Toy Review: Savage Frost Giant & Loki

To cap off our unofficial Thor week here (I’ve reviewed Marvel’s Destroyer and the 4″ Frost Giants so far) I’ll be taking a look at the new Marverl Universe Giantic Battles set, Savage Frost Giant and Loki.

It’s been awile since Hasbro’s last assortment of Gigantic Battles figures, and I honestly thought we’d never see any new 12″ figures when they cancelled the Marvel’s Icons line. Thankfully, they’ve been gearing up in preparation for the huge merchandising opportunity posed by the new movies coming out this year and in 2012. With the Thor film due out next month and the Captain America one right on it’s heels, Hasbro’s bound to be cranking out a ton of product in the coming months. This 2-pack was probably the biggest single purchase I made at the Thor Movie toyline launch last weekend, and one of the most popular items at the event.

The box hasn’t changed from the first wave of Gigantic Battle sets. It’s a rectangle with the corners chopped off. It’s sturdy, easy to open, and totally re-useable. Perfect for Mint In Box collectors. Hasbro continues to use the new paper strings to secure the figures inside the package, which is welcome since it’s so easy to cut right through them if you’re an opener like me. A few quick snips and you’ve got both Loki and his pet giant out of the plastic trays.

The back of the box has the standard Marvel product photography on it, as well as a little image of the other figure set in the line, Goliath and the Clone Thor (also availble at the event, but not nearly as popular). It’s odd how Hasbro puts such little effort into these photos when the comic included (a reprint of a classic Thor issue where Loki invades Asgard with an army of monsters) has examples of what they can do with dioramas when they really put their mind to it. There are ads for both the Iron Man 2 line and the Marvel Universe line, the latter featuring the Galactus figure, that scream “buy me!” to any half-way interested party. Those are the images I’d like to see on the backs of boxes.

There really not much to the set.

If you’re a Thor fan, you’ll want to get this.

If you’re a Marvel Universe collector, you’ll want to get this.

If you’re a fan of 12″ figures, you’ll want to get this.

If you’re none of the above, it’s an easy pass. There are issues here that stop it from being a “must have” toy.

The first would be the fact that Loki’s a pretty plain figure. It’s basically the same body we’ve got from the first Black Costume Spider-man, Iceman, etc. It’s not a mold I’m particularly fond of. The clenched fist looks odd and the gesturing hand doesn’t look particularly evocative. The ankle joints are also kind of limited, and the legs tend to fall off the hip joint because of clearance issues (they’re easily fixed). In addition, he has no accessories to speak of. An alternate head would have been nice. A sword maybe? Or a cape. But he gets nothing.

The paint is nice; clear tampographing of the design on his chest and stomach. I suggest being careful picking through your choices for one with no fudge marks between the green and yellow areas. Pay attention to his face as well. Articulation is fair, if not stellar.

The Frost Giant, while not as vanilla as Loki, has it’s issues as well. He comes with two accessories; his flint axe and a bone helmet. Both are made of a rubberized plastic and sport very nice, detailed sculpts. The helmet fits well on his head, while the axe can be held in either hand. The axe is a loose fit, but it won’t fall out easily. Those aren’t the problem though.

The Giant’s problem is two-fold; sculpt and articulation.

His sculpt is actually pretty great from the neck down, but when you get to the face, he looks distinctly cartoonish. His eyes and lips look drawn on in pen, rather then painted on with a blended wash or graduated shading. He ends up looking like he came out of one of those Super Hero Squad cartoons. He also looks vaguely cross-eyed. It’s a bummer. It can be mitigated by putting on the helmet, but it’s still noticeble when you get close.

His articulation is a more annoying issue since it was avoidable. Remember the Face-Off Mandarin? This guys shares the same problem. The sculpted costume pieces, specifically the fur shoulder cloak and his skirt are molded from a thick, unyielding plastic. Because of it, the shoulders and the hips are limited, especially the hips. Hasbro really should have borrowed a card from their Star Wars line and done it in real cloth. It’s truly disappointing.

Though I wouldn’t say this set great value for your money at Php 2,200.00 (about $48.00 US), it’s worth checking out if you’re a fan. We have got so few characters from the Thor series in the 4″ line, it’s nice to have Loki to go along with the Enchantress. Plus, since Frost Giants come in all sorts of sizes, the one that comes with this set can fit in with my 4″ SDCC Thor, Marvel Legends Thor, or my Marvel Select Thor with no fuss.

That’s a pretty good deal.