Toy Review: Green Goblin & Hobgoblin

Green Goblin & Hobgoblin

I’d seen both the Marvel Universe (MU) Green Goblin early last year (it was released in March of 2009 with wave 2) and then Hobgoblin later (May with wave 4). I hadn’t paid them any attention because I was still iffy about the 4″ scale and I was more interested in the Green, Grey, and Red Hulks that were released in the same waves as these two. THOSE where a bitch to find.

I then got the Spider-Friends Boxset with the repainted MU Spider-Man figure that had been already been re-painted and released 4 times before the Fury Files became the H.A.M.M.E.R. Files. Normally, once I had the main characters of a comic, movie, or TV series, an obsessive compulsion would take over and I’d need to get the others. It didn’t happen here because the MU Spider-Man is BUTT-UGLY. It’s pin-headed and awkward and not at all super-heroy.

Then I got the exclusive San Diego Comic Convention (SDCC) Movie Spider-Man and that little voice began nagging me; How can I have a 4″ Spider-Man in my collection and have no 4″ bad guys for him to play with? What’s a Spider Sense with no danger? What’s a web-line with no one to swing circles around? What’s a web-shield if you have no projectiles or energy beams or unwanted sexual advances to deflect?

If Mysterio were around, I’d make the perfect patsy; I’m such a weakwilled putz.

So my next visit to the toy store ended in me bringing home a Doctor Octopus and these two bad boys.

Packaging is the same as always; polygon blister on card, Frank Cho art on the front, boring product photo on the back, pics of other toys in the line and Fury’s mug telling you you should visit the www.furyfiles.com website to view exclusive content (which is usually pretty boring).

There’s also the character description that tells you that Norman Osborne and Roderick Kingsley are some very evil dudes. But you already knew that.

Both have the same standard Fury Files MU articulation (meaning no thigh swivels). It’s sufficient, but there are some poses that you just can’t achieve and the legs tend to fall off if you push them too far. The two figures are pretty much identical from the neck down, except for colors. There aren’t any variations in the body of the figures, both using the same scaly skin and the same gobliny boots and the same gobliny gloves.

The differences only become apparent when you look at the head and accessories.

As you can see, the sculpts of the heads are 2 different pieces of art. Though the scale is small, you can see the detail that went into these. Because they’re not required to look human, the artist was able to play around a bit with them and make them far more twisted looking.

Articulation on the head and neck is the same as both; a balljoint that’s basically locked as a swivel. There isn’t any looking up or down here. Sorry, folks. Hobby’s cape limits his range a smidge more than Gobby’s, but it’s not really noticeable.

The pumpkin bombs are nice too. Unlike my Marvel Legends (ML) Green Goblin, they aren’t glued to the figures’ hands so you can pose them with or without the weapons. I’m thinking of gluing them permanantly to their hands though. They’re just too small and easy to lose, and they don’t fit all that securely to their perches. If one of them falls from your shelf, you’re bound to spend several hours searching for the bomb, which will fly right off on impact and roll under one of some indescribably heavy piece of furniture.

The satchels are identical as well, a completely re-used mold that simply used another color of plastic. One tan, the other brown. It’s a good piece and fits the figures well (since both were designed together), without affecting the range of motion. It is a little odd that the size is so at odds with the pumpkin bomb, unless he’s got some kind of zero space generator inside there that dumps everything into another dimension. Then maybe it’d work. There could also be some kind of shrink ray in there that reduces all the bombs to the size of a chocnut so that he can fit hundreds in there at a time. Either way, the Goblins should market the shit out of that technology. Imagine being able to fit your car in your pocket!

The Goblin Glider remains the same as well. The only improvement made to the piece between the two figures was that it was given a black wash that gave it a slightly dirtier look. No big deal, and not quite an improvement. You can take it or leave it, and it doesn’t really matter if I can’t remember which glider goes to which figure. They look the same. I’d like to have seen a more gobliny glider for Hobby, one that looked more demony than roboty.

It’s too bad that they used that bendy rubbery plastic for it, though. The stuff doesn’t hold up well at all. If you try to pose him by the wings of the glider for example, hanging it off the edge of a table or something, the thing will slowly bend under the weight of the figure. You have to support it by the fuselage, but Hasbro has provided nothing to help there. There’s no hole, no clip, no suction cup. Sure you can make one from wire or something, but at least the ML Goblin had a way to make it look like they guy was flying over the Webhead’s head rather than sitting on the ground. A clear stand and a hole in the back would have been awesome.

But really, these are great figures, especially now that they’re down to the current price of Php 450.00 per figure (when they were released, they were Php 550.00). If you’re lucky enough to get the SDCC Spider-Man, then I would suggest you invest in getting these to fill in your rogues gallery.