#toy community

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.

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.

Marvel Universe: Captain America

A personal favorite. Although it’s not the classic look, the figure overall is excellent and it uses a body mold that I haven’t seen on any another figure unless someone can correct me. One of my favorite aspects about this figure s the shield. Instead of the usual peg attachment (which the shield does have) it comes with 2 small straps so that make it possible for the figure to backpack the shield. For my standards, this figure is perfect and it’s nice to see that Hasbro has treated the noble Captain very well in the action figure department.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Kickstarter Here!