Review – Marvel Universe Spider-Man

“Spider-Man’s message is simple. It’s all about responsibility. If you want to be a good person, you have to be accountable for your actions. You can’t blame others for your mistakes or failures. You also have a duty to use your talents to make this world a better place. If you have the power to stop something bad from happening, you need to step forward. One person can make a difference, especially if he or she acts in a responsible manner.”
— from Spider-Man: The Ultimate Guide

Last month, while at the New York Toy Fair, I happened across the first wave of Hasbro’s new Marvel Universe 3.75-inch action figure series. I had already read the review at www.mwctoys.com so I had an idea of what to expect, but actually seeing the packaged figures in a store I was surprised at how nice most of them looked. At $15/each, though, I decided to wait until I spotted them at a more reasonable price.

Well, Toys’R’Us now has the figures in stock so, after reviewing my options, I decided to grab Spider-Man so that I could get a feel for the line’s quality.

Packaged in in a fairly standard card/blister arrangement, the Marvel Universe action figures stand out on the store pegs a lot better than Mattel’s Dc Universe Infinite Heroes figures do; both a larger card and more attractive graphic design really make the Marvel figures standout . . . I immediately spotted the figures when I stepped into the action figure aisle at Toys’R’Us.

The card back shows a couple of other figures in the series — Silver Surfer (yawn), Punisher (who I might get, even if the review at www.mwctoys.com shows how ugly he is), and Iron Man (I need an Iron Man figure, so this one might be the winner) — and points readers to www.furyfiles.com, a site where you type in a secret code to access extra information (I haven’t done this yet, but I’ll try it soon).

Overall it’s an excellent, professional package.

Spider-Man in 3.75″

As I said in my review of the DC Universe Infinite Heroes Scarecrow, ” . . . Hasbro should stick to the 3.75-inch action figures . . .” All this new Spider-Man figure does is reinforce that opinion. With slightly less articulation than a modern G.I. Joe figure, Spider-Man is still wonderfully articulated, with hinge joints at the knees and elbows, swivel and slight hinge at the feet, ball joints at the shoulders and hips, and a slight bit of head movement (it’s a ball joint, but the head sculpt drastically limits the head’s range of motion). Sure, he’s not as articulated as a lot of larger figures, but this is a perfectly acceptable amount of articulation for a figure of this size (plus, Spider-Man has peg holes in his feet so if you can find a stand, none was included, you can get him to stay in some pretty neat poses).

Spider-Man comes with a single accessory — a crappy “web” piece — I actually would have rather seen a stand instead of this flimsy plastic garbage. As you can see in the photo above, the accessory looks pretty bad when you fasten it to his arm. I don’t know about everyone else out there, but I’m tossing this web thing in a box and pretending it doesn’t exist.

One weak point on the Marvel Universe Spider-Man has to be the paint; at least, what little there is of it. The figure appears to be cast in blue, with the red, black, and white details painted on. The white eyes look great, but the black lines vary in weight a bit too much (and aren’t always right in the sculpted grooves) while the red slops over onto the blue a little too much. I’m betting a customizer out there is going to repaint Spider-Man and really make him shine, but Hasbro needs to work with the factory to clean up their paint job before the next wave in the series ships.

To be fair to Hasbro, though, it’s possible that the paint issue is on a figure-to-figure basis and not on every single Spider-Man in the series. In a review at www.action-figure.com reviewer Nomad writes:

“Paints are super tight with no missed spots, though I have noticed a bit of gunkigng up in places where the black wash remained pooled, most likely.”

So the black details may be the only issue. Still, I recommend looking closely before choosing a Spider-Man off of the peg.

Closing Thoughts

The short review (now that you’ve read this far) is that I’m happy with my first purchase in the Marvel Universe series. Spider-Man feels like a good toy. He’s well articulated, looks good, and has just enough sculpted details and paint to carry the figure across without turning it into an art toy. The Secret Wars line may have ended long ago, but this new series definitely steps in as an excellent successor to that older line, with a new line of Marvel heroes that fit right in with a host of other 3.75-inch figures (like Hellboy, below).

www.action-figure.com closes their Spider-Man review with:

“What we’ve got here is a damn fine figure at a price that will make you flinch. Keep in mind we’ve not seen the price on the pegs in American stores, but it can’t be far from what we are seeing so far. At 6 to 7 dollars, this line is brilliant. At 10, it’s just not doable for most of us.”

I paid $8 for Spider-Man, which feels about $1 or $2 too high. Most Star Wars and G.I. Joe figures these days are $8, but they usually come with a lot more accessories than most superhero action figures. If Spider-Man had either included some useful accessories, or a stand, I’d feel better about the $8 price tag. As it is, the price isn’t high enough to keep me from buying more releases in this series but it is high enough that I’ll be a little selective.

Philip Reed remembers the 80s, a time when he read Spider-Man comics. Hobgoblin. The Gang War. Kraven. All were fun storylines. Philip has no idea what’s happening with Spider-Man comics these days, though.

Nonsense Follows