Simply Amazing

Marvel Select Unmasked Amazing Spiderman Figure Review

I was surprised when I came upon this figure in the Disney Store yesterday.  I looked for it last Fall and they had already sold out.  I was pretty excited to finally find one.

If you haven't seen the Amazing Spider-Man movie, you're missing out.  I loved the old trilogy, but this new movie just really nails the character.  It was SO good!  Anyway, this is an action figure review, so lets stay on topic.

Spidey comes with a masked and unmasked head, gloved or ungloved forearms, and a detailed brick wall base.  The heads were pretty hard to pop on and off and I was afraid I was about to break something, but it got easier after the first time I switched them.  The hands were easy to switch, but once on stayed nice and tight in their joint.

The likeness isn't spot on, like some movie figures I've gotten, but it's close enough for me.  Check out the details on the raised webbing and the texture on the red and blue parts of his costume!  His hair also has some nice highlights to give it depth.  This is some pretty slick work by the Marvel Select team.

Here's a look at Spidey with his mask and gloves on.  In a rare change, the gloved hands are both in fists instead of the "web slinging" pose.  Almost all Spideys come with the web slinging pose these days, so I'm glad for a change here.

This figure actually looks great with his mask on OR off.  I had a hard time deciding which way to display him.  Again, check out that texture.  When I was a kid we were lucky to get the webs PAINTED on his costume, much less sculpted on!

Here's a size comparison with the Marvel Legends Avengers Hulk figure.  They're in pretty nice scale together, though he's too tall to hang out with my Marvel Legends.  I've decided to display him alongside my movie figure collection.  He's pretty tall and fits right in with those figures.  Hulk gets away with hanging out with the Legends because he's SUPPOSED to be a lot larger than them.  Spidey's supposed to be tall, but not a head taller than Cap.

Here he's facing off against my Marvel Legends Lizard.  Though this figure isn't over-sized and imposing like the Marvel Legends movie Lizard figure, I think he's a much better design & sculpt, so I decided against upgrading him.  This Lizard came in a 4 or 5 pack of Marvel Legends Spidey villains and I'm pretty sure that's they only time they used this sculpt.

Overall, I'm happier with this figure than I though I would be.  Getting him out of the packaging and checking out his detail and costume options...he's top notch.  I'm giving him a 9 out of 10 just for the fact that he's got a faulty knee joint and I think his head likeness could have been a bit better.  Still...this is almost a perfect Spidey figure.  Two enthusiastic thumbs up!

And now... your moment of Zen.

Evil: Now available in Chrome!

Marvel Select Ultron
There have been a couple of attempts at making a decent Ultron action figure in recent years, but even the vaunted Marvel Legends line by ToyBiz fell far short of the mark.  Theirs resembled some kind of anthropomorphic robot dog.  Thankfully, Marvel's evil robotic mastermind is finally getting a respectable tribute via the Marvel Select figure line.

Quick back story: Ultron was originally created by Hank Pym (a.k.a. Antman, a.k.a. Giant Man, a.k.a. Yellowjacket, a.k.a. Deadbeat Husband) to be an asset to the Avengers.  Instead the sentient robot learned faster than intended and, when Pym rejected his creation (think Frankenstein), the robot rebelled and vowed to destroy his "father" and the Avengers.  He has been a dangerous foe for Earth's Mightest Heroes ever since.

Below you see a size and shininess comparrison with the Thor movie line Destroyer, and Marvel Select Colossus.  As you can see, Ultron is shiny, but Colossus is still the shiniest.  Russia wins this round.

Overall, this is the Ultron figure I've been holding out for.  His design is pretty simple for a robot, but fits his classic look, so I'm happy there.  My only regret is that the promo pictures featured more details inside his open mouth, but in the final product, we just get a flat mouth sculpt with red paint.  His sculpt is great.  His muted metallic paint apps are very nice and the black accents are painted on very meticulously.  Overall, I'm very happy with this figure and am glad I waited for this version before buying.  I'll give it 9 out of 10.  Nice job Marvel Select crew!

And now...you're moment of Zen.