Superhero Times: a service of Action Online
Review - Black Widow from Marvel Legends series 8
So far, Natasha is the only member of series 8 that I've come across. I wasn't gonna get her, but once the "buyer's madness" is upon me, I just can't say no. I think she came out pretty well, and I'm happy to have made the purchase. On to the review!
Articulation
Please keep in mind, each joint I list is for one side of the figure, except for the mid-line stuff like waist and neck, etc.
Toes/mid-foot - hinge
Ankle -side to side
Ankle- up and down
Calf -cut-joint
Knee -double joint
Top of thigh cut-joint just below the hip "ball"
Hips- these are new to me. Instead of a ball joint, they're like a cross betwee a ball and the Elektra-style hips. They have a pretty good range of motion, and don't detract from the sculpt.
Waist -belt-line cut-joint just above the belt
Mid-abdominal - ("Para Spidey" type joint)
Shoulder - hinges that allow the shoulder ball to pivot up and down (unlike some of the older characters, hers don't come out so far that they leave a hole in her armpit)
Shoulder - ball-jointed
Upper Arm - swivel just below the shoulder-ball
Bicep-cut-joint (since the arms are slender, there's no bulging bicep to hide the joint as a swivel)
Elbow - double joint
Mid-forearm -cut-joint (just above the bracelets that contain her "Widow's Sting")
Wrist-hinge
Fingers-hinge
Neck-hinge at the top of the neck that allows for up and down head movement (but is terribly obvious seen from the front)
Neck-ball-joint at the top of her neck
I think she would have benefitted from the "d-tents" that make figures like the 18-inch Spidey and the new Sandman's joints tighter. Most of the joints in her legs are too loose for my liking.
Sculpt
Overall, it's pretty good. I definately have some issues with parts. The new thigh-joint looks tons better. Her biggest problems are height (she's between 6 and 6+1/4 inches tall; too tall for the females), the neck-joint that shows so terribly, and the hair. Someday, TB will figure out how to mold long hair on a female that doesn't look so darn bad in all but one pose.
She's kinda got a "beehive" thing going on at the top, and the back is molded so that it doesn't hinder movement, but it's just a wall of hair that doesn't look natural (unless she's looking up). The rest of the sculpt is very nice. She's proportioned well, and the details like the stingers and the belt are very nicely done.
Paint
No issues here. The paint apps are all pretty tight, and there's no slop or spill on the costume accents. The face and hair are done neatly as well. It's a pretty simple, basic black costume, but the details are all done with a good eye for QC.
Accessories
Widow comes with a Collector Card, a copy of Daredevil #81, and her base. The base is a rubbery, 4.5 inch circle with some bullet-holes, her red hourglass symbol (for the black widow spider), has two foot-pegs and comes with an action stand that can be plugged in to the base. It's hearly identical to the ones that Vision and Deadpool come with. She has a small hole in her lower back to accomodate the action stand plugging in for high-flying kicks, etc. It's cool, and the paint on the base is also done well.
Overall
I think that for the reasons I stated in sculpt (hair, height, visible neck-joint, loose leg joints) I'd have to give poor Natasha a 6.75 out of 10. It's really a decent figure, and will look cool in your display. It's just that the final execution on the last few details is lacking. It would be very easy for someone to disagree, but I'm just still bummed that I didn't find one of the others. If the hair and neck joint were different, she'd easily be an 8.
Thanks to staff member "Junkpile" for the review. Talk about this review in our Toy Reviews forums
I love the Marvel Legends series. Problem is, TB is making it very difficult to like the series. It's becoming more of a frustration, than a joy.
I for one, am getting tired of the same characters getting sculpted. We do not need 8 billion Iron Man figures; we do not need 2 billion wolverines and weapon x's. There should be one sculpt per character. One Iron Man, one War machine. As it stands now, I dont even want War Machine, because it's too identical to Iron Man. I dont mind the grey Hulk; and, I dont mind ONE variant on an Iron Man. But, having the gold Iron Man variant, the blue stealth Iron Man (and, yes, there's a variant of the variant Blue Iron Man)and, several new Iron man and iron man variants; a new Capt America, and a variant Captr America. The variant Hulk was cool, and, with the grey Hulk, thats ok. But, no more. No more Ghost riders; Im almost not wanting Vengeance now. Definately no more Wolverine's, weapon x's, Logans, movie or classic, or comic book style, or, whatever. No more Punishers, no more daredevils, no more anything that has been made in this series. I don't mind that they are re-releasing some of the harder to find figures, altho, I suppose that is just driving the value down on the original ones. But, There's just too many other characters that have not been made to be making dozens of repeats.
Most of the figures in the Marvel legends series are great. The female figures are horrifica at best. WHY they feel the need to put that gawdy looking neck hinge for women is beyond me. Maybe someone at TB is anti-women? These were very well made figures, until Elektra. When was the last time anyone saw a woman with a neck hinge? Then, why put it in a figure?
Lately, TB has been pumping these things out every few months, so, they've not had the time to actually give the figures the care they need and deserve.
It's time for TB to fix these problems, or, just retire the line. I prefer the former, but, will accept the latter.
Posted by: Tim at January 9, 2005 12:49 PMI disagree. You'll kill the line by filling it with unknown second tier characters. You need a good anchoring figure like an Iron Man, Captain America, Spider-Man, Wolverine to draw in kids and others who might not necessarily appreciate characters like Black Widow without first being drawn in.
Iron Man in particular deserves variations since the character is all about technological advancement. So unlike Spider-Man classics or the strange Batman variants, Iron Ma actually does have a history of changing his armor and using special armors to meet special situations, such as in space or for stealth. There are enough Iron Man fans out there to support this; recall Iron Man's own line in the 90's which featured multiple versions of the armor.
Also, the Iron Man armors are all metallic and colorful, easily attracting new fans to Marvel.
Posted by: Akatsuki at March 8, 2005 03:33 PM