SPIDER-BOY

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

Marvel has, classically, avoided teen sidekicks.  Obviously, they had Bucky and Toro in the ’40s, but once they came back in full force in the ’60s, the sidekicks got tossed out.  Explosively so, in Bucky’s case.  Peter Parker, a high schooler, was the right age for such a role, but was firmly independent, as Spider-Man, a mantle all his own.  Dan Slott, who has written a *lot* of Spider-Man, has given Spider-Man *two* sidekicks.  The first was Alpha, who was a very limited, very story-specific set-up that’s more a footnote than an actual attempt to make a change that stuck.  The second and far more recent one is Bailey Briggs, Spider-Boy.  He’s technically a retcon character, and I classically don’t like those, but Slott’s actually done a good job of making it work alright for Bailey.  And, only a year and a half after his debut, he’s gotten the Marvel Legends treatment!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Spider-Boy is part of the first Retro Card Spider-Man Marvel Legends assortment of 2025.  Amazingly, he’s not the only new character in the assortment (the other is the Francine Frye Electro), which is honestly pretty cool.  The figure stands 5 1/2 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  His articulation scheme is pretty much the same as the 2016 Miles Morales body, which is interesting, because he’s not actually using any of those parts at all, and it’s kind of an old style of articulation set-up.  It’s not *bad* though.  The sculpt is actually pretty solid.  He’s suitably smaller than the Spidey figures, so he looks appropriately built for his age.  The key unique pieces are the head and feet.  The head has a good, solid take on a rather basic design.  I particularly like the profile, and how there’s so clearly a face under there.  The feet give him his proper sneakers, which are certainly fun.  They’re a bit tricky to pose at first, but once they loosen up, the range is pretty good.  He’s also got a backpack piece, which plugs in securely, and looks not unlike the collapsed one used with SpOck.  The color work on Spider-Boy is very bright and eye catching, as it should be.  The blue seems maybe a touch darker than he’s usually depicted, but it otherwise looks pretty good.  Spider-Boy is packed with an alternate “monster” head, as well as two pairs of hands, in fists and thwipping poses.  It’s a little frustrating that the open gesture hands are absent again, especially given that Bailey doesn’t actually *have* webshooters.  Guess I’m sticking with the fists for now.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was, admittedly, a little skeptical of Spider-Boy at first, but I’ve really enjoyed what’s been done with him thus far, especially in his solo series.  I was definitely looking forward to some form of figure treatment, and here he is!  He’s not a standout piece or anything, generally being by the numbers, but sometimes, that’s all you need.

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.