Today marks the One Year anniversary of when I started this blog and to celebrate I thought I'd do a little something special. My first review was Hasbro's 6 Inch Spider-man Homecoming figures so in keeping with a similar theme I thought I'd take a look at some other Spider-man movie toys from yesteryear. In 2002 ToyBiz released their exceptional Spider-man movie tie in line and today I'm going to take a look at two figures I missed out on as a kid.
Sixteen years ago I held a Battle Ravaged Green Goblin in my hand at my local Zellers department store. I had a crisp ten dollar bill in my pocket and still I put it back on the peg, never to be seen again. I learned a valuable lesson that day, you only regret the things you don't buy. So when a Battle Ravaged Green Goblin and Spider-man showed up online at a great price, I didn't hesitate.
ToyBiz did one of two things with their PACKAGING, either going completely over the top (Lord of the Rings/X-men) or classic blister cards. The Spider-man movie line falls somewhere in between. The front of the card has a great image of Spider-man's eyes with the Green Goblin's ghoulish image reflected back at the viewer. Along the right side was a rigid cardboard wedge which bared the film's logo. It's simple enough, but helps give the line a more prestige look.
The front bubble shows off the figures really well, and I've always liked the little "Official Movie Merchandise" declaration on the front. The back of the cards all have the same little movie blurb, but then they are all personalized to the specific figure you're buying. Instead of the paper insert that is so common today, all the play features and assembly instructions are on the back of the packaging. Of course they also include the other figures in the wave, tempting you to "Collect them All!".
I'm just going to come out and say it, the SCULPTING and PAINT on these figures is better than any modern Hasbro Marvel movie tie in figures. There's a reason I consider 2000-2007 the golden age of action figures, and ToyBiz is a big part of that. Okay, so maybe I'm a little biased. To this day I absolutely love this line. The sculpting on Spider-man is absolutely incredible, the subtlety and attention to detail is phenomenal. The blue areas of the costume have a fantastic looking texture that isn't over the top or distracting, and the raised webbing is fantastic. My favorite little detail of the battle ravaged figure is in the torn areas of the suit, you can see little threads still holding the costume together.
The Battle Ravaged Spider-man figure design is so busy, that any paint slop there may be mostly goes unnoticed. There are a couple areas where the silver doesn't quite line up with the webbing, but it's a fairly minor thing. ToyBiz went the extra mile and painted the arm pins and joints the corresponding color to the suit and even added silver web lines as to not break up the flow of the suit. They went the extra mile to make these figures truly something special.
The Battle Ravaged Green Goblin is a much simpler looking figure. It's actually just a repaint of the Super Poseable figure just with a new head. This time though the whole figure has this really dark brown wash making him look especially menacing. His whole head is actually cast in a partially transparent plastic so that when you hold him up to the light it looks like he has glowing "horrible yellow eyes". The effect works pretty well and doesn't detract from the look of the figure. It is hard to capture in photos though. My only nit pick would be that the Green Goblin figure always seemed just a touch skinny, and didn't quite feel like a guy in a suit.
ToyBiz really defined what Super Poseable figures were, and these two still have some fantastic ARTICULATION. The range of movement is phenomenal, and I've always felt that Spider-man's sculpt (especially the super poseable figures) worked beautifully with the articulation. The figure had a nice flow without feeling broken up by the joints. The only minor nit is the shoulders don't have a full ball joint, as to preserve the sculpt, and therefore have a more limited range of movement than you might be expecting. When it comes to the Green Goblin, I have no complaints.
Something missing with today's figures is the art of a cool looking display base. Spidey and Gobby both come with great pieces based on their climatic fight in the abandoned building at the end of the first movie. Spider-man's base has this cool broken wall section, with loose bricks, and a manhole cover. The paint effects look great, and you can even hang it on the wall to display the figure. Green Goblin's base also look pretty great, but definitely has a more plastic-y feel to it. The play feature also allows you to fling a figure through the window, which I actually think happened to Spidey in the film. Goblin has one additional ACCESSORY that is his triple pointed spiky spear thing. I don't know where it came from in the movie, but I'm glad it's included here.
OVERALL, these figures are absolutely spectacular. They are truly amazing figures, from a sensational time in toy history. I love the whole line, and the number of characters they were bold enough to produce. Not just the hero and villain, but multiple versions of each, as well as characters like Mary Jane, Peter Parker, Norman Osborn, and my all time favorite, J. Jonah Jameson. I may just have to take a look at a few more over the next couple of weeks....
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