Toy Reviews: Superhero Showdown Ghostrider

Superhero Showdown Ghostrider

At the risk of being stoned, I will admit to liking the Ghost Rider movie.

Sure Nic Cage is getting on in years and has always been kind of annoying. Who can forget, “put the bunny back in the box”? But I was in it for the bad ass briquette on a bike. I’m a relatively recent fan, only joining up when Texeria’s GR run began in the 90’s, but he’s been one of my favorite characters since then.

I don’t have a huge collection of GR stuff. I try to limit it to figures that actually have a bike to go with him. The Marvel Legends ones mostly, the 12″ Icons figure, and a Superhero Squad figure. My only concession was the Muggs version, ’cause he’s just so damn cute!

I thought that would be the extent of my meager Ghost Rider collection since toy manufacturers can’t seem to justify huge accessories for Marvel figures anymore. There just doesn’t seem to be much of a market for toys that don’t have a cartoon series. Then lo and behold, I run into an old Superhero Showdown Ghostrider with a bike in Greenhills for only p800.00.

Superhero Showdown figures are the ancestors of the new Marvel Universe line. They’re both 3.75″ scale figures, but the old SHS line was based on the Toybiz Marvel Legends and have similar articulation. This means that they are generally more poseable than the newer line, but it also means they are more fragile and prone to quality control concerns.

Take old Dan Ketch here. I assume he’s Dan Ketch because he’s got the more modern looking Texeria bike. If we were going by the figure sculpt, I’d say he’s based off the Marvel Legends classic Johnny Blaze figure, which is more scrawney. Texeria’s demon looked more like a Terminator T-800. Either’s good though.

Anyway, the figure I got has several probelms. The biggest is that his legs fall off constantly. The figure uses the t-bar construction you see on GI Joes and the Marvel Universe figures, but the receptacles in the hip balls are loose. They pop off whenever you try to move the legs too far. He’s also got a problem with loose wrist joints, which feel like they’ll fall off any minute.

Paint wise, there isn’t much wrong with mine, thank Mephisto. It has some wash just like the bigger 6″ line to bring out detail of the gimp suit. You’ll need to check any figure you find though, since it’d be very easy to miss big errors. You’ll also need to check about switched parts. My SHS Logan has 2 right thighs. I didn’t notice it until 2 months after I’d bought him.

Articulation is pretty good. He’s got a well jointed brainpan. It allows him to look up when he’s riding the bike. About the only joint he’s really missing is a wrist cut that would allow him to turn his fist. It’s pretty much stuck so that it’s horizontal, which allows him to hold the handlebars, but nothing much else.

The nice thing about this guy is that he’s got a nice little hole at the bottom of his wheel. The 6″ version also has it, but the weight of the bike and figure make hanging him an iffy proposition. This guy has no such problem. Just find a screw in the wall and watch him drive up the wall. Excellent.

Because of the quality issues, I’m a little unsure about recommending this figure. He’s decent, but new Universe figures are only p550.00 and since there’s often several on the pegs, it’s relatively easy to find a good figure. Though there are a few in Greenhills at various stores, you still don’t have much of a selection.

He does come with the bike, so that’s a plus. He’s also one hell of a sculpt, appropriately scary compared to some of the more cartoony Marvel Universe figures. If you have the werewithal to get the vendors down to p700.00, I think this is a good buy, if not a must have.