Tag Archives: marvel universe

Aug 31 2012

Avengers: “Shield Launcher” Captain America by Hasbro

It took a while, but I think I’m at the end of my 3 ¾” Avengers run. I may still pick up a variant Thor, but otherwise I’ve got what I wanted to get out of this line and I can move on, although I’d still love to get a Maria Hill without having to buy that ho-hum Helicarrier. Obviously, Cap was a “must have” figure for me, since he’s the one that really changed his look the most between his own movie and the Avengers flick. Amazingly, I never did find this guy on the pegs and had to pay a little extra for him via the Interwebs. Let’s see if it was worth it…

Could this be the last time we see the Avengers packaging here on FigureFan? Could be, rabbit, could be. You’ll note the package heralds this figure as the “Shield Launcher” Cap, which means the figure is saddled with a ridiculous bazooka that fires Cap’s shield. I can only imagine this contraption is designed in case Cap can’t show up one day, but left his shield behind and some regular grunt needs to shoot it at a Chitauri. Once again, I beg the question to you, Hasbro, is it really cheaper to make these shitty weapons than it is to put a goddamn swivel cut in the figure’s waist? Moving on…

As mentioned earlier, this is the first time we’re seeing 3 ¾” Cap in his Avengers outfit and I think it translates pretty well. At first, I thought the figure a bit too bulky, particularly in the chest and belt area, but having viewed Avengers again since buying the figure, I think it’s pretty close to screen accurate. In fact, I really dig the way the sculpting makes the suit look more like armor than cheesy superhero spandex. There’s some especially nice detail worked into the gloves, boots and the belt, and I love the fact that the star on his chest is sculpted rather than just painted on. Cap also has a functional holster sculpted into his thigh. I’m certainly more a fan of his WWII-era costume from his original film, but this one has grown on me a lot. The paint apps are all nice and clean and the figure is bright and colorful, just like a comic book figure should be.

By now we all should have lowered our expectations over articulation in this line. If you’ve managed to do that, you won’t be disappointed. Cap’s got ball joints all around, in his neck, shoulders, elbows, hips, and knees, and that’s it. The stymied articulation didn’t bother me as much in the other Avengers, because they all had similar figures with better articulation released previously. Sadly, this is the best we’ve got for Avengers Cap. The compromise is that the figure feels a lot more solid than some of the more articulated versions and stands on his own very well.

Besides the aforementioned stupid gimmick weapon, Cap also comes with his trusty shield and an automatic pistol. The shield has an awesome vac metal look to it and is sculpted with straps to slide on to his arm just like the real thing did. I give Hasbro major props for doing this in the 3 ¾” scale, rather than using a clip as they have in the past. The downside is that it doesn’t attach to his back. There is, however, still a peg back there, in case you want to rob a shield from one of your other 3 ¾” Caps and stick it on. Another bummer about this shield is that it’s sculpted from really soft plastic and mine came out of the tray a little warped, making one side look flat. The automatic pistol is a pretty standard little item, sculpted in silver plastic and it fits nicely into his holster.

I’ve heard a lot of bad things about this figure before finally getting my hands on it, but I have to say I’m digging it a lot. Sure, like all the Avengers 3 ¾” figures, this one could have had better articulation, but laying that aside, I think he looks great on the shelf and I’m very glad to be able to hunt him down. Was it worth paying a little extra for him? Hells, yeah. I can’t have my Avengers team without Cap.

Aug 20 2012

Avengers: Hawkeye by Hasbro

Yeah, I’m still busy assembling my 3 ¾” Avengers collection and Hawkeye is the second to the last of the core team I needed. I’m passing on that terrible Hulk figure and will be content with using one of my Marvel Universe Hulks as a stand in, although I may yet buy one of the Thors sans helmet and cape. Unlike Black Widow, Hawkeye was a take him or leave him figure for me. I wasn’t going to pay a premium, and if I didn’t get him I wasn’t going to lose any sleep over it, but the action figure gods were good to me and I found him hanging on a peg during my last trip to Target. Good thing too, because this guy turned out to be a pretty cool figure…

Avengers packaging… is there anything else to be said? Wait a minute… “Three Launching Arrows?” Holy shit, they turned Hawkeye’s signature weapon into a big, obnoxious missile launcher? Ah, but fear not, panic is not warranted. There’s an extra bow in there allowing me to immediately toss the launching bow and arrows into the dreaded Junk Tote of Doom never to be seen again. The back of the card has the usual little bio blurb that points out that Hawkeye’s skill with a bow is unrivaled in all the world and that he can hang with the Avengers. Hawkeye, I love ya to death, but I don’t care how good you are with a bow and how many gimmicky arrows you have… you’re still a bug compared to Thor and Hulk.

Hasbro really did a bang up job on Hawkeye’s sculpt. The head does look a little bit meaty to me, or maybe the neck a bit too thin, but it’s not something that cripples the figure’s looks. I will concede that if I look at him just right, he kind of looks like an adult Fred Savage. (“I love the Infinity Gauntlet… It’s so bad!”) Seriously, though, I think the likeness is pretty solid for a figure in this scale, and I’m glad they went with the shades that add to his bad-assery. And I hope y’all bought tickets to the gun show, because Hasbro really packed in the detail to the sculpted muscles in his arms. The outfit has some very nice little details, particularly the little buckles, zippers, and the SHIELD emblems are well done and everything is painted really sharp. His quiver is a sculpted piece that is permanently attached to his back.

Hawkeye sports the limited articulation that most of the movie Avengers figures feature. You get a ball jointed neck, ball jointed shoulders, and ball jointed hips. The knees and elbows are hinged. There’s still some decent poseability to be had here, but it’s tough to get Hawkeye into a decent pose where he’s firing his bow.

Speaking of bows, Hawkeye comes with his ridiculous oversized missile firing bow and he also has the smaller bow that most collectors will keep for display. It’s a simple enough piece, but he can hold it pretty well.

Like I said at the beginning, I’m glad I was able to pick this guy up at a good price, because I wouldn’t have paid a premium for him, and then would have missed out on having a very solid figure in my collection. He looks great on display with his fellow 3 ¾” Avengers and like Black Widow he’s not a bad stand in for a GI JOE display. He seems to be hitting the stores with a little more regularity now, although I had to dig through quite a few Captain America and Iron Man 2 figures to get him. Yes, Iron Man 2 figures. Sheesh!

Aug 2 2012

Avengers: Skrull Soldier (Comic Series) by Hasbro

[Yep, it’s another bonus feature this week to try to keep me from falling too far behind. It’s nice to be finding stuff to buy once again! Next week is going to be a full week, with Monday through Friday devoted to Playmates’ Classic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and then moving on to business as usual for Vintage Vault on Friday and Star Trek Saturday. –FF]

Today’s figure brings me back to that agonizing buildup to the Avengers film when everyone was trying to figure out who the hell the bad guys were going to be. I really wanted them to be the Skrull or Kang, but when the first on screen images came out it was pretty clear the film was going Ultimates all over our asses and using the Chitauri as Loki’s army. In the end, Avengers turned out to be one of my all-time favorite movies, so I’m not going to quibble with the results and thanks to the wonderful little sub-line of “comic series” Avengers figures, we get a nice modern Skrull soldier figure, and a peek at what they might have looked like if they appeared in the movie.

We’ve seen plenty of the Avengers packaging here in the last couple of weeks, so I’ll be brief on the subject. Once again, it’s attractive, it’s serviceable, it shows off the figure and his oversized weapon very well. There’s no “Try Me” window in this one as there have been in the last couple of Avengers figures I’ve featured. The back panel shows off a picture of the figure and a little bio blurb. Let’s rip this baby open…

Holy crap, I adore this figure! I usually start with the sculpt, but I’m going to jump ahead this time to the coloring, because the colors on this figure are gorgeous. The combination of pale blue, metallic purple and silver are really inspired. It has all the vibrant beauty of a page right out of a brand new comic. The paintwork on the head is equally impressive. He’s a nice shade of green with a very well executed wash to bring out all of the tiny little details in the sculpt. Round it out with those piercing yellow eyes, and this figure is just a triumph of color.

And hey, that sculpt is not too shabby either. Granted, the sculpt truly impresses in the head where there is way more detail packed into this fellow’s face then you’re average 3 ¾” figure should allow. The armor has a simple, but streamlined design that almost looks retro sci-fi to me. His ab muscles are sculpted into the chestplate and there’s some nice work on the sculpted belt and the boots.

Of course, if you’re an articulation junky, you’ll be sorry to hear that the Skrull figure has the same level of articulation as many of the other Avengers figures. You get ball joints in the neck, shoulders, elbows, hips, and knees, and that’s it. The lack of wrist, ankle and torso articulation certainly hurts the figure, but the plethora of ball joints somewhat dulls the pain.

What’s this? Is this a goofy, gimmicky, oversized weapon that I actually like? Well, sort of. The Skrull Soldier comes with a giant two-headed energy axe. It’s not too bad by itself, but I really like the fact that you can pull the blades off and use them each as individual weapons. Don’t get me wrong, this thing isn’t going to be everybody’s cup of tea and I’m not saying I love it, but considering the nonsensical missile launchers Hasbro usually saddles us with, this weapon is actually kind of inspired and it’s probably the first one in ages that I didn’t either toss into the dreaded Tote of Doom or just outright pitch into the garbage can.

I never did get around to picking up that Marvel Universe Skrull figure and now I doubt that I’ll bother. This Skrull figure really tickles me in all the right spots and I’ll probably pick up a few more if I come across them on the pegs. One of the most frustrating things about loving this figure so much is that I can’t even put my finger on why I love it so much. Surely, a big part is just the coloring and the head sculpt. Whatever the case, this is easily one of my favorite figures to come out of the Avengers line, probably ranking just behind Black Widow. And given the Skrull is not a sexy redhead with boobs, that right there is quite a ringing endorsement.

Jul 24 2012

Avengers: “Fusion Armor” Iron Man Mark VII by Hasbro

A little bonus feature for this week. I’ve actually got a lot of stuff in this week, so I wanted to get through some extra stuff this week so I don’t get too far behind. We all know Tony Stark has more Iron Man armors than most people have pairs of socks, and damn if he doesn’t have the plethora of action figures to prove it. As much as I love the character in the comics and on the big screen, even I suffer from Iron Man figure fatigue. Nonetheless, I picked up this one because it’s the new armor in the movie and it’s the suit he’s wearing toward the end of the film when shit really starts getting real. Did I really need to own this one? Let’s find out…

It’s the Avengers 3 ¾” figure packaging… Yuppers. Is there any more to say? There’s a “Try Me” slot so you can spin the ridiculous saw blade weapon, which probably somehow hypnotizes you into forgetting you already own a dozen Iron Man figures and that you desperately need this figure in your collection. Once again, the packaging is attractive and serviceable. Let’s shred it so I can get to my figure.

So, the most obvious difference on this suit, from the previous Avengers Iron Man figure is the Arc Reactor in his chest has gone from being a triangle, back to being a circle.  I actually prefer the circle, and that’s why I bought this figure. It’s a lot bigger than the circle reactor on previous figures in this scale, and it looks like just a big white dot, which is disappointing. A little blue hue around the edges would have been cool, because it really looks like they forgot to paint it. The rest of the armor is quite nicely sculpted and is completely different from the previous figures in both subtle and not-so subtle ways. I like the additional sculpted bits on the shoulders.

I’m a little happier with the paintwork on this figure over the last one. The red is more glossy and vibrant and more like that awesome “new car finish” style lacquer that Hasbro used on the Iron Man 2 figures. The gold isn’t quite as vibrant and there’s a little slop on the back of his legs, but overall, the colors and paint on this figure pop nicely.

The articulation here is identical to the last Iron Man figure, which means it’s not that great. You get nine points and all of them are ball joints. That’s the neck, shoulders, elbows, hips, and knees. Yep, there’s zero articulation in the torso and that definitely hurts the figure. There’s also a lot of limitation to the hip joints. I didn’t mind the diminished articulation so much in Thor, but you can’t really get Iron Man into any great poses.

Iron Man comes with one accessory and… wait for it… waaaait for it… Yep, it’s a piece of garbage. It looks like it’s supposed to be some kind of shield with blue energy that spins around it. I was going to throw it out, but my cat took a fancy to it and now all I have to do is put it on the coffee table and spin it, and the cat goes absolutely nuts playing with it. Maybe this should have been called Iron Man “With Bonus Cat Toy!”

As much as I should, I cannot hate on this figure. It looks great standing on my shelf besides my movie Avengers. I’m not a big stickler on articulation, so the figure’s biggest stumbling point isn’t a deal breaker for me. Did I really need this one? Nah… but at seven bucks, it didn’t really break the bank either. I suppose the real issue is that I should have passed on the first Avengers Iron Man figure and waited to get this one, because I didn’t need both of them. But that’s it, Hasbro, I’m done buying 3 ¾” Iron Man figures for quite a while now. And based on what I’ve seen of the armor design in Iron Man 3, I may be passing on that figure too. You can, however, sell me a Ben Kingsley Mandarin figure… because seeing that on the pegs… well, that’s just going to blow my mind.

Jul 23 2012

Avengers: “Cosmic Spear” Loki by Hasbro

For such a huge and wonderful movie, the Avengers didn’t have a lot of staying power in the toy aisles around here. The bulk of the stuff has already been supplanted by Amazing Spider-Man and the few pegs that are left for the Avengers 3 ¾” figures are choked up by Iron Man 2, Thor, and Captain America figures, because some retailers have merged the SKU’s on the four lines (Yes, if you haven’t guessed already, I’m in the retail biz). As a result, I’ve been relegated to ordering the rest of what I want online. Yesterday, I got a package from Toys R Us with a couple of the 3 ¾” Avengers, and today we’re going to check out Loki. I’m sort of excited, since I never picked up any of the previous versions of Loki in this scale.

We’ve seen the packaging for the Avengers line here before, and we shall see it again. I don’t have much new to say, except I’m still digging on it. It’s attractive and serviceable. There’s a “Try Me” cut out so you can see the pathetic oversized weapon in action, but I can’t seriously imagine pressing that button will sway anyone’s opinion in favor of buying this figure. The back panel shows off a big photo of the figure, as well as some of the other figures in the assortment, and you also get a little blurb about Loki.

Out of the package, I’m pretty impressed with the sculpt of the figure. The head sculpt isn’t exactly a dead-on likeness, but it’s still a nice sculpt, complete with helmet and his trademark horns. The body depicts him wearing his full Asgardian armor, which is actually layered with some soft rubber pieces hanging off his torso and then his cape on top of that, hanging off his shoulders. The layering gives a nice depth and complexities to the already solid and detailed sculpt. The bulk of the figure is black, with gold paint apps for his armor pieces, and some green fringe, and a green cape. The cape is sculpted so that it’s blowing a bit off to the side. It isn’t terribly intrusive, but I really do wish it were removable.The paint apps on my figure are clean and precise. The gold paint is particularly nice and vibrant, and the whole deco really makes the figure stand out nicely on the shelf.

Loki’s articulation is pretty limited compared to Hasbro’s past Marvel movie figures. He has a ball jointed neck; His arms are ball jointed at the shoulders and again at the elbows; His legs are ball jointed at the hips and again at the knees. He has no torso articulation at all, and he’s also lacking wrist and ankle articulation. It’s not ideal, and if articulation is a major factor for you, you’re probably better off going with one of the Loki’s from the Thor line. On the other hand, the joints on this guy are solid and he stands very well on his own.

You get two accessories with Loki, one of which being the shitty oversized gimmick weapon called the “Cosmic Spear” It’s basically an overcomplicated pole axe with two stubby little blades that come  out of the sides when you push the shaft up. I’ve seen worse… at least it isn’t a missile launcher, but I really have no need for it so into the Tote of Forgotten Gimmicky Oversized Weapons it goes. One day, I shall bury that tote in the backyard and teach the future generations never to dig there. Of course, the good accessory is his Chitauri Staff, which featured so prominently in the movie. It’s a pretty nice likeness of this distinctive weapon. On the downside, only one of Loki’s hands is sculpted to hold it, the other is a fist, so he can’t hold it in both hands, like I’d like him to.

No real surprises here. In the end, Loki is a fantastic looking figure with articulation issues. I’m happy to have him on my shelf beside my Marvel movie figures, and I think kids could have a lot of fun with him, but if you’re a collector into posing your figures, he’s likely to disappoint. I tend to display my figures in a standing position and take them down every now and again to fiddle about with them, so the articulation doesn’t really bother me too much. Either way, the real reason to buy him is to get the Chitauri Staff.

Jul 11 2012

Marvel Spider-Man: “Power Charge” Rhino

With the pegs full of figures based on the new Amazing Spider-Man film, you might be surprised to see me dredging up this odd line that’s been pegwarming toy aisles for what seems like ages now. Sure, you’ve seen it, it’s the line with a thousand different versions of Spidey in all those mission armors that you’ve never seen him wear… ever! Amazingly, I actually covered a figure in this line before, it was“Toxic Blast” Venom, which I picked up because I desperately wanted a Venom figure for my Marvel Universe shelf and it fit the bill. The same is sort of the case here. I actually got this figure off of Ebay because it was bundled with my Avengers Black Widow at a pretty low price. And just like Venom, this Rhino figure fills a hole in my Spider-Man Marvel Universe rogue gallery. Let’s see what he’s all about…

The packaging is pretty solid. The red and blue deco matches Spidey’s color theme and there’s a nice illustration of him in the upper left hand corner of the card shooting web right at your face. The card also makes a big deal about the trading card game cards included in the package. The bubble inserts have some passable illustrations of Rhino. The “Power Charge” moniker may have you envisioning some horrible gimmicky abomination that is destined to ruin the figure. Let me guess, I pull him back and he zips forward? He shoots out of some launcher? Nope. Truth is apart from the trading card game, this figure is completely free of any kind of gimmicky weapons or other nonsense. There isn’t even a stupid, oversized missile launcher in here!

And it’s a good thing too, because if there were, there’d be no room for the figure. While he’s still scaled for the 3 ¾” line, Rhino is one big mamma-jamma. He’s on par with the larger MU figures like Apocalypse and Thanos. He’s also a downright fantastic sculpt. The texturing and little details on this guy are great. His skin looks like bonafide leathery rhino hide, and his armor is worn and pitted. The head sculpt is no slouch either, as this guy has one of the most maniacal looking mugs in the Marvel line up since Constrictor or Bullseye. Overall, this sculpt is better than most figures we’ve seen in the MU line, which makes me wonder why it was wasted in this goofy kid-orientated side show.

Rhino has six pieces of armor that fit over his shoulders, fists, and legs. They’re held on in the package by those tiny invisible rubber bands, and you may be better leaving them on because the armor doesn’t stay on all too well. I wound up blue-tacking mine, and I may eventually just glue them in place. I do like the armor, particularly the spiked shoulder pieces. On the other hand, the figure looks just fine without the added armor too, so it’s no big deal if you choose to leave it off.

On the downside, Rhino is missing a few points of articulation that sets him apart from the MU figures. His arms feature ball joints in his shoulders and elbows, and swivels in the biceps, no worries there. His legs are ball jointed in the hips, but there’s no knee or ankle articulation. His head can turn side to side, but there’s no articulation in the torso at all. The lack of knee articulation hurts the figure the most, but you can still get some decent poses out of him, so I’m not complaining too much.

I’ve never seen this guy in the stores, but that’s probably because I just never bother to look at these Spider-Man figures. Had I known it existed, I surely would have grabbed him up. As it happened, he was tossed in with my Black Widow for what turned out to be about $12 each shipped. Considering the price Black Widow goes for, I basically considered this figure to be a freebie, but even at twelve bucks, I feel vindicated. With rumors that Marvel Universe is ending next year, I’m getting more and more worried about which characters may never make it onto my display shelf, so if I need to rob from some other lines, I’m more than happy to do so.

Jul 9 2012

Avengers: “Grapple Blast” Black Widow by Hasbro

If you’re on the hunt for Avengers figures, than chances are you know just how impossible this one is to find. Then again, considering there are none in my area, maybe they’re turning up everywhere else. Indeed, you may live in that Shangri-La where the pegs are crammed with Black Widows and Hawkeyes and dogs shit ice cream cones made out of solid gold. Nonetheless, the Avengers pegs here are still packed full of the initial wave of non-Avengers versions of Iron Man, Thor, and Cap, one of the dumbest moves I’ve seen Hasbro make, and believe me the list is a long one. I soon decided I would go the Ebay route, but quickly discovered that this little Scar-Jo is going for a shitload of money. Finally, I was lucky enough to get her bundled with another Marvel figure for what broke down to about twelve bucks each. So, let’s take a look…

It’s been a little while since we saw the Avengers packaging here, but that’s not my fault. Again, Hasbro, I want to buy your figures, but you fucked up the assortments and padded them out with lesser articulated versions of figures that I already have, so you’re not making it easy. Anyway, the figure comes in a big bubble mostly dominated by Black Widow’s ridiculous weapon. She’s holding one of her pistols and the other is mounted beside her head. The card art is pretty nice, and overall this is a serviceable and fairly attractive presentation, even if she and Hawkeye are excluded from the card art.

Out of the package and I am instantly impressed with the work Hasbro did on this figure. We could probably go back and forth on whether or not this is a great likeness of Scarlett Johansson, I happen to think it’s a very solid effort for a 3 ¾” figure. Either way, it’s hard to deny that his is one attractive lady. The face and hair are both sculpted beautifully and the paintwork is precise and truly impressive for this line. Hasbro, your Marvel Universe ladies in this scale have been a mixed bag when it comes to their faces, but guys, you hit this one right out of the ballpark!

In keeping with her on screen appearance, Black Widow’s costume is pretty low key. She’s nearly all black with just some blue-grey piping to break up the monochrome look. She still has her comic-style wrist bangles, only in black instead of yellow or grey, but the ankle bangles were nixed for the screen costume in place of slightly bulkier boots. She sports a plunging neckline, fingerless gloves, and a belt with two functional holsters that hangs loose on her hips. My only gripe with this sculpt is that her left hand isn’t really configured to hold her pistol, so I tend to keep that one in the holster. Apart from that, this is a great looking figure, which would probably even find a good home in any GI Joe collection.

Black Widow’s articulation is a nice surprise considering how many cut backs there are in the other figures. You get a ball jointed neck, ball jointed shoulders and elbows, and swivels in the wrists. Her legs are ball jointed at the hips, have swivel cuts in the thighs, double hinged knees, and hinges in the ankles. The biggest stumbling point here is the lack of articulation in the waist or torso. Bottom line, not perfect, but she has a heck of a lot more articulation than the MU version of Black Widow and that figure was from before Hasbro started making these cuts.

Of course, this figure is called “Grapple Blast” Black Widow, which gives some insight into the horribly shitty giant weapon that comes with her. I generally have little patience for any of Hasbro’s oversized weapons, but this one is so particularly vile and useless that I can’t even see the point. Bits fell off of it when I tried to load it and I happily pitched it into the garbage the moment I was finished photographing it. No, Grapple Blast, you don’t even get to go into the forgotten tub of useless oversized Hasbro weapons. It’s right in the trash for you! Considering there’s probably almost as much plastic in that useless weapon than the figure itself, I really need to question Hasbro’s priorities when it comes to cutting costs on these figures. Oh yeah, she also comes with a pair of tiny automatic pistols.

I had pretty high hopes for this Black Widow, and I’m happy to say that the figure mostly surpasses my expectations. The sculpt is excellent and the articulation is better than most of the other Avengers figures in this scale. If only she were able to properly hold her pistol in her left hand, I’d say she was nearly perfect. Sure, I had to pay a bit of a premium for her, but given most of the Buy It Now prices on Ebay, I could have been beaten up a lot worse. Truth is, I wasn’t prepared to drop thirty bucks on her, and so I was really worried I was never going to get her into my collection. And with my pre-order for Hot Toys’ Black Widow secured, I can finally rest easy knowing I’m covered. I still need to track down the 3 3/4” Hawkeye, but he seems to be dropping in price on the secondary market, so if I can’t find him on the pegs, I’ll bite the bullet and get him online.

May 24 2012

Marvel Universe: Greatest Battles Comic Pack: Gambit & Mister Sinister by Hasbro

Yesterday, there was a little ray of sunshine beaming through the clouds, as I actually found something new and noteworthy while picking up cat supplies at Walmart. Not only is it another awesome Marvel Comic Pack from Hasbro, but its the last of the three that I needed from this 2011/2012 assortment. This time around, its an X-Men themed pack featureing that epitome of douchebaggery itself, Gambit along with one of my personal favorite geneticist shapeshifters, Mr. Sinister.

I’ve certainly droned on enough in the past about how much I love this packaging, so let me just once again remark about how I think this is just perfect presentation. Two figures, mounted on a card with a comic book reprint as the backdrop. Superb! Sure, the comics are sometimes hit and miss, but in this case it has an awesome cover, and the comic itself is pretty great too, not the least of all because it features Sinister doing some rather painful experimental surgeries on a certain cajun mutant prick. Some may take issue that Sinister isn’t on the cover, but he does play prominantly inside. I’m also stoked that I now have every figure on the cover of this issue, with the one exception of Rogue.
So first off, let’s talk Gambit. Boy, do I hate Gambit, and yet I’ve wanted him in my 3 3/4″ Marvel collection ever since I passed on the one issued in that X-Men Origins: Wolverine line. So, it may seem odd to some that I really wanted a figure of a character I hate so much. Maybe I love to hate him, but more likely its just because he is such a top-tier character that not having him in my collection feels like a very conspicuous hole. Besides, which, I’ve always liked his design and the figure turned out splendidly, even if it is mostly a repaint.
Yes, a repaint! For all intents and purposes, this is a slightly repainted re-release of the aforementioned Wolverine: Origins figure. Not that that’s a bad thing. Wolverine might have been a shite movie, but it did produce some very nice figures. Indeed, I have Wolverine to thank for my Deadpool. I’m pretty sure this figure was originally released as part of the Animated Series of the movie figures, which explains why the head sculpt is a tad stylized, but its barely noticeable to me, and he fits in just fine with my other Marvel Universe X-Men. The only difference in sculpt that I can see is the addition of the kerchief around his neck.
The sculpting on the figure is especially nice, even if it is old. The jacket is just about perfect, with a slight bellowing to the bottom to give it a dynamic look, while also allowing for his leg articulation to work. There are a lot of nice loving details in the wrinkles and buttons, especially for a figure in this scale. The body sculpt is also executed with care, and extra detail is paid to his boots and his chest piece.

The paintwork is clean and sharp, and for a repaint not all that much different from the original figure. His coat is about the same, the chestpiece looks like it might be a bit more muted, and his boots look more grey than blue.
Gambit’s articulation isn’t quite up to what we’ve seen on the other two 2011/12 comic packs, but that’s because he’s an older sculpt. You do get a ball jointed neck. Arms with ball jointed shoulders and elbows, but no wrist articulation. The legs are ball jointed at the hips and double-hinged at the knees, but no ankle articulation. He has a swivel in the torso. Its ironic, but this is exactly the level of articulation that Hasbro is coming back to in order to cut costs for the new GI JOE and Avengers figures. Either way, you can still get some decent poses out of Gambit.

Gambit comes with his staff, and yes its the same staff that he came with the first time around. He is missing his cards, which I thought odd, but considering the amount of plastic and tooling that had to go into Mr. Sinister, Hasbro was probably anxious to save production costs on this set wherever possible.
Next up is Mr. Sinister, and holy hell am I happy to have this guy in my collection. He’s another one of those figures that makes me wonder why the single-carded MU series is full of so many repainted bucks for nine dollars, when we get a figure this amazing and impressive in a $15 two-pack. But then I’m getting ahead of myself, let’s look at the figure.

Yes, Sinister is a pretty sizeable figure and when you toss in his cape, he’s all the more impressive. Sure, its pretty obvious that he’s built on a slightly resculpted Colossus body, but here’s another example of Hasbro knowing how to resuse parts, because it really does work quite well for the character. Besides the obvious paint change, Hasbro extended the boots up over his knees, added shoulder armor, and swapped out the belt buckle, and obviously gave him a brand new head. And what a great head sculpt it is! The facial structure is really well executed and the paint apps are perfectly applied. And speaking of paintwork, I really dig what Hasbro used for his armor. Its a dark blue with a slight metallic twinge to it.
The cape is a separate piece and hangs off his shoulders, mostly around his neck. It does sit a tad awkwardly, giving him a bit of a hunched expression. Also, I would have liked it if it pegged in the back to make it stay a little better, but that’s nothing a little spot of bluetack won’t fix. The individual streams coming off of it really make for a unique piece, but in the end, and while I’ll probably display him on my MU shelf with the cape on, I think I prefer the figure without it.
Sinister fares better than Gambit in the articulation department. He’s got a ball jointed neck, with that extra hinge in there that I love so much. His arms feature ball jointed shoulders, swives in the biceps and wrists, and hinged elbows. His legs are ball jointed at the hips, have swivels in the thighs and ankles, double hinges in the knees, and hinges in the ankles. Not bad!
I really can’t say enough good things about the three Greatest Battles packs that Hasbro put out in this assortment, and this set is yet another grand slam! It has important characters which are executed brilliantly and should make a great addition to any Marvel Universe collection. If you already own the Origins Gambit, I suppose you could beef about having to buy him again to get Sinister, but then again, if Sinister was a single carded release I probably wouldn’t have been able to find him on the pegs anyway. On the other hand to get two great figures for $15 really feels like a fantastic deal, as opposed to buying individually carded MU figures at about $9 a pop. This set has really got me excited over MU again, and I can’t wait until the new figures start turning up.
May 3 2012

Marvel Universe: Greatest Battles Comic Pack: Thanos & Adam Warlock by Hasbro

Ever since the Walmart near me started stocking Marvel Universe figures once again, the pegs have been a great source of figures from 2010 and 2011 that I never found anywhere else. This has been particularly true for the Comic Packs. While running into the World of Wally to stock up on hot pockets and frozen pizzas (the fuel that runs FigureFan), I spied one of the packs I’ve been hunting for ages: Thanos and Adam Warlock. I’ve considered picking up this set online many times for around $25, so this was a doubly great find. Oh, happy day!

I never grow tired of singing the praises of these Comic Packs’ packaging, and that’s especially the case with this colorful, seizure-inducing pack. Besides the giant window showing off two amazing looking figures, you’ve got an epic comic cover displayed behind them: Infinity Gauntlet #3. The illustrated insert is bright and beautiful with some dynamite character art.

The comics in these are often hit or miss with me, but this is really fantastic. You get Warlock assembling the army that he’s going to use to go up against Thanos, which is pretty impressive even as a stand alone. The artwork is solid, there are plenty of cool cameos, and the writing is particularly great. The reprint also doubles as a great teaser for the up and coming trade paperback, which is out by now and I may pick up despite actually owning the individual issues, as they’re rather tattered by now.
Let’s go ahead and start with Thanos. This is the second time he’s been released in the Marvel Universe. It probably goes without saying that Thanos was pretty high on my want list of figures. Alas, the initial single carded release was impossible to find in my area. I’ve had him sniped out from under me on Ebay several times and I just haven’t been able to bring myself to buy him online for the twenty or so bucks that he tends to sell for with shipping. So straight away, this Comic Pack is filling a seriously nagging hole in my collection. Unfortunately, this is a variant version, so the question is, am I happy having this be the Thanos for my collection? Well, sort of.
Make no mistake, this is a kick-ass figure. He uses the same body as the previous carded release, but with a brand new paint job. He also comes with a brand new head sculpt, and minus the interchangeable Infinity Gauntlet hand. The head sculpt is every bit as detailed as the carded version, but this one has Thanos giving a beaming, evil toothy grin, whereas the carded version had him snarling. I’m torn on which one I like better. This one gives him some more character, but I think the carded version might look a little better. Naturally, the loss of the Infinity Gauntlet hand is a big strike against this version.

As for the paint job, this version of Thanos has a darker blue costume. The gold also looks like it might be a little darker, duller, and less yellowish, but that could just be an optical illusion from the darker blue. Its a tough call since I don’t have both figures in front of me to compare. This version also has an additional vertical gold stripe running up his torso. I really do dig the coloring on this version a lot. I think the darker tone makes him look more sinister, possibly more realistic. The carded Thanos’ colors, on the other hand, make him look more in line with the comic book art, and more at home with a lot of his fellow MU figures. Gah… I’m so torn between the two of them. I guess the important thing is that I do really love this version.
Thanos is built off the same body used for Juggernaut, so you know he’s a big boy. He also sports some very nice articulation. You get a ball jointed neck, with the extra added hinge. Alas, the shoulder piece does a lot to mar his head movement beyond turning left or right. The arms feature ball jointed shoulders, single hinged elbows, and swivels in the biceps and at the base of the gauntlets. The legs feature ball jointed hips, double hinged knees, swivels at the thighs and top of the boots, and hinged ankles. The torso is ball jointed in the middle.
And then there’s Adam Warlock. Thanos was the main reason I wanted this pack so badly, and truth be told, I’ve never been a big follower of Warlock’s funnybooks. I have a few scattered issues here and there which came to me as parts of collections, rather than books I purposely acquired. That having been said, I have to admire what is one pretty fantastic looking figure.
Warlock is mainly a standard buck with a striking combination of glossy black and metallic red paint to make up his costume. The paint used here really is vibrant and impressive. The cape is a brand new sculpt, complete with a tiny skull fastener and a sculpted color. The cape is cast in yellow plastic, with a nice, rich glossy red paint for the outside. Warlock’s head sculpt is definitely some of Hasbro’s best work on the Marvel 3 3/4″ line. The stern expression is brimming with tiny little details, as is his coif of blonde hair. If only Hasbro could turn out head sculpts like this on all their figures!

Accessories? With Warlock, you get an Infinity Gauntlet that is designed to snap over a fist hand. It doesn’t stay on all that well, but I do like having it be removable so that it can be used on many different figures. You also get his staff, which is sculpted with a lot of detail and finished with a nice bronze paint wash.
Warlock features the kind of articulation I’d like to see with all of the Marvel Universe figures. The neck is ball jointed with the added hinge. The arms have ball jointed shoulders, hinged elbows, and swivels in the biceps and wrists. His legs have ball jointed hips, double hinged knees, hinged ankles, and swivels in the thighs and again just below the knees. Hasbro, why do we get better articulation in these Comic Pack figures, when they tend to be cheaper than the single carded releases? Hmm?
So, what we have here is a pretty amazing Comic Pack with two mighty fine figures. I’ve decided that I’m not going to agonize over which Thanos is better and just be happy to finally have him in my collection. If the opportunity arises, I’ll be happy to pick up the single carded release too, but right now I’m content to have this one. As for Adam Warlock, I could have been perfectly happy never having him in my collection, but seeing as how wonderful the figure turned out, he’ll certainly get a spot on my Marvel Universe shelf.
Apr 23 2012

Avengers: “Rocket Grenade” Captain America by Hasbro

Its the final installment of this little Avengers trifecta. So far, we’ve looked at Thor and Iron Man, now its time to see how Cap turned out in the new Avengers lineup. I went with “Rocket Grenade” Cap because the other version featured a gimmick built into his shield, and I prefer to be able to toss aside the gimmicky weapons. Cap needs his shield, so the choice was pretty clear.

Once again, this figure is part of the “Concept Series.” I’ve beat that dead horse long enough, so I’m not going to go into it again here. The packaging looks great and this time there is a “Try Me” hole to let you flick up the blast shield on the big, stupid rocket launcher that comes with the figure. Seriously, if pressing that button becomes the deciding factor for buying this figure, you’ve got problems. Just saying. So, here’s my big dilemma with this figure. I absolutely love Cap’s WWII era costume from the movie. But he gets a new, more modern costume in the Avengers movie. This is an Avengers movie figure. Why the hell, Hasbro, are you still releasing him in the costume from his movie and not the Avengers movie? Its like Iron Man’s triangle arc reactor all over again. Maybe Cap wears this for a bit in Avengers, but I doubt it.
Avengers costume or not, I adore this figure. I’ve always been a Cap whore and toss in how much I love his movie costume, and it should be no surprise that this one is really scatching my itch. The sculpt is absolutely fantastic. There’s so much tiny detailing on him, including the ultra-fine texturing on his tunic, the stitching on his shoulder pads and the wrinkles on his pants. The belt pouches are also amazingly detailed, and you can even see the tiny stitching and the embossed “US” on his holster. The head sculpt is excellent, particularly the depth between the mask and Steve Rogers’ face. Even the paintwork rises to the occasion, as there’s no slop here to speak of. Hasbro really nailed this figure dead on.
Cap’s articulation is the same as “Heavy Assault” Iron Man. You get a ball jointed neck, ball jointed hips and shoulders, and hinged elbows and knees. Again, its a far cry from what we saw in the Captain America movie figures, but you can still get some good poses out of him and he’s very solid and easy to stand.
Naturally, Cap comes with his shield. The sculpt is the same we’ve been getting, but this one has a really nice high gloss finish, which looks amazing. The back has a clip to go around his wrist. It also has a peg so he can wear it on his back. Only problem there is the figure doesn’t have a hole on his back to peg it into. Nice oversight there, Hasbro!
In addition to his trusty shield, Cap also comes with the titular and very stupid “Rocket Grenade” launcher. It does have a button that flips up the blast shield, and the handle folds up and down. I suppose in terms of big stupid weapons, this one isn’t the worst around, but its still going to be cast aside into the bottomless pit of my useless accessories tote.
All in all, I’ve been more or less happy with all three of the Avengers figures I’ve picked up, but Cap here is without a doubt my favorite. This figure has one amazingly detailed sculpt for a 3 3/4″ scale, the paintwork is solid, and this is the first time I’ve had a proper metallic finished shield for one of my Caps in this scale. The lack of a shield peg in his back really does hurt the figure, but when everything else is so good, I can try to look the other way. Of course, just like the other two figures, there’s a good chance you already have a good movie version of Cap and with better articulation, so you’re probably better off passing on this guy altogether.