I'm a big Spider-Man fan and have really been enjoying each of the Spider-Man themed 6" Legends waves over the past couple of years. So I very pleased to give you a look at the latest wave of figures. This is going to be less of a review and more of an overview of each of the figures in the latest wave.
Ultimate Spider-Man (Miles Morales)
Miles Morales was bitten by a spider intentionally mutated by Oscorp in order to recreate the powers of Spider-Man. Although he possessed super powers before the death of the Ultimate universe's Peter Parker he was reluctant to use them. Peter's death - along with some encouragement from his best friend Ganke and Gwen Stacy - motivated Miles to become the new Spider-Man.
Why start with Miles over Pete? Honestly, as much as I love Peter Parker, I already have a number of figures of him. Miles was one of the figures in this wave I was most excited to add to my collection.
Miles is using a new teenage male body. It's not quite as poseable as the 'Pizza Spidey' body but has plenty of articulation to get all the web swinging poses you'd want out of the figure. His black-and-red costume is nicely detailed and cleanly painted. You'll be reading that a lot as you go down this list but this set has some of the most consistently good paintwork I've seen across a wave of Legends figures.
Miles comes with both a masked and unmasked head. Both are nicely sculpted and painted. I don't think the likeness on the unmasked head is quite right to how Miles looks in the comics but it's still well sculpted.
I would imagine Miles here is going to be a pretty popular figure. The previous 6" scale figure has a hefty mark up on eBay so I am very grateful to have an affordable and easy to find figure of Miles.
Ultimate Spider-Man (Peter Parker)
On a school field trip to an Oscorp facility Peter is bitten by a spider which has been exposed to the OZ drug. Much like his main universe self he develops superpowers. His guilt over not stopping the murderer of Uncle Ben when he had the chance convinces Peter to become the crime fighting Spider-Man.
Pete uses the same body as Miles so apart from the paintwork and sculpting on his unmasked head he's exactly the same.
Both head sculpts are nice. The eyes on Pete's mask are a little iffy around the edges of the lenses but it's not too bad. The unmasked head is very youthful in appearance and a good likeness to the Ultimate version of Peter Parker. You could easily use this figure as a young main universe Spider-Man.
While the new body and unmasked head do make this different from other recent Peter Parker Spider-Man figures I think Miles has the bigger appeal of the two. That said this is a good Spider-Man figure and a good option if you don't a Spidey in your collection. Especially if you don't have easy access to 'Pizza Spidey' or the Sensational Spider-Man figure from earlier waves.
Silk (Cindy Moon)
Cindy Moon was at the same science exhibit where the main universe Peter Parker got his powers. After biting Peter the very same spider bit Cindy. She was hidden away by Ezekiel to protect her from the Inheritors. Having been locked away from the world for a number of years she's now searching for her missing family and trying to adjust to the modern world.
When I first saw pictures of this wave I thought both Silk and Spider-Woman would be using the same body as other adult female heroes like Captain Marvel or Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew). I'm not sure that the whole body is new but the upper torso certainly is. It's less busty and the arms are sadly less articulated than the other body.
This body makes her articulation equal to that of the teenage female hero body used for White Tiger, Spider-Girl and Spider-Gwen among others. You can still get some very dynamic poses out of her but not quite to the level of some of the other figures in the line.
The lack of swappable hands also hurts the figure. This is not something that affects just Silk. Most female heroes I've bought figures of lack alternate hands. It would have been really nice to see even if it had just been a pair of fists and a pair of open hands.
Both included heads are very nicely sculpted and cleanly painted. Like Spider-Gwen from the previous wave Silk has a small piece that goes around her neck to simulate her mask being down. The hair does limit poseability to a degree. The paint work for the rest of Silk's body is also nice and clean.
All in all this is a very nice representation of one of the most interesting new additions to the spider-family in recent years. I'd highly recommend you check out Silk's solo series if you haven't already and I'd certainly recommend this figure for your collections.
Spider-Woman (Ashley Barton)
I knew little to nothing about this version of Spider-Woman apart from the fact that she sided with the Superior Spider-Man during the Spider-Verse event. Turns out she's the daughter of Hawkeye and Tonya (Peter Parker's youngest daughter) from the Old Man Logan series.
This figure uses the same base body as Silk and as such has the exact same limitations I've talked about above. Her hands are different, as is obviously her paint and head sculpt, but otherwise this is the same toy.
The paint work on Spider-Woman is again very clean. The head is very nicely detailed. Her shorter hair means you can get more out of her neck joint than Silk.
As I have little connection to this version of Spider-Woman this is my least favorite figure in the wave. I don't dislike it but if it'd been swapped for someone else I certainly wouldn't miss it. I think most people will end up picking her up for Venom's torso or to complete the set more than on her own merits.
Electro (Max Dillon)
Struck by lightning while repairing a power line Max Dillon gained the power to generate, store and discharge electricity from his body. Now calling himself Electro he took to a life of crime. From that point on he's been a long time antagonist of Spider-Man.
Electro uses the same base body as 'Pizza Spidey' and as such is very poseable. All the details on his costume are cleanly painted. The translucent lighting effects on his hands look very cool. Sadly he has no alternate hands so is permanently trying to zap someone or something.
Both head sculpts are good. The paint on my lightning burnt face is a little off from the sculpted detail but not enough to hurt the toy. The classic lighting mask is very clean and appropriately goofy looking.
As I was not a fan of Electro's portrayal in
The Amazing Spider-Man: Rise of Electro I'm happy to have a classic version of the character. I'd say this figure is on par for a Marvel Legends toy. It's a good representation of the character at an affordable price.
Hobgoblin (Roderick Kingsley)
Roderick Kingsley was a fashion designer with strong ties to the criminal underworld. One of his employees stumbled across a hidden stash of equipment that had belonged to the (at the time) deceased Green Goblin and Kingsley took it for himself. Redesigning the costume Kingsley uses the equipment to become the Hobgoblin.
Hobgoblin has the standard articulation for a Marvel Legends figure. While the cape is one solid piece it has enough room to move at the neck not to interfere with the figures poseability. The sculping on the folds of the cape and hood as well as the scales on Hobgoblin's arms and legs is very nicely done.
I'm not sure if this is a new body sculpt or not. It certainly doesn't share any parts from the Build-A-Figure Hobgoblin. Either way I'd not be surprised if the Green Goblin is included in a Legends wave in the near future reusing the figure as it's base.
Hobgoblin comes with two heads. One is the classic look which is the head I prefer. The alternate is more animalistic with sharp teeth and a long tongue. I'm not sure where this particular design comes from. The paint on the classic mask is very clean. The other has very well painted eyes but the teeth are a little sloppy.
Hobgoblin also comes with two accessories. He has a pumpkin bomb (pictured above) which is the same as the one included with the Build-A-Figure Hobgoblin from a few waves back and Jack O' Lantern. His hands are open enough that the bomb fits comfortably into the palm of his hand.
The other is his glider. His feet fit snugly into place and hold well. The glider itself is fairly thin and plain but that is accurate to how it looked in the comics. I would have liked to have seen a peg hole on the underside of the glider so it could be used with a display stand.
I really enjoy the Hobgoblin as a villain so this was a standout of this wave for me. The figure feels like it's jumped right off the page of one of Roger Stern's Hobgoblin stories. Definitely worth picking up if you like this classic Spidey villain.
Venom (Flash Thompson)
For the past few years the Venom symbiote has been bonded to Flash Thompson. Working for the Avengers he became their representative on the Guardians of the Galaxy. Flash/Venom eventually ended up on the symbiote homeworld where, with the help of Venom's people, Venom and Flash were able to be properly bonded and now have a true symbiotic relationship.
Like the other large Build-A-Figures I've gotten Venom is very solid once assembled. He's big and imposing. The little details on his body really add to the whole armored knight feel over the more organic appearance of other Venom/symbiote figures.
The paint work is very clean. The whites are nice and bright and pop against the rest of his black plastic body. The Guardians emblems on his shoulders are both very clear.
While he is well articulated I have found him to be a little less stable than some of the other figures when trying to pose him. I think this just comes down to the fact that despite his size he feels rather hollow. It doesn't take much to knock him over.
The head sculpt is very different to what we've seen in previous versions of this character. It's very angular and looks more like a helmet than a head. I know this is intentional, it works with the Space Knight design, but might not be everyone's cup of tea.
The prices on the Agent Venom figure are too high for me to justify. So having this BAF works for me. I've now got a Venom to stand alongside my Guardians of the Galaxy figures. Even if you're not a Guardians fan I'm sure this figure will have appeal to collectors of Venom/symbiotes.
Overall
Miles, Silk and Hobgoblin are the clear winners of this wave in my opinion. Each of them is worth a purchase even if you have no thoughts about picking up anyone else in the wave. The wave as a whole is good though. None of the figures are duds. I'm personally happy with the set.
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