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Packaging
- ***
Remembering that these figures are intended as toys for kids who are fans
of the show, the style of packaging makes sense. You can see
everything through the front flap, and the back of the box has a great
picture of the character, some text on the show, and is sturdy and well
designed. You can take everything out without destroying it,
although there are twisty ties to deal with. These twisties are
softer than the ones I've seen before and easier to remove.
Sculpt - ***1/2
The sculpting on all three heads is terrific. I suspect they used
the two ups from the small scale figures, but I only have Toad here to
compare, and his sculpt is fairly generic in both cases.
Cyclops head is absolutely dead on for
scale. No pinhead here, and not the gargantuan heads of some of the
DC 9" line. Toad's is a little larger, but then his character
has a big head. Wolvie looks great on the M2 body, far superior to
the pinheaded version we got last time. His head is a little big
looking in the super hero outfit, but looks great when he's wearing his
karate outfit.
However, whatever you do, don't stare
directly at the picture of Wolverine in his 'hood'. You'll see what
I mean. *shudder*
Articulation - ***1/2
Famous Covers still rule in this scale and at this price. These are
the standard FC bodies - Cyclops and Toad are on M1's and Wolverine is an
M2.
Accessories - ***1/2
All three characters come with a locker and hanger to put the extra outfit
in. Cyclops and Toad's lockers are identical except for color, but
Wolverine has an extremely cool locker, including a translucent door.
The civvies fit well inside the locker,
but you have to crunch a little if you want to store Toad or Wolverine's
super hero garb.
On the front of Toad and Cyclops lockers
there is also a lock which is for show only. However it is a
separate piece, and a nice touch.
Outfits - ***1/2
Wow! Both the civvies and the super hero outfits are excellent, and
no major re-use! Unfortunately, each has a slight problem... Cyclops
super hero is made of a rubbery material, not the same pleather as the
X-Men movie two packs. Instead, it's the same as Nightcrawler's red
piece. This material is higher quality than the pleather we had on
the movie figures, but still restricts movement somewhat. Also, the
arms are a bit big to allow the outfit to come off over the hands
relatively easily. The rest fits
tightly though, and the stitching is excellent. All three of the
body suits include stirrups on the feet so that they don't bunch up when
putting on the boots. The rest of his uniform, including the yellow
'band' across his back and chest, fits very tightly. The boots are a
new sculpt, and soft rubber to allow you to remove them easily. Cyclops'
civvies are a little more plain, with a pair of pants and a nice looking
shirt. He doesn't have regular feet, but instead has civvie shoes
for feet. Last but not least, both his visor and his sunglasses fit
extremely well, and the visor proves just what they could have done with
the earlier Cyclops if they had been inclined. Toad
has an extremely complex super hero uniform. The body suit actually
has three materials in use - the stretchy lycra for the main suit, a
softer nylon for the inserts on the inside of the legs and arms, and
pleather for the shoulders and ankles. Additionally, there are
separate silver cuffs, and a silver tunic piece. Unfortunately, this
tunic isn't quite as nicely sewn as the other pieces, at least on mine,
and it looks like this piece could also suffer the most damage over
time. It crinkles easily, and the seams are not as straight.
Toad's super hero outfit is finished off with another set of terrific, new
boots. Toad's civilian clothes are
also less fancy, but look excellent. His torn blue jeans are off set
with a great looking shirt. And he has regular feet, with a pair of
styling athletic shoes to finish off his daytime look. Wolverine's
outfits are the best, except for one very notable, glaring problem.
His super hero costume is again extremely well made, with all new
parts. The body suit is made of the same material as Cyclops', but
since there aren't any arms it's far less restricting. It also fits
great, and reminds me of a wet suit. The
orange tunic fits tight, and looks great. The orange cuffs work
well, and the boots are splendid, some of the best we've seen in
ages. The material used is thinner and softer, so they don't have
that huge, toxic waste worker look. So
what's wrong? Well, some folks would say it's the lack of
claws. I didn't really have problem with that, but that's because I
wasn't expecting any. The claws have never looked good on any of the
previous figures, so I don't mind them leaving them off. No
the real problem here is the awful, stupendously ridiculous 'hood' that he
has attached to the uniform. This is made from lycra, and pulls over
his head as his mask. You can see in the picture below just how
truly horrific a sight this is. Don't look too long - I suspect you
could suffer permanent damage. On
the other hand, his civvie outfit is the best of the bunch. He has a
karate outfit, including tank top t-shirt, top shirt that opens in the
front, black belt, pants, ankle cuffs and wrist cuffs. I didn't like
the wrist cuffs - they ride too high on the arms - but the rest of the
outfit is fantastic looking. Great quality, great stitching, and
excellent fit. This outfit is
pictured on the back of the box in orange and black, but I'm glad they
went with these understated colors instead. His feet are like
Cyclops, so that he has shoes rather than bare feet under his boots.
I can live with that, although both he and Cyclops have some loose ankles
with these 'shoe feet'.
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