Superhero Times: a service of Action Online
For anyone who’s counting, this is Hasbro’s second series of Marvel Legends and for long time collectors, the 18th set of Marvel superheroes. Hard to believe that it’s been that many but here it is.
There have been nine previous build-a-figures so far, which makes BLOB, the build-a-figure for this series the tenth. There are eight figures needed to build the X-enemy BLOB.
-Thor
-Xorn
Six regular heroes and two from the films add to the variety making it harder to be picky if you want to build Blob.
Well it isn’t a Marvel Legends wave without an Iron Man or Wolverine so Ultimate Wolverine is this series’ offering and probably the most awkward looking one to date.
Packaging: Hasbro has certainly made the transition into their hands known to the buying public. Gone are the clamshells and comic books, welcome back to the card and bubble. Fortunately for us, the cardstock used is THICK and with individually designed artwork for each character and bios, it’s a change that I’m most certainly okay with.
It is too bad that the comic books are no longer around, as I enjoyed browsing through those the most as if they were some sort of trip down memory lane. Hasbro at least has put some comic book art as part of the packaging as a good not do its origin. I’m still waiting for DC Superheroes to do something similar with their packaging.
Sculpt: The sculpt for Ultimate Wolverine is actually pretty decent though he resembles a Scrubs’ Dr. Cox in a Wolverine outfit to me. An angry menacing expression is more exaggerated in this version of Wolverine but it works.
Paint: Paint is something that’s not really disappointing me on Wolverine but the entire line in general. Almost nothing is really painted. Plastic is molded in the colors needed but not much else is done to them giving the figures a very dull, flat look that lacks depth.
My problem with Wolverine and many of the Hasbro figures is that the plastic that they use for skin tones is just too light. There’s a glossy texture to it as well that isn’t very natural.
Aside from that, there’s some decent line work on Wolverine. His face has nicely applied details and his arms are literally covered with tiny hairs. Line work is pretty clean for the most part, but it is noticeable when the skin tones are painted on versus the parts that are unpainted.
Articulation: Articulation has taken a back seat on Ultimate Wolverine with only thirty points of articulation. Yah, it sounds like 30 points is a lot, and it is… but not where it counts. Wolverine is sporting a different kind of articulation joint on the elbows. Rather than a bicep joint and double elbows, Ultimate Wolverine only has one elbow joint with a swivel joint above it. This creates the most unnatural articulation EVER. It means that Wolverine’s forearms can move in a way that is impossible in real life. Elbow joints should always be in the same direction as your bicep. And since I prefer to “keep it real,” that’s two points of articulation that I’ll NEVER use.
Everything else is pretty close to what Marvel Legends are meant to be like, except there no longer is any hand articulation. His hands are forever cupped to hold whatever it is he’s supposed to hold.
Accessories: Zilch.
Wolverine comes with Blob’s lower torso.
Value: These figures will run you $10-12, about $3-5 more than the Toy Biz versions were sold for. So far I’m really missing Toy Biz.
Overall: I’m not particularly a fan of “ultimate” versions of figures but in order to build the Blob, I had to get it. But at least it’s a version of Wolverine we haven’t seen before and though I have my issues with the plastic, paint, and odd articulation, it’s still a good action figure.
CLICK HERE for more images of the Ultimate Wolverine. Review and Images Courtesy of David Yeh
