Review – Marvel Universe Vision
“Originally created by Ultron to destroy the Avengers, Vision became more than his monstrous creator could ever hope to be. He broke away from his programming, motivated by an innate desire to do right by those he had been built to battle. His phenomenal intelligence and phasing powers made him invaluable to Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. He served loyally for many years, finding friendship and eventually love on the team.”
— from the back of the card
This makes the twentieth Marvel Universe* action figure I’ve reviewed since the series started earlier this year (list of previous reviews here), and this is the first that I’ve reviewed in the line’s “Second Series.” So what do I think of the first “Second Series” action figure that I’ve opened? Not terrible, but Hasbro should have done a better job.
Packaging
Pretty much exactly what we’ve seen before. The most significant change is that the Fury Files website is changing with the launch of the second series action figures (mentioned here). The numbering on the series has restarted at 001, but the numbers don’t matter all that much to me. Basically, there’s no real difference between series one and series two packages (at least no difference that’s going to make these immediately stand out as new when you spot them in the store).
We Meet Again, Daredevil
The cape and head are the newly sculpted pieces for the Marvel Universe Vision action figure; the body is the basic Daredevil (review here) sculpt we’ve seen a few times now. The sculpt is pretty good on its own, or even next to other action figures using the same body, but once you get Vision into a group of other figures from the series you immediately see that he’s a tad short. I understand why bodies and accessories are reused whenever possible — it costs a lot to create a new action figure — but I’d like to see this particular body used a little less often. I would have much rather seen Hasbro use the Silver Surfer body for Vision, but what’s done is done and this is the Vision we get.
Shiny, Shiny Paint
The Daredevil body may have been a poor choice for the Vision, but Hasbro nailed it with the action figure’s paint applications. A metallic green and yellow finish, with a few black detail lines, make this figure really stand out on the shelf. If it wasn’t for a couple of missed spots — the photo of Vision’s back shows one missed spot on his upper arm — this would be an A+ paint job. As it is, I’m gonna say this is almost perfect; fortunately, the missed spots on my figure aren’t really seen from the front so it’s not a problem at all once Vision is posed on the shelf.
The Vision’s face — both the sculpt and paint apps — is good, looking almost exactly the way I expected him to (he’s a little puffy in the cheeks, but overall it’s a nice face sculpt). The ball-jointed head isn’t perfect, though, since it swivels side-to-side nicely but has problems with up and down movement. And the cape, a soft plastic piece that fits down over the neck, also restricts the head movement.
Accessories
Besides the cape, Vision also comes with the Fury Files code, a small document, and a trading card-sized art card with a few details about the Vision. Those paper bits have been with the series since the first wave — and I love them and the website — but the new accessory added to Series Two figures is a stand. Finally! After months of figure releases Hasbro has finally started giving us display stands for the Marvel Universe action figures. The stand is pretty simple and unexciting — with the Marvel logo, character name, and character number — but it’s a step up for the series.
Closing Thoughts
The Vision’s paint job, cape, and head all come together to create a great-looking action figure . . . an action figure that suddenly doesn’t look quite so good once he’s in a group of other Marvel Universe action figures. The poor choice of basic body really knocked this toy down from fantastic to adequate, but fans of the Vision should be able to overlook the character’s height (and the articulation problems; see my Daredevil review). Vision is a good addition to the Marvel Universe series, but he’s not a great addition.
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Philip Reed wants to know when he’ll be able to grab a Scarlet Witch to partner with his Vision action figure. Hopefully she won’t tower too much over the kinda short Vision.
I’ve not gottenVision due to some of the things you’ve said. I like his character since I first started noticing him in the Avengers but I somehow was expecting some more with the cape and all.