Review of Marvel Legends SDCC'12 Uncanny X-Force box-set

The Basics:
All three stand at 6", Angel with his wings hits 7 1/2"
Price: $195.95

Team Bio:

Deadpool not included with set.

 With mutants endangered and hunted across the globe, Cyclops made the decision to create X-Force, a mutant black ops team under the command of Wolverine. This silent squad of dangerous mutants performs the missions too dark or dirty for the X-Men. When a threat looms over the mutant race, X-Force takes care of it, quickly and silently.

 

The review format, like in the Venom review, will not be broken down into categories. That said, let's dive right in.

I wanted this set so bad when I first saw it, when I heard it was a SDCC exclusive, I was crushed. I definitely did not want to pay $300, the price it was going for at the time online, so I waited, and I waited. Then NYCC rolled around and I happened to find a dude, who had two of these and long story short, they are mine now. Let's start by taking a look at my favorite from the set, Wolverine!

 

Now I know what your thinking "Another Wolverine??" , and yes while he is probably the most overused character in Marvel figures next to Spider-Man and Iron Man, this Wolverine, is the best Wolverine to date. This is coming from a guy who has owned about 25 different Wolverines over the course of 18 years. What makes him so great? Well his sculpt is dead on, he's buff, he is a relatively good height for a Wolverine figure, still a bit too tall if your OCD with figure scaling, but I don't mind. He has the best articulation for a Wolvie figure, and he can deliver some fantastic crouching poses, which for Wolvie is crucial. He has a swivel-hinge neck, swivel-hinge shoulders, hinge shoulder blades, swivel biceps, double-hinge elbows, swivel-hinge wrists, balljointed abs, swivel waist, swivel-hinge hips, swivel thighs, double-hinge knees, swivel calves, swivel-hinge rocker ankles. His detail on the boots and gloves is spot on, and his facial expression is great. It's like a mix of a snarl and a smirk. The paint is very well done, I'd say check the areas where the black and grey meet, as well as the skintone, but that's if your lucky to find this set in person. Now, what is probably the coolest feature is that each claw is individually removable. Now mine are a little had to pop out so I didn't take pics of him without claws, for fear of them breaking on me, but I have done it before, and it is possible.

He just exudes badassery does he not?

 

Onto my second favorite of the set, Archangel:

 

Archangel, is just plain cool. I mean he just looks awesome. As a figure, he works relatively well, my only complaint are his wings, which tend to make him topple over QUITE a bit. The sculpt on him is pretty good. His body is a straight up remold of the Bucky Cap figure, but with new shins, and obviously a new head. His wings are really cool. They have multiple joints, are removable via a backpeg, and just really well done. The paint work is flawless, and he is a blast to pose assuming you can get him standing, one of the coolest poses I got him in was this:

It just looks like a really cool pose to me. In terms of articulation he has a balljoint-hinge neck, a swivel-hinge shoulder, swivel bicep, double-hinge elbows, swivel-hinge wrists, ab-crunch, swivel waist, balljointed hips, swivel thighs, double-hinge knees, swivel calves, and swivel-hinge rocker ankles.
Now! Onto Psylocke!

Psylocke is my least favorite, not saying she is a bad figure, just not my favorite of the set. Her sculpt is good, using a generic female body mold that we've seen before. Her head if I'm correct is a brand new sculpt and looks great. Paint work is fantastic, which is crucial as her entire costume is painted on, not sculpted. In terms of accessories she comes with her energy sword, not sure of the technical term for it, never was a big fan of Psylocke. For articulation she has a balljointed head, swivel-hinge shoulders, balljointed ab, swivel-hinge elbows, swivel-hinge wrists, swivel-hinge hips, swivel thighs, double-hinge knees, and swivel-hinge ankles. I wish she had the rocker ankles, because as is, she is a pain in the tuchus to stand!

OVERALL:
Is this set worth it? It's really hard to say. They rereleased the wolverine figure, with silver in place of the grey. The rereleased the archangel with his classic colors as opposed to his X-Force duds, Psylocke, I don't know if they plan to re-release her. In this one it all comes down to you. I think it's a fantastic set. Worth the $195 price tag? It sounds bad, but yeah, provided you want the originals of the figures, because your not going to do much better unless you know a guy who knows a guy, who knows another guy and so on. Or you could just get really lucky at another comic-con. Either or. That being said, if they hadn't rereleased 2 out of the 3 figures, this is a definite pick-up for me.
9 OUT OF 10!!!!!!!!!!!

"What??? All I'm sayin is that if I were in the boxset you guys probably would have gotten a 10!!"

"And he sticks the landing! You have no idea how painful this would be if I weren't made of plastic..."



 

 

Back Online: The Wolverine Trailer and updates

First things first, the trailer for The Wolverine!

 

Now, its been quite some time since I've been able to get on here and make a post (thank you college) so now that I'm on spring break, I have some pretty cool reviews coming down the pike including a look at the Mattel New 52 Hawkman, the Marvel Legends SDCC Uncanny X-Force boxset, and a look at my newest pick up, the incredibly awesome Play Arts Kai Arkham City Robin!

 

 Check back soon for a look at Marvel's Deadliest team!

IRON MAN 3 - Official Trailer 2 (2013) HD

Here it is! The brand new Iron Man 3 trailer! Hit 1080 hp for best quality!

Review of Marvel Select Venom!

The Basics:
Scale: 7 1/2"
Price:$25.00 at most comic book stores, $19.99 plus shipping - $29.99 plus shipping on Amazon.com

Character Bio:
The vigilante known as Venom is actually a symbiotic being, consisting of the human reporter Eddie Brock and a fluid, intelligent organism from outer space, who feeds on his adrenaline, granting him all the powers of Spider-Man. When they first found each other, both held grudges against the hero,  wrecking havoc in his life, but Venom later went on to become a hero, protecting the innocent and helping to stop several other symbiotic beings that had split off from himself. At one point, Venom bonded with a second symbiote causing him to grow additional arms and heads, as well as driving him mad. Both Brock and the symbiote have since been bonded with numerous other partners.
For more on Venom, check out:
http://marvel.wikia.com/Venom

The review format is a little different this time, rather than being broken up into segments, it will just be one big section.

 

 

 The sculpt on Venom here is absolutely stellar. You may be saying "How can what is essentially a onesie costume have a good sculpt?" Well I'll tell you how! His entire body has this texture about it of the symbiote goo as if it were still fastening itself to him. Does that make any sense? Probably not. But it is a fantastic sculpt none the less.

 

Does that last set look like mini arms? Well they are. Why? That comes later, but for now, lemme show you where they go.

His hands, on all pairs, have sculpted on webshooters on the top of his hands, rather than just a painted on black dot, and his heads....oh boy...his heads...

All three, count em', three heads are beautifully sculpted. I initially started out with the Macfarnlane head being my favorite, the one all the way on the right,  in the above pics, but Now I love the one with his open mouth, with the tongue removed. Speaking of that, yes, his tongue CAN be removed, I, like others, thought I had broke it but nope, removeable tongue. The Eddie Brock mid-transformation head is also really cool but I think I'll display mine with ol' smiley up there. Now about those forearms, what are they for? Well....

 

BOOM!! "The Madness" Venom. During "The Madness" storyline, he, unlike the bio above, which came on the box, says,  he was infected with a chemical waste...or a toxin....one or the other, Venom was driven mad, they're a creative bunch at Marvel, and sprouted extra arms and heads. Thus, the backpack..of DOOM! The backpack of doom does not peg in, ruining the sculpt, rather it simply slides on and locks into place. It has 6 heads, 4 movable on ball joints, and two mini ones that don't move. It has two extra arms which swivel at the "Bicep", bend at the elbow, and swivel at the wrist, and yes any of the hands can be put on these arms too.
 Can't believe this all comes with one figure? Believe it.

The paint work on Venom and all the accessories is amazing. He is primarily black with blue shading as seen in the character bio pic from yours truly. The only thing I can say to watch out for is the white apps. On mine it was generally well done, just a LITTLE bleeding onto the black torso from his Spider emblem, but overall it was very well done paint work.

 

In the articulation department, Venom is surprisingly loaded for a Marvel Select figure. He features a ball jointed head, swivel- hinge shoulders, swivel biceps, hinge elbows, swivel wrists, a ball jointed diaphragm joint, which I recommend running under hot water for 5 minutes, popping it apart, and then shaving down the socket where the ball goes, so it has a greater range of movement. Works like a charm. He also has a swivel waist, a DCUC style hip, a swivel thing, a hinge knee, and a hinge ankle. Some reviewers wish he had double hinge knees and an ankle pivot, and while I agree, that would be awesome, Venom can do some pretty damn cool poses without it, so bottom line, I don't think he NEEDS them, hes pretty damn poseable on his own.

Final Verdict:Get him. Now. This is a truly amazing figure, Marvel Select at the top of their game, and in my opinion, the absolute best Venom figure made to date. According to the makers of this fine product the different parts allow for 72 different display options, so clearly your going to need to find the look you want for your shelf, this figure makes it easy, well not really with every piece looking amazing, but you get the point. Awesome articulation, stellar sculpt, phenomenal paint, and amazing accessories, this guy is one to have, and he already has a spot reserved for him in my top 10 of 2013. Yeah. He's THAT awesome.

10 OUT OF 10!!!