Review- Super Hero Showdown Punisher

Super Hero Showdown Punisher
Review by "Junkpile"

First review back is the new ToyBiz Super Hero Showdown Punisher figure. I'll give you the skinny on the fig tonight, and put some pics (assuming I remember how) up tomorrow. I'm also going to keep the review specific to the figure and the accessories, without going into the game-play aspect. I don't have either of the starter sets (and except for some online resources) they're the only ones that include instructions on game play. Pretty sneaky, TB...

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.

Ankle - true ball-joints, allowing side to side, up and down and all the in-between
Ankle – hinge for up and down
Calf - top of boot cut-joint
Knee – double joint
Top of thigh - cut-joint just below the hip ball
Hips - ball-jointed*
Waist – belt-line cut-joint*
Abs - upper torso and abdominals are seperate pieces (think ML 1 Captain America)
Shoulder - hinge*
Shoulder - ball-jointed*
Bicep – swivel
Elbow – double joint
Wrist – hinge
Neck - ball-joint, but he can't really look up too far

The joints noted with an asterisk bear a little explanation, because they don't look like the usual joints TB uses on their Marvel Legends figures.

The hips - they actually look like a "T" shape, with balls on the ends of the upright. They stick out at 90-degree angles, allowing the tops of the thighs (which have a cup-looking end) to fit onto the hip balls.

The shoulders are similar, except that the balls that stick out from the shoulders are on a swivel (which allows some forward and back movement). The inset swivel is similar to the design on the McFarlane Spider-Man from SMC 12.

Sculpt
The sculpt is actually pretty good for such a little figure. He's just about 4 and 1/4 inches tall. There's a good amount of detail on most of the figure. He's got an Uzi strapped to his right thigh, and you can see the belts and buckles from his waist on down to his boots. The arms and torso are a little light on detail, but the character doesn't really call for a lot. The face is pretty plainly Punisher. It'd be tough to miss this mug. Really nice for the smaller scale.

Paint
The paint is pretty clean, and they managed to add paint accents to his belt, and do a nice, closer-to-the-movie-than-the-ML-movie-version skull on his shirt. There's really no problems with the paint on my figure. The only issue I have is that they left his neck black, like his shirt. Looks like he's wearing a turtleneck. The detailing on his face is all right where it's supposed to be.

Accessories
As one of the "Booster Pack" figures from the Showdown line, the figure comes with 5 game-cards, an action-stand (like the one that comes with ML Deadpool, or Ultimate Captain America), and a spring-loaded launcher. The launcher comes with what looks like a fireball on a stick that can be loaded and fired (quite a distance, I might add). These are all nice, but the cards and launcher are best left for the game enthusiasts. My only complaint is that he doesn't come with any weapons... he is the Punisher, after all. At least it's easy to raid the military-toys' arsenals (there are quite a few in a similar scale).

Overall
I'm having a tough time with these. It's very difficult not to draw comparisons to ML and GI Joe. I'd have to say that they don't really live up... at least at this point. The plastic is much less sturdy than the plastic used for the last few 3+3/4" Joes that I bought. Punisher has more articulation, but the weak plastic makes me nervous, especially around the couple of cut-joints. When I tried to free his calf cut-joint, I could feel the post twisting. The detailing and articulation are pretty comparable to ML, but the SHS Punisher falls short due to his higher price (only available at TRU for $7.99), and doesn't have any accessories that are character-specific. Ironically, I wish more ML's came with the action-stands.

I'd give Punisher a 6 out of 10. ToyBiz did a nice job, but it just falls short on too many levels. Maybe the line will improve.

Visit the froums to talk about The Punisher and see more pics!