#marvel toys
Marvel Universe: Dark Hawkeye
Yes. “Dark Hawkeye” or Bullseye dressed up as Hawkeye. The figure itself is very good with the face sculpt being the best part about it. It’s looks evil. The paint job, the quality and build of the figure also deserves praise. I have no complaints with this one. It’s perfect for my standards.
Norman Osbourne forming his own “Dark Avengers” might have been cool….. for 1999! But reading it today, I’m not so sure.
This reminded me of the Team Rocket Pokemon cards from my days in middle school where every Pokemon in that wave began with the word “Dark”Eventhatwas better than we we got here as those cards were excellent. The Dark Avengers was lackluster. The best part about it was the selection of villains Osbourne chose for the team. Having Skarr as the new Hulk and Bullseye as the new Hawkeye was an obvious yet clever move by the writers but it never actually gets the reader invested in the new team. The figures are a different story as everyone of them (or at least the figures that were released) deserves a spot on any collectors list.
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Marvel Universe: Green Goblin
This is from wave 2. Whether or not this figure re-uses the earlier body mold I cannot say but it does work here. The face looks demonic and the patterns on both his arm and leg sleeves have been sculpted in. It looks great. The glider has no detail to it. It also has no pegs so the figure doesn’t stand very well on it. The purse or man bag is removable and the pumpkin bomb can be attached to right hand only via peg. There’s not much more I can say.
The Green Goblin is one of Spider-Man’s oldest villains and he’ll live in infamy as the man who helped cause the death of Gwen Stacy…. and yet I have always found him to be extremely boring. I’ve never been fan of the Green Goblin at all. I think Marvel got it rightwith the Hob Goblin which I feel is superior.
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Marvel Select: Colossus
The design of this Marvel Select figure really takes me back to the 90s’ when Jim Lee was working on the X-Men comics. What I love most about this figure is the proportions. Despite having superhuman strength, Colossus does not have the muscle mass of Hulk or the Juggernaut. He is, for the most part, taller and leaner in comparison. It even looks that way when standing this figure next to those 2 other Select figures as well. For the toy photographers out there this figure does have an ankle pivot so a running pose is possible to achieve without the assistance of a back drop. The leg articulation may prove to be a nuisance however. It’s one of those joints that moves outwards instead of forward. The upper chest piece is removable but I haven’t been able to do it with my figure. Compared it’s Marvel Universe counterpart, the paint apps are much brighter on this version. For my personal preference, I like this one over the Marvel Universe and if you’re unable to track down the old Toy Biz Marvel Legends figure, then this Diamond Select is the one you should go with instead.
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Marvel Universe (Captain America: The First Avenger) - Captain Britain
First off, I’ve never been a fan of Ultimate Marvel but even I must admit, this costume looks very nice. The figure is an improvement over the original Marvel Universe figure in both the look and the paint job. The only real criticism here is the height. Compared to the previous release this one is much shorter. With this release we finally get Excalibur as well as a canon but I have no idea what happened to it. If you own the U.S. Agent figure from this wave then you pretty much know about the articulation as it is the same for this figure. Yet another improvement is build. Much like the U.S. Agent figure this one feels sturdy and you don’t have to worry about any of the joints popping off. A great figure overall.
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Marvel Universe: Namor
I’m surprised this figure hasn’t been labeled as the poster child for why the Marvel Universe line is so frowned upon. Even for my low standards, this figure is hideous. Nothing about it is pleasing and quite honestly, why would you pay $10.99 for it? The figure has a nasty disposition and being that this is one of the earlier releases, the articulation suffers from the poor body mold. The new costume doesn’t look good at all. It looks very generic and it’s not something that a king of the sea would wear and lastly, face sculpt is terrible. My only saving grace is that I didn’t pay for this but like I said, I have low standards when it comes to action figures but even I would never recommend something this awful.
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Marvel Universe, Greatest Battles: Daredevil & Bullseye (Comic Pack)
A nice treat for the eyes of a Marvel Universe collector but not so much for the wallet. I shouldn’t complain. I purchased this pack for $12.99 instead of the normal $ 21.99. I was a big fan of these comic packs. Despite many of these being repaints (superior repaints I should add) of past figures, the flip-side was that these were usually packaged with a newer figure that didn’t have a prior release or in the case of this particular pack, newer and better body molds. Both figures benefit greatly from the new body molds especially Daredevil as the articulation has greatly improved. Both figures have ankle pivots which is great if you’re into toy photography. While the new body and paint application looks excellent on Bullseye, the face sculpt is another story. It looks a little off especially in comparison to the earlier release which had a great face sculpt but a poor body mold. Another little bonus is the featured book. This pack features a reissue of Daredevil #132.
For accessories, Daredevil came packaged with 2 billy clubs that can be attached together to form a small staff. The figure also has a holster on the right leg where the billy clubs can be stored. The Bulleye figure comes with a pistol and throwing knife, It has has 2 holsters to store the weapons. The holster for the pistol is on the right leg while the holster for the knife is located on his lower back. For accessories this small the holsters really come in handy. Despite the figure having 2 open hands, it does not hold the pistol very well and the same goes for the throwing knife which is too small to even hold. Overall this is it an excellent 2 pack and a must have for any Marvel Universe collector.
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Marvel Universe: Captain Britain
Another early Hasbro figure but with some minor yet significant changes to the body mold. The most obvious is the scale. It is much taller than any of the figures from the first wave. It was a good move on their behalf as this scale would later dominate the rest of the wave. The articulation remains the same but the sculpt is excellent. Aside from the peg stand and a shield card, the figure did not come with any other accessories. That means no Excalibur for the open hand.
While he may not be as popular or as skilled as his American counter part, Captain Britain has the strength and the legendary sword Excalibur to back him up in the heat of the battle.
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Marvel Universe: Bullseye
Another early Hasbro Universe figure. If you’re familiar with the original body mold then you’re also familiar with all of it’s limitations. One thing I will say is that the face sculpt is pretty good. I like it so much that I prefer it over the Marvel Universe 2 pack Bullseye which also came packaged with Dare Devil although that figure had a better body mold. Those cards are not accessories and he came with no interchangeable hands either. Quite honestly, I’m not even sure if the figure came packaged with that rifle. This one suits my personal preferences but for other collectors and toy photographers I highly recommend the 2 pack version instead as the Dare Devil figure is very good.
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Marvel Select: Ultron
I can’t believe that it took Marvel this long to produce an Ultron figure in it’s classic form. Not only is it a great Marvel Select figure but it is also one of the most articulated Diamond Select has produced. The articulation is almost on par with a Marvel Legends figure. The sculpt and the simplicity of the paint apps really make this one shine. The only downside is the scale. He seems a bit too small but when it looks this good, you simply can’t complain.
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Marvel Universe: Moon Knight
Not entirely good but not entirely bad either. Being an earlier release of Hasbro’s Marvel Universe line, you can pretty much guess the pro’s and the con’s that come with this particular body mold. That aside, the overall physical presentation is a bit bland even for my standards. That’s really all I can say. It’s a rather basic looking figure with basic paint applications.
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My customized Peggy Carter doll.
I finally, finally got her hair to curl the way I wanted! It’s a little crazy, but I’m satisfied with it, especially since I couldn’t get all the gel out of it. The boil-perm technique really works better than “stick it under a hot faucet and hope it holds”!
Peggy’s head, body and legs are from a Twilight vampire Bella doll. Don’t judge, it was the only doll with brownish eyes, brown hair and red lips I could find. Her arms come from an Alice in Wonderland doll, and damn, were they ever hard to remove and reattach! Her one shoulder is still fragile, but it holds pretty well. I made her suit myself, as well as the hat. Shout-out to @myfroggystuff ’s fedora tutorial, without which I would be lost!
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My customized Black Widow doll.
Since female superheroes are pretty neglected in the toy market, I decided to create my own collection of MCU ladies that I particularly liked! Which means almost all of them…
Natasha’s head comes from a Rosetta doll in Disney’s Fairies line a year or two back. Her body is a Barbie fashionista from several years ago. I made a two piece “catsuit” and belt for her, along with gauntlets sewn to the sleeves. The boots came with an old Barbie doll years ago. Other than her shoulders, I really like how she turned out!
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