With great power comes great responsibility. Although this movie Spider-Man might not be familiar with those words, it still deserves a new suit (and figure). Today we'll be looking at the first entry in the Spider-Man Marvel Legends Infinite Series: Peter Parker himself!
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No matter what evil rises, the Amazing Spider-Man will summon the courage to defeat it; for with great power comes great responsibility.
This new Spidey comes in the same Marvel Legends packaging as the Captain America Marvel Legends Infinite Series (That's a mouthful). It's very nice packaging and is becoming the new standard for ML (the next Guardians of the Galaxy wave also uses it as well). Because this is a movie figure the top of the box has the movie's title instead of the generic "Spider-Man" we get on the comic figures.
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| If you look closely, you can see the plastic case is upside-down. My mistake. |
But who cares about the (soon to be overused) packaging? Is the figure inside any good?
Short answer: Yes. When the Amazing Spider-Man 2 suit was first revealed, fans were ecstatic at the comic-inspired design in favor of the weird, yellow-eyed suit of the original. Because the suit is very comic-based, it is easy to fudge this movie figure as a classic Spider-Man. This is great news for newer ML fans who don't want to pay ridiculous prices for the old McFarlane Spider-Man from Toybiz.
Furthermore, this is an all-new sculpt from Hasbro. It has very nice details included sculpted lines for the suit and sculpted musculature in the legs (not very present in the arms, however). The figure also features paint shading in the red areas that complements the sculpt very well, even though some of it is misapplied on the eyes. Another gripe with the paint is that the elbow joints (which are molded in red) are not painted blue to match the arms. This isn't a big deal for me, but it is sure to bug some people, especially at a $20 price point.
The real flaws with this figure are in the articulation. In print it sounds great: Spidey features balljointed shoulders, hips, and head as well as swivel hinge wrists, double jointed elbows/knees, swivels at the waist, thighs, and calves as well as rocker ankles and new shoulder joints. Oh, the shoulder joints...
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| Blegh. |
This is the main flaw with this figure. Hasbro decided to experiment with a new shoulder joint (for forward and backwards movement), and while it works fine, it looks very strange when pulled all the way forward (or backward) as seen in the picture above. Additionally, while the inside of the joint has sculpted detail, it's still red and breaks up the blue on Spidey's back.
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| Peter needs to fatten up |
The figure continues to sacrifice sculpt for articulation in the hips, which come out looking too bulky for the skinny Spider-Man body. Speaking of skinny Spider-Man bodies, this figure's torso is very flat and thin. I wouldn't mind very much, but it prevents the ab crunch from going down very far, resulting in "crouching" poses that look like this:
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| I can't touch my toes... |
In the accessories department, Spidey comes with two different sets of hands (thwipping and fisted) for various poses. These are great and allow for some variety, since Hasbro generally doesn't put finger articulation on their ML figures. The figure also comes packed with the BAF piece of Green Goblin. While I have no intention of completing this BAF, the flame effect should prove useful for some displays.
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| Need a hand? |
Spidey is on the shorter side at about 6 inches tall. That's a good height if you keep in mind Peter is only a teenager and shouldn't tower over full grown-men (or cyborgs).
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| The Karate Spider |
Overall, this figure is a good addition to any ML collection. This is a great classic Spider-Man, despite it being a movie figure and a great alternative to the McFarlane Spidey. While it has its flaws, I haven't been able to put it down for the past week, the sign of any good figure.
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| Guess who's next up to be reviewed... |
