#39: Marvel Universe - Professor X

Here's another birthday gift, this time from friend of the blog James. I think this figure has been out for a while now, and I've been looking for one, but have never seen it in the wild. Fortunately, James found one at a Disney store. So, Disney's buyout of Marvel has had some positive results for me personally so far. This is one of the better Marvel Universe figures in a while, perhaps coincidentally because it is largely a G.I. Joe figure. That's right, it's a repaint of the SDCC exclusive movie Destro figure, with a new head. The G.I. Joe team does good work, so it's a well made body with better articulation than some Marvel Universe figures tend to have. The head is a good sculpt, with Professor X's crazy eyebrows, one of which is raised, and a look of concentration.

Professor X is one of the lucky MU figures to get an accessory: his crazy alien hoverchair from the 90s.  It's pretty big, and is included in the bubble in two pieces which easily plug together. If Hasbro wants to do a re-release later on, it would be a good chance to include a more standard wheelchair.

These guys go to the same tailor.

As you can see, yes, Professor X can stand. His ability to walk has been restored and taken away again a few different times in the comics, so that works.

#30: Marvel Universe - Marvel's Jubilee

I've been looking for the Jubilee figure for a while, and James was able to find one for me. Following Kitty Pryde (and before Rogue in the movies), Jubilee was one of Wolverine's teen sidekicks in the comics. She was also a sort of kid identification character in the early 90s X-Men cartoon. Later, she went on to star as a founding member of the Hey-let's-focus-on-school-and-teenagers X-Men spinoff, Generation X. Jubilee had a lot going on in the 90s, which is when I was reading Marvel comics at least fairly regularly.

The Marvel Universe version of Jubilee represents her modern costume, which retains two of the main aspects of her look: the shades and the ridiculous yellow overcoat. I'm not sure what teenager would ever think that is cool, but it actually does look pretty good with the black bodysuit underneath. Unfortunately, this isn't one of the better Marvel Universe figures. The paint on her face isn't great, and her eyes are kind of looking in different directions. Also, her leg articulation is hindered by her overcoat, and her leg was warped straight out of the packaging. A stand would definitely have been a welcome inclusion for Jubilee. On the plus side, she actually includes an accessory! It's a purple energy blast to represent her mutant power of explosive blasts of light. If I remember correctly, the sound effect associated with the use of her power was "paf." It's a substantial enough piece of plastic to throw her off balance, as she's a fairly lightweight figure. Oddly, she has an extra hinge joint in her neck, so her head can look up or down.

I was surprised to find out a while back that Jubilee has become a vampire in the comics, some time after the mass de-powering of mutants. At first I thought it was weird that there were vampires in Marvel comics, but of course there are. Blade and Dracula are straight from the pages of the comics, as well as Morbius. Going from mutant to vampire is probably something that wouldn't happen to one of the bigger name characters, but at least it shows that Jubilee is important enough to have some sort of ongoing storyline.

Generation X reunion. In which nobody is in the same scale as anyone else. Okay, I know Blink was never officially in Gen X, and this figure is from an alternate universe, but she was introduced (and killed off) in the crossover leading to the creation of Generation X. Chamber is the oldest figure pictured, and shows it with only four points of articulation. He does have a neat action figure where his chest lights up when you pull a string on his back. Sporting increased articulation, and better proportions, Blink was released a couple years later. There was a Jubilee figure from the Generation X line, but I never had that one.

#14: Marvel Universe - Hulk

Last week, I went to the toy show in San Jose again. Having been a few times, I've learned my lesson about buying something I want immediately on sight. Instead, if I see something I definitely want, I make sure to walk the rest of the floor to find the best deal, and go back to whichever one is best. That's how I ended up with the new Marvel Universe Hulk for only 8 bucks, which is more than three bucks less than typical retail price here.

I have the comic two pack version of Hulk from a while back, and it's cool and all, but it's a very bright green. Because, comic pack, I guess. I like this version better for its more muted color scheme, and overall better proportions. It's both good and bad that Hasbro is willing to go back and re-do characters when earlier versions were maybe not so great. On one hand, it's good to have an improved version, but on the other hand, now you've got an extra you don't need. This Hulk could almost be a movie version. I'm not intending to get movie versions of all the Avengers, so that's not a priority. Since this one has better proportions, the articulation works better. He even has both a waist swivel and a chest ball. And two fists for smashing. There are no accessories included, and no stand. Just the little cardboard piece that fits in the tray, which is supposed to be a bonus pack in but is totally useless.

The day after I went to the toy show, I went to Target, and they had one of these Hulk figures on the shelf at normal retail. It was the only new Marvel Universe figure on the pegs, oddly enough. I suppose it's good to know that if I hadn't made it to the toy show, I'd still have the new Hulk figure for my collection.

HULKS

#23: Marvel Universe - Psylocke

A nice bonus with all the new Avengers and Marvel Legends and all that is that Target is starting to put out more Marvel Universe figures again. As one of the 90s Jim Lee X-Men characters, Psylocke is one of the figures I was on the lookout for. I believe they are packed two to a case, and I was fortunate enough to find one on the pegs.

Complaining first! Unfortunately, Psylocke doesn't use the same base body as X-23, which is the best female base body in MU. Remember how MU figures used to come with little file card pack ins that were kind of lame, then they started coming with bases, which were useful? Now they come with neither, and have a truly lame pack in. Now they include a "collectible comic shot" which is a tiny piece of cardboard with some artwork on it, in this case the cover of Uncanny X-Men #467. If the box didn't point it out, it would be easy to mistake as part of the packaging. It's totally useless. This is of course in addition to rising prices, which makes it seem even more of a bum deal.

On the positive side, Psylocke comes with two accessories. What I consider to be essential is a bit of plastic that clips on to the hand which represents the focused totality of Psylocke's psychic powers, the psychic knife. Also, her psychic katana.

It kind of bugs me that her hair is loose, because I mostly remember Psylocke as being drawn with her hair in a ponytail. It's not wrong, but I would have preferred her head with a ponytail. That would have made it more mobile as well.

I'm glad that I've got most of the characters that I'd like to out of the Marvel Universe line, because they just keep getting more expensive, and thus harder to justify buying. I'll still totally buy a Forbush Man figure if they make one!

#123: Marvel Universe - Magneto

Lately my Target has been surprisingly frequent at putting out new Marvel Universe figures. Not too long after I picked up the last three Marvel Universe figures, I saw even more new ones and picked up this Magneto. I would have already had a Magneto, but he was previously released in the comic two pack, and I didn't want to pick up the black costumed Spider-Man he came with since I already have that one. They have been re-releasing some of the comic pack figures like Doctor Doom, so I figured I could wait. Granted, this is the Ultimate Alliance version of Magneto rather than the regular one I'm more familiar with, but I dig this costume too. I think my only complaint is the face. It's painted so as to appear covered in shadow, but I don't think it's 100% effective. You can see what they're going for, but it just ends up looking kind of weird. Otherwise, it's cool looking and the articulation is good.

#120: Marvel Universe - X-23

So a couple weeks ago, I played Marvel vs Capcom 3. I'm not really into fighting games, especially the kind that you have to learn long combos to do well in, so I played it for about 2 days and grew tired of it. I finished story mode a couple times, once with Deadpool, and once with X-23. I tend to favor female characters in fighting games, because they're usually faster and more agile which seems to be a fighting style that works for me, which is why I ended up playing as X-23 (usually with Chun Li on my team as well). I haven't seen any of the cartoons she's appeared in, and I haven't read any comics with her, so pretty much all of my exposure to X-23 is from the video game. I'm not sure if her costume in the game is typical for her comic appearances, but this figure is based on her X-Force uniform. It's totally weird to me that X-Force has a uniform because when I was reading the X-books, X-Force was a bunch of kids lead by Cable, and they just wore whatever.

The Marvel Universe line has kind of a spotty record with female figures, but I think X-23 is one of the better females so far. I think what really helps is that there is some unique tooling for the gauntlets, the boots, and the belt. And the claws, of course. There's a bit of a paint splatter on the front of the thigh, but otherwise the paint works pretty well. The base body is the newer one, so the articulation is pretty nice, although the hips don't have as much lateral movement as I'd like. I think it would have been cooler if her foot blades were extended too, as they're one of the things that really set her apart from Wolverine.

#119: Marvel Universe - Sub-Mariner

At the same time that I bought Ultron, I also found Sub-Mariner and picked him up. He had a previous single carded release, but it wasn't in his classic Speedo look, so I passed. Fortunately, he's a much better figure than Ultron. Articulation is improved, and none of the joints are super loose. It's nice that they didn't cheap out and paint everything on Namor. His gauntlets are sculpted on, and his trunks are textured. His head looks good, they got his crazy eyebrows and widow's peak down, and his expression has a great pissed off, regal look to it. He even gets an accessory in a crazily ornate trident. Apparently there is a variant of his display base. Either it says Sub-Mariner like mine, or it says Imperius Rex, which is pretty cool. The Sub-Mariner is a good figure, and an important part of Marvel's history, so I'd say he's definitely worth adding to your collection.

#118: Marvel Universe - Ultron

It seems like Marvel Universe is the only line I'm keeping an eye on that my local Target seems to stock lately. It seems like they have been putting out new stock with some regularity, so a week or so back the pegs were well filled, with some new figures. From series three, Ultron was one of the figures I wanted. I had always passed on the two pack that included Ultron and Mister Fantastic, and it hasn't been in stores for a while. So even though I've never read any comics with Ultron (I'm pretty sure I've never read any Avengers comics, unless you count the Ultimates), I'm always a fan of killer robots. Although it looks cool, the articulation is a bit of a let down. Since it is a repaint of an older figure, it does have the older style of MU articulation. Also, the arms won't go down any further than you see in the picture. It's good for megalomaniacal gesturing, but they won't be hanging down at his sides. The torso on mine is kind of loose, but that may just be an individual problem. The green highlights in Ultron's seams look pretty cool, like he's glowing from internal power. Ultron's not the best figure to play with, but might be worth it if you like the way he looks enough.

#100: Marvel Universe - Cable

Remember how I said I finally found Thanos at Target after buying him at the toy show? Well, I saw a few Cables at the toy show too, but didn't want one enough to pay inflated prices, so I passed on them. When I saw Thanos at Target, I also saw Cable, and picked it up then. Fortunately, that $6.99 sale was still going on, so it was a decent price as well. Now, there is a variant of Cable that comes with a baby in a harness. I find that incredibly amusing as an accessory, so I would have preferred that version. As it goes, this was the only Cable on the pegs, so I went with it. The accessory wasn't a big enough deal to make me hold off. The accessories Cable does come with are naturally all weapons. There's his requisite giant gun which pegs on to his back, a pistol which has a holster, and for some reason a spear. I'm not sure what that's about, as I associate Cable more with giant guns and vaguely defined telekinetic mutant powers rather than hand to hand combat. He's also a pretty tall figure, right up there with Colossus. It's good to have another mutant to help fight off the Sentinel, so Cable was a good find.

#92: Marvel Universe - Thanos

So a couple weeks ago I went to a toy show in San Jose with my Articulated Monster co-hosts, James and James. A couple days beforehand, I was thinking about the Thanos figure and how unlikely I would be to find one in stores. So I did a bit of research into how much it would cost me to get it from an online source and decided that if I could find one cheaper at the show, I would pick it up. At one of the first booths we visited, I saw Thanos, and since the price was slightly lower than online prices, I went for it. Moments later, I was struck by a couple doubts. First I was worried that I would find one cheaper elsewhere at the show, which I fortunately did not. Second I was worried that I was supporting scalpers by buying a fairly current product. This may or may not be true, and the seller may just be someone that orders full cases of figures from online. He certainly did have a wide selection of hard to find and easy to find figures.

So anyway, as a big cosmic villain (AKA Marvel's version of Darkseid) Thanos was a figure I definitely wanted to add to my collection. Sharing a base body with Juggernaut, he's appropriately bulky, with a good amount of articulation. There's a nice wash to bring out the details of his muscles. He comes packaged with the Infinity Gauntlet on, and if you want a regular version of Thanos, there's an alternate normal gloved left hand. Also, a stand which he really doesn't need.

True facts: The other day, I found Thanos at Target. Which is currently having a $6.99 sale on Marvel Universe figures. As Liz Lemon would say: Blerg!

#89: Marvel Universe - Doctor Strange

So a couple weeks ago I had to go in for jury duty. Fortunately, I wasn't selected to end up on the jury, and I was out of there by lunch time. Since I was out of town anyway, I decided to check out the Wal-Mart and Target, in hope of finding some new stock. The only thing I found while I was out was Doctor Strange, which I've been looking for a while now. I thought this was a pretty good find, but then I saw a couple in my local Target the very next day. But then they were gone two days later. Either way, I'm glad I found one, as I haven't seen any more in stores since.

I don't think I've ever actually read any comics with Doctor Strange in them. But he's got a cool cape, is rocking a cool 'stache, and at least partially inspired Dr Orpheus on The Venture Brothers, and I just dig his look enough to want the figure. Also, he's totally metal, look at him flashing those horns... Wait. That's actually the sign for "I love you." Not so metal after all, I guess. Still though, pretty cool figure.

#84: Marvel Universe - SDCC 2011 exclusive Sentinel

Way back when the Marvel Universe Sentinel was announced, I assumed it would be coming out sooner than it did. But I suppose they are keeping their super sized figures at one a year, which is a good idea for keeping things spaced out. Naturally, I wanted one, as I didn't really get into Marvel figures until after the Marvel Legends build-a-figure Sentinel was long gone from store shelves. When the Sentinel was finally given a release date, I pre-ordered mine online. The normal retail release comes in a purple and silver color scheme (I guess that's something more modern?) rather than the classic blue and purple like the exclusive version. Although I prefer the classic color scheme I didn't think I'd be able to get my hands on the exclusive, so I ordered it anyway. Then during one of the panels, the news came out that the better color scheme would probably be finding its way to retail at some point, so I cancelled my pre-order. Then Hasbrotoyshop.com put all the Hasbro exclusives up for sale while I was at work. Apparently they were dealing with Mattycollector.com style problems on their website due to all the crazy toy ordering traffic. By the time I got to check the site, I was on lunch, and using my phone, so ordering was a slower process than normal. The final confirmation page never fully loaded, so I wasn't sure if my order had gone through. About twenty minutes later, I did get the order confirmation e-mail, but since my Paypal account hadn't been fully charged yet (they had done the authorization charge, but hadn't actually taken the money), I still wasn't sure if it had gone through. Finally, a few days later I hadn't heard anything about the order shipping, so I e-mailed, and it turns out the Sentinel had shipped that very day. Finally!

So, because this is a Comic-Con exclusive, the packaging is actually something interesting to talk about. First, it's huge. The box it came in is about three feet square. Opening that up, there's the actual box the Sentinel comes in, featuring some cool Joe Quesada artwork. That box opens up suitcase style to reveal the carded Sentinel within.

That's right, like last year's exclusive version of Galactus, the Sentinel comes packaged in a ridiculously oversized version of the regular Marvel Universe cards. I really appreciate Hasbro's dedication to this gimmick, because nothing's as amusing as an object that's a giant version of an everyday object (like the artwork of Claes Oldenburg!). I liked this giant oversized card so much that I hung it on my wall after I took out the Sentinel. The artwork on the main box would be cool to hang on the wall, too.

Sooooo. It's pretty damn cool. It's appropriately huge and has a very nice heft to it. There's a button on its chest that makes it speak various phrases, as well as making its eyes light up. There's actually a certain amount of parts reuse from Galactus. The torso and the upper arms and legs are the same. There is a softer plastic chest piece that makes their chests look different. So the lower legs and forearms, as well as the head are different. This reuse of pieces leads to my biggest complaint about the figure: no palm blasters! Whenever I think of Sentinels, they're always blasting away at mutants with their palms, so that omission is kind of disappointing. Overall, I think it's really cool and definitely worth adding to the collection.

HALT, MUTANT!

#81: Marvel Universe - Archangel

Lately, I've been visiting Target more frequently, in expectations of the toy aisle reset that's supposed to be finished today. There have been tales online of people finding things put out weeks early, but there hasn't been too much of that at mine. Fortunately, there has been some new stock put out from the Marvel Universe line. I've been looking for Archangel a long time, and when I got to the Marvel Universe section, I was surprised to see him on the very end of the peg, in front of all the other toys. Naturally, I immediately grabbed it, checking to see if there were any more out of curiosity. There weren't any others, so I'm glad I had good timing  and was able to find one.

I generally think action figures with big wings are pretty cool, and Archangel was appearing in X-Men comics back in the 90s when I read them, so this figure was a must get for me. Fortunately, it turned out pretty well. The paint on mine seems pretty good, and the articulation is the basic stuff. The wings are pretty damn cool looking, though. They even included the weird little secondary wings behind the main ones that I always wondered about. What are they there for? I don't know if more Archangel figures are being shipped out, or my Target was finally putting out stock that's been sitting in the back room. So maybe more are showing up all over the place. If you're into Marvel Universe figures, I'd say this is one worth hunting down to add to your collection.

#71: Marvel Universe - Doctor Doom

So last week, I was checking out the toy area at Target, hoping there would finally be something new in the Star Wars section, when I was shocked to see the Marve Universe pegs completely full. I was even more surprised to find that there were new figures on the pegs, including Doctor Doom. Sadly, there was no Doctor Strange, so my Marvel Doctors collection is yet incomplete.

As far as I can tell, this is a re-release of the Doctor Doom figure from the Secret Wars comic pack with a slightly different color scheme. The comic pack version is a more bright green, while this one is more subdued. It's a very cool looking figure, which is helped by the body parts all being newly sculpted pieces for Doom. Even the ridges in the armor are sculpted in, which is a nice touch. There's not a lot of paintwork on the figure, and mostly it's good. The paint on the cloak's chain looks a bit sloppy, and it looked that way on all three of the figures that were available to look at. I don't know if it's just my figure, but the joints on this Doom feel a little loose. Given that the figure was originally released in the line's history, that may be normal. Marvel Universe figures have generally been improving as the line goes along. Overall though, it's definitely a cool figure and worth picking up if you find one.

#66: Marvel Universe - Apocalypse

Last week or so, I saw it mentioned on Twitter that Wheeljack and Warpath were in stock on Hasbroytoyshop.com, but by the time I got home they were both out of stock. But the newer wave of Marvel Universe had also been added to the cart and was mostly in stock! I have been trying to find the Apocalypse figure for a while, and since finding newly released figures from the line is a dicey proposition, I took the first chance I got that didn't involve ridiculous gray market prices. As one of the X-Men's big villains, Apocalypse was one of the figures I wanted to have in my collection. Back when I was reading X-Men comics, he played a big part during the X-Ecutioner's song crossover, and of course the Age of Apocalypse event (which was also cool for bringing back Blink).

Appropriately, Apocalypse is one of the largest Marvel Universe figures. He's taller and way bulkier than Colossus. In fact, I don't remember him being quite so muscular, but one of his many vaguely defined powers is shape shifting, so I'll let it slide. I'm assuming that this is how he looks in more recent comics, because I haven't seen him in any comics since the 90s. So I do miss the big goofy A-shaped belt buckle. I think the head is the best part of the figure, it's pretty spot on, and the expression on his face is great. It makes him look like someone you really don't want to mess with. Because his limbs are so thick, they are not quite as mobile as a thinner figure with the same articulation would be. A nice touch is that they included the mysterious cables that attach to his arms, but unfortunately they also hinder movement a bit. The cables are attached to the shoulder armor, and they're all made of softer plastic. But the cables are a bit too short to allow the arms to move forward, which is unfortunate. Overall though, I think that it's a cool enough looking figure that I can overlook the shortcomings of it.

#45: Marvel Universe - Mystique

So I walked into Target, and there was a shocking amount of new Marvel Universe figures on the pegs. When I had placed my order at Hasbrotoyshop a while ago, Mystique was in stock, and I considered adding her to my cart. I didn't order her then, but when I saw her on the peg I decided to pick her up. It's a decent figure, although still the same basic female body as the other women in the line. The addition of her dress does help her to stand out a little, and I think it works out pretty well. The paint is kind of fuzzy where the edges of her clothes meet skin. The white seems too thin in places, with blue showing through. She comes with a big machine gun, and while I don't know how much sense that makes for her, it is better than no accessories at all.

#29: Marvel Universe - Ghost Rider

After seeing Black Widow at Target a little while ago, I hoped they would continue to restock with new figures that aren't Iron Man (Iron Man already has his own line, stop putting so many Iron Man figures in the Marvel Universe cases!) and on my next visit Ghost Rider was sitting out on the front of one of the pegs. I've been looking for him for a while, so I swooped in on that immediately. The next time I went to Target, they only had a bunch of Iron Man figures and one Red Hulk.

So this is the Johnny Blaze version of Ghost Rider, so his leather outfit isn't as spiky as the more modern version. He's pretty standard as far as Marvel Universe figures go, so fairly decent articulation, and he feels kind of light. There's a spot on the cheek where the paint came off or was mis-applied, but I am okay with pretending that is just hellfire spilling out from his eye. His only accessory is a chain. Too bad he doesn't come with a bike...

#17: Marvel Universe - Black Widow

I think Black Widow was originally released over a year ago, but this is the first time I've actually seen one. It probably doesn't help that my Target's Marvel Universe pegs tend to get clogged up with Iron Man figures, so we don't get new stock very often. And who knows if they'll ever get around to releasing the movie version of Black Widow in the Iron Man 2 line. So naturally I picked it up on sight. The Marvel Universe female body plain, which works in this case of a plain black catsuit, but she's got her traditional gauntlets. The hair could definitely be a more red color. She has a huge machine gun, which seems a bit oversized for a super spy to be using, but it's better than nothing.

#118: Marvel Universe Galactus

I wasn't into Marvel Legends during its heyday, when they made what I consider to be their two best build-a-figures: the Sentinel and Galactus. I most regretted missing the Sentinel, and I always thought having the Galactus would be cool too. Now Hasbro has made a brand new Galactus, and will soon release the new Sentinel, and I'll be happy. This isn't a re-release of the BAF Galactus, it's an entirely new figure, larger than the first one. It also has electronics, it talks and lights up. It's just... huge. Unicron is no longer the tallest figure in my collection. Overall, it's pretty cool.

Oh, and it comes with a Silver Surfer too.

#112: Marvel Universe Colossus

During the Wolverine movie line, they released a Colossus figure, but I never saw it in stores so I never even had the chance to pick it up. I'm glad I missed out on it, because it looks pretty bad in comparison with this new version. The old one had odd proportions, and just doesn't look right to me. This version, on the other hand, looks pretty good. As the Marvel Universe line progresses, it seems that they are making adjustments to the articulation, and they seem to be for the better, mostly. The hips on Colossus don't really like being any position other than just standing straight. Also, the shoulder pads on the costume restrict the arms from going too high. Otherwise, I'm really digging it. The paint suits the figure well, it really brings out the detail, especially on the metal skin.