho-Man gets hit by some real weirdness on the articulation front.  He’s got no neck or knee articulation, but gets a waist swivel, which weren’t a regular fixture for the line.  For some reason, his legs are also sculpted in this weird sort of lunging pose, like he’s running or something.  Psycho-Man was usually the sort to stand around and do his business from a far, so the action pose does seem a bit odd for him.  His sculpt’s unique to him and…well, it’s certainly unique.  Psycho-Man’s inspiration here seems to be more from his Kirby design, and less from later interpretations, so he’s a bit larger and chunkier and his face is a lot more expressive.  Again, unique is the word I use.  I don’t know about “good” but also I wouldn’t say “bad.”  It’s certainly memorable.  His color work is quite simple, but does what it needs to.  There’s a but of slop and fuzziness around the edges, and its very glossy in its finish, but it’s generally okay.  Psycho-Man is packed with a big action-feature-ridden stand, as was the gimmick for this whole set.  In his case, it’s loosely based on his Control Box, and there’s a lever on the side that you can pull to have it randomly stop on one of five different “emotions.”  It’s super gimmicky and silly, but also so very much fun.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Psycho-Man’s a later run acquisition for me, but still came into my collection during the ‘90s, albeit probably *right* at the tail end.  He was a Christmas present from a family friend, and I want to say he probably was given to me in ’99.  I knew a little about him, thanks to the cartoon, but he more just got used as a general villain, because he’s got that very unique look.

And with that, I’ve wrapped up the last Series 4 review for Toy Biz’s Fantastic Four, and by extension, the last standard release figure for the line.  Both Series 3 and 4 had one extra figure that got dropped during production.  Adam Warlock was the Series 3, and he would eventually resurface in the Overpower line.  Series 4 was supposed to get a Trapster figure, who would have rounded out the Frightful Four, but he was cut and never found another spot.  The show wrapped up at the end of its second season, and so there was no more retailer demand for the toys, and that was all she wrote.  The line gave debut figures to a lot of classic Marvel characters, and started both the Inhumans and the Frightful Four.  Of course, it didn’t finish either of those two teams (in fact, The Inhumans *just* got a full line-up courtesy of Hasbro, about a month ago, 20 years after making their way to toy form), but that’s Toy Biz in a nutshell.

#2996: Psycho-Man

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

PSYCHO-MAN

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Highly intelligent, Psycho-Man uses advanced technology to manipulate emotions and threaten the Fantastic Four.”

And we’re back to the Marvel Legends.  We’re staying on the FF path for the next two days, resuming today with Psycho-Man, a Stan Lee and Jack Kirby creation the title’s fifth Annual.  He appeared only a few times in the ’60s, before his connection to the Microverse was used to tie the Micronauts into the mainstream Marvel universe in the ’80s.  His connection back to the FF was brought back around during John Byrne’s run on the book, who used the character to, amongst other things, get Sue to accept that she was a bit old to be going by “Invisible Girl” and that she was also the team’s strongest member.  Good story for her, though perhaps not an astounding showcase for Psycho-Man himself.  He does have a pretty killer look, though, and that always makes for a good figure.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Psycho-Man is part of the FF-themed Retro Collection assortment of Marvel Legends.  He fits in pretty perfectly, since his only other figure was during Toy Biz’s original FF line, which these figures are homaging.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and sports 28 points of articulation.  His articulation scheme is actually quite impressive given his overall bulk.  The use of ball joints at the neck and mid-torso really give him a nice range, as do the double joints at the elbows and knees.  He’s also using the pinless construction again, which looks nice and sleek.  Psycho-Man’s sculpt is a completely new offering, and it’s a pretty nice one at that.  It’s definitely going more for the Byrne take on Psycho-Man, which is fitting with the theme, and also just the better take on the character, I feel.  It’s a clean, sleek, and very technically impressive.  He’s only got the one set of hands, which has become a rarity these days.  They’re a decent combo as well, at least in terms of posing options and the like.  Psycho-Man’s paint work is pretty straight forward, with the colors being largely reliant on molded plastic.  It all works very well, and I really love the metallic green.  He’s packed with only one accessory: his Control Box, the thing that allows him to control other people’s emotions.  It’s a rather basic piece, but still a rather fun one.  At least he got something, and this does work quit well with his right hand pose, allowing it to be carried under his arm.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Though Psycho-Man’s not really a prominent player in much of anything, I do rather fondly remember his one appearance on the FF cartoon, as well as the figure from the toy line that accompanied, which did get a good amount of use by me on the basis of him just being a pretty great chunky bad-guy toy.  I wasn’t really sure we’d ever see an update on that one, but I sure am glad we did.  This figure is just a pretty solid offering from start to finish, and I can’t imagine there being a better take on the character in figure form.

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.