Originally posted at: http://www.zedsjoesite.com/review/muchamp/muchamp.html
SO I have been struggling greatly with how to start this review off. Some keep saying this is the last MU wave even though technically it is the last of 2012 but the first of 2013 (Professor X, Jubilee, Blasstar) got out a bit early to the comic shops and such. So even if MU ends now the last wave would be that one technically. But there are all those questions about Rhino, Mysterio, and Electra, so what to do? Toyfair is around the corner so I will just let that have the answers and simply concentrate on this wave.
I will point out QC is still a massive issue with MU. Angel has some paint slops on the legs and it seems the thigh swivils on Nova, Nighthawk and Angel have a ton of extra space and thus a bit of looseness (especially when compared to Cyclops). Still I would have to give this wave some props in spite of the QC issues. It's another shiny and cool wave for the ages which adds a bunch of 2nd tier characters to the roster (which is another bad sign, but still not going there).
For the first time in a while this is a wave not including an Iron Man, Spider-Man or one of the Avengers (However some could argue Herc fills the Avenger part as well as Nova who has been part of two related teams, the Guardians of the Galaxy and New Warriors).
Moving on lets begin with the mighty and tiny PUCK-
So it only took abut 4 years to get a second member of Alpha Flight. I really begrudgingly give him 3 stars. He has a bit more articulation than I had anticipated but he still needs more (knees and elbows). Some will argue he is too little but if Yoda and Jawas can get reasonable articulation, I mean come on.
Still I admit I love Puck. He is one of the reasons I really liked Alpha Flight. I mean a guy with dwarfism who can lift ten tons is a pretty compelling thing when you think about it. I kind of like him for the same reason I like Daredevil, he tends to be underestimated due to something physical. In fact I despised when they made him tall because it ruined a fundamental aspect of the character. Once they went back he seemed to loose a ton of steam as well.
The figure does have some hip, shoulder, wrist, calf, and ankle articulation. I am a bit surprised he has that much but still feel with the lack of it he should be regulated to a pack in rather than a single figure. Puck isn't alone, but his pack in isn't that exciting.
He has a repaint of Redwing from Falcon's figure which is supposed to represent Snowbird. Snowbird generally turned herself into an owl not a hawk. Granted she supposedly could be almost any form, but in general she went with the owl. As such she is a major letdown. I keep thinking she should have been in a team pack with Puck, Sasquatch and maybe Shaman. Both in human and bird form or maybe even as a single pack. If we had that I might not be as uptight about it.
BUT Puck can pretty easily do something he should be able to do and that is a plus.
Yep, his cartwheel power is intact. It's a pretty fun little thing to have going on and would only work for Puck.
Overall, it took almost 3 years to get a second member of Alpha Flight. At this rate we should have most of the members by 2050. I still say he works better as a pack-in. Especially when one considers the prices have just jumped yet again.
I admit, this one is tough for me to grade. The fact is that even though I really really love the Defenders I have always been kind of neutral to Nighthawk. I suppose it's because of his status in the Squadron Supreme/Sinister (Who were blatantly ripped off from the Justice League) of being the Batman of the group. However, even with the alterations he was still a very pail imitation of Bats. There is a bit of the fact that he "nobly" sacrificed himself only to be found alive later (in the 90's when ideas for new comics began to run low so they went to the nostalgia well one too many times). In many ways I have felt he seemed closer to Harvey Birdman (Back before he had that "Attorney at Law" show on Adult Swim.
Still he is a cool figure and captures Nighthawk perfectly. The claws on his hands wrap up the ensemble and seal the deal. So what we have is a kind of cool representation of a character I am not overly fond of. Still, he's not Solarman or NFL Superpro or another Spider-Man so at least on those counts he seems orginal.
I can see him as the pass of this wave. I know some people like him but I don't think Nighthawk's fandom is that great. Without the rest of the Squadron he seems a bit out of place. Granted he had an extended stint in the Defenders as well so I guess he can be justified that way.
I admit I wasn't a huge fan of Angel before he became Archangel. He seemed a bit too privileged (being rich) and had it too easy and his power was kind of boring. After Archangel he had some angst to him and with it some depth as well. When Marvel inexplicably went back to the normal wings (A "gift" from Apocalypse, really?) was the point that I gave up on the X-Men. I had held on for years because I honestly loved the X-Men. That was too much for me to deal with and to be honest I have yet to pick up any of the X-Books since (Although I have kept up with events in many cases, but sometimes things get past me like the X-Force weirdness of being able to transform). Still this figure is pretty darned cool.
The wings (of course) sell the figure. they work on many levels and fold up rather nicely. Again while not a fan of Angel I still would want the figure of him just because of wanting the Orignal X-Men. I have no idea why the hand is in a karate chop like stance but it could be worse too. Maybe the idea is that he holds his hand out like Superman or something. Still he doesn't have the benefit of the flip head (Which he could have really used) so that seems to be not the case. I read somewhere that someone thought his head is a straight repaint of the Non-variant Havok. After looking at them both they are completely different so no, that is not the case.
I would have to recommend this figure. Even though I am not a huge fan of Angel in Angel form he is pretty cool. That and he becomes imporant for another reason that I will detail below.
Nova has always kind of held a special place for me. See back in the day I would only read the big comics. Superman, Batman, Avengers, Spidey, Hulk, ect. One day I saw this comic called "A Man Called Nova" which detailed a fight between Nova and a guy (whose name I believe is Blackout). I really liked the comic and it really helped me expand my reading by showing me that things existed outside the familiar. Actually, that ended up being a pretty valuable life lesson. I won't say he's perfect but it's hard to really give the figure a significant enough knock to any stars off him.
The knock I would make to the figure is the tack on extras especially the legs. I may end up removing them (just to note they look like they are easily removable). The other thing is "the bucket head" prevents usage of the flip neck joint. In other words he can't do his flying pose which is weak I must say. The headsculpt is a good one though and the helmet is spot on to that familiar Nova look. I could see this easily being repainted for a Nova Corps fig (but I doubt that will happen even if the line continues).
I think I would be much more excited if we knew more New Warriors were on the way. Sorry I really did like that series back in the day (Did I just turn into Roadblock for a minute). I'd still have to say get this figure because it's a good one.
Every wave has a star, so here he comes:
Now with Herc I have always been kind of take or leave with. He has several times been a fill-in for Thor in the Avengers (which actually makes sense when you think about it) and even did some fill-in for Hulk on his own book (although I admit it was a bit weird). Of course there is the whole thing about Herc actually being based on Heracles of Greek Mythology and not actually being based on Hercules (Roman) but I don't want to turn this review into a lecture on Ancient Myths. Then of course he sacrificed his powers in the Chaos War, but we all know that won't last. I mean nothing says permanent in Marvel anymore, right.
Herc has a great range of motion, seriously as I said on the Scale Wars Facebook page when I got him: This is the direction action figures should be going in, not the 5 POA crap. He also comes with his trusty mace which is another thing that makes the figure great. Herc appears to be an all new mold. At first I thought his arms were from the "wrecking crew mold" but when I compared them Herc's arms were much bigger. Herc is bigger than the "big guy" mold but not by much and is smaller than the huge guys like Hulk and Thanos. In other words he fits right in.
Of course the pressence of Herc (and Angel) also means we finally have a completed team roster (at least the founders):
Let the Queen song ring in your mind for a moment ;-).
Heh, if you have never heard of the Champions just follow this link to Wikipedia in order to read up on them. They were fun.
So there we are, another fine Marvel wave and another fine day in MU collecting. Toyfair is tomorrow (As of this writing) which holds either hope or tragedy for those of us who collect MU. For me though I am just going to focus on my new figures for the moment.
It can't rain all the time ;-).
