Package Description
Spirited away to an alien world to fight for his life against the worst villains Earth has to offer, Spider-Man found himself tested to the limit. His costume shredded after a cataclysmic battle, he lucked out in acquiring some new threads from a strange costume-creating device. With his powers enhanced and his supply of webbing seemingly unlimited, he came through unscathed and returned to Earth to find a familiar old crew of enemies waiting. Doctor Octopus was also on that alien world, and had learned much, all of which he intended to apply to destroying the web-slinger.
Appearance
Spidey has a new sculpt, albeit very similar to the series one Spider-man. Looking at the two, the shape and size of his muscles, proportions, and everything else are about the same as the red and blue Spidey, but not quite because of the lack of lines and other details. The overall look of the figure though is a little leaner than the red and blue Spidey, which captures perfectly how I envision his body type. There’s nothing to hide the joints on this figure because of the plain costume. It’s not a problem though because the most noticeable things about the figure are the white areas and the body outline. As such, the ugliest part of the figure is the torso joint where the white spider is broken, and there is a large gap between the two pieces.
The white lines are a little fuzzy in many areas, but generally ok. I find it strange though that the only paint on this figure is the white symbol and eyes; all the black is the color of the mold. The eyes are an excellent shape, matching very closely the art featured on the box. As with the series one Spider-Man, the figure is made to resemble the art on the box, but there wasn’t a whole lot to change between this Spider-Man and the red and blue. I’m glad Spidey got a fist though this time, since he’s supposed to be a little more aggressive in the black costume.
This figure wasn’t shiny like I was expecting from the promo pictures, but he still has a little bit of a plastic look and feel. There’s a lot of character in the figure. He’s got a very natural stance which helps convey personality. Overall I’m very happy with the look of the figure. Some of the muscles are a little angular, but overall he’s got a very smooth, well proportioned body and good sculpt.
Articulation
The articulation is the same as on series 1 Spidey. He does not have standard Hasbro or Toybiz articulation. The ball jointed head, torso, and shoulders are normal, and there is no cut in the bicep. The separate ball joints at the hip are reminiscent of Toybiz sculpts. The knees however are like a mix between two ball joints and two pins. The joint bends like a pin, but also rotates for greater range of movement. The elbows, however, are simple ball joints which also rotate. The ankles also look like ball joints, but bend to the side as well. It’s as if the ankle looks like a Hasbro joint, but behaves like a Toybiz joint.
The range of motion on Spidey is a little less than adequate. The shoulders bend and move fine, but the elbows only bend 90 degrees. The knees can bend all the way back though. Combined with the separate ball joints at the top of the legs Spidey has a pretty good range of movement in the legs, although he can only put his legs up about 90 degrees. The ball jointed ankles negate some the usefulness of that range of motion though. The torso joint doesn’t bend back at all, but he bends forward a decent amount. The head doesn’t look up, but he can look down very well. His head can also tilt to the side, which is nice. Overall, I would be happy with the articulation if the ankles could bend up more, and the head look up.
Poseability
The figure looks good, having the look and feel of the comic black costume Spider-man. But the joints limit what poses he can strike. He is hard to balance, something Toybiz ankle joints could have fixed by keeping the feet flat on the ground. Being able to pull the legs up higher or look up also would have helped him look more agile. He can do a few poses on the included street lamp, but not a whole lot. The included webbing is virtually useless and looks horrible. He doesn’t look good with any other line except other ML Unleashed, but I think the villains look a little cartoonish. As I said when series 1 came out, I’m going to stick with the heroes with this line, because they don’t look as good in dynamic poses. Don’t expect signature Spidey poses with this figure.
Final Judgment: 5
I really like the way this figure looks, but I wish he could do more poses. It would also be nice to get some non Spidey characters, which are on the way. But with the 6” line well established, this line isn’t exactly a priority, and I expected a little more out of this figure. This figure and line isn’t recommended unless you really want to collect another scale. There’s just not a lot special about this figure compared to the 6”, though I hope the rumored ML Symbiote Spider-Man looks like this one.
SCALE
10. My favorite possession.
9. My favorite action figure.
8. One of my favorite action figures.
7. An excellent 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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