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Marvel Select Punisher

I've reviewed several of the Marvel Select figures so far, and next week I'll have a review of the new Ultimate Iron Man. But til then, here's a great guest review from Reinard Santos of the Marvel Select Punisher!

What the box says:
When his family was killed in the crossfire of a Mafia Shootout, Frank Castle put his military training to use - waging a one-man war on crime. As the Punisher, Castle reinvented himself as the merciless scourge of the underworld. The mere mention of his name causes criminals everywhere to cringe in fear, because they all know Punisher plays for keeps - and someday, he may come gunning for them.

What I can say:
Marvel Select is Marvel's answer to the DC Direct figures. Unlike Marvel Legends, Marvel Select is available only thru comic and toy specialty stores. The sculpt is also raised a notch higher by sacrificing some articulation. The bases are given tons of detail and the figure itself is upsized a bit. Yes folks, Marvel Select figures are not proportion with Marvel Legends (major disappointment) - they are a league of their own. These things are more like statues with awesome dioramas.

Packaging - **1/2
Despite the beautiful artwork by Tim Bradstreet on the back and righthand corner - the packaging sucks big time. This is blister carded, but the way the flap at the front is folded (the one with Punisher text) - it's a major turn off. It's also very bulky and there are a lot of hard to remove twisties especially the one in his handgun.

Sculpting - ****
The Marvel Select Punisher is based on the designs by Tim Bradstreet (Punisher Covers) - and this was followed very well. The guy in the arcade machine has more details than the Punisher - check out the tattoos, the pores on his face, the hair, the handcuffs, he got the details that should have been on the Punisher. The guns were also badly sculpted (inaccurate)...I'm going to shell out some cash and get Special Forces weapon packs.

Paint - ***½
Punisher has an overall black color which works well because his coat is textured. Paint apps on the Punisher could be a bit better if they mixed in hues of blue (like the new Venom from Spidey Classics). The wall base and tortured guy in the arcade machine were very well painted (sad to say - even better than the Punisher). This set should've been called: Tortured Guy in Arcade with Punisher. I felt that the Punisher figure was a bit neglected
detail wise.

Articulation - **
Toybiz, what hast thou done? Surely you can give this figure more articulation - instead we get 6 (neck, shoulder, wrist, waist)! This is what happens when a company like McFarlane wins the Marvel license - figures that are almost like statues. I'm very disappointed in this department - no elbow joints, or leg joints or knee joints - Toybiz managed to create some hidden knee articulations (Aragorn & Brego) by hiding the joints in rubbery plastic - this should have been done here.

Accessories - ***1/2
Punisher is known for having a lot of guns, arsenal and weaponry. Here we only get two rubbery guns (I thinks it's an armalite and a 45 caliber hand gun). He also comes with a guy being tortured in an arcade machine - this is well sculpted and cool but also a bit pointless. There are no articulations on the figure being tortured and I think you can't remove him from the arcade. There's also a nice wall backdrop with a neon signage - I think it says Matthew's Tavern or something - also nicely sculpted. I have to buy some weapon packs from Special Forces (Resaurus/Plan-B) to give Frank Castle the armaments he deserve.

Overall - ***
Yeah, 3 - but don't let that disappoint you. This is the best PUNISHER figure I have seen - just needs more armaments though. But I would strongly suggest you hold on to your cash and invest on the Marvel Legends Punisher - which will also come out with a trenchcoat variant. By the way, this is more in scale with McFarlane Movie Maniac toys!

Where to Buy:
Most comic shops are carrying the Marvel Select line, and some specialty stores like Media Play. On-line:

- Boise River Collectibles has him for $19 plus shipping.

Figure from the collection of Reinard Santos.