Toy Review: Marvel’s Frost Giants

03/25/11

Marvel’s Frost Giants

When I attended last week’s launch of the Thor Movie toy line, I went a bit nuts:

Among the things I piled into my goodie bag were several of the Thor toys that were available at the distribution tables. I reviewed the 8” Marvel’s Destroyer toy a few days ago, but there were loads more. Because I collect so many lines and scales, I had to cherry pick among the 4” Asgardians. I chose to get the 2 Frost Giants that were available that day.

 

There are 2 available in the first batch of figures from Hasbro; the regular “Invasion Frost Giant” and the deluxe “Ice Attack Marvel’s Frost Giant”.

The deluxe figures are just re paints of the regular 4” line with extra accessories. In this case, the darker Frost Giant gets an ice axe and two spring-loaded missile launchers. With a price tag that’s 40% more than the regular figures, the value of these deluxe figures is dubious.

Still, I can’t resist a good repaint.

 

The Invasion Frost Giant is cast from a light blue plastic, making it look like one of James Cameron’s Pandora aliens, except that they’re much less feline and effeminate. There are molded lines on the legs, chest and back which I imagine are some kind of tribal scarification. These are painted a darker blue while the adornments he has sculpted on his head, legs and arms are done in gold. He’s wearing a green loincloth.

The Ice Attack Marvel’s Frost Giant is made out of a much darker plastic with light blue accents painted onto those lines. The gold accents are painted orange instead; while his man skirt is also orange (neither skirt is removable).

The sculpt on the figure is great. The embossed scarification lines really made my day, and the face looks appropriately war-like with a nice looking scowl. I’m not sure I like the fact that they made his left hand in a gesturing pose as opposed to a gripping fist. It would have made for more variety if you were army building.

Accessories-wise, Hasbro has made a good showing with these two figures. While they’ve got a way to go picking quality gear for their non-GI Joe lines, most of the things here are a step in the right direction.

The regular Invasion Frost Giant comes with 3 pieces; an ice helmet, an ice club, and something that the package says is a shield. It doesn’t really look at all like a shield and can’t be held in any position that would really protect the giant’s body. It’s really just a very big, very unwieldy, stabbing implement that slides on over his arm.

The Ice Attack Marvel’s Frost Giant (that’s the last time I’m saying that full name – from now on, it’s “the dark one”) comes with an additional weapon, a mean looking ice axe, and two clip-on missiles launchers with missiles.

 

Of all the gear, I think the ones most likely bound for my bits box is the set of rocket launchers. They just don’t FEEL like something you’d see in Asgard. For all the science in Movie Thor’s world, I find it illogical to include this with a figure wearing a g-string.

The big knives are all right, but I would have gladly traded them for a few snap on ice armor pieces. And as I said, the fact that the dark one can only hold either the club or the axe is a disappointment.

At Php 500.00 (about $11) for the regular figure and Php 700.00 for the deluxe, I’d say it’s best to just get a few regular Frost Giants and just get one deluxe figure as their lieutenant.

Though there are some missed opportunities on these two toys, I’d put them solidly in the WIN column. The figures by themselves are worth the purchase and despite the silly BFGs that come with the deluxe figure, the other 3-4 accessories give both some nice play value.