Tag Archives: Vision

#0968: Marvel’s Vision

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

MARVEL’S VISION

MARVEL LEGENDS – 3.75 (HASBRO)

VisionJonas1

One of the few good things to come out of the storytelling travesty that was “Avengers Disassembled” was the creation of Young Avengers, a pretty fantastic tribute to the various legacies from throughout Avengers history. During the events of “Disassembled,” the Vision, who is himself a legacy in a few ways, was killed. Young Avengers brought him back…sort of. The original Vision remained dead, but through a combination of remnants of his programming, and Iron Lad/Kang the Conqueror’s armor (and just a dash of his pre-Kang personality thrown in for good measure), Vision 2.0 was created. He served as an interesting take on the concept of the Vision, at times even more human than his predecessor. Jonas (Vision 2.0’s preferred name) has gotten a figure before, courtesy of DST’s Marvel Minimates, but Hasbro’s seen fit to give him another, although only die-hard Young Avengers might recognize it at first.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

VisionJonas2Jonas was released in the second series of Hasbro’s 3 ¾ inch scale Marvel Legends line (formerly Marvel Universe, then Avengers Infinite, then Marvel Infinite). Though he is clearly meant to be Vision 2.0, the packaging simply lists him as “Marvel’s Vision.” Given that the two Visions aren’t far off from each other in design, and the fact that the general public is still getting used to the first Vision, I can’t say it was a bad move to leave off the “2.0.” The figure stands about 4 inches tall and has 19 points of articulation. The figure is built on the new medium male body (the same one used on Machine Man and Yondu), which is actually a pretty good fit for Vision. It’s certainly better than the body used by the last 3 ¾ version of the character. I suppose you could argue that Jonas should perhaps be a little smaller than the original Vision, but different artists drew him different ways, so I can’t really find fault with it. The figure uses the cape from the prior Vision, which was probably the best part of that figure, along with a new head sculpt. The head is a fairly generic Vision head. I might have liked something with a bit more resemblance to Jim Cheung’s art, but this works just fine. The paint work on Vision is passable, but it could be better. There’s quite a bit of slop, especially in the face, which is rather annoying. The metallic yellow looks cool, but I do wish they’d done something more exciting than flat green for the rest of the costume. The Minimate was partially translucent, which was fun, but even just making the green metallic would have been something. Vision includes no accessories, which isn’t too shocking, since I can’t really think of any extras that could be included. That being said, given the rising costs of these figures, anything to help offset the price would certainly be appreciated.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I picked up Vision from my local Toys R Us, while out and about with Super Awesome Girlfriend. It’s not often I find a figure I’m looking for so quickly after its release, so that was nice. I was actually a bit surprised when this figure was announced. The Young Avengers book’s been done for a couple of years, and Jonas was dead and forgotten even before that. Of course I’ll hardly complain about getting another Young Avenger, even if he’s only the second member in this scale. Hey, Kate, Wiccan, and Hulkling are still kicking around, maybe we might get 3 ¾ inch versions of them too!

VisionJonas3

#0926: Vision & Winter Soldier

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

VISION & WINTER SOLDIER

CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR MINIVERSE

VisWS4 (2)

You guys know what’s coming out tomorrow, right? Captain America: Civil War! I must admit, I’m quite looking forward to the movie, and I’ve already got my tickets to see it later this evening. Hopefully it doesn’t disappoint!

Hasbro’s been rather steadily rolling out their various tie-in products. My main interest, as always, is the action figures. There are a couple of different scales, but the only one so far to promise a more or less complete lineup of characters from the film is their smaller 2 ½-inch line, so that’s the one I’m investing in right now. I’ll kick things off by looking at two of my favorite characters from the movie (and the comics that spawned it): Vision and the Winter Soldier.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

This pair is part of the first series of Hasbro’s Captain America: Civil War Miniverse line. It would seem that Hasbro has moved away from the weird Sub-Ultron idea from the Age of Ultron line, opting instead for more straightforward two-packs, which are much preferred. I will admit that this pairing seems a bit odd, since these two aren’t known for having much of a connection, but I won’t complain.

VISION

VisWS2So, it’s hard to say how big a role Vision will play in the movie. If I had to guess, I’d say it won’t be super huge. Still, he’s the Vision, so he’ll be super awesome even if he’s only on the screen for 30 seconds. Vision’s been released in this scale before as part of the Age of Ultron line, but he was based on earlier designs, making him slightly inaccurate. Since his look hasn’t changed in Civil War, this gives Hasbro another chance at perfecting him. The figure stands 2 ¾ inches tall and has 5 points of articulation. He’s a bit taller than the last Vision, which is nice, because my main complaint on that one was how undersized he was. The figure’s sculpt is totally new, and as a whole it’s a marked improvement over the AoU version: the proportions are more balanced, the detail is sharper, the cape sits better, and he’s much closer to his onscreen counterpart’s appearance. Really, my only complaint about the sculpt are the feet, which are a bit clown-shoe-y for my taste. But hey, at least he doesn’t fall over as much. Vision’s paint is different from that of his predecessor. It’s hard to say if it’s better or worse; just different. The colors feel like a better match for the movie, but he’s missing some of the red detailing on his body, and he still doesn’t have any green on his head. Vision has no accessories, but I can’t really think of anything to include.

WINTER SOLDIER

VisWS5Winter Soldier is no doubt one of the more important characters in the movie, given that the film’s continuing the story started in the last film. Interestingly enough, Winter Soldier is presented here with his mask/goggles look from the second Cap film, which I don’t believe he’ll be sporting in the upcoming film. An unmasked Bucky is planned for Series 2, though, so I guess Hasbro just wanted to get us both looks. The figure’s the same height as Vision, which seems a little large, but whatever. His sculpt is pretty decent overall. He’s a bit more pre-posed than Vision, with his legs in sort of a mid-stride sort of pose. It’s not too out there, so I don’t mind all that much. He has the same issue of slightly large feet that Vision had, but that’s also pretty minor. On the plus side, the level of detail is pretty great, and he looks quite accurate to the source material. The paint is a little drab and simple, if I’m honest. While the sculpt has lots of really great details, the paint overlooks most of them. For the most part, he’s just molded in a dark grey, with a tiny bit of paint for things like his harness and belt. Things like his boots, kneepads, and even both of his hands are left totally unpainted. It looks okay overall, but it’s a tiny bit disappointing. Each of the sets in the Miniverse line has one set of clip-on armor, and Winter Soldier is the lucky one in this set. He has…umm…well, they look like jack hammers or something, to attach to his arms. I’m gonna go out on a limb and say he probably won’t use this contraption in the film…

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

So, my parents were out running errands a few weeks ago and my dad called me to ask if I wanted any of the Civil War stuff that was out. I opted for this set, since, as I mentioned in the intro, I’m pretty fond of both characters. Is this set going to re-shape the toy world? No. But they’ll certainly hold me over until these guys get more proper figures, and they’re quite a bit of fun.

VisWS4

#0913: Vision & Hawkeye

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

VISION & HAWKEYE

MARVEL MINIMATES

VisionHawkeyeCW1

Civil War is almost upon us (well, some people have already seen it. Lucky ducks…) and the tie-in product is starting to hit, though not as explosively as in prior years. Still, there’s notably more stuff then we got for Winter Soldier. As with all the recent Marvel Studios films, there are some Minimates based on the movie, and the Toys R Us assortment just started showing up. Today, I’ll be looking at two of my favorite Avengers, Vision and Hawkeye!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Vision and Hawkeye are the Toys R Us-exclusive set from the first series of Civil War Minimates (which are Series 66 of the specialty Marvel Minimates line). It’s actually fairly amusing that their packed together, since Vision and Hawkeye’s very first Minimates (from way back in Series 20) were also packed together.

VISION

VisionHawkeyeCW2With the exception of the face detailing, this Vision is the same as the Series 63 version of the character. That was a pretty nice translation of the film version of Vision, and since his design hasn’t changed between the two movies, the new figure’s pretty accurate to Civil War as well. He gets a new, more detailed face, which has a better likeness of Paul Bettany, and adds some of the detail lines that were absent from the last figure’s face. There’s actually a pretty good rationale for this almost total re-release: Vision was a specialty exclusive in the AoU assortments, meaning he was one of the two Avengers not available to TRU consumers. Now everybody gets a Vision! Vision includes both a clear display stand and a flight stand.

HAWKEYE

VisionHawkeyeCW3Of all the costumes in the first Avengers movie, Hawkeye’s was the one that most disappointed me. Hawkeye’s got one of the coolest costumes in comics, and the movie version sucked a lot of the originality out of it. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who felt that way, since Hawkeye’s gotten a slightly tweaked design in both subsequent reappearances. In AoU, he added a pretty cool coat to his look, but he still seemed to lack some of his comics counterpart’s flair. Civil War seems dead set on amending that, as it’s given Hawkeye possibly his coolest look yet, taking major cues from his West Coast Avengers/Heroic Age design. This ‘mate replicates that design. He has add-on pieces for his hair, quiver, and holster. All of these parts are re-used pieces (being mostly fairly generic parts), but they certainly fit what we’ve seen of Hawkeye’s look so far. Hawkeye’s paintwork is pretty impressive, with a whole ton of great detail work on his uniform, giving him a lot of dimension. His colors also pop; I think this is my favorite shade of purple that I’ve seen on a movie Hawkeye. The likeness on the face bears a resemblance to Jeremy Renner, but I think the Winter Ops Hawkeye still has the closest resemblance. Hawkeye includes a bow, three arrows, a pistol, and a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I came across this set at my local TRU. Shocking, right? For whatever reason, this was the set I was most looking forward to in this series. Vision’s essentially a re-release, but the minor changes go a long way, at least for me, and I prefer this one to the AoU version. The new Hawkeye design is pretty strong, and it translates quite nicely to the ‘mate aesthetic, resulting in what is probably the best MCU version of the character so far. This set might be easy to overlook, but it’s definitely one I’m glad I got.

#0901: Vision

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

VISION

MARVEL UNIVERSE 10-INCH (TOY BIZ)

During Toy Biz’s run producing Marvel toys in the 90s, their standard scale of choice was 5-inch scale. Since most of their prototypes were done as two-ups (sculpted at twice the size and then scaled down during the production process), they also had the ability to produce virtually the same sculpts at twice the size, allowing them to produce a fairly vast line of 10-inch scaled figures. The figures were generally produced on the cheap, which Toy Biz achieved by building as many of the figures as they could out of a bank of common pieces. This led to them producing a number of more (at the time) obscure characters who happened to be easy builds. One such character was the Vision, who ended up getting his very first figure courtesy of this line (though his next three figures would arrive in short succession).

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Vision10inch2Vision was released as part of the 10-inch scale Marvel Universe line during the late 1997/early 1998 assortment. He predates the line’s move to being KB Toys-exclusive, though not by much. The figure stands 10 inches tall and has 9 points of articulation. Vision is depicted here in his mid-90s costume, which was the look he was porting when the figure was put into production, but he had gone back to his classic look right around this figure’s time of release. As far as structure, he uses an up-scaled version of the second Archangel body as his base, with a head from Silver Surfer. Both were favored pieces by Toy Biz, so they showed up a lot, and the same formula would be employed for the smaller-scale Marvel Gold version of the character. The body seems a little on the large side for Vision, but isn’t a terrible fit. He still has the wrist bands from Archangel, but he’s hardly the first figure to use this body that just acted like those weren’t a part of the sculpt. Re-using head sculpts is generally a bit iffy, but it works okay here, because Surfer’s head was chromed and Vision’s is normally painted, plus Surfer’s head was just a generic bald head to begin with. Unfortunately, the head and body aren’t really meant to go together, so there’s a lot of excess space at the base of the neck, especially in the back. This figure originally had a cloth cape to complete the look, which I recall being slightly ill-fitting, but overall a good piece, and it masked the previously mentioned neck issues (EDIT: I found the cape!  my assessment of it based on memory was correct). Vision’s paint is cool looking, as long as you don’t look too close. The colors are all nicely chose, and the metallic green looks pretty awesome. That said, the application is pretty sloppy, with lots of fuzzy and wavy lines, with the change over from red to green on the head being the worst offender. Vision included no accessories.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I got Vision from Toy Liquidators, back in 1998. Anybody remember Toy Liquidators? They were on their way out, even in 1998. Anyway, I had been to this Toy Liquidators with my grandmother on my mom’s side, and gotten some other figures, but not Vision (because getting her to accept anyone that wasn’t Batman or Spider-Man was already enough of an uphill battle. Explaining why I needed a Vision figure because he was the first ever was not happening). When I mentioned Vision to my Dad, he took me back to the store to get the figure, because Dad gets me (my Grandmother got me too, but it was a different sort of bond). Is he a perfect figure? No, but he was literally the first Vision figure ever made, and that was the best thing ever to 5 year old me (I still think he’s pretty cool).

Vision10inch3

#0761: Ultron, Vision, & Hulk

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

ULTRON, VISION, & HULK

MARVEL LEGENDS INFINITE SERIES

UltVision&Hulk1

Last year, Hasbro partnered up with Target during the holiday season in order to offer a few exclusive items from a number of their lines. Among the lines included was Marvel Legends Infinite Series, which got a special three pack of figures, which included Captain America, Ms. Marvel, and Radioactive Man. It would seem Hasbro is looking to make this something of an annual thing, as another three pack was just released. Included this time around were Ultron, Vision, and the Hulk, all of whom received a nice popularity boost courtesy of Age of Ultron.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These three are, as noted above, part of a Target exclusive set, arriving just in time for the holiday season.

ULTRON

UltVision&Hulk4Ultron’s had quite a few figures this year, but this is actually only the second Marvel Legend. This one gives us another shot at the comics design. Specifically, he seems to draw inspiration from Ultron’s comics appearances from the last several years, though he certainly amalgamates a few different designs. The figure is about 6 ½ inches tall and has 30 points of articulation. Part of why Ultron amalgamates a few designs is due to some necessary parts re-use. Ultron makes use of the body of last year’s Ultimate Beetle figure, along with a new set of forearms/hands, as well as yet another all-new Ultron head. Beetle’s body’s actually not a bad fit for Ultron, and it was pretty good sculpt to begin with, so it’s re-use is definitely a reasonable one. The new forearms and hands meld nicely with the rest of the body, and definitely work better for the character than the original Beetle hands would. The new head is definitely the star attraction here. It’s a fantastic sculpt, with lots of really sharp line work and some great symmetry, and it really captures the character well. Ultron’s mostly just molded in a dark silver plastic, which looks pretty decent, but he’s got a fair amount of red detailing throughout. In particular, I really like how the mouth has been handled; they managed to get that whole crackling energy thing down just right!

VISION

UltVision&Hulk2He’s had no new Marvel Legends for like 7 years (being dead can do that sort of thing to you) but Vision’s managed to get two whole new Marvel Legends figures. His first one hit just a few months ago, and was based on one of the character’s more recent designs. This figure opts for a slightly more oldschool look, offering Vision’s second design ever, from John Byrne’s run on West Coast Avengers. I respect Byrne a lot, but the less said about that run and why the Vision was suddenly mono-chromatic, the better. Regardless of the questionable rationale behind the why of the design, it’s actually not a bad look, and it’s certainly different enough to warrant a figure. The figure stands about 6 ¼ inches tall and has 32 points of articulation. He is, more or less, a repaint of the last Vision figure. He’s built on Hasbro’s favorite body, the Bucky Cap, and uses the same head as the previous Vision. Unfortunately, he’s back to the two-fisted look, which is a shame, since the outstretched hand of the last one (and this one’s prototype) made for a nice variety of poses. To make up for that, this guy gets a brand new pair of feet, sans shoes, which are very well sculpted. He’s also got that same cape piece, of which I am still not a huge fan, but it’s less offensive here. The paint is, of course, the main draw of this figure. Now, he could have been just solid white, since that’s how he was depicted in the comics. However, Hasbro decided to do something a bit more visually interesting, so he’s molded in clear plastic, with white painted over top, making him semi-translucent, which looks really cool. In general, this paint works a lot better for this sculpt than that on the Now! Costume. I do sort of wish the black costume lines went all the way around his torso, but he that’s relatively minor.

HULK

UltVision&Hulk3Last up, it’s the required heavy hitter of the set, Hulk. This Hulk, like Ultron before him, appears to be an amalgam of a few recent Hulk designs. Overall, he seems to take the most influence from the Indestructible Hulk book from the Marvel Now! relaunch, though he lacks that look’s armor. The figure is a little over 8 inches tall and has 31 points of articulation. The figure gets a new head sculpt, clearly based on the buzz-cut look from Indestructible. It’s a pretty nice sculpt, which is certainly expressive, so that’s cool. From the neck down, the figure is the same as the Age of Ultron version from earlier this year. It’s a decent enough sculpt, and it actually works a bit better for a comic design, than it did a film design. Hulk’s paint work is fairly straightforward, basic greens and purples. It’s not the most exciting look of all time, but it’s pretty solid work.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I, unsurprisingly, got this set from my local Target. My main interest in getting this set was definitely Vision. He’s definitely a solid figure, and an improvement over the Now! version. Hopefully a proper classic look (or maybe even his 90s look) is on the horizon. Regarding the other two figures in the set, Hulk is a well done space taker, but Ultron is actually a pleasant surprise. He’s the best figure in the set, and probably one of the best Ultron figures ever. Solid work!

#0731: Vision – Marvel Heroes

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

VISION – MARVEL HEROES

MARVEL LEGENDS INFINITE SERIES

VisionNow1

With the exception of the AoU boxed set (which only kind of an honorary entry) it’s been a little while since I’ve looked at any Marvel Legends. That’ll change very quickly. Vision’s been making a pretty big splash recently. Something to do with a movie or something. The character’s renewed popularity reminded us all that we hadn’t gotten an ML Vision since very early in Hasbro’s run, and that one also wasn’t very good. So now there’s a new one! Let’s see how this one turned out.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

VisionNow2Vision is a part of the third series of Avengers Marvel Legends Infinite Series figures, referred to by Hasbro as the “Hulkbuster Series” in reference to the Build-A-Figure. On the package, Vision is officially called “Marvel Heroes,” which may just be the most generic shared name to date. I guess they couldn’t think of any other common traits for Vision and Dr. Strange. The figure stands about 6 inches tall and has 32 points of articulation. Vision is presented here in his Marvel Now! costume (which, it should be noted, is NOT his current costume) most commonly seen in his Avengers A.I. appearances. It’s not too far removed from his classic look and it also has a few elements in common with his movie design, so I can see the appeal of this design. The figure is built on the Bucky Cap body, which is clearly one of Hasbro’s favorites. It’s a good body, and certainly a good fit for the character, so it works. He also gets a pair of hands from the recent “pizza” Spidey, which certainly make more sense than a pair of fists. The cape is the same one we saw on Grim Reaper and Brother Voodoo, and it’s really not one of my favorites. It’s got a strange flow to it and it sticks out way too far in the back. Plus, it doesn’t work for the seamless continuation from the torso that the comic design sports. I really hope they realize how flawed this piece is before it makes its way onto too many other figures. Vision’s one new piece is his head sculpt. It’s passable, but not fantastic. Above all, it just feels a bit too wide. It could certainly be worse, though. The paintwork on the figure is generally pretty decent. The head has some slop going on around the edge of the cowl, which is kind of annoying. From the neck down, it’s much better, with very little bleed over or slop. I do wish the diamond of the logo were a little bigger, but that’s minor. The metallic greens are definitely a highlight, though. Vision’s only extra is the lower torso of the Hulkbuster.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

In case you hadn’t gleaned from prior Vision reviews, I’m a pretty big fan of the character. So, I was pretty excited to hear he was getting a new Legends figure, even if it was his Now! costume, of which I am only a moderate fan. Most of my Legends buying has been moved online, but I actually found this guy at a Walgreens, which was cool. He then ended up being part of the big “Unboxening” I did a few weeks ago, which was cool. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t the tiniest bit let down by this figure. He’s not bad, but he lacks the excitement of other figures from the line. I will say my opinion of him did improve immensely once I ditched the cape for a spare of the old Toy Biz one.

VisionNow3

#0722: Vision & Hydra Soldier

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

VISION & HYDRA SOLDIER

MARVEL MINIMATES

Vision&Hydra1

In my recent Age of Ultron boxed set review, I noted the difficulty of getting a complete line-up of the Avengers from the film. While Hasbro’s only managed to get the main team from the first film in one cohesive scale, Marvel Minimates actually offers the whole team from the second film, add-ons and all. I’ve already looked at the twins, so the one major missing link is the team’s resident synthezoid, the Vision, aka the absolute coolest character in the movie. That’s indisputable fact!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Vision was packed alongside a generic Hydra Soldier as a part of Series 63 of Marvel Minimates, which is the second AoU-based series. This is the more common of the two Vision packs; the variant set has a phasing version.

VISION

Vision&Hydra2Vision makes his MCU debut here, though this is fourth time he’s made his way into the Minimates style. He’s based on his main, final battle look from the film, which itself is pretty decent adaptation of his classic comics look, with a bit of his Now! look thrown in. The figure is about 2 ½ inches tall and he’s got 14 points of articulation. Vision makes use of a single add-on piece for his cape. It was first used on the DC Minimates Superman. It’s really just a fairly standard cape, which works well enough for Vision’s design. It lacks the more intricate shoulder piece of the film design, but at the smaller scale, it’s not really noticeable. The rest of Vision’s detail work is handled via paint. He has a bunch of detail work, on just about every surface, which is pretty cool. The likeness bears more than a passing resemblance to Paul Bettany, which is always good. The rest of the details translate his film costume pretty nicely. The colors are a bit more drab than I’d like, but they aren’t as off as most of the other Vision merchandise, which is a plus. The cape being clear is still a little odd, if I’m honest, but the intricate detailing on the back does a lot to make up for it. For accessories, Vision is pretty basic. He’s got a flying stand and a more basic display stand. Some extra phasing parts might have been cool, but the variant figure has that pretty well covered a guess.

HYDRA SOLDIER

Vision&Hydra3This definitely isn’t the first MCU Hydra Soldier we’ve gotten, but it is the first one to be from the modern day, so that’s cool. This figure is a general representation of the Hydra Soldiers the Avengers fought during the opening sequence of the film. It’s not the most visually distinct look, but it’s what they looked like in the movie. The Hydra Soldier has add-ons for his helmet, jacket/hood, and the pouches on his legs. The helmet is a re-use from Series 51’s Heavy SHIELD Agent; it’s a good match for the look from the film, so it works. The pouches on the legs look familiar, but I can’t place exactly where I’ve seen them before. They’re well-sculpted regardless. The jacket piece looks to be new to this figure; it’s a pretty straightforward winter coat, and it fits well on the figure. It’s a little light on details, but otherwise decent. The paintwork on this guy is actually pretty great. The camo has some decent coverage, which is always nice to see. The rest of the paintwork is also pretty clean, and he’s even got a fully detailed shirt underneath of the coat, should you chose to display him without it. The face isn’t based on anyone in particular, but it’s a good generic face. The Hydra Agent is packed with a decent allotment of accessories. He has a traditional machine gun, a more science-y gun, a baseball cap for additional customizability, and a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I picked this set up from my local comic book store. As one of the few versions of AoU Vision available, I was pretty eager to get the set for him. Vision’s definitely a strong ‘mate, and a worthy addition to the Avengers line-up. He’s definitely the main draw here. The Hydra Agent isn’t the most exciting army builder, but the ‘mate is decently put together, and there are worse things than having a fairly straightforward soldier. All-in-all, this is a pretty fun set of ‘mates.

Vision&Hydra4

#0669: Vision

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

VISION

MARVEL POP! ICONS

VisionPop1

Well, the summer is almost done, and we’ve more or less moved away from the movies that kicked off the summer movie season. It hit early, but Avengers: Age of Ultron remained one of my favorites throughout the summer. It may not have been perfect, but it was enough fun that I really didn’t care. One of my favorite parts of the movie was the live action debut of the Vision, who was a excessively cool. Unfortunately, he was absent from a lot of the early merchandise for a the movie, so there was a bit of a wait for toys. Funko was at the head of the charge, though, offering Vision in the first selection of their Pop! Figures from the movie.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

VisionPop2Vision is figure #71 in Funko’s Marvel Pop! Heroes line, which puts him in the same number sequence as the other Age of Ultron figures. Obviously, he’s based on Vision’s film appearance. This is the first time that Vision’s been done in the Pop! style, but here’s hoping a comic version’s not too far behind. The figure stands about 3 ½ inches tall. As a Marvel Pop!, he is legally a bobble head, not an action figure, so he has no actual articulation. You can reposition his head a bit if you really want to, but that’s really it. As far as the sculpt goes, Vision is pretty standard Pop! faire. Squared head, creepy round eyes, pointy nose, and no mouth. It’s a well-established formula, so it’s not surprising to see the figure stick to it. He also keeps the rather standard squatting pose, which is a tad disappointing after getting several Pop! figures that changed the pose up a bit. Of course, it’s far from the worst pose they could have chosen, so it doesn’t hold him back or anything. Moving past the basic Pop! stuff, it’s worth noting that the figure has some very nice texturing and fine detail work, especially on the body suit. He’s definitely one of the more detailed Pop! figures. The paint on Vision is a little off. The colors were clearly based on early designs of the character, as they’re far more washed out than those of the final design. The Hasbro 2 ½ inch figure had a similar issue, so it would seem that Marvel changed Vision’s colors after distributing materials to the licensees. Oh well. It’s not horribly off, just a little. On the plus side, the paint is all pretty cleanly applied, without a lot of the usual bleed over issues of the typical Funko product.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Vision was another figure added to my collection by the insanely awesome Super Awesome Girlfriend. After seeing the movie, I had made mention of really wanting a Vision figure of some sort and lamented the fact that there really weren’t any available to buy. So, the next time she came to visit, she gave me this guy. The Marvel Pop! figures can sometimes be a slight letdown, due to the whole bobble-head thing, but Vision is actually pretty nifty. I’m happy to have him!

#0641: Vision (w/ Sub-Ultron 011)

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

VISION (W/ SUB-ULTRON 011)

AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON

VisionAoU1

With the last few Marvel movie tie-in toy lines, Hasbro’s been trying out a variety of different scales and styles, just to see what sticks, I guess. Guardians of the Galaxy skipped the company’s signature 3 ¾ inch scale in favor of the slightly smaller 2 ½ inch scale. Age of Ultron has delivered the best of both worlds (sort of) by giving us both scales. I’ve looked at a few of the 3 ¾ inch figures with…mixed results. Yesterday’s Scarlet Witch review was my first look at the smaller line, and, aside from the weird Sub-Ultron pack-in, I quite liked her. Now, Scarlet witch was one of my favorite additions to the team in Age of Ultron, but, for me, the absolute top was today’s focus, The Vision. That dude rocked super hard. Currently, his only movie-based figure (not counting the Pop! bobble-head) is in the 2 ½ inch line.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

VisionAoU2Vision (and his pack-mate Sub-Ultron 011) was released in the second assortment of 2 ½ inch Avengers: Age of Ultron figures. Given the scale, it’s no surprise that the figure stands 2 ½ inches tall. This is a slight point of annoyance for me because he’s just a smidge shorter than the Scarlet Witch figure, which isn’t accurate. Vision is played by the 6’3” Paul Bettany, while Elizabeth Olsen, who plays Scarlet Witch, is only 5’6”. Scale’s a bit harder when they’re this small, so it’s sort of forgivable, but still annoying. But what about the figure outside of comparative heights? Well, obviously, he’s based on Vision as portrayed by Bettany in the movie. That being said, he appears to have been based on an earlier design for Vision. He’s not incredibly different, but the headpiece is a little bulkier and more rounded that it was in the final film. Aside from that, he’s got a pretty decent sculpt. The proportions are all nicely balanced, and his “uniform” VisionAoU3has the appropriate texturing. The cape is a little bulky at the top, but not horribly so, and it does a very nice job of capturing the intricate design from the movie. The paintwork is another area where the people at Hasbro were clearly working from a less than finalized design. In general, his palate is far more washed out than it was on screen; the greens are grey and the reds are more of a magenta. The yellow’s about the same, but the cape is missing all of the accent work of the one seen in the film, which puts the very nice sculpt somewhat to waste. Also, his headgear is just straight silver instead of green, and he’s lacking pupils. If Wanda can get pupils, so can he! Vision has no accessories of his own, but he does get packed with yet another Sub-Ultron. This one continues the wheeled theme, though we get a set of treads this time around. I think this particular Sub-Ultron is new to this pack, though the upper torso(s) did show up on a few other Sub-Ultrons in the first assortment. I like 011 more than 008, but the dual upper torso thing does confuse me a bit. Which one of them drives?

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

My parents went to Hawaii and all I got was this Vision action figure. Okay, not really. I mean, yes, my parents buy him for me while they were in Hawaii, but it’s not like it’s all I got. Plus, it’s the Vision. As I stated above, he rocks super hard. I think he’s on par with Hawaii. I will admit, Vision’s not quite as good as the Scarlet Witch in this scale, but he’s pretty decent, overall. Add in the fact that I like this Sub-Ultron more than the last, and you’ve got a pretty winning set. I do hope Hasbro does Vision in one of the larger scales, though. He’s too cool to be contained in a 2 ½ inch figure.

#0550: Vision

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

VISION

MARVEL UNIVERSE (HASBRO)

VisionMU1

Countdown to Avengers: Age of Ultron: 6 days remaining.

I’ve made it no secret that Hawkeye and Scarlet Witch are essential members of the Avengers as far as I’m concerned, on the same level as Captain America himself. Well, there’s one more Avenger who I think really makes the team, and that’s the Vision, the focus of today’s review. He didn’t show up until 57 issues into the series, but once he’s there he sticks with the team for a rather hefty portion of the book’s original run. For a time, he was the team’s signature character. But, he’s not Spider-Man or Wolverine, so he disappeared in the 2000s. Yay. But now he’s working his way back to the top! Go synthezoid, go!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

VisionMU2Vision was released in the sixth series of Hasbro’s Marvel Universe line. The figure was offered in two different versions: regular and phasing. Today, I’ll be looking at the phasing version. Originally, it was supposed to be the rarer of the two, but poor distribution of this series’ initial cases meant that the regular version ended up being a lot harder to find. The figure is about 3 ¾ inches tall and he has 20 points of articulation. He’s built using the first mid-size male buck from the line (initially used for Daredevil), which is something of a rocky starting point for any figure. The initial base bodies were…well, they weren’t very good. The mid-size body wasn’t the worst, but it’s got some issues with proportions, mostly in the torso area. It’s too short, and most of that comes from the fact that he looks like he’s missing an entire section of abdominal muscles. It’s weird. It’s also just a bit too short for Vision. Of the base bodies available at the time they produced this figure, this one was the best, but that doesn’t mean it’s very good. It’s not helped by the fact that a far superior mid-sized body was introduced in the very next series, making this figure look almost immediately out of date.  To the figure’s credit, he did feature an all-new head and cape, both of which were very nicely handled. It’s a little harder to tell on the clear figure, but the head has some nice, clean detail work that works quite nicely for the figure. The cape has a really nice flow to it, and it sits nicely on his shoulders. It’s a shame these pieces didn’t have the chance to be used on a better body. The paint on Vision is relatively minor. For the most part, he’s just molded in the appropriately colored plastic. The colors seem a little on the light side, but not too badly. There is a little bit of green on the tops of the lower legs and arms, and some red for his face. They’re applied well enough, and the end result is pretty nice. Vision’s lone accessory is a black display stand with his name and the number 006 on it.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I got this guy while in the midst of putting together a set of MU Avengers. I held off of getting this particular figure for a little while, since I was hoping to track down the regular version. However, once it became clear that wasn’t going to happen, I tracked this version down on Amazon. I can’t say he’s one of the best MU figures or even one of the best Vision figures. The outdated body really holds him back, which is a shame. That said, he’s not terrible, and given that MU has one of the most expansive Avengers rosters available, he’s kind of important.