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Review of Daredevil, Spider-Woman, Spider-Man, Anti-Venom
Marvel Legends Hobgoblin Wave Part 1

Hasbro
Date Published:
Written By:
Overall Average Rating: 3 out of 4

Marvel Legends Hobgoblin wave of action figures by Hasbro

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Introduction

If you were concerned we wouldn't be seeing many Marvel Legends figures this year, that would be an concern that is unfounded. I've already covered the first wave of Avengers related figures that included the AllFather BAF, including Captain Marvel, Sentry and Thor, and Hawkeye, Machine Man, Iron Fist and Scarlet Witch. I've also looked at the three pack of Coulson, Fury and Hill, exclusive to Toys R Us. And sitting in front of me I have the complete second wave of Avengers related figures (with the Thanos BAF), as well as the full wave of Spider-man related figures (with the Hobgoblin BAF).

I thought I'd start out with four of the Spider-man wave - a classic Spider-man himself, Spider-Woman, Anti-Venom and Daredevil. He seems particularly timely with the new Daredevil series dropping last weekend from Netflix. If you haven't started watching it yet - do it, do it right now.

This wave also includes a Spider-man 2099 and a Spider-woman, along with the Hobgoblin BAF. You should be able to find them right now at your local Target, Toys R Us, or other mass market retailer. Prices have jumped on these at some retailers, but I'm not sure if that's an on-going situation, or a short term price hike due to the release of the Avengers movie in less than 3 weeks. And you can also buy your IMAX tickets for the movie already, which you should do right now if you haven't yet.  In fact, if you open one window to read this review, one window to buy your tickets, and one window to watch Daredevil, all at the same time, you will reach that elusive nerd high that you've heard so much about.

Back to the price - I paid $20 each at the local Target, but your mileage may vary.

Click on the image below for a Life Size version
Marvel Legends Hobgoblin wave of action figures by Hasbro

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Packaging - ****
As I've mentioned with the past few releases, these hanging boxes are collector friendly, a rarity in the mass market world. I personally am all for it, although some collectors will complain that it makes it too easy for the unscrupulous losers out there to swap in other figures and return them, a form of stealing particular to the toy collecting world.

They also do a nice job of personalization, with both graphics and text specific to the enclosed character. They alter the color and graphics on the side from wave to wave as well, making it easier to pick out the new figures on the peg. The weird shape isn't that great for the MOCers who want to store them, but overall I really like the packs.

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Sculpting - Spider-Woman **1/2; Daredevil, Spider-man, Anti-Venom ***1/2
In the package, all four of these sculpts look great. There's lots of good detail work, and the head sculpts are quality stuff.

But once you open them up, the cream rises. The Daredevil head sculpt is my favorite, with a stern expression and some great detailing considering the scale. Sure, it's the same muscled body we've seen over and over, and the leg holster for his sticks is bulky and clunky, but overall he has the look. With the oft used base body, he stands the usual 6 1/4", and the hands are sculpted to work with the accessories.

Anti-Venom looks great as well, again using a big, hulking base body that's been seen before.  The head sculpt has that amorphous quality to it, as though it's shifting and reshaping while you watch, and the dynamic expression works for me. He's a big boy, coming in at about 7" tall, and the hands are sculpted for threatening poses.

Of the bunch, the best looking out of the package (with the fewest issues) is the classic Spider-man. He's super articulated, but that doesn't hurt the overall appearance of the sculpt, at least not for me. If you prefer aesthetics over articulation, then this guy might not be for you, but I think they've done an excellent job of capturing a great looking sculpt without sacrificing the super poseability. He comes in at about that same 6 1/4", and has a bunch of hand sculpts - more on that in the Accessories section.

Finally, there's Spider-Woman, my only real disappointment out of these 4. She is on the smaller female body, standing about 6" tall, which makes sense for the character. I'm glad that Hasbro is paying attention to scale, at least with Marvel Legends. But she has so many other issues, starting with the super soft plastic. You have a triple whammy here - soft plastic combined with thin limbs and joints combined with a forced dynamic pose in the plastic tray. What you end up with is warped arms and legs, and that can be particularly hard to fix when it's occurs with the knee or elbow joint themselves.

I'm also not digging the excessively dynamic hair sculpt. It looks good in almost zero poses, and the heavy, solid plastic makes finding the center of gravity in any pose near impossible. And while the Spider-man manages to have both articulation and beauty, the same situation does not apply to his younger female counterpart. What is up with those ugly elbows? Not only are they downright unattractive, they work poorly, making that articulation point a double negative.

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Paint - Spider-Woman ***; Anti-Venom, Spider-man, Daredevil ***1/2
Overall, the paint quality is above average for this price point and this scale, and I had very little to whine about in this category.

On close inspection, Spider-Woman does have a few issues around the edges of her symbol on the costume. They're minor, but are visible to the nekkid eye, while the issues with the other three are more difficult to see. While I can't guarantee the whole production run came out this good, the three I picked up generally have sharp lines, clean edges and almost no bleed.

I almost went four stars on Spider-man, but I can see where the more anal amongst us will take issue with the red pegs for the elbows. While they look fine from the outside of the arm - where the costume is red - they do look weird on the inside of the arm, where they clash with the blue. Like I said, it's a minor nit, but there are those of us that notice these things.

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Articulation - Spider-Woman *1/2; Daredevil **1/2; Anti-Venom, Spider-man ****
Working with a couple of these figures turned out to be far more frustrating than the norm, hurting them big time.

Let's start with the positive though: both Spider-man and Anti-Venom have a ton of very useful, very sturdy joints.  I had no trouble coming up with cool poses, and the joints were tight and responsive. With a ball neck, ball shoulders and hips, double pin elbows and knees, a cut waist, ab-crunch, cut thighs, ball wrists, pin ankles and a rocker foot joint, these two are definitely 'super poseable'. AV even had a cut joint on the calf, and Spider-man adds the cool multi-joint swivel shoulders for extra posability.

Daredevil is just as good as Anti-Venom, at least when it comes to numbers. One of the best joints with all four of these figures is the rocker foot, which allows the feet to be flat on the ground in deeper stances. This improves the look of the pose, as well as adding stability. Unfortunately, the left foot on my DD was jammed to far up into the ankle, making the rocker impossible to use. Hopefully this is a one off manufacturing issue and not a consistent problem.

Daredevil also had a very floppy ab-crunch and waist. He almost felt like a bobble head, flopping back and forth.  Again, I'm hoping this was a one off situation and not a consistent problem with the DD's in this wave.

And then there's Spider-Woman. I've grown quite accustomed to finding all sorts of cool poses with my Marvel Legends figures. It's one of their big draws, but once I had freed SG, I found exactly one pose worth shooting. One. And she couldn't hold that one very long. She's not as articulated as the boys, lacking the cut biceps, double pin elbows, or waist cut, but that's not her biggest issue.

Several factors conspire against her. I've mentioned the ugly, useless elbows, which hurt the ability for her to take interesting arm poses. Then there's the huge heavy hair, jutting out to one side, which I complained about earlier. It throws off the center of gravity in most stances, making them tough to maintain even on a good day, and it's not a good day. She has very loose joints, especially in the knees and hips, so that extra weight in the hair isn't doing her any favors. Add in any warpage to the knees from the package, and you end up with a disaster.

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Accessories - Spider-Woman **1/2; Anti-venom, Daredevil ***; Spider-man ****
I usually give any ML figure that only comes with the BAF piece **1/2 stars in this category. If you're not interested in the BAF, there's not a lot of value to you.

That's the case with Spider-Woman. She comes with just the BAF piece, although it's a critical piece (the torso) for the Hobgoblin.

Anti-Venom and Daredevil do a little better. Along with the BAF piece, they have one additional accessory. For AV, it's the spiky piece on his back. This is not a permanent fixture but rather pops right off...sometimes a bit too easily.

With Daredevil, it's his sticks. They come separate, but can be combined into a short staff, or he can carry them in his leg pack.  They are made from a VERY soft rubber, and are very likely to wilt and weaken over time, especially in a warm environment.

Spider-man is the clear winner here, cranking out the extras. First, there's his second head sculpt, done with the bottom of the mask up. This second head works particularly well if you pose him with another of his accessories - a slice of pizza. There are also a total of six hands - the pair he comes wearing, plus two more sets. He has fists, web shooting hands, as well as a couple he can use with the pizza or with various poses. Hands and head swap cleanly and easily, with no fear of breakage. And of course, he also includes a piece of the BAF.

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Fun Factor - Spider-Woman *1/2; Daredevil ***; Spider-man, Anti-Venom ****
I'm sorry, but Spider-Woman is far more frustration than fun. With the crappy articulation and difficulty standing, she's going to end up propped up in the back of the display, never to be posed again.

Daredevil is better, but mine has the funky ankle that hurts him a bit here as well. Add in the floppy waist and chest, and he's not quite all that he could be.

But both Anti-Venom and Spider-man make up for it, giving you plenty of potential for posing and re-posing, great for both kids and collectors alike.

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Value - **1/2
I've heard reports that some stores are charging $22 each now for this wave and the Thanos set. Sorry, but I was in the camp where $20 was already a lot to pay. I realize that everything Marvel is super hot with just a few weeks to go before the new Avengers  movie, but that doesn't make these figures worth more. If anything, the soft plastic and floppy joints makes them worth less than the standard price, making it tough to get excited about the upcoming releases.

However, I only paid the usual $20, so I went with an average value here. Clearly, anything over that and I would deduct another half star.

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Things to Watch Out For -
The soft joints on some of the figures - particularly Spider-Woman and Daredevil - could end up damaged if you're not careful. Take your time freeing them up if they are stuck, and try the freezer trick if you're particularly worried.

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Overall - Spider-Woman **; Daredevil ***; Anti-Venom ***1/2; Spider-man ****
Poor Spider-Woman looked great in the package. Then I opened her up, and she turned into one of the worst figures I've seen in quite awhile.

The soft plastic, weak joints, ugly elbows, and overly dynamic hair sculpt all worked against her. In the end, she's a figure that can barely stand, and who has the least potential for poses and display options.

Daredevil isn't bad, but I did have several joint issues.  I'm not loving the big thigh pack either, and the super soft clubs were a disappointment.  Thankfully, the overall sculpt and paint helped make up for quite a bit. Now I need a Netflix version!

The Anti-venom is great, a valuable addition to the collection. Great articulation, sculpt and paint make for a great action figure, and kids will love him as much as collectors.

Which brings us to the winner out of these four - Spider-man. We've gotten great looking super articulated versions before, so you may not feel the need to snag this one up. But he's got that slice of pizza...how can you resist?

Score Recap (out of ****):
Packaging - ****
Sculpting - Spider-Woman **1/2; Daredevil, Spider-man, Anti-Venom ***1/2
Paint - Spider-Woman ***; Anti-Venom, Spider-man, Daredevil ***1/2
Articulation - Spider-Woman *1/2; Daredevil **1/2; Anti-Venom, Spider-man ****
Accessories - Spider-Woman **1/2; Anti-venom, Daredevil ***; Spider-man ****
Fun Factor - Spider-Woman *1/2; Daredevil ***; Spider-man, Anti-Venom ****
Value - **
Overall - Spider-Woman **; Daredevil ***; Anti-Venom ***1/2; Spider-man ****

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Where to Buy 
Online options include these site sponsors:

- has the set of 6 for $140.

- has some of the singles for $18 - $22, depending on the character.

- Entertainment Earth has the set of 6 for $160.

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -

I just covered the first Avengers wave of the year, including Captain Marvel, Sentry and Thor and Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, Machine Man and Iron Fist. Also recent was the three pack of Coulson, Fury and Maria Hill from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

I've covered a million Marvel Legends figures over the years, with the most recent being the Guardians of the Galaxy wave. It's actually in two parts - here and here. I also hit up all three BAF's from last year at once.

Other previouis ML's include part of the Iron Man series, the Arnim Zola series in three parts: here, along with Part 2 and Part 1. Before that, I covered the Terrax BAF wave, in part 1 and part 2; the Red Hulk set, in part 1 and part 2; the last wave of 'icons', the larger scale Legends; the Foom/Hulk wave, broken into one review here and another here; I also covered the early Hasbro ML's, incluidng wave 2 (with a second part here) and wave 1, first at MROTW and then at QSE.

- Earlier Hasbro Marvel Legends Icons included Punisher and Doom, and my favorite, Thor.

And if you still pine for the days Toybiz -

- in the 12? Icons line, there’s Spider-man and Beast, Wolverine and Venom.

- there’s the guest review of the Fearsome Foes of Spider-man boxed set, Urban Legends box set, X-men Legends boxed set, and the Fantastic Four boxed set, along with my review of the Monsters boxed set.

- The previous Sentinel BAF was guest reviewed.

- prior to that there was Wal-mart series, series 12, series 9 (including Galactus), series 8 Captain Marvel and Doc Ock, series 7 Vision, series 6 Juggernaut, Wolverine and Deadpool, series 5 Blade, Nick Fury, Sabertooth and Colossus, along with series 5 Red Skull, Silver Surfer and Mr. Fantastic, series 4 Goliath, Punisher, Beast, Gambit, and Elektra, series 3 Daredevil and then the rest of the series, series 2 Thing and Namor, and finally, from three and a half years ago, the series 1 review.

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This product was purchased for the review by the reviewer. Photos and text by Michael Crawford.

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