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Packaging - ***
If the packaging reminds you of the old Marvel Studios stuff, you're not
alone. Only it's much cheaper, with cardboard for a top and
bottom. It has the same general design though, and shows off the figure
well while keeping it safe and sound.
It's not collector friendly though, and you'll have to tear things up a bit
to get it all apart. There's a fair share of twisties, but this isn't
particularly surprising for a figure that's intended for the mass market
shelves.
Sculpting - ***1/2
While you might have expected that these would be simple two ups of the
previously released versions, that's not the case, at least for
Wolverine. He's a new sculpt, although his style and expression is very
similar to the series 12 release.
There's much more texture and detail in this larger scale, particularly in
the uniform. At times it can be a bit over done, but it does
differentiate the figure from the smaller versions nicely.
These are also all solid figures, no rotocast. This sets them apart from
the 12" rotocast versions of Marvel characters that are in the $10 range.
The scale is good, with Wolverine standing at 11 inches tall. That
makes him shorter than the others in the current release, and it's nice to see
Toybiz trying to maintain some sense of scale with the larger figures as
well. I'm sure neither Hulk or Venom will end up at the size they really
need to in this scale, but you can bet they'll be pretty damn close.
The head sculpt sports a gritted teeth expression, generally not one of my
favorites, but here they did a nice job of not over doing it, and looking
pissed without looking pained.
My only big complaint with the sculpt is the hands. The articulation
and sculpted fingers don't work well together at all, and the wonky thumbs
don't look good no matter what you do. I'll pick on this again in the
articulation section, since it's a combination of both issues that cause them
to look so bizarre.
Paint - ***
Most of the paint application is well done, with solid quality. Details
like the eyes, teeth and hairy arms are done with precision and
accuracy. Colors are consistent, and there is very good cutting between
colors.
There's a heavy wash over the suit however, and I deducted predominately
for its overuse. Washes can bring out detail and imply dirt, but here
it's just too much, particularly in this large scale. It ended up
everywhere, including his teeth, poor guy.
Articulation - ***1/2
If you like Marvel Legends type articulation, you're going to love
these. If you don't, do yourself a big favor and steer clear.
Wolverine has the usual pin joint that allows for forward and backward
movement, along with turning side to side. There's no tilting here like
there would be with a true ball joint, but it's a decent compromise.
He does have ball jointed shoulders and hips, just like the usual ML.
If you don't like the look of the hips on the 6" line, you won't like
them any better when the get upscaled. However, I think they work
terrific, and are extremely sturdy.
There's also the usual double jointed shoulders and knees, a cut waist, a
clicking chest joint, cut joints at the top of the boots, pin ankles and half
foot, and even the nifty swivel foot. That's the joint at the very
bottom of the leg that allows the foot to turn into our away from the line of
the leg. That makes all that leg articulation a whole lot more useful,
since you can get him to stand in deep poses.
The pin/peg wrists work well, although mine are a little loose, and the
fingers of the left hand are individually articulated. Those on the
right are not, but have a single pin through them that they can move around.
The wonky sculpt of the thumbs and fingers doesn't work well with the odd
articulation though, leaving you with some mighty goofy looking hands, no
matter what you try.
Accessories - **1/2
Judging by the photos, you might think this was a bupkis, but it's not.
There's the included comic book, only this time they did a great job.
It's a 'history of an icon' book, with back story, cover art, and interior art
that chronicles the character's history. It's much nicer than the usual
reprint comic, and they really went above and beyond in producing it.
However, that's the only accessory, hence the fairly low score. Nice
as it is, all by itself it can't carry this category.
Fun Factor - ***1/2
Kids will enjoy playing with these for all the reasons they enjoy the 6"
line. They'll need to get a few characters to really enjoy them, but
they can go along with the cheaper rotocast 10 - 12" Toybiz figures for
now until the series gets fleshed out a little more.
Value - ***1/2
At $16 or $17 these are an excellent value. That should be no surprise,
since the same is true of the 6" line, but had these been $20 - $25 (the
going rate for cheaper 12" figures these days), the score would have
really suffered.
Things to Watch Out For -
Not much. Obviously, keep an eye on the paint work to get the best you
can, but Toybiz product is usually pretty consistent one way or the other.
Overall - ***1/2
This line has some tremendous potential, if they can convince kids that
this scale is cool. The quality is much better than the terribly over
priced Marvel Studios 12" figures, and will hopefully last through the
change over from Toybiz to Hasbro.
Score Recap
Packaging - ***
Sculpt - ***1/2
Paint - **1/2
Articulation - ***1/2
Accessories - **1/2
Fun Factor - ***1/2
Value - ***1/2
Overall - ***1/2
Where to Buy -
Right now your best bet is Toys R Us, or one of these online choices:
- CornerStoreComics has some
of series 1 in stock for $17 each, and pre-orders up for series 2.
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