2007 Hasbro
Marvel Legends
25th Silver Anniversary Wolverine (Toys R Us Exclusive)
MSRP: $9.99
The first ever single(not entire wave) exclusive Marvel Legends figure. Is 25th Silver Anniversary Wolverine Toys R Us Exclusive a stupid gimmick or a cool collector's piece?
It's been 25 years since Wolverine got his own comic book limited series by none other than Frank Miller. Hasbro commemorates that by providing us with this special Wolverine figure. Right off the bat I'm happy that Hasbro chose my personal favorite Wolverine figure, heck even my personal favorite Marvel Legends figure, Wolverine from Marvel Legends Series 6 with brown / tan costume. Right along with the 25th anniversary theme, this figure is a limited edition of 25,000 and exclusive to Toys R Us stores.
Packaging
25th Silver Anniversary Wolverine's packaging follows the exact same format we have seen in the previous Hasbro Marvel Legends figures. The packaging is still very fresh and this one is particularly eye-catching with Frank Miller's Wolverine, also, rather than the panels along the right side, is a "25th Silver Anniversary" which I especially like as "Silver Anniversary" is a mirror-reflective while the rest is not, it really makes it stand out. Another couple nice touches are the two stickers applied outside of the blister -- the round black sticker stating "Limited Edition 1 of 25,000" and at the bottom the "Toys R Us exclusive" sticker that fans of other Hasbro lines are surely acquainted with. The card back, while a totally different layout than previous Marvel Legends card backs, looks great and gets the job done, explains what the 25th anniversary means and shows us the cover of the Limited Series Wolverine #1. Having the comic included would have been better but we all know those days are over.
Score: 9
Sculpt / Design
This is a straight up repaint of Marvel Legends Series 6 Wolverine. Doesn't take away from the sculpt or design in fact, I'd have to say that the score in this category is a praise to Hasbro for great selection amongst the many Wolverine figures that have been out there. What if they chose the X-Men Classics version or Marvel Legends Series 2 which has been debated over about size quite a bit.
Score: 9
Paint / Color
Wolverine from head to toe and claw to claw was cast in a gray-ish silver-ish plastic but was completely painted over silver for that shine and that pearly effect. I noticed the only lack of coverage was on the top side of the belt where the top of the crotch meets the bottom of the abdomen. There is a little bit of flaking when you move the joints around a lot but surprisingly not much at all especially for an all silver figure. The paint seems to stick very well. Hasbro actually painted the eyes white as well, it's very hard to tell in the photos, but it's there. So ya, it's all one color and normally I would give that a terrible score but, in this case he's supposed to be all one color.
Score: 8
Articulation
Again, this has to be a reflection of Hasbro's choice same as design / sculpt but for fun Wolverine's POA count is 36 and Hasbro to take even one of those away from ToyBiz original design.
Score: 9
Value
I can almost hear the internet say in unison, this figure is $9.99 same as all the other Marvel Legends figures but
this one doesn't come with a Build-A-Figure piece. Well, imagine this figure being included into a normal wave, oh that wouldn't make a lot of people very happy that you'd have to get a silver figure just to build your Build-A-Figure. The other thing is, he is a toys r us exclusive and limited to a certain amount. Doesn't mean he'll be rare, you never know with these things, that's what collecting whether it's figures, comics, cards, stamps, etc. is about. Most people may still think, well he could've been $1 cheaper since he doesn't have that baf piece. Or they could've included the very comic book that this figure is celebrating.
Score: 6
Score Totals
Packaging: 9
Sculpt / Design: 9
Paint / Color: 8
Articulation: 9
Value: 6
Overall: 41 out of a possible 50
Pretty good score, mostly due to the figure that Hasbro chose from four years of ToyBiz history. Packaging and presentation is really top notch here. I personally don't feel so much of this as a stupid gimmick. I showed a co-worker who is familiar enough with Marvel mostly due to being a fan of the movies and had casually bought a couple figures here and there. I showed her this Silver Wolverine and she lit up and told me that she
really liked this one and that I should keep it well hidden (or else it may disappear). I believe kids will get a kick out of it too in the same way by it's ooh ah silver affect and great presentation overall. It's a new idea that I'm glad Hasbro is exploring. With ToyBiz we never had store exclusives (except for Giant Man Series, the Wal-Mart Exclusive, and boy, I know a lot of you never even saw those once at a Wal-Mart store), we never had comic-con and special event exclusives before and I'll be happy to have Hasbro mix things up a little bit here and there for us, that's what collecting is all about right? Now if Hasbro releases a gold Spider-Man, a bronze Hulk and a pewter Captain America next month I won't be so happy.
For more info and photos visit 25th Silver Anniversary Wolverine in the
Marvel Database
