Toy Review: Marvel Select Abomination

07/31/10

Marvel Select Abomination

I recently joined a toy news and forum called Action Figure Blues. So far it’s been a pretty great site to browse through, with some great reviews of things I’ll never own like the DC Cover Girls Catwoman. One of the awesome things about it is their monthly comment contest where they pick one lucky commenter at random to win their one figure from a choice of 2 from their sponsor, Mike’s Comics N’ Stuff.

This is just an awesome idea.

Especially since I won the one last month.

Now, you’ll have to understand that I NEVER win raffles. When I was a kid, I’d enter every contest I could and never got anything from them, not even a consolation prize. The word random draw scares the shit out of me. I work in sales and there’s these monthly and quarterly raffles in the company where they give away different things like laptops, iPods, entertainment paraphernalia, etc. to top earners. Now I’m in that esteemed group more often than most, but I’ve never won anything of note, despite 5 years with the company.

Except oven toasters. I’ve won 4 of those. I must have pleased the oven toaster gods as a child or something.

Imagine my joy when they guys at AFB said, “Congratulations to AFB Forum member “slangards” for being our randomly selected winner!” The news was even better as the choice that month included a Marvel Select (MS) Abomination which I’d been waiting for since it was announced by Diamond several months back.

Now to explain something. I’m not a guy who’s big on the postponement of gratification. You won’t see any unopened toys in my place because I open them almost immediately. Sometimes I can’t even work up the patience to wait until I’ve taken pictures of the figure in the package, which is what happened in my Iron Man 2 Mark I and Doctor Doom/Absorbing Man reviews, among others. Sometimes I can’t even wait until I get home and open them up in the cab.

Understanding that, knowing that the Abomination figure hadn’t been released in the States yet, and realizing that it would take several weeks to arrive once it had, you can now get an idea about my apprehension waiting for the figure. Then I got word that they’d begun distribution in country. I lasted about 48 hours before I caved and BOUGHT one at SM Megamall.

I know, I know. You’re reading this and saying to yourselves, “What kind of idiot would spend p1,500.00 on an item that he’s already getting in the mail at no charge in a few months?” The answer to that question would be the fat bastard writing this review.

As you can see from the photo above, the packaging for the Select line hasn’t changed from the time I bought Thor and the Red and Green Hulks. It’s a big, oddly shaped, carded bubble, that encloses a tray that is molded around the figure. With the clear views of the figure from three sides, it’s a great way to display the figure on the shelf, but awful if you’re big on keeping them boxes in pristine condition. The corners of these things ALWAYS get dented when they’re on the shelf in retail stores since the plastic bubble is smaller than the card. For the bigger figures, you’re likely to find that the package even popped open due to the weight of the figure inside. Honestly, I don’t know why they even bother with J-hooks on the top of these things. They’d last for about 2 seconds before ripping.

In the case of Abomination, I doubt it would even last that long. This beast is MASSIVE! Diamond has even had to acually place those plastic bands police use as cheap handcuffs all around the perimeter of the bubble to keep it from falling off.

The back is the same as the previous MS releases. Some comic art, big name on the left side, blurb about the character, and some product photography. The photo is pretty boring, but I can’t fault them for it like I do Hasbro because of the fact that this figure can barely move.

Here’s a shot of the stand. I know, right?

COmpared to some of the earlier MS figures, like say, Black Cat, this sucks major, hoary balls. Cat came with a 2-piece reversible backdrop, an unarticulated Spider-Man figure, and a working safe and necklace. This came with a piece of cardboard with a pretty rudimentary sketch and a little bar of plastic to hold it up.

What the f…?

After I got over it, however, I found that it’s a pretty useful little include, if not for the figure it came with. You can use it as a nice display piece behind Marvel Universe (MU) figures or GI Joes. The scene is generic enough that you can use it for pretty much any small scale figure. Just not for this one.

It would have been nice if the backdrop was as big as the entire package, like they used to do with the GI Joe Sigma 6 line, particularly the Adventure Team line. Or they could have included the re-used base from the MS Hulks.

So why buy this?

1) he’s huge.

The figure is BIG and HEAVY. It’s taller and wider than the Marvel Legends (ML) figures so it’s perfect for guys like me who like their villians larger than life. It also fits his bio on the back of the card that says Emil Blonski absorbed far more gamma radiation than Bruce Banner and became bigger, stronger and uglier.

2) he’s insanely detailed.

Honestly, the downfall of the MS Hulks in my book was that their faces were so mushy, they didn’t look human at all. Abomination doesn’t have that problem. He can look as alien as he wants because he’s covered in scales and armor and spikes. Everything is rough and lined. Both the head and body show off this detail to a crazy level.

That detail is what’s made him win out over the old ML Abomination in my book. I bought 4 of those figures because it kept breaking (I’ve got 2 Abominations with no arms). I liked the toy that much, yet this one is still the clear champion.

While the ML has the articulation, this one just looks far more sinister and imposing.

Speaking of articulation, don’t bother asking. There is none.

Or at least very little that is USEFUL. He’s a swivel (or maybe a very limited ball joint) neck, swivel-hinge shoulders, hinge elbows, swivel wrists, a swivel waist, ball-socket hips, hinge knees, and hinge ankles. It sounds like a lot, but because of the limits of each of those joints, they add up to zilch.

This is about all he can do:

The poses that he can achieve just don’t look particulary great. For instance, the neck joint is effectively a swivel, but it’s mounted in such a way that he looks UP when he looks to the side. It’s an unnatural pose.

Similarly, he can raise his arms up, but his lack of bicep swivels and the limits of the elbows mean that it just looks like he’s flapping his arms. This is further complicated by the pose they stuck his hands in. Their neither clenched as a fist, nor spread as if he’s about to lunge with claws. They’re just sort of… relaxed.

Don’t even get me started on the legs.

Looking at the promotional pics, what got me excited was that it looked as if Diamond had decided to add a swivel-hinge ball joint to the hips of the big figures. This would have helped with poseability. Sadly, though the hips are obviously sculpted with that idea in mind, they’re just solid pieces. There’s no thigh cut.

I thought I was done ranting about thigh cuts, but here it is again. Dammit, toy manufacturers. If you’re making action figures, then thigh cuts and bicep swivels should be standard!

The lack of that joint coupled with the severely limited ankle joint with no rocker swivel, means that this guy’s feet won’t stay level with the floor unless he’s in a relaxed standing position. Why then do they even bother INCLUDING articulation?

ARGH! KARATE CHOP!

EAR DRUM PUNCH!

Despite the crap articulation and lack of accesories, I have to reccomend this purchase. It sucks as an action figure, but as a display piece, it’s choice. I mean anything that can stand toe to toe with the Legendary Comic Book Heroes Pitt in terms of detail and size (and beat him in weight), has got to add something to any collection.

Toy Review: Sea Spray & Breacher

Sea Spray and Breacher

I bought Sea Spray a month ago and was planning to review the figure right away since I was so impressed with it. Then I saw that Sea Spray was meant to be partnered with another figure called Breacher.

Having loved the Mindwipe/Skystalker combination of Voyager and Scout Class toys, I wanted to wait until I could get both figures in the tandem before arriving to a conclusion.

I’m glad I did.

Both toys come packaged in their robot forms, which I think makes them more attractive on the shelves. Let’s face it, there aren’t too many kind who are going to say, “DADDY, DADDY, buy me that scale model hovercraft!” That just doesn’t happen. So displaying the robot in all it’s glory is an awesome move on Hasbro’s part.

Seaspray is a Voyager Class Transformer, which means he stands a little taller than the 6″ Superhero figure. Breacher, as a Scout Class figure is similar to a 4″ figure. Both sport designs that are more Generation One than they are Michael Bay, which is an excellent decision, seeing as how Sea Spray really wouldn’t fit in with Bay’s idea of shock and awe. A coast guard hovercraft doesn’t exactly shout “ACTION SPECTACLE!”

It does however shout “Numerous gratuitous bikini models!” but that’s another story. Maybe in the third film.

Seaspray’s articulation is pretty good for a Transformer who is so blocky. he’s got a huge range at shoulders, elbow, hip, knee, and ankle. I mean ROCKER ankles with a hinge! I’ve never seen that in a Transformer.

Because of the extra articulation, he’s very stable as well as being very poseable. The list goes like this: swivel neck, swivel-hinge shoulders, swivel bicep, hinged elbow (but the construction gives you the range of a double hinge), swivel wrist (limited), swivel-hinge hips, swivel thighs, hinged knee, hinged ankle, and another swivel that allows his feet to tilt. That doesn’t include the extra articulation of his various parts, like the pop out swim fins and the joints on the fans on his back.

Many of the joints are designed into his transformation sequence, too. The whole thing comes off as a very well integrated figure, with a surprisingly easy transformation. I have to give it to the designers that despite the ease of the change, he doesn’t feel overly simple and doesn’t have a lot of robot or vehicle parts that look out of place in his alternate forms (also known as “kibble”).

The smaller of the pair, Breacher, is a Scout Class Transformer. I LOVE Scout Class Transformers. Since I first got the Scout Class Arcee and friends, I’ve been getting as many Scout Class toys as I can, including Dead End, Dirt Boss, Knock Down, Rollbar, and Reverb. I’m also a fan of the similarly sized Transformers Animated Activators Class, like my Starscream and Dirge, or the bootlegs of Bumblebee and Optimus I bought. They’re just the perfect size for a desktop decoration, and because they’re small, they can effective use ball joints without worrying about the weight of limbs causing problems with posing.

Unfortunately, this class has some problems. One, the ball joints are notorious for getting loose over time. Because of their nature, play wear affects ball joints relatively fast compared to a good hinge joint. Add to that the fact that there is rarely racheting on figures like these (where would they fit it?), you’ll understand how hard they’ll be to pose once those joints loosen up.

Two,Hasbro seems to love repainting these more than the bigger scales. Maybe it’s because since they are smaller and cheaper; buyers wouldn’t think much about getting one or two versions. Rare is the person who can afford to buy 3 Leader Class figures whose only difference is the color they’ve been painted in. But if a buyer likes one particular figure’s mold, he’ll be more inclined to buy another in 10 different colors if it’s relatively cheap (I say relatively because these are still p650.00 a pop). I know I’ve done it. Witness Energon Arcee, Transformers: The Movie Arcee, and Elita One. Or Knock Down and Reverb.

I’m sure that Breacher will have either an Autobot comrade or Decepticon nemesis anytime now. Since he’s a new mold, it’s only a matter of time before we see Hasbro re-purpose it to fund new toys. Especially since this is such an excellent figure.

Breacher’s got a nice assortment of joints; swivel neck, ball jointed/swivel shoulders, ball jointed elbows, ball jointed wrists, ball jointed hips, hinged knees, ball jointed ankles. Notice how many times I said, “ball jointed?” He’s super articulated for such a small figure. Plus he’s got a kind of torso crunch that’s a result of his transformation process. Absolutely amazing design.

That transformation process is pretty complicated for a toy this size. I felt it was even more complicated than Sea Spray, a toy that is at least twice as massive as this is. It involves a lot of flipping and 160 degree turning of various parts, and locking in oddly shapped panels. There is a bit of kibble; you’ll see the doors hanging off him in robot mode for instance, and the wheels on his legs, but it’s all fairly innocuous and none of it affects his range of motion.

Detail on this sucker is amazing! Most Scout Class toys have pretty simple face molds, but this one’s got something that I’d expect to find on a Deluxe or Voyager Class Transformer. It’s very well done.

The great thing about the pair is that once you get them in vehicle mode, they become a tandem, with the Armored Personnel Carrier parking on the back of the hovercraft. Again, it’s like the Mind Wipe and Skystalker combo, and works just as well or better.

I love the fact that you can do things like this with these toys, and that Hasbro has presented more play options for kids and collectors. It’s nice to know there are people who remember that these are supposed to be toys to be played with and not display pieces.

That small, anal nerd voice in my head wishes that they had made Breacher at least a Deluxe figure and Seaspray a Leader Class, so that they’d be more in scale with the rest of the line, but the rational consumer in me knows that the price would’ve skyrocketed and the chance of sell through would have dropped significantly, especially with such unknown characters.

Here’s a look at what might have been:

In the end, this is a pretty great pair of toys. Both are well articulated, nicely designed, and come with weapons. It’ll run you about p2,350.00 to get the set (p1,700 for Sea Spray, p650 for Breacher), which is a bit pricey, but as I said the play value for this pair is high.

If you want, you can wait and see if Hasbro decides to eventually release Sea Spray in his Generation One colors, like his fellow former mini-robot, Powerglide, when they released a red G1 version. I love the fact that they gave the little guy an upgrade (the original bot was smaller than Breacher is now), but it would have been nice if he was blue and yellow like he was before.

I figure we’ll see him again in some exclusive offering at Walmart or Toys R’ Us and I’ll be one of the guys scrambling to find one of the few imported here at Greenhills when they do.

Toy Review: Ages of Thunder Thor

07/29/10

SDCC Ages of Thunder Thor

I’m a victim of hype as much as the next guy out there, probably more than most. When I heard that Cybertron Philippines, a toy collector forum that I visit more than I probably should, was conducting a group buy for various Marvel items from Hasbro that were up for sale at this year’s San Diego Comic Convention (SDCC) I couldn’t help but say, “Yes, please!”

A group buy, for any reader who doesn’t know (which I realize is unlikely since the only people who read this blog are toy collectors anyway) is one of two things. Either it’s a process where some dudes decide to break up a particularly large or expensive set of items that is up for sale among themselves, or as in this case, where some dudes decide to buy something from the States and get other dudes in on the deal so that all of them can save on shipping.

It’s probably not necessary in the States where one can just have things delivered at a relatively reasonable price. Here that’s not always an option. I recently looked into purchasing a “Power Charge Rhino” from the 4″ Spider-Man line online. The figure cost $27.00 at www.toywiz.com (very few stores had them in stock). Ok. That’s about Php 1,250. Pricey, but doable for such a great looking figure. But wait. Shipping is $38.00?! Now we’re looking at Php 3,000.00 for a 4″ tall piece of plastic. BEFORE any customs taxes are added by our notoriously corrupt Bureau of Customs officials.

I realize that I could have probably have found it cheaper at a number of other sites, but I’m trying to make a point here. Shush you.

You can see why this practice came about here. The awesome guys at Cybertron Philippines offered members a chance to get 4 toys from the SDCC; Masterpiece Galactus, Movie Spider-Man, WWII Captain America, and Ages of Thunder Thor.

Like I said, I spend way too much time on this board and I was hearing all the news leading up to the SDCC ‘10. I’d seen pictures of this and thought it looked pretty cool. Plus, you know, “exclusive” still adds a sense of urgency to any collector. We know we’ll have to pay through the nose if we find out later that it is, in fact, a great product.

So I caved:

The package is pretty. It really, really is.

The regular Marvel Universe (MU) bubble card is encased in a very attractive blue paperboard slipcase with art by the fantastically talented (drawing-wise anyway) Joe Quesada. It’s a load better than Mike Deodato’s work on the H.A.M.M.E.R Files sub-set in my opinion. There are some artists that just understand how to make really great pinups while others are better storytellers. Quesada has alwasy been a pinup guy to me.

In case your wondering, there’s nothing on the back but an embossed “Marvel Universe” logo in silver.

The card is similar to the H.A.M.M.E.R Files and the Fury Files before it, but instead of the H.A.M.M.E.R logo, it’s got an image of Mjolnir, Thor’s hammer. The back has the requisite blurbs, product photography, and an illustration of that guy who used to be Green Goblin.

Sadly, the SDCC figures don’t come with the figure stands that the new toys come with. They do come with the “Top Secret!” mini manila envelope however. This one includes a letter from old Norm about a document that Loki’s given him that shows him how to give Thor the proverbial kick in the nads and defeat him.

I spent several minutes trying to work Goldilocks out of his plastic prison without destroying the package. Like I said, it’s pretty and I wanted to keep it. Lo and behold, I was able to get him out of the plastic tray without tearing the card to shreds. Now if I decide to sell him, I can say he’s still LOC (loose on card)! Yay!

The first thing that struck me about the toy was that it looked familiar. I couldn’t place it until I got a good look at the hammer. It’s a black version of the one that comes with the Secret Wars (SW) Thor. After that, I noticed that the lower half of his body is also from that figure.

If you read my review of SW Thor, you’ll see why this bothered me. I bought 2 of this set and sold both of them. It was just that disappointing to me. Despite the bias, I decided to give the toy a chance.

Sadly, his articulation is about the same as the SW Thor. The hips are constructed like the figures from the Fury Files. If you collect GI Joe, then you’ve already encountered this. There’s a post that juts out from the hip. The thigh is snapped onto this. There’s no thigh swivel, which means the legs are limited. Add to that the fact that he has effectively useless ankle articulation. Add to that the fact that he has no stand. Add to that the fact that the weight of his cape gives him a center of balance that’s behind him. Now put that all together and you’ve got a god who couldn’t stand upright against Squirrel Girl.

Arm articulation is ok. Swivel/hinge shoulder, bicep swivel, hinge at the elbow, wrist swivel. About what you’d expect. He can’t really bring his arm up straight though. I was hoping he had a balljoint/hinge neck, but no such luck. Standard balljoint here. You can pop off his head, but he can’t look up or down. Basically limited to side to side.

Paint is another issue. There’s two washes here, one black, which is unbelievably messy, especially on the wraps around his boots, and one that is added to the skin, an odd silver/white color that is brushed on. I think it’s supposed to be lightning cascading off his skin.

It doesn’t work.

But enough of that. Let’s get on to the good stuff.

The thing that changed my mind about this figure is the thing that’s bothered me about the previous 2 tries at Thor by Hasbro; the face. This guy’s got a face that belongs on a Viking. It’s rough, it’s cut, it’s hewn from stone. There are angles and edges and wide plains of hardness. He looks more like he’s a vengeful god whome you don’t want to mess with and less like a romance novel cover model who is trying to smolder.

Basically, the sculpting ABOVE the waist is pretty impressive. From his loincloth to his tattered cape, it all gives the impression of a battered warrior god, rather than flashy superhero. His tunic is pretty much just a standard hero body with no adornment painted black, but it works here.

Compared to the Thor that came in the regular MU line, I’d still have to give it to the MU one. That design from Olivier Coipel just resonates with me. Like I said, the only thing I didn’t like about it was the face (it looks vaguely alien), but the articulation is superb and the hammer is better looking, meaner. I also think the balance is a bit better since the figure itself is more massive (relatively anyway - there are only 4″ tall) and can counter the weight of the cape better.

So, yes, the toy has some problems and can’t stand, but it’s not something that a little re-touching and some tacking compound can’t fix. Hell, if you’re lazy like me, ignore the wash and just lean him against a wall.

Bottom line; he looks great. Get him if you can.

Toy Review: MU Black Widow

07/24/10

Marvel Universe Black Widow

I love it when I’m able to score a toy that I thought I’d never see on my shelf. It’s not really about the bragging rights but more about that insanely happy feeling I get adding it to my line up. It’s my poison of choice really.

The Marvel Universe (MU) Black Widow is one of those toys. It’s part of the new H.A.M.M.E.R. Files, the 2nd wave in this 2nd MU sub-line (the 7th wave if you continue the count from the Fury Files in 2009), which wasn’t released locally until recently. When Playkit finally brought in cases of the newly revamped restock assortments, the supply was insanely limited compared to that of the Fury Files. They were gone as soon as they were out of the boxes.

I didn’t even bother looking for them. I was able to get one from a very awesome PTK member who is based in Singapore. This guy frequents toy stores while he’s out of the country and brings them back when he comes home. A lot of us collectors depend on guys like him to continue our hobby despite the challenges. I can’t thank him enough.

I’d already reviewed the H.A.M.M.E.R. Files Colossus and Juggernaut from MU wave 8 by the time I got this baby, which really shifted my perception of the Universe figures. I really hated these small figures when they first came out. Hasbro had so much trouble getting their 6″ sculpting team used to the 4″ scale that we got a lot of pretty awful looking toys.

I’m happy to say that things are looking up.

The package of the figures hasn’t really changed since that first wave. The shape of the card is still the same, there’s still a plastic tray inside the “bubble”, the blurbs are still blurby, and I still hate the product photography.

The only thing that changed is that they now have Norman Osborne on the back instead of Nick Fury, and the S.H.E.I.L.D. logo on front has changed to a H.A.M.M.E.R. one.

Other than that, same old same old.

Inside you’ll see we still get the collectible card with the bio and a portrait of the character. Mike Deodato was the one tasked to do the package art honors this time around. Personally, I prefer Frank Cho’s work from the Fury files better. Deodato’s pin up art doesn’t seem to be really be eye-catching.

There’s also a code you can use for the new H.A.M.M.E.R. Files website (the Fury Files one is down I think).

The figure also comes with an accessory. An M-16. Color me underwhelmed. Seriously, Hasbro, I can understand that you need to re-use molds in order to maximize return, but this is ridiculous. We’ve seen this stupid gun with every other figure that you’ve released so far (or at least it feels that way). You’ve got a buttload of accessory molds from the GI Joe line.

USE THOSE!

I took it upon myself to go ahead and do just that, giving her two pistols from the Rise of Cobra toy line. I have to say that Hasbro really dropped the ball on this one. She looks infinitely better with small arms as opposed to the machine gun.

I’d love to see a movie version of this character with a try at Scarlett Johanssen’s physique, but until I find that figure on the pegs this’ll have to do.

Articulation on the figure is about what you’d expect. She lacks the bicep swivels that the male figures get, and has those annoyingly immobile hips that Hasbro insists on using. I’m not sure they add anything to the look of the figure and it’s agravating that she doesn’t have any thigh swivels.

Like Storm and Kitty Pryde, Widow shares the same mediocre MU female mold. It’s not bad… it’s just not amazing. Plus we’ve seen it on every female figure that’s been released so far. None of them have any really unique tooling or anything to really distinguish one from the other except a new head and some paint.

I hear Hasbro’s going to release a new female soon, so I’m crossing my fingers.

Reading back, I realize I’ve been kind of down on this figure. Why did I buy it?

Because the character is one I really like. She just feels like an underdog to me. A Russian character created during a time when Russians were “the enemy”. She can hold her own with the best America has to offer and she’s a woman.

The fact that she struts around in skin tight black leather doesn’t hurt either.

Honestly, the figure is very good and I like the face sculpt very much. If she was more readily available I’d probably have gotten a few more so I could use the head as other female characters. Too bad.

Did i mention she comes with her Widow’s Bite bracelets? They’re both seperate pieces like her belt, but I wouldn’t try and remove them.

Overall a fairly good effort from Hasbro. It’s not going to win any awards for Toy of the Year, but I’m definitely keeping this one in my collection.

Toy Review: Kaiyodo Spider-Man Trading Figures

07/21/10

Spider-Man Action Vignette
Trading Figures

The blind box. There is nothing I hate more in the collecting world.

I hate blind packaging over convention exclusives. It’s way up there above bad distribution. Poor quality control doesn’t even hold a candle to the annoyance that is the blind box.

If you don’t know what a blind box is, let me explain. It’s basically a sealed package that is the same for all the figures in a particular wave or series. Sort of like the way they package collectible cards back in the day. All those foil wrappers have the exact same thing printed on the outside, so you have no idea what card you are actually getting. It could be an uber-rare card worth tens of dollars, or it could be a junk card that you already have 17 of. You never know until you open it.

The blind box usually can be found on what are called “trading” figures in Japan. These are normally small figures which kids would trade with friends. They’re sometimes called “gashapons”. It’s a good concept IF the figures you’re talking about little toys like the kind you find in those little vending machines in Chuck E. Cheese that are really cheap. However, there aren’t many cheap toys on today’s market.

Take for example Lego Minifigures. There are dozens of these things in each set, and each costs several hundered pesos (if they’re even available here). How many people in this country can really afford to buy several cases of these things in order to complete the set? Japanese trading figures are especially expensive, usually running about p300.00 each. If you want to complete the Final Fantasy Figure Arts collection, you’re looking at several thousand pesos for a tiny amount of plastic.

Thankfully, there are some trading figures that aren’t too expensive, and some stores that actually open boxes to determine what’s in each. Comic Alley in Megamall is one of these stores. They were selling the Kaiyodo Ultimate Spider-Man Action Vignette Trading Figures at only p150.00 each. That’s a steal, since I’ve checked online and they’re going for $10.00 to $13.00 a pop at various online retailers.

As you can see, this is exactly what you’d expect from a blind box. A vague front panel with some artwork, product photography of the various toys in the series on the side panels, and some arbitrary lip service to the characters on the back. In this case, there are 5 figures in the set; Spider-Man Web, Spider-Man On The Wall, Venom, Green Goblin and Spider-Man Alien Costume.

Kaiyodo, the makers of this particular line, are one of my favorite toy companies from Japan. I just love the way they design their figures, even if their articulation is kind of counter-intuitive. They are the ones that came out with the Dead or Alive and Tenjho Tenge series, both of which were made of awesome.

These figures seem to have improved on those. The quality of Spidey’s joints (the most articulated of the three I found) is much cleaner than that of the girls in the previous lines. The limbs don’t seem to fall off as easily, and the fit of the parts seems to be much better. The older toys seem to have been tooled a bit roughly, so parts don’t always fit together well and they tend to fall apart. It doesn’t help that these toys were made to be put together from a bag of parts. The only way you can fit some of them into the standard box is to dismember them.

Now there’s a marketing gimmick. For the next big slasher fic, someone ought to put out a toy line featuring all the victims, cut into parts and placed into a small baggie which fits inside a small 4″x2″x3″ box. I’d get them.

Green Goblin is my least favorite of the set. It’s not that it’s a particularly bad figure, but it’s a serious re-design of the character in the anime style. Like DC Direct’s Ame-Comi series, I’m not sure if the process was completely successful. I much prefer Marvel’s Bishoujo series which are just anime-ish interpretations of the characters rather than complete re-conceptulizations.

In this case, the classic look of Norman Osbourne was changed to look something like a gargoyle wrapped in a trench coat.

The figure is huge in comparison to the Spidey figure, nearly as big as Venom is. That is to say he’s about 3″ tall (despite the write-ups online that say they’re 4″ scale). I also take issue with the weird flow of his cloak. It doesn’t seem to follow any really motion path.

There are very few points of articulation, but that’s fine since these are trading figures which aren’t known for their joint count. I’m glad to have any at all. He’s got a swivel foot (the joint is half way down the foot - kind of like it’s cut in half across), an angled swivel at his hips, a swivel waist, a swivel shoulder (left one only), a swivel wrist (right one only), and a swivel neck.

Like I said, it’s all very confusing.

Venom is about the same in articulation. Swivel feet,swivel hips, swivel waist, oddly angled swivel shoulders and a swivel neck that allows his head to swing side to side.

What I really like about Venom though is that he has those awesome proportions that I’ve always wanted to see in the 6″ and 4″ lines. A huge chest and massive arms supported by relatively small legs. It’s totally unrealistic, but amazing to look at. Aside from the size, the sculpt is wonderful, with a proper slithery tongue and nice, sharp looking teeth. The addition of the limited articulation actually gives him a small selection of nice poses as well.

It’s really too bad that he’s too small to fit in with the 4″ crowd

Spider-Man is the real star of this set though, as it should be. He gets a number of bonus joints (knees and thigh cuts for one) as well as much more relavant base. While Goblin has a generic speed line thing, and Venom has a ground impact effect, old Webhead gets a… well, web.

It’s basically a very short webline that fits into his hand and is attached to a pretty powerful magnet. He’s perfect as a desk top toy if you have some metal built into your cubicle like I do.

Although Kaiyodo doesn’t do articulation like you’d normally expect, this little guy is pretty versatile considering. Because of that weird torso crunch and the odd angles that the swivels are cut in, he can really do some funky poses you’d only see in the McFarlane and Larsen days.

It’d be my Spider-Man of choice if only it was the same size as teh Marvel Universe line. As it is, he’s barely bigger than a Legends-sized Transformer.

Overall, I think this is an amazing buy for only p150.00 each. I’d probably pass on the Goblin if I had a do-over, but it’s nice to have the set. I really need to find out where I can score the Alien Costume Spidey and the one with the wall base (though I think the figure itself on that one is the same as the one I have).

I’m hoping that this means we’ll be seeing more toys from the Marvel liscense like this made by Kaiyodo. I’d love to see what they could do with the Incredible Hulk or the X-Men.