Tag Archives: Toy Biz

#0186: Kraven The Hunter

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

KRAVEN THE HUNTER

SPIDER-MAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES

Remember my review of Unmasked Spider-Man from just last week? Good, that means this intro can be a bit shorter. Like that figure, this one hails from ToyBiz’s Spider-Man: The Animated Series line from the 90s, and also comes from one of the boxed sets ToyBiz released exclusively through BJ’s Wholesalers. This time around, it’s Kraven the Hunter, one of the classic Spider-Man foes. He was a hunter looking for a more exciting hunt, which led to him fighting Spidey on numerous occasions and eventually joining the first incarnation of the Sinister Six. Let’s see how he turned out!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Kraven was released in the BJ’s exclusive Monster Mayhem set, which also included 5 other figures, all repaints. Kraven stands about 5 inches tall and has 9 points of articulation, which were both standard for the line. Kraven is 100% re-use, being a repaint of the main Spider-Man line’s own release of Kraven. The previous Kraven was based on his cartoon appearance, whereas this one seems to be more comic based. The biggest difference present is this figure’s leopard patterned pants in contrast to the previous figure’s black pants. The sculpt is a pretty good one, and is pretty in line with the classic Kraven design, so I can’t blame them for re-releasing it in a more comic accurate palate. The paint work is well applied and clean overall, and it appears to be a bit more detailed than the single release figure. Kraven included no accessories, which is a shame, because his hand is obviously molded to hold one.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I acquired this BJ’s exclusive at KB Toys. Yes, you read that right. Apparently, BJ’s would only actually hold on to these sets for a short while before selling them to KB for the rest of the distribution. Hey, it works for me. Anyway, I was on a trip to the beach, I think right before my brother was born, but I don’t recall for certain. My dad took me to the nearby KB and they had this set there. I had known about its existence, thanks to the internet, but I hadn’t seen it in person. I remember being pretty happy to get it, though it wasn’t really for Kraven. Still, he’s a decent figure, and does help bring back the memories of getting the set.

#0181: Spider-Man – Unmasked

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

SPIDER-MAN – UNMASKED

SPIDER-MAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES

Spider-Man, Spider-Man.  Does whatever a spider can.  Spins a web any size.  Catches thieves just like flies.  Look out, here comes a Spider-Man….Review.  It’s a Spider-Man review.  That’s what it is.

Yes, it’s another figure from the 90s Marvel Licensing giant that was ToyBiz.  They made a big success with X-Men, so they moved onto Spider-Man and ended up finding even greater success.  This figure comes from that line.  It’s not the first figure I’ve taken a look at from this line, but the first figure was actually Captain America, so I didn’t really discuss it much at length.

Once the line proper had proved to be a hit, ToyBiz teamed up with BJs Wholesalers to have several exclusive boxed sets, consisting mostly of repaints, and based around certain themes.  Today’s figure comes from one of those sets.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

This figure was released as part of a 6 pack of figures, all based on the Clone Saga, which was going on in the comics at the time.  The figure depicts Peter in his Spider-Man costume, sans mask.  I guess he took his mask off a lot in the story?  I must confess, I haven’t actually read the Clone Saga, so I wouldn’t know.  I’m not opposed to having an unmasked Spider-Man, whatever the reasoning, so I’m not complaining.  The figure stands about 5 inches tall and features 11 points of articulation, which was pretty good for the time.  The figure was made from completely reused parts:  The head comes from the Spider-Man line’s version of Peter Parker, and the body is the same one used on Mutant X’s The Fallen.  It’s a body ToyBiz was fond of reusing.  It’s not bad, though it is a bit scrawny, especially in the lower arms.  The head was pretty nice.  It’s based on his look on the cartoon, which it emulates well.  Peter’s  paintwork is decent, not amazing.  Mine has some wear on the webbing from minor play and such.  As far as I recall, he included no accessories.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

So, I’m going to give a shout out to my friend Pat Sponaugle, who follows this blog. This figure, as well as the rest of the set he was included in, was a Christmas gift from Pat way back when!  Thanks Pat!

Overall, he’s actually a pretty neat figure.  Perhaps not the greatest Spider-Man ever, but still pretty cool.  I have fond memories of getting this figure and adding it to my, at the time much smaller, collection.  I think this was the rough start time of me becoming the kid for whom everyone just bought whatever action figures they could find during the holiday season.

#0169: Captain America

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

CAPTAIN AMERICA

SPIDER-MAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES (TOYBIZ)

By the time this review is posted, I will have seen Captain America: The Winter Soldier.  I’m hoping that I love it as much as I am expecting to, but I’ll just have to wait and see (EDIT: I saw it!  It was amazing.  Go check it out!).  In the meantime, to celebrate the release of the movie, I’ll be taking a look at my very first Captain America action figure.  Back before Cap was the household name he is now, the only way to get a Cap figure was in the tie-in line to the Spider-Man cartoon, of all places.  Cap had just made an appearance on the show, so Toybiz was gracious enough to put him in the eighth series of the line, dubbed Electro-Spark.  How does the figure hold up almost 20 years later? Let’s find out!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Spider-Man line was 5 inch scale, but Cap was a big guy, standing almost 6 inches tall and featuring 9 points of articulation.  Toybiz seemed intent on depicting Cap as quite the hulking figure (not that one).  He’s so big, it’s almost like his super-soldier serum took super-soldier serum.  This was not a Cap you wanted to mess with!  The sculpt had some nice touches, particularly the scale texture on Cap’s torso, which is simple, but very effective.  The gloves and boots also show a nice level of detail.  There’s lots of folds and creases, making them stand out nicely.  The face depicts Cap in a very angry state, which wouldn’t be my first go to for the character, but it was the 90s.  Everybody gritted their teeth like that.  The paint work on Cap was simple, but it fits with the time, and it was fairly cleanly applied.  I quite like the stylizing of the “A” on the forehead.  Cap included his mighty shield, though this is probably my biggest issue with the figure.  The shield was reworked to give it some sort of light-up feature, which means it’s really small and like an inch thick. Plus, the star’s not even the right color!

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As I mentioned in the intro, Cap was my very first figure of the character.  It was also the only version available for a few years, so this is what I had to live with.  The figure is probably one of the most dated sculpts of the old Spider-Man line, but I can’t help but love it.  I guess I just got used to what I had.  AS a kid, there was no thrill like getting to watch my VHS copies of the Ruby-Spears Captain America cartoon while holding this figure.

Read the Flashback Friday Figure Addendum for this guy here!

#0154: Banshee

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

BANSHEE

X-MEN (TOYBIZ)

Today we’ll be jumping back to the 90s with another look at the juggernaut that was ToyBiz’s X-Men line.  I’ll be jumping way back to the beginning of the line for this one, and looking at Banshee!

For the uniformed, Banshee was a mutant with the power of sonic screams, which also allowed him to fly.  He initially started out as an X-Men villain, but it was discovered in his first appearance that he was being manipulated by a greater foe.  He rebelled and become one of the X-Men’s allies.  When the original X-Men were thought to have been killed in Giant Size X-Men #1, Banshee was brought in to join the All-New, All-Different X-men, and was a member of the team on and off for several years.  He’s been dead for a while in the comics, but he did recently appear in the movie version of X-Men: First Class.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Banshee was released as part of the 2nd wave of figures in ToyBiz’s X-Men line.  He’s based on the character’s Jim Lee-designed uniform that the character was sporting at the time.  The figure stands about 5 inches tall and features 7 points of articulation.  Sadly, the shoulder articulation is similar to the ToyBiz Black Bolt, moving up and down instead of forward and back.  I get what they were going for with the look, wanting him to be able to outstretch the wings, but I feel like it could have been done a bit better.  The sculpt is pretty good overall, and is on par to the rest of the figures in the line at the time.   Incidentally, I believe this is the only figure of Banshee to not depict him mid-scream, which does give it some added value.   One annoying thing, however, is the gaping hole in the front of the torso and the big freaking tube sticking out of his back to allow for his “scream action-feature.”  Essentially, the figure’s got a whistle in the chest to simulate his powers.  It’s a neat idea in concept, but it doesn’t really work out too well in practice.  The paint on the figure isn’t bad for the time, although it does have a few spots of slop.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I got this figure from my local comic book store, Cosmic Comix, during one of his winter sales quite a few years ago.  I recall my cousin owning one, and really wanting my own, so I was pretty happy to get the figure.  It’s not a bad figure by any means, but there were better Banshee figures to come (Though not many…).  Some of the 90s X-Men figures still hold up today, but this one kinda shows its age.

#0136: Young Avengers

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

PATRIOT, IRON LAD, ASGARDIAN, & HULKLING

MARVEL LEGENDS (TOYBIZ)

Today, I’m once again venturing into the land of Toybiz’s Marvel Legends.  I’ve actually stated to dread these reviews a little because I was quite fond of these figures when they were released, but looking back at them takes away all the nostalgia.  It doesn’t help that most of them are also accompanied by a story of how difficult they were to acquire.  Some of the figures still hold up, though, and occasionally some of them even lack the frustration inducing stories.  The Young Avengers set is actually one of those.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These guys were released as a boxed set during the final year of ToyBiz’s possession of the Marvel license.  They’re based on their appearance in the first issue of the original Young Avengers, which was also included with the set.

PATRIOT

First up, the effective leader of the team, Patriot.  Patriot was Eli Bradley, the grandson of Isaiah Bradley who was the “Black Captain America.”  He acquired the Super Soldier serum thanks to a blood transfusion from his grandfather.  He’s shown here in his original costume, which was patterned after Bucky’s costume.  It’s not the costume he spent the majority of his appearances in, but it’s actually my favorite of his two costumes.  Patriot stands about 6 inches tall and features 38 points of articulation.  Amazingly for a Marvel Legends sculpt, everything is actually well proportioned.  My only complaint would be that his feet are probably at tad too big, but the rest looks good.  The detail on the uniform is great, with lots of great little wrinkles and folds.  The head is also spot-on to Jim Cheung’s art on the series.  The paint work is all nicely done, with no real issues.  I do wish they had used differently colored pins for the lower knee articulation because the black actually ended up bleeding into the white plastic around it.  Patriot included the original Captain America shield and a display stand with his picture on it.  Small issues aside, Patriot’s my favorite figure in the set, in spite of being my least favorite of the characters.

IRON LAD

Ah, yes Iron Lad.  Remember how Patriot was my favorite figure and least favorite character?  Iron Lad is the exact opposite.  I loved the character, but the figure’s just eh…  Anyway, Iron Lad is actually a young Kang the Conqueror.  For those of you not in the know, Kang is one of the Avengers’ greatest adversaries.  Iron Lad found out who he was destined to become and rebelled.  The first arc of the series largely deals with the ramifications of this.  Iron Lad stands about 6 inches tall and features 30 points of articulation.  He doesn’t put his articulation to very good use, as some key points are missing, leaving him stuck in some awkward positions.  Iron Lad’s armor did have a tendency to change around a little bit, so I guess he was a bit hard to capture.  The head is great.  It looks just like the character.  Sadly, the body’s a mess.  The proportions are a mess, and the articulation is incredibly obvious.  The paint is also quite sloppy, which doesn’t do the sculpt any favors.  Iron Lad included a display stand with his picture on it.  I don’t hate this figure, but I wish it had turned out a little better.

ASGARDIAN

Next up is Asgardian, or as he’s been known in every appearance following the first arc, Wiccan.  He’s Billy Caplan, and he’s the reincarnated spirit of one of the Scarlet Witch and Vision’s deceased children.  It makes more sense in context.  Billy stands about 6 inches tall and features 35 points of articulation.  The sculpt looks pretty good, and his body sculpt is probably the best in the set.  All the proportions look about right, which is cool.  His head sculpt isn’t quite as nice as the other two, but it’s not terrible by any stretch.  The paint isn’t the best in the set, but it’s passable.  There’s a few spots with some noticeable slop, and the paint on the arms is super thick, but it doesn’t look too bad.  Asgardian included a staff and a display stand with his picture on it.

HULKING

Lastly, it’s Billy’s boyfriend Hulkling.  Hulkling is also the offspring of Kree Captain Mar-Vell and the Skrull Princess, so there’s that.  Hulkling stands closer to 7 inches and features 34 points of articulation.  The sculpt is pretty good, and super textured.  Like, there are no smooth areas on this guy.  Even his arms have a pretty cool skin texture.  The head is spot on to Jim Cheung’s drawings of the character, and all the proportions look appropriate to the character.  My only real complaint is that the hands look oddly flat, which looks a bit weird from certain angles.  Hulkling’s paint is all very well applied, with no noticeable slop, and some rather nice dry-brushing.  Hulkling includes a stand with his picture on it.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was very excited for this set when it was released.  I had been following the comic and was very happy to see them on display at Toy Fair that year.  I received this set form my parents for Christmas and have greatly enjoyed it since.  When I packed up my Marvel Legends a few years ago, it was amongst the very last of the items put away.  My greatest complaint about this set is that we never got the remaining members of the team.

#0127: Jean Grey

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

JEAN GREY

X-MEN MOVIE SERIES (TOYBIZ)

 

In the 90s, the 5 inch scaled ruled to toy aisle, due in no small part to ToyBiz’s gargantuan line of Marvel toys, specifically those based on the 90s mega-giant X-Men.  It looked like that was where we’d be staying for a while.  But then, the X-Men movie was released in 2000, and they were released in… 6 inch scale?  It wasn’t the first time we’d seen such a scale, but it certainly wasn’t prevalent.  Coupled with ToyBiz’s continued release of other 5 inch product, it looked like this might just be a blip on the radar.

If you’ve followed the action figure industry in recent years, you would know that the 6 inch scale was far from a blip on the radar.  It went on to become the ruling scale on the market for over ten years, which was impressive.  And a lot of its owed to the X-Men Movie line making a bold jump.  Today’s review is a two-fer, looking at both versions of Jean Grey from the line.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Jean was released as part of the first series of the X-Men Movie Series.  She stands about 6 inches tall and has 10 points of articulation.  I feel it necessary to point out that only about 6 of those points are really useful, and even then it’s iffy, thanks to the odd cut joints and strange pose of the figure.   Anyway, the sculpt is a bit of a mixed bag.  Sculpturally, the only difference between the two figures is the hair style.  The original release had it down, the second had it up in a ponytail.   They both look fine, though the ponytail look is more accurate to the character’s appearance in the movie.  The facial sculpt is actually a pretty decent approximation of Famke Janssen.  The body’s where things start to fall apart.  It has some really nice details on the suit, with some great work on the zippers and folds and such, but the proportions of the underlying body are just weird.  The arms are too long, the waist is too thin, and her legs are in this odd sideways crouch sort of thing.  All in all, just very strange.  The paint on these two is pretty good for the time.  I think I like the work on the first release a bit more, as it looks a bit cleaner.  There is one notable change between the two on the paint front.  The second release has a black t-shirt painted on under the uniform.  Apparently, this was the main reason for the second release, as there were some complaints from a few concerned parents about the pulled down zippers and total lack of any kind of covering on the two female characters in uniform.  Honestly, it’s a perfectly reasonable point to make, and it’s actually a bit odd that they had their uniforms zipped so far down, given that Jean has hers zipped up just like her male compatriots in the film proper.  Both Jeans included an incredibly creepy mutated Senator Kelly as there only accessory.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The first version of Jean was my second figure from the movie line.  She, along with Professor X were purchased for me by my Nana as an end of school gift.  Yeah, I had the option to get anyone in the line, and I bought a girl and a guy in a wheelchair.  I was a strange kid.  Anyway, I held onto that one for a while, and remember the controversy and subsequent rerelease of Jean, now with t-shirt and appropriate hair style.  I was happy with my first release version, and thanks to the reissue thing, it was actually quite rare.

Then, I came home one day to find that my dog had gotten into my room and pretty much destroyed my Jean figure.  The first release was fairly difficult to find at that point, so I had to settle for the reissue.  Fortunately, a few months ago, my comic book store got in a large selection of older figures loose, and the first release Jean was amongst them, allowing me to once again have the figure!

#0126: Angel – Savage Land

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

ANGEL – SAVAGE LAND

MARVEL 10-INCH (TOYBIZ)

Okay, so I’m currently attempting to stay on top of work and school, while at the same time doing my best not to miss posting any updates.  As such, the next few reviews may be a bit more on the brief side.  Hope nobody is offended.  If you are…ummm…I’m sorry?

Today, I’ll be doing my second review from ToyBiz’s line of 10-inch scaled marvel figures.  For those of you who missed my previous review, quick little backstory: in the 90s, ToyBiz had a rather expansive line of 5 inch scaled Marvel stuff.  They decided to double their profits by up-scaling a bunch of the molds and releasing them as 10-inch scale.  Towards the end of this line, they actually started mixing up some of the pieces to get some new concoctions and character designs.  I’ll be looking at one of the later additions: Savage Land Angel.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Angel was released towards the end of the line, after it had become an exclusive to KB Toys.  He stands 10 inches tall, and features 13 points of articulation.  The figure, coming from the end of the line is completely built from previously used parts.  The head comes from the second Archangel figure, released in the Invasion series of  ToyBiz’s X-Men line.  The body is reused from The Vulture, who was released as part of the 90s Spider-Man line.  The head is sensible, given that it’s the same character, but I’ve never been the biggest fan of this sculpt, with its odd expression and wide eyes.  My issues are only amplified with the larger scale and normal flesh tone coloring.  The body is an interesting choice, I suppose, but given that is was the overly armored 90s Vulture, it means that Angel is left wearing this odd armor.  The paint is a bit of a mixed bag.  The head actually has some pretty decent work, and the shading on the armor is nice, but the costume under the armor looks a bit strange.  They seem to have tried to replicate the look of the previous Savage Land Angel, with his classic costume torn up.  However, while that figure had  bare feet, that wasn’t an option, as those pieces weren’t tooled for the large scale, which means that he’s got these weird painted on boots. Which look very strange with the shorts look, like he’s perpetually that nerdy guy who wears shorts with dress shoes and socks.  It’s weird.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve mentioned before how much I enjoyed the 10 inch line, and how I practically got a new one every time I went into a KB Toys.  Not this guy.  This guy, I passed up more times than I can remember, mostly based on how damned creepy he looks.  I’ve mentioned before about the trip I took to that huge KB Toys outlet center, which had a 5-10 year back log of toys.  This guy was amongst them, and I finally decided to get him to round out my X-Men.  I still think he’s a bit odd, but, he’s not the worst thing ever.

#0124: Gambit

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

GAMBIT

MARVEL LEGENDS (TOYBIZ)

So, Happy President’s Day, I guess.  Um, I don’t really have that much in the way of presidential action figures, so I’m just gonna go ahead as if it’s any other day.  But I thought I’d point it out anyway.  Just to mess with you.

Looking back at my past reviews, I’m actually a bit shocked by how few reviews I’ve done of ToyBiz’s Marvel Legends.  For a while back there they were, like, the only line I really collected, and I’ve done quite a few reviews of DC Direct figures, which I collected about the same time, so it seems odd I haven’t really looked at any of them.  I think part of this might be that I have some bad memories of trying to track certain figures down, and part of it might be that the figures just haven’t aged all that well.  Or, I’m going by a totally randomized list, and not as many of them have popped up.  Who knows? (Well, me but that kinda ruins my intro).

So, in an effort to attempt to correct some slight oversight, I’ll be reviewing the Marvel Legends version of the X-Men’s own resident scum bag, Gambit!  Gambit isn’t as big a deal as he once was, but he was pretty big in the 90s, and even into the early 2000s, hence his place in the line.  So, let’s take a look at the figure!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Gambit was released as part of the 4th wave of ToyBiz’s Marvel Legends line.  He stands about 6 inches tall, and he has 40 points of articulation.  The figure depicts Gambit in him classic pink/blue/black leotard and brown trench coat look that everyone thought was oh so rad in the 90s.  It’s a truly hideous design, but I can’t help but be so damned nostalgic about it, because being born in the 90s ruined me as a person.  The sculpt was pretty good at the time, but now feels like one of the more outdated sculpts in the line, with huge hands, some pretty serious monkey arms, and an overall emaciated look to him.  I think the head still holds up, with that perfect floppy Gambit hair, and the totally in character smirk.  The coat isn’t the best tailored thing ever, but it isn’t too bad, and it does somewhat mask the odd proportions of the figure.  The figure’s paint is pretty good, though it can be sloppy in some places, particularly the face, which I’ve seen have some variance from figure to figure.  I do appreciate that this is one of the only Gambit figures to give him the appropriate black sleeves with those weird pink squares, instead of just leaving them pink.  The figure had a really nice assortment of accessories that I wish I still had, including: his staff, an energy explosion with a set of cards to simulate his powers, and a base sculpted to look like a fallen Sentinel hand.  These pieces were all pretty cool, and I think I still have the stand in a box with some others, but the other two pieces are long gone.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Believe it or not, Gambit was one of my favorite ToyBiz Legends.  I’m not really sure why, as I’m not that big a fan of the character, and the figure isn’t that amazing, but I really liked him.  I suppose coming early  in the line, he got a lot more play time than some of the later figures, and he was one of the figures in the line who you didn’t have to devote all your free time to tracking down.

He hasn’t aged amazingly well, but he’s still held up better than some of the figures, which does give a leg up.  And given Gambit’s rather quick decline in popularity, the character has yet to see any kind of rerelease in the more recent incarnations of the line, which I suppose makes this guy a bit more valuable.

#0107: Original Ghost Rider

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

ORIGINAL GHOST RIDER

GHOST RIDER (TOYBIZ)

Time to take a jump back to the 90s and to ToyBiz’s powerhouse that was the 5 inch Marvel line.  Sure, they had the X-Men line, and the Spider-Man line, and they did a few waves of Hulk, Iron Man and Fantastic Four to tie in with the cartoons.  But they wanted to do more.  They wanted another character to devote a whole line to.  And seeing as it was the middle of the 90s and being oh-so-90s was the big thing to be, they needed someone who just bled 90s.  Someone who screamed “X-TREME!”  With chains, and leather jackets, and skulls!  And what do you know, Marvel had a character like that:  Ghost Rider!  And so, Ghost Rider was given his own toyline!  To ToyBiz’s credit, the Ghost Rider line is easily one of the highlights of the many toylines they produced in this time period.

Today, I’ll be looking at one of the variants of the main character from the line.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

“Original Ghost Rider” as he was dubbed was released as part of the second (and last) wave of the Ghost Rider line.  In spite of the name, he’s actually based on the second Ghost Rider, Danny Ketch, who was the main Ghost Rider at the time.  I’ll be honest, the name makes no sense.  Like, at all.  So, I’m just gonna overlook it and just review the figure on its own merits.  Ghost Rider stands just over 5 inches tall and has 13 points of articulation.  For the record, that level of articulation was phenomenal for the time, which just goes to show ToyBiz’s commitment to the line, which was odd, given there wasn’t a Ghost Rider cartoon or anything.  The sculpt on GH is actually really good.  It’s quite detailed, and it’s well-proportioned for the time.   The figure’s covered in flames, that all look to be well handled, if perrhaps a bit odd looking, give that they’re opaque.  Originally, the figure had an action feature where, when you pressed a button on his back, the front of his chest would pop open, displaying his fiery torso.  However, the chest pieces didn’t stay on very well, and I lost mine over the years, leaving my Ghost Rider with a permanently exposed chest.  That sounds awkward.  The paint is pretty good, though some stuff, like the glow in the dark gimmick on the head, leaves the paint under-detailed, which is a bit of a disservice to the sculpt.  Ghost rider was originally packaged with a set of glow in the dark chains to be clipped onto him, but child-me seems to have lost that piece.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Ghost Rider was part of a large subset of figures that were purchased for me by my dad what a nearby comicbook store called Ageless Heroes went out of business.  The store had a large stock of the various 90s 5 inch figures, and they were being sold for quite a discount.  I know this was my go to Ghost Rider for a while, and I really thought the chest thing was pretty cool.  Of course, I only bought Ghost Rider because I felt my Champions display needed him.   Yeah, I was that kid.  And for all of you who went “who are the champions?”, go look up Marvel’s Champions.  Be amazed at my obscure references!

#0094: Spider-Man

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

SPIDER-MAN

MARVEL 10-INCH (TOYBIZ)

In the 90s, ToyBiz’s 5 inch Marvel line was pretty unbeatable when it came to superhero toys.  They had wide variety and best assortment of articulation you could find at the time.  Having met a great success with the 5 inch line, ToyBiz decided to release a larger scale line through a partnership with toy store KB Toys.  The 10 inch line was made from sized-up molds from the popular 5 inch line, and offered a variety of characters at a low price.  They were also a bit more durable than the smaller figures, which made them great for play.  Today, I’ll be looking at the basic Spider-Man from the line.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Spider-Man was part of KB’s exclusive line of 10-inch figures, though the line never really had “waves” or “series.”  Instead, the figures were just kind of in constant supply.  Anyway, this was the basic Spider-Man, who was offered for the entirety of the line.  The figure stands 10 inches tall and has 9 points of articulation.  The sculpt quite simplistic, but fairly well handled, especially given it would have been released in the 90s.  The web lines are painted instead of sculpted, but that was the standard at the time, and it does make the figure look like he’s from the 90s Spider-Man Animated Series, which was undoubtedly an influence.  For the most part, the figure is molded in the appropriate colors, but there are a few painted spots.  The color matching is good, and everything looks clean, with no smudges or slop.  I believe that this figure included a web-line with a suction cup, but I’ve long since lost it.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This guy was purchased on one of the many trips taken to the nearby, mall-based KB Toys with my Grandmother.  She would occasionally buy me one or two of these figures and I would joyfully take them home to play.