Tag Archives: Venom

#0886: Venom

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

VENOM

MARVEL LEGENDS SERIES

Venom1

They say a hero’s greatest foe is in some way a dark reflection of themselves. Generally, this is meant to be more of a metaphorical sort of reflection, but sometimes, it’s taken a bit more literally, resulting in a pretty straight evil counterpart of the main hero. This is the case with the original Venom; his powers were all variations of Spider-Man’s, and Eddie Brock, host of the Venom symbiote, was even a freelance photographer like Peter Parker. However, where Peter gave up the symbiote when it started to lead him down a darker path, Eddie embraced the darkness (at least initially). Venom’s gone on to become one of Spidey’s most popular foes, with all the toys that such a role entails, and amusingly enough has gotten a few “dark reflections” of his own.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Venom2Venom is the third figure in the fourth series of Spider-Man Marvel Legends. After three series of sort of teasing at this guy, Hasbro’s finally gotten around to giving us a proper Eddie Brock Venom. The figure stands about 7 inches tall and has 32 points of articulation. Like Toxin and Anti-Venom before him, Venom is based on the Hyperion body. It’s not a bad base, though it still has a few minor issues (the neck being so far set back is the most major of them). The body’s pretty well-sized for Venom, and that’s really the important thing here. Venom gets not one, but two new head sculpts for this body: with and without the tongue. This way, you can choose between early (no tongue) and late (tongue) appearance Venom. He comes packaged wearing the tongue-less head sculpt, which is a pretty spot-on recreation of his early McFarlane-drawn appearances. It’s a lot smoother and geometric. It sits a bit high on the neck, but in the right pose, that negligible. The second head isn’t just the first one with an added tongue, it’s actually a totally different sculpt. It’s based on Venom’s mid-90s appearances, after his appearance Venom3started to get a bit exaggerated, but before it went too off the rails. This head is much more organic in design, and has a lot more fine detail work. It also sits a bit lower on the neck, and just feels like the stronger of the two sculpts. As far as paint goes, the vast majority of Venom is just molded in black. However, there’s more than a little white detailing. The application’s okay, but not super great. The chest logo in particular has really rough edges. The two heads are both very nicely done, though, to the point of almost seeming like they belong to another figure. In addition to the extra head, Venom is also packed with two sets of hands: fists and clawed. The claws are far more subdued than those of Anti-Venom and Toxin, which suits this figure very well. Venom also includes two different heads for the Build-A-Figure Absorbing Man. There are a lot of heads in the box.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Man, if you’d told me I would be anxiously awaiting an Eddie Brock Venom, I wouldn’t have believed you. But, after getting all the Venom spin-offs over the last year, this guy was a key missing player. In a series of more modern characters and short-lived variants, Venom kinda feels like the natural star of this set, and is a clear, definitive take in the character. His figure isn’t perfect, but it’s pretty darn good, and certainly a long time coming.

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#0766: Hybrid

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

HYBRID

SPIDER-MAN

Hybrid1

Remember all that stuff I said yesterday about Marvel and symbiotes? Well, it pretty much all still applies today. Yep, I’ll be taking a look at another of those wacky symbiotes. But this one’s special. See, Lasher was just one single symbiote. Today’s figure? Well, if the name hadn’t clued you in already, he’s a combination of multiple symbiotes. Specifically, all of the symbiotes from the whole Planet of the Symbiotes thing. So, let’s have a looksee at Hybrid, shall we?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Hybrid2Hybrid is another figure from the “Venom: Planet of the Symbiotes” series of the 90s Spider-Man line. Like all the other figures in the series, Hybrid was available in two different color schemes. The main color scheme was mostly variations of red, and pretty closely mimicked the look of the character from the comic. The second version, which I’ll be looking at today, was made up purely for the figure, and is grey and indigo, which is pretty wildly different from the original. The base figure is about 6 ¼ inches tall and has 5 points of articulation, but the wing/pincer thing mounted on his back brings him up to 8 inches and 16 points of articulation (though 6 of those points are tied into the spring-loaded feature). Hybrid was another all-new sculpt. He’s still got a lot of the items on the 90s checklist, but what’s interesting is that his sculpt is almost an entirely different style of 90s than Lasher. Lasher kind of stuck with more or less the Toy Biz style, but Hybrid’s more pre-posed, less articulation look makes him feel like he’d be more at home with Kenner’s Total Justice/JLA line from the 90s. It’s not a bad sculpt, mind you. There’s still plenty of texturing and muscular detail, which looks pretty great. In particular, the areas where the different styles of symbiote merge together are pretty cool looking, especially the gooeier bits running fluidly up the legs and arms, and down the top of the torso. It gives him a distinctively alien look. The proportions are definitely still exaggerated, but Hybrid is definitely a lot leaner than Lasher, and his proportions generally look a bit more conventionally heroic. Hybrid’s action feature is all worked into his back thingy. Each of the “fingers” on the end is spring-loaded, and they all move as one. There’s no activation for the feature, though, which is a little odd, but whatever. Hybrid’s paintwork isn’t quite as impressive as Lasher’s, but it’s solid work nonetheless. There’s a little bit of bleed over on the changes from indigo to grey, but the application is generally pretty good. I do wish the main body had more going on than the plain grey. The indigo of the upper torso has a light speckling of red, which keeps things somewhat interesting. Hybrid is packed with a “symbiotic wall-crawler”…thing, and a clear yellow Venom head with a small red symbiote inside it.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

So, I picked up Hybrid from the same vendor at Baltimore Comic-Con from whom I got US Agent and Lasher. They didn’t have him in his standard colors, so I had to settle for the variant. I can’t really complain about that, though, because the variant colors do look pretty sharp. Hybrid is a pretty fun figure, though maybe not quite as cool as Lasher.

Hybrid3

#0765: Lasher

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

LASHER

SPIDER-MAN

Lasher1

In the early 1990s, Venom was a pretty big deal for Marvel. Everybody loved the guy and his wacky symbiote. Marvel did their best to cash in on this, creating another symbiote wearing villain, Carnage. And, what do you know, Carnage ended up pretty darn popular himself. So, Marvel decided to try catching lightning in a bottle for the third time, but this time, they created a couple of different symbiotes, presumably hoping that one of them would have an easier time of sticking. It didn’t really work out so well for them (though one of the symbiotes, Scream, did end up getting to be a part of Universal Studios’ 3D animated Spider-Man ride, so that’s cool), but seeing as it was 90s Marvel, they still got action figures. Granted, those figures ended up being on the rare side, so they aren’t very cheap on the aftermarket. Who’d have thought the unsuccessful symbiotes would be the ones going for the big bucks? I managed to get a couple of the figures, so today I’ll be looking at my personal favorite of the symbiotes, Lasher!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Lasher2Lasher was released as part of the “Venom: Planet of the Symbiotes” sub-set of Toy Biz’s 90s Spider-Man line. He was available in two different color schemes. The green/grey combo I’m looking at today is the more common of the two schemes, and is also the one closer to Lasher’s in-comic appearance. The Planet of the Symbiotes figures were pretty sizeable for Toy Biz figures from the day (when their figures were based around a 5” scale), and Lasher’s no exception. He stands 6 ½ inches tall and has 12 points of articulation. Lasher has a sculpt that was unique to him. It’s admittedly heavy on the late ‘90s stylization. His muscles are all bulging and ripped, and presumably all mid-flex. His hands and feet are huge, and his head is tiny. To be fair, this all makes perfect sense for Lasher. He’s supposed to be super 90s. That’s part of what the character is. With the exception of the hands, which seem a bit too cartoony and devoid of texturing, Lasher’s sculpt is actually pretty well handled. Everything is nice and sharp, and there’s plenty of detail work. The breaks between the colors are actually all etched into the sculpt, which adds a nice bit of pop to the figure. The tendrils on his back and forearms are made from a softer plastic, so they flop around a bit, as tendrils do. The ones on the back are removable, if you so choose, but they stay in place well if you want them to. Lasher has an action feature of sorts: when his legs are squeezed together, the top half of the figure spins, flailing his arms and tendrils about. To facilitate this, his shoulders are a little on the loose side. That can be a bit frustrating when trying to pose him, but the action feature is overall not too invasive. Lasher’s paintwork is pretty well handled. The base grey is actually this cool speckled plastic, which adds a more alien touch. The mint green color off the accents is a nice, unique look in superhero figures, and it’s got a bit of paint sprayed over it to help it match up with the grey plastic. Lasher is packed with a weird wrist-mounted shield thing, which looks like an extension of the symbiote, as well as a clear yellow Venom head which houses a small symbiote. The symbiote is cool, because it’s made from this tacky gooey substance, which sells the idea of what it is pretty well.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I never had any of the Planet of the Symbiotes figures growing up. I don’t recall ever seeing them in the stores or anything. I do remember them from the backs of various Marvel toy packaging, and I definitely thought they looked pretty cool, but I never saw them. When I was filling some holes in my 90s Marvel collection a few years ago, I was always on the lookout for them, but they were prohibitively costly. But, it seems luck was on my side at this year’s Baltimore Comic-Con. The booth where I acquired US Agent (another personal grail) also had about a dozen bins just full of 90s Marvel figures. After digging through them for a few minutes, I managed to find a bunch of the Planet of the Symbiotes figures. Lasher was the one I knew I wanted the most, so I was thrilled to pull him from the bin, and even more thrilled to find out he wouldn’t cost me an arm and a leg. He’s definitely a goofy figure, but I’m really happy to have found one, and I really love this figure.

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#0745: Spider-Man 2099 & Agent Venom

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

SPIDER-MAN 2099 & AGENT VENOM

MARVEL MINIMATES

Venom&2099a

So, on top of this whole bit with doing Minimates based on the various Marvel animated shows, DST is taking Minimates to another new place: Walgreens! Yep, Walgreens, our resident “out of left field” action figure distributor has picked up yet another line to carry, Marvel Minimates. That makes me happy, because hey, more Minimates to buy, but also sad because now I have to buy more Minimates. Oh well. I’ll get over it. The first set of Walgreens exclusive Minimates continue the animated Marvel trend, and while they haven’t yet gotten us any new characters (series 2 will change that) we have managed to get one very needed update, which I’ll be taking a look at today. Let’s see how Spider-Man 2099 and Agent Venom turned out, shall we?

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Spider-Man 2099 and Agent Venom were released in the first Walgreens-exclusive series of Marvel Minimates. Both figures are based upon the characters’ designs from Ultimate Spider-Man.

SPIDER-MAN 2099

Venom&2099cThis isn’t the first Spider-Man 2099 Minimate, but it is the first one in 11 years, so that’s pretty noteworthy. He definitely was high on a lot of lists for “most in need of an update.” And, 2099’s design in the cartoon is (mostly) the same as his comics design, so this one can work as either. The figure stands about 2 ¼ inches tall and has the standard 14 points of articulation. Structurally, he’s another “vanilla ‘mate,” so he’s just the base body. While that may work well for his regular time period counterpart, 2099 should really get a few extras. The last 2099 ‘mate was just the basic body too, and that was at least part of why so many people wanted an update. The animated 2099 ditches the cape of his comics counterpart, so its absence is excusable, and the arm spikes would have needed to be new pieces, so it’s possible they didn’t cost out, but he should have at least gotten a pair of clawed hands. Just to make him a little…different. On the plus side, the paintwork on this figure does its very best to make up for the lack of sculpted parts. The base blue is nice and dark, and the highlights add a nice bit of visual flare that was lacking from the previous 2099. Plus, the red details are also nice and sharp, and stand out nicely from the rest of the figure. Everything is really clean and very well handled, and he does a great job of balancing between animated and comic styles, so he’ll be right at home with either line. 2099 includes a web line (in blue) and a clear display stand.

AGENT VENOM

Venom&2099bIt hasn’t been nearly as long since Agent Venom’s last ‘mate (from the Venom Through the Ages set, for those curious), but he’s a popular enough character that it’s not much of a surprise to see him turn up again. Plus, given last year’s Marvel Legends exclusive, it would seem Walgreens is pretty fond of the guy. Agent Venom is built on the usual body, with add-ons for his chest piece, belt, boots, and gloves. The chest piece, boots and gloves are all the same pieces used on the previous Agent Venom. The belt was presumably deemed too textured for the animated design, so it was replaced with the belt from the Series 55 Classic Captain America. The pieces match up pretty well with the animated version of Flash Venom, so no issues there. This figure loses the extra mask piece and the leg holster of the last one; the mask was likely cut to streamline the design a bit, and the animated Agent Venom does not have the guns of his comics counterpart, and therefore doesn’t need the holster. The paintwork on Agent Venom is a bit different this time around. The animated design is just a bit different from the mainstream look, specifically on the mask. The eyes ditch the inverted Spider-Man design for something a bit more basic. It’s not as distinctive, but it’s accurate to the show. The figure has some pretty stylized shading, which is cleanly handled, and makes it more clear that this is an animated figure. Agent Venom’s one accessory is a clear display stand, which is a pretty big step down from the extra hairpiece and two weapons included with the boxed set version. I know the cartoon Agent Venom isn’t armed, but an extra unmasked head would have been nice.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Take a guess where I got this set. If you guessed Walgreens, you were correct. Good for you. 2099 was definitely the main draw for me. I have a bit of nostalgia for the original, but he was very, very dated, so an update is much appreciated. Yes, it would have been nice to get a few extra sculpted parts, but the paintwork does a lot to save this guy. Agent Venom isn’t really exciting to me, but I have the boxed set version. While that’s the superior of the two, this one isn’t bad at all, and I’m sure he’s awesome to someone who wasn’t able to get the last one.

#0651: Superior Venom

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

SUPERIOR VENOM

MARVEL LEGENDS INFINITE SERIES

SuperiorVenom1

Have you guys seen the movie Inception? Because of today’s review might be slightly like that. A little. The focus of this review is a villain, inside a hero, inside a villain. That’s right, it’s Superior Venom, who’s Doctor Octopus’s mind in Peter Parker’s body, while bonded with the Venom symbiote. Confused? You won’t be after the next episode–er, review on The Figure in Question.*

THE FIGURE ITSELF

SuperiorVenom2Superior Venom is the second figure in the latest round of Spider-Man Marvel Legends Infinite Series. He’s the requisite symbiote for the series. Just go with it. He’s based on the brief appearance of the Superior Venom from Superior Spider-Man #22-25. It’s short-lived, but it’s a Venom variant, so…yeah. The figure is just over 6 inches tall and sports 32 points of articulation. He’s built on Hasbro’s new Spider-Man base body, which is sensible, given that it’s supposed to be the same guy (more or less). In addition to the body, Venom gets a brand-new head sculpt, as well as the hands of Spider-Man 2099, and what appear to be a resized set of Ultimate Green Goblin feet. The head is a pretty good match to Humberto Ramos’s artwork from the issues where the design appeared; it’s sufficiently monstrous while still maintaining the Spider-Man look. The figure also has a backpack style piece, which has four slots for his leg attachments. Each slot is designed to fit a specific leg, which I guess makes placing them a bit easier, but it also means the legs are totally static. Given the odd posing of said legs, the lack of movement is rather frustrating. Superior Venom’s paintwork is pretty decently handled. It’s mostly just white detailing, which stands out nicely against the figure’s black plastic. The deliberately crooked webbing makes for a much better detailing than Superior Spider-Man, which is a nice change. He also has the red web shooters on his wrists, which were missing from Superior Spider-Man. The figure is packed with the right arm of Rhino, this series’ Build-A-Figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Yeah, so here’s another Venom, and it’s not the classic Eddie Brock version that pretty much everyone wanted. But, it’s okay, because Hasbro showed that one at ComiCon. No worries. I’m not gonna lie, I pretty much only got this guy because I was buying a whole set. Superior Venom isn’t a look I really needed. That said, he’s a surprisingly enjoyable figure. Sure, the tendril/legs don’t move, which is a definite bummer, but the figure is actually a lot of fun, and he fixes a few of the issues present with the Superior Spider-Man figure.  Damn you Hasbro, making me like figures I had no interest in! You’re killing me!

*that’s right, I made a Soap reference. Everyone knows that action figures and Soap go together like…two things that go together.

SuperiorVenom3

#0618: Agent Venom

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

AGENT VENOM

MARVEL LEGENDS INFINTE SERIES

AgentVenom1

Retail has become an odd place for action figures. Lots of stores are condensing their action figure section, and Toys R Us is really the only toy store game in town. But, in a time where lots of places are cutting back, Walgreens of all places has stepped up to the plate, not only carrying an increasingly wide variety of action figure lines, but also carrying their own exclusive items. Some are just simple repaints, but some are all-new, fan-demanded figures, such as Agent Venom, the subject of today’s review.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

AgentVenom2Agent Venom is a Walgreens exclusive figure, released to coincide with Series 1 of Amazing Spider-Man 2 Marvel Legends Infinite Series. The figure had previously been shown in various con displays, with no real mention of where he’d be showing up. The figure stands about 6 ¼ inches tall and sports 32 points of articulation. He is, of course, based on the initial Agent Venom design, from right after Flash Thompson took over as host to the alien symbiote. It’s admittedly one of the more unique variants of the Venom design, and it makes for a rather striking figure, so it’s a good choice for a toy. The figure uses the Face-Off Punisher body as a starting point, with a unique head, hands, knees, shins, and feet and add-ons for the body armor and belt. The body is a little outdated, in terms of both proportions and articulation. However, the Bucky Cap body would be too small and the Hyperion body would be too large, making this the best fit of the existing bodies. On the plus side, the armor covers the torso, thereby hiding some of the wonky proportions. The movement still kinda sucks, but it’s not terrible. The pieces that are new are all very well sculpted. The head is nice and simple, and the armored pieces are loaded with tons of texture. When fully assembled, the figure is the spitting image of his comicbook incarnation. The paintwork on the figure isn’t quite as impressive as the sculpt. Some of that’s to be expected; the character’s design doesn’t really equate to a lot of painted detail. He’s really just got the white accent lines running throughout. They aren’t atrocious, but they could certainly stand to be a little cleaner. Agent Venom includes two Glocks, an MP5, and a USP handgun, as well as a cool four armed symbiote attachment piece to help him hold them all.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I actually found this figure quite a while before I got one. He was amongst the large selection of figures I found at the Walgreens near Super Awesome Girlfriend’s school while I was visiting some months back. But, there were a lot of things I wanted, and I only had so much money (and space in my bag for the plane ride home) so he got put back. Then I didn’t see one again, so I figured I’d missed my shot. A couple of weeks ago, I stopped by a somewhat out of the way Walgreens while killing time during my brother’s karate lesson. I found this guy back behind several other ML Infinite figures. Venom’s not exactly one of my favorite comicbook characters, but the Agent Venom design is actually pretty cool, and it translates incredibly well to action figure form.

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#0537: Anti-Venom

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

ANTI-VENOM

MARVEL LEGENDS INFINITE SERIES

AntiVenom1

In the 70s and 80s, the mark of a successful comics character was getting a female counterpart. When comics moved into the 90s, the money was all in spinning off a grittier version of your character. Case in point: Venom. Of course, Venom’s kind of an insane example of this, because he ended up getting a spin-off, Carnage, who ended up getting several spin-off characters of his own. And pretty much none of them made it out of the 90s. Eventually, Marvel ended up going back to Venom for spin-offs, and came up with the brilliant idea of Anti-Venom. Can you guess what character I’m looking at today?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

AntiVenom2Anti-Venom is a part of Series 2 of the Amazing Spider-Man Marvel Legends Infinite Series. Fun fact: in the 5 years the character has been around, Anti-Venom has managed to get a Minimate, a Marvel Select figure, and this here Marvel Legend. Lucky guy. Anti-Venom is about 6 ½ inches tall and has 32 points of articulation. The figure is built on the large male buck, first put to use on Hyperion. It’s a pretty decent body, however the neck sits just a tad too far back. It’s a minor nit, and it isn’t too apparent on this particular figure, but it’s still there, waiting. In addition to the base body pieces, Anti-Venom uses the forearms and hands from last series’ Toxin figure, which themselves are just resized versions of Carnage’s hands. He also has a brand-new head and… uhh… back spikes? I really don’t know what those are. But, they’re well sculpted, I guess, and easily removable, if back spikes aren’t your thing. The head is a rather nice piece, and there’s some rather nice detail work, especially on the face. Anti-Venom is, for the most part, just white plastic with black paint for detail. The black is generally pretty evenly applied, and the edges are all nice and sharp. It’s also pretty shiny, which works well for the whole symbiote look. There’s a little bit of misplacement on the black parts of the head; there are some etched lines that it seems like the black is supposed to go inside of, but in ends up just being in the same general area. Given the various sculpted texture in the surrounding areas, it’s not immediately noticeable, but it’s there. The head also has some orange for the eyes and mouth, and that’s all pretty decently applied as well, although the eyes do have a little bit of bleed through from the black underneath.  Anti-Venom is a little on the light side as far as accessories go, only coming with the left leg of the series’ Build-A-Figure, Hobgoblin. The lack of extras is forgivable, though, since he’s a larger figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Yeah, I picked up Anti-Venom as part of the full set of Spider-Man Legends I ordered through Big Bad Toy Store. I really wanted Hobgoblin, so I bit the bullet and just bought the whole series. I’m not a huge fan of the Anti-Venom concept, so I didn’t really have high expectations for the figure, but he’s actually not bad. Sure, he’s not as amazing as some of the other Legends we’ve gotten recently, but he’s pretty solid, and he does have a clean, bold look to him. I do find it interesting that in the last year of Legends, we’ve gotten the Flash Thompson version of Venom and both of Eddie Brock’s post-Venom identities, and we’re even getting the “Superior Venom” later this year, but we’ve yet to get an update on the classic Brock Venom. This figure shows that they can certainly do him justice, so maybe he’ll show up soon.

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#0065: Venom Through the Ages Minimates

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

VENOM, VENOM, VENOM & VENOM!

MARVEL MINIMATES

So, yeah, it’s…uhh…Venom.  And Venom.  And Venom and Venom.  That’s 4 Venoms.  What is it?  1995?  Anyway, it’s more Marvel Minimates.  This time around, it’s a boxed set commemorating all the different incarnations of Venom from over the years.  Because Venom’s such a diverse character.  Regardless, that’s the set I’m looking at today.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These guys were released last year, as the “Venom Through the Ages” boxed set.

VENOM UNLEASHED

First up, it’s the real star of the show.  This is the version of Venom that most people think of when they think of the character.  It’s the big, bulky, long-tongued, slobbering version of the character.  If you read my review of the recent TRU Venom, you’ve pretty much seen this figure before.  This one’s got most of the same pieces, only this time, cast in black instead of the dark blue from that figure.  To counteract this, they’ve done the muscle detailing in a light blue instead of black.  It’s all nice and cleanly done.  This one doesn’t have a Spider-Man under all the pieces, instead showing a crazed Eddie Brock.  He also includes a spare mask that is partly pulled back to reveal Eddies face, and an alternate hairpiece to show Eddie totally revealed.

VENOM – EDDIE BROCK

Next, it’s another version of Eddie Brock.  This time around, it’s based on his more svelte look from his earlier appearances.  He’s built on the basic Minimate body, with all the usual articulation.  In place of regular hands, he’s got a pair of clawed hands, which have been used for Venom a few times before.  He’s also got a torso cover that’s been used a few times in the past for some of the more bulky characters.  It’s not my favorite piece, due to its blockage of the figures shoulders and neck articulation, and its overall odd shape, but it works okay, I guess.  Instead of a sculpted head, Venom’s face is all paint on this one.  It looks pretty accurate to the material, and fits the minimate aesthetic a bit better.  The rest of his detailing is similar, though not identical, to that on the Venom Unleashed figure.  Venom also includes an alternate Eddie brock head, this time with a more calm expression than the last one.

VENOM – ANN WEYING

Next, it’s Ann Weying, one of the attempts to make a “She-Venom” back in the 90s, when everything Venom sold millions.  She was Eddie Brock’s ex-wife, or something, and had the symbiote for a little while, during one of Eddie’s many breaks from the role.  Quality story telling there.  She’s on the typical Minimate body, though with the same clawed hands that the Eddie Venom used.  Like Eddie, she has a painted face instead of a sculpted one.  The only other sculpted piece she has is a tendril piece that goes over her neck.  She’s detailed similarly to the Eddie Venom, though a bit more simplistic, and of course, more feminine.  She includes an unmasked head with hair.

VENOM – FLASH THOMPSON

Lastly, it’s Flash Thompson’s Venom.  This one’s kind of the outlier of the set, being form the last few years.  He’s also the only one that’s not a variation on the same basic look.  And he’s heroic to boot.  Flash’s design is of course based on his look from his series that’s been running the last few years.  For him, the symbiote is used more as a tool, and not a controlling force.  It’s an interesting take, and that’s actually not sarcasm.  Anyway, he’s on the usual body, but he’s got a whole bunch of add-ons.  He’s got a mask, vest, gloves, a belt, a holster, and boots.  With the exception of the mask, which has been used several times before, all the pieces are new to this figure.  They all look accurate to the source material, which is good.  Flash has minimal detailing, but it’s all well done.  The eyes and logo stand out nicely, and there’s a nice pattern representing the texturing on his arms.  Flash also includes an assault rifle, a handgun, and a hair piece to display him unmasked.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’m honestly not the world’s biggest Venom fan, but my usual online store had this set marked down during their Black Friday Sale, so I picked it up.  Eddie and Ann aren’t gonna win any awards, but Unleashed and Flash are both really cool, so I’m glad to have picked it up.

#0058: Nova & Alien Symbiote Venom

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

NOVA & ALIEN SYMBIOTE VENOM

MARVEL MINIMATES

Today, it’s another entry from the Marvel Minimates line.  Like the last two reviews, this set comes from the most recent Toys R Us Exclusive series.  This time around, it’s the latest incarnation of the character Marvel really wants to take off Nova, and villainous Spider-Man knock-off Venom.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These two were released as part of the 17th Toys R Us exclusive series of Marvel Minimates.

NOVA

First up, it’s everyone’s favorite Galactic Law enforcer!  No, it’s not Ryan Reynolds, it’s actually Nova, specifically of the All New variety.  It’s Sam Alexander, the most recent incarnation of Nova.  He’s built on the usual Minimate body, so he’s got 14 points of articulation and stands about 2 ½ inches tall.  He’s got a sculpted helmet, shoulder pads, and gloves.  The shoulder pads are reused from Wolverine, but the helmet and gloves are new pieces.  They look to be accurate to the source material, which is good.  The paint isn’t terrible, though there is some noticeable slop and a few fuzzy lines.  It’s not terrible, but it keeps the figure from being “great”.   Nova also includes an extra golden helmet to replace his regular one, an extra head w/ hair to make the figure into Sam’s dad, a clear blue blast off base, and the usual clear display stand.

VENOM

Next, it’s everyone’s favorite Topher Grace role!  …okay, not really…look, it’s Venom, okay?  Happy?  Venom is based on the look that Venom’s pretty consistently had since his introduction.  If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, I guess.  The characters size has varied over the years, and this figure’s meant to show him all ‘roided out like he was towards the end of the 90s.  The figure’s built on the basic Minimate body, with some sculpted parts which bring his articulation to 12 points and his height to a little over 2 ½ inches.  Venom’s got a sculpted mask, torso cover, pelvis cover, thigh covers, feet, upper arm covers and clawed hands.  The bulked up pieces have been used on several of the larger Marvel characters before, and the Venom specific parts have been used before in the Venom: Through the Ages set.  Venom is usually depicted in black and white, but for this figure, Diamond’s replaced the usual black with a dark, semi-metallic blue.  It’s not a huge difference, but it makes the figure different from previous releases I guess.  The paint is pretty good overall, with less of the slop that’s present on Nova.  As a cool bonus, if you remove all the added on parts, and give him the included normal hands and feet, you can assemble a black-costume Spider-Man.   Venom also includes a tendril that can be swapped out for one of his hands, and a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like the rest of this series, I got these two from TRU’s online store, with no real issues for a change.  This set is a perfectly fine addition to my collection, even if it isn’t necessarily.  The ability to use Venom as a Symbiote Spider-Man adds a whole lot to the set, as I think it might be my favorite take on that particular version of the character yet.