Originally posted at:
http://www.zedsjoesite.com/review/avengers3pack/avengers3pack.html
Every now and again, you get to do a review that is something special to your life. Believe it or not this is one of those reviews for me.
When I was very young, I mean like 2 years old, my Mom tells me that we were going through the store when I saw the comic rack (remember back then comics were sold on regular newsstands with all the other magazines and not regulated to comic shops). She said I reacted reaching for the comics and she figured out the colorful pictures were attracting me. Anyway she picked up a comic (again, comics were ultra cheap in those days, this was 1973 after all) and I took it home. What made this stick out to her is that I was very careful with the comic. Rather than jump and tear it apart I looked at every page smiling at the pictures. The kick of this story is that it was an issue of the Avengers. Now I am not sure which issue it was and it's long gone now, but my mind wonders what it was that attracted me and if even back then I knew I would be a superhero addict later.
The Avengers is probably my favorite team of them all. I have loved that the roster is sort of stable but also includes plenty of other characters and can change at any point. Dozens and dozens of characters have been Avengers including Captain America, Spider-Man (yes, even before the recent "New Avengers" story line brought him in), Beast (yes, of the X-Men), and more than I could ever list here. Point is the list is long and full of the best of the best (and some of the worst) of the Marvel Universe.
However this set focuses on that group that first joined together to fight evil, specifically Loki, in Avengers #1-
Although often credited as a founding member, Captain America did not appear until issue #4, thus this is the group that appeared in the very first issue of Avengers. It is a distinct and powerful group of characters and many of them are near household names. To call this grouping a milestone in the history of comics would be an understatement, so does the grouping of figures measure up to that monumental task, almost:
So how often do I get to use that background to the Marvel Legends Juggernaught? Not as often as I would like, but it fit Hulk perfectly.
So I have never been a huge fan of the Jack Kirby look of Hulk, but this time it works (sorry had to get beyond the old reviewer's cliché' )
At first when I saw the press pictures of this set I thought the "short-shorts" for Hulk were pretty weird. Then I looked at the cover to Avengers #1 and realized that it is accurate to the comic, so I can forgive it for the most part.
In the great Hasbro tradition, Hulk reuses many parts. This time he borrows heavily from the much used Juggernaught mold. However the borrowing isn't too bad and the new lower legs and lower arms hide the fact well enough to be able to use him as Hulk.
In truth though, he is a bit less cool than World War Hulk, but that is a hard act to follow. But I will admit this Hulk is a lot closer to what I was wanting with the first MU Hulk (Which was far less than stellar to say the least). He has that range of motion that makes a big guy like him work for this line rather than the limitations of the first try at Hulkster.
What would be great now is to have this body with the torn purple pants and more rounded head of his later appearances, then I would feel Hasbro had done the Hulk right. For now this works though and is not a bad stab at the early look of the Hulk.
Now on to the guy who has been everywhere this past year:
Right when I think I have had enough of Iron Man, here is yet another one that I remember is pretty well needed, such is the case with this Iron Man. Up front it should be mentioned this figure is not 100% accurate to the appearance in the comic. Missing is the kind of weird skirt type thing around the waist. However thinking about it I figure the skirt would limit articulation anyway so why bother complaining about it.
From press pictures, I thought this was a straight repaint of the Comic First Appearance Iron Man from the Iron Man 2 line, however a close examination shows the head is actually different, and not just the neck and antennae attachment.
My one knock on the figure is the paint, specifically the orange wash that was used to highlight the details. I think that the figure should have gone with a sheen much like the Mark II in the Iron Man 2 line. While not exactly comic accurate, it would be a bit cooler looking as well.
Still this is yet another of those Iron Man figures that just screams to be in the collection of an Iron Man fan. Even if you are sick of Iron Man this is one of those iconic armors that needed to be done.
Next comes the mightiest of the Avengers: Thor
Ever since the Secret Wars comic pack version of Thor was released I have hoped Hasbro would circle the wagons and make us the ULTIMATE (Not Ultimates) Thor. This one is SOOOO close but just short of the Superhero Showdown version.
The only place I feel this Thor wins is the cape which stays on the MU version much better. However that is not to say this is a bad Thor, it's just the Superhero Showdown version is that darn good. The scale, the colors, the articulation, the mold, the runic inscription, basically this is a hard Thor to beat and in my opinion is one of the best Superhero Showdown figures made. Still if you cannot get the Superhero Showdown version this one is a very close second.
He defiantly is much better than any Thor done in the MU or even Thor lines. Thor has really been ignored by Hasbro despite having his own movie line. Yes he has dozens of movie figures out there, but they are all basically two molds, his Secret Wars comic pack version was ok, but the head sculpt defiantly killed the figure. While the Modern Thor is a decent one, the classic look is the one that most calls for an ULTIMATE version of the character (never mind the fact the face is squashed slightly on the Modern Thor, even though that is comic accurate).
Of course there is the inscription on the Monjor as well which has been seen before. However the Hammer is a bit small for the scale. Some might be inclined to put down the comic accurate colors as well, but I feel they are presented nicely and look great on the figure.
With that you have three pretty good, almost must have, figures, but that is not all. Also included are Ant-Man and Wasp in small scale.
First off I have to say it was pretty inventive of Hasbro to include these two in small scale. It changes the pack from a 3-pack to a 5-pack and gives us all of the original Avengers. Hasbro also could have cheaped out and given us the previously released versions of Ant-Man and Wasp (from the Yellowjacket figure and the Doom/Absorbing Man Secret Wars comic pack respectively) but instead they gave us new molds. Ant-Man is actually smaller than the previous release (and comes with a bonus ant to ride) which makes him even more interesting because now you can have two scales to Ant-Man.
This is a great idea, but I still wish there were regular sized versions of Wasp and Ant-Man (to be able to "shrink down"). In Ant-Man's case I would love to have a gigantic battles pack with an Ant-man that can also be Giant Man (much as the new Avengers Cartoon is done). And just for the record, sorry but the variant Goliath just isn't Giant Man to me.
But the inclusion of these two extras turns this pack from something pretty neat to a near must have for any Avengers fan.
So overall I have to say that this is the team pack to buy if nothing else. While there is quite a bit of recycling going on, it is done in a way that is very tolerable and worthwhile to give the Iconic Classic Avengers.
Until next time: Avengers Assemble.
