Marvel Mondays: Review of Marvel Universe Nova!

Let me start off by saying this post is kind of like a two for one. I forgot that I hadn't posted a review until after I had modded the figure so this is a review/mod post.

The Basics:
Scale: 3 3/4"
Price: $10.99-$13.99 in store, $18.99-$29.99 on Amazon.com

Character Bio:
Few have been in a more right place at a more right time than Richard Rider. Randomly chosen by a dying Xanadrian to receive the power of the Nova Force, Rider instantly went from average teenager to intergalactic hero. When he was the only Nova corps member spared by the Annihilation Wave, he was left to preserve the Xanadarian legacy. His body houses Worldmind, the living Xanadarian supercomputer. The entire Nova Force was also concentrated within him, making him virtually indestructible, and allowing him to single-handedly    
                                                                                                         wield its incredible power.

For more on Nova, check out: http://marvel.wikia.com/Nova

Sculpt and Paint:

I don't know what's up with Marvel Universe, but lately all of their figures have knocked it out of the park for me and this guy is no exception. I love this figure. To the point where he's already reserved himself a spot in my top 10 of 2013. His sculpt is so simple but perfect. His body is the standard MU Male body buck they use, and all of the golden armor bits are separate pieces added on, which leads me to my first mod. all I did was glue them down. the shin guards, I just glued to the shin, the forearm guards, I glued the tips to the top of his hands so they turn with the hand as in the comics. Now his chest piece was glued down but there was one thing I wasn't crazy about. His shoulder pads were connected to it, like this:

Now don't get me wrong, it looked fantastic, no question, but my problem, because when it comes to figures I'm a perfectionist, was that when he raised his arms up, the shoulder pads wouldn't go with them, due to the way they were attached. So here comes the final mod. I simply took an exacto knife, cut where the shoulder pads, meet the chest plates, and glued them to the shoulders in just the right spot so they look good, and don't inhibit articulation, and the end result leaves me happy and peace of mind.

Paint wise, well to be honest I can't find him in any stores so I resorted to Amazon, so I couldn't check him out and compare, my advice to you is try looking in a store first, and if yo get lucky check the gold on the face, where it meets the skin tone, mine had some bleeding but not bad enough that a bit of paint shouldn't solve, and check the white orbs on his chest and gauntlets.
Articulation and Accessories:
For articulation Richie has a swivel-hinge head, 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 hinge-ankle pivot ankles. For accessories, bupkis, so I took the liberty of making a stand. I took a spare MU base I had, glued his name bar, number and series number, and the comic shot to the stand for stand #1:

For stand #2 I rummaged through my fodder bin and found just what I needed. Nova is nicknamed the Human Rocket, because when he takes off in flight, well, you get the idea, so I found this in my fodder bin and it works beautifully.

OVERALL:
I love Nova. I've always loved the Richard Rider Nova and have wanted a figure of him in the Nova Prime suit for so long and now I got him and he is fantastic, he has a ton of playability, and is just..fun! Highly Recommended!

10 OUT OF 10!!!