Package Description
If Reed Richards isn't the smartest man on the planet, he's at least in the top five. We'll probably never know for sure since even he hasn't been able to come up with a means for testing exactly how smart he is. His intelligence is enhanced by an imagination that is second to none, and a mental flexibility that allows him to see his way around problems that to others are insurmountable. As with the other members of the Fantastic Four, this mental quality is reflected in his powers. His body is unlike any substance known to human science, able to stretch inconceivable distances without harm. He flexes his body into shapes limited only by his imagination, flattening out to the thickness of a single molecule to slip through miniscule cracks, or ballooning out into a massive crash pad to save others from a dangerous fall.
Appearance
Mr. Fantastic is finally in his classic whites, but as always, there’s a catch. Reed is stretched out, much like the aborted Fantastic Four Classics Reed. He towers above other figures, which sets him apart in a display, rather than integrating him into it. It’s difficult to get nice team poses when Reed looks so different the rest of his team.
Stylistically he’s the same as the rest of this series. He has a little bit of a plastic look, but it’s not very bad because the blue hides the details of the sculpt. The knee joints can stand out a bit when posed. One of the problems of this figure is that it can look awkward when every limb is stretched out, instead of just his arms, or just his legs. This figure is limited in what it can do because of the lack of interchangeable normal parts. He looks good when he’s reaching, or doing something dynamic, but standing still doesn’t look right when Mr. Fantastic is all stretched out.
The real gem of this sculpt is the face sculpt. The face is dead on for Reed Richards, and has a good generic facial expression. The paint for the hair is done well, and Hasbro has really improved on their skin tones for his face. Overall, how much you like the appearance of this figure is dependent on if you can be satisfied in having Reed just in his stretched out form. The figure is as good as I would ever expect for a stretched out Mr. Fantastic, but I would have preferred a regular 6” body, because my own displays usually aren’t in action poses.
Articulation
Reed has ball jointed knees and ankles. There is a waist swivel, and torso ab crunch. The arms are made of a soft, bendable plastic that is hard to position. The arms must be over bent to get the desired position. The rubber can twist to some degree, but not a whole lot. The joints came tight enough he can hold his arms up. The ab crunch has a wide range of motion, and the joints are easily moved.
Poseability
Fr. Fantastic has a decent range of motion, and is much easier to balance than I expected. The knees bend only about 90 degrees, but Reed can get some good dynamic poses with his long reach. The hands can’t really be positioned any other way, and this can be a drawback sometimes because it’s hard to get a twisting motion from the arms. The lower torso is made of a softer plastic as well, but it’s not very ductile. Overall, it would be a lot more impressive if he could contort his legs as well, but as it stands his height and reach just seem longer.
Mr. Fantastic is a figure that, to get his pose right, you must adjust all his limbs and adjust his balance for him to look right. He looks alright just standing, but it seems like a waste to have him not reaching or something with his long limbs. He also will not balance holding another figure, I’ve tried. Overall he’ll look fine in an established display, but it may take a few tries to really make him look good amongst regular 6” figures.
Final Judgment: 7
Despite what may seem like griping, this figure has a lot of good things going for it. Most importantly, the face sculpt is dead on, and his colors match the rest of his team. He can be posed well on display and with other figures, it just takes more work because of the long limbs. Overall, I think it’s a good great figure, but I still would have preferred interchangeable parts to make him perfect. This figure gets an excellent because of all the different aspects it excels at, in addition to the innovation of the bendable arms.
SCALE
10. My favorite possession.
9. My favorite action figure.
8. One of my favorite action figures.
7. An exceptional action figure.
6. A good, but not exceptional action figure.
5. An adequate action figure.
4. Not worth the money I spent.
3. I'll give it to somebody's kid.
2. I'll give it to somebody's dog.
1. It's going to lose a fight with my car.
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