Wolverine X-Men Origins: Colossus & Wolverine

Colossus & Wolverine

I’m still not completely sold on the whole Hasbro 3.75″ craze. I’ve gotten a few G.I. Joes (because who can resist a ninja in white?), and a few Ironmen (because he’s almost like a Transformer) and Hulk toys (because he’s the Hulk, duh), but for the most part I’ve largely been able to avoid the temptation to start actively collecting the new Marvel Universe line. Since the single figures are now at p550.00, I’m sure becoming a completist would quickly lead to bankruptcy and starvation. Or at the very least, a few under the table organ donations. Thank you, medical tourism!

But when I saw the new Wolverine Origins Colossus & wolverine 2-pack with that wicked new costume and the great looking sculpt, I just had to get one to add to my Piotr Nikolaievitch Rasputin collection.

I’m not sure which story arc this costume’s from, or which artist designed it (if you know, please tell me), but it’s really something. This is right up there with Joe Madureira’s design or Chris Bachalo’s. I can not understand why he hasn’t gotten more figures yet, despite what? 30 waves of Marvel figures now? I’d love an Age of Apocalypse 2-pack with Shadowcat, or an Ultimate Universe Colossus. We haven’t seen those yet, but we get a Moleman?

Anyway, this version is in the 3.75″ scale of Marvel Universe and the Wolverine Origins line, so he’d be right at home next to the X-men Animated figure or the old Superhero Showdown one. He’s closer to 4″ though, and stands taller than Logan.

This makes Wolverine the perfect size next to the 2-pack Sabertooth as well.

His face is closer to that of the cartoon representations of the character. It’s very blocky and stylized, so even if I think he’s the bee’s knees, the fact is arguable at best. He does have a great grimace on his face which is better than you can say for many of the new Return of Cobra figures which all look as if they’re watching a particularly boring movie.

Wolverine’s is pretty good too. It’s sculpted with a look of anger, or frustration? Not really sure what the artist was going for. It could be he’s just constipated. It’s closer to the toy from the Forge/Wolverine 2-pack that came out a few months back than it is to the Hugh Jackman ladies man.

The rest of the sculpt on both of the figures is excellent as well. Wolvie’s got a nice mask and cowl that is a seperate piece. You have to yank off his head and put it on. It hangs in the back as if ready to be pulled on. Retard that I am, I thought it was supposed to be a removable mask so I had him wearing it on front before I realized there were wrinkles. Place headpalm here. There are what look like seams in his costume as well, and nice little details in his boots. Very good.

Colossus has the customary cut lines that show that his skin is strips of “organic” metal. They’re all well done and defined. His belt and boots have the same detail as Wolvie, and he’s even got sculpted “knuckles”.

Articulation is superb on Wolverine, since he’s got all the necessary joints. Hasbro still loves it’s combo elbow, but recent figures have been sculpted to allow a nice 45 degrees to this joint. They basically take a little out of the forearm where it meets the bicep and they can bend their arm nicely. I wish they’d thought of this before they produced the Icons Colossus. Piotr doesn’t fare as well, and I knew that going in. He’s got a nice ball joint in each shoulder and his neck, and a cut joint at the wrists, but that’s about it. He’s not really as much a figure as he is an accessory. He’s supposed to be a means to throw wolverine into the air, like their signature move in the comics, “the fastball special”. It doesn’t work as well as intended. I don’t think kids will notice, but the positions Wolverine needs to be in to be thrown are nothing like they were in the comics and are downright lewd to anyone over 8.

There are also two other problems with his action feature. First, the spring’s strength isn’t really impressive and the Wolverine figure isn’t thrown as much as he is clumsily dropped. Second, with Wolverine’s weight, Colossus can’t stand at all. He falls over if he’s holding the other figure, no matter how you pose him. It took me a good 10 minutes just to get that first pic, and I gave up on the second one. I’m supporting him out of frame. Shhhh… don’t tell anyone.

Paint is also a problem. I didn’t notice much on Wolverine,but the register lines on Colossus are just plain poor. The yellow and red on the one I have look like they were painted on by 3 year olds on crack.

You’ll also want to watch out for factory defects. The Wolverine on mine had his right leg attached on backward. I had to perform a battlefield amputation at the knee turn his thigh around, and snap it back on to his the right way before I snapped the pictures. It’s good I was able to fix it, but you’ll want to look and see that the one you pick up doesn’t have two right thighs or something. That can’t be fixed and can really be a downer.

The biggest mark against Hasbro on this one is that Wolverine is sulpted in such a way that he can’t look up. No matter what you do, the limitations of his sculpt mean that he is looking at constantly looking at his hands. It might have been ok if it was Colossus, but this guy’s shorter than everyone he knows.

At p700.00, these two are a good deal cheaper than the single figures in their line. I think Wolverine Origins goes for p450.00 now. Even with the quality control issues and Wolverines inability to watch where he’s going, I’d recommend these for the following reasons; fun factor (the launching gimmick may not work, but you can pretend), percieved value (p700.00 is alot of cash for small figures, but you are getting 2 of them), and the fact that this is a great looking pair.

If you want them, though, be prepared for a hunt. When this wave was stocked in Toy Kingdom, it was the first to fly off the shelf.