Marvel Universe Nova

Rich Rider may be presumed dead in the comics but he is alive and well in the world of action figures thanks to Hasbro’s new 3.75” scale Marvel Universe figure. We take a look at the Nova Corps member and former New Warrior to see if he is worth adding to your collection.

Check out hi-res images for this figure in our GALLERY below.




Packaging - The packaging for this figure is similar to what we have seen with previous Marvel Universe waves. The art on the top left corner of the card front continues to be done by comic artist Mike Deodato Jr. while the figure is clearly displayed below that along with the figures name. The little comic shot is featured below that on the bottom left corner of the card.

The back features an image of the figure along with a brief bio for the character and images for other figures in the wave. Towards the bottom is an image of Alpha Flights Sasquatch who says “Puck got a figure before me? Seriously?! Collect Them All!.”

SCULPT - The figure uses a standard Marvel Universe buck, the only part of Nova’s armor that is actually sculpted on the figure are the gold and blue chest plates. All the other gold pieces are actually rubber pieces attached to the figure. This look is okay when you’re looking at the figure head-on but when you see it from the side it can look a little off, mainly because the rubber pieces especially the ones on his legs tend to bend outwards. The helmet is also sculpted on. The red nova star thing on the helmet is made of that soft rubber material and is glued onto the helmet.

Articulation - The figure has decent articulation. He has a swivel-hinge head which allows him to look left and right, but the up and down movement is restricted by the helmet. He has swivel-hinge shoulders, swivel biceps, hinge elbows, swivel wrists, a ball jointed ab crunch, swivel torso,  ball jointed hips, swivel thighs, double-hinge knees, swivel shins, and ankle rockers.

Paint - The figure uses a glossy almost metallic navy blue on the body while the rubber pieces, chest plate, and helmet use a gold paint. They used a sky blue paint on the circle areas on his chest and wrists and red for the star on his helmet. The overall look of the figure is decent but the gold armor pieces look more plastic than actual armor in my opinion. Some type of wash effect mixing in some white in the sky blue areas to give a more lighted effect might have been nice as well. Still overall the figure doesn’t look bad.

Accessories - Other than the comic shot thing which is hardly worth considering an accessory, this figure comes with none. A figure stand would have been nice.

Fun - Since it has good articulation, the figure can be posed in many different positions so you can come up with some cool looking battle scenes. I do wish we had some more New Warrior figures to go along with NOVA since that is the team I most associate him with.

Overall - This is another very nice Marvel Universe figure. The only real problem I have with it is that the rubber pieces they used for the armor can easily get bent out of shape and it makes the figure look a little off when you see it from the side. I suppose you could glue these to the actual figure so they stayed better attached, but I am not really sure why Hasbro didn’t do this themselves. Still, I think the figure looks and moves well and that NOVA will make a nice addition to your Marvel Universe collection.

Score 3 1/2 out of 5