ML Absorbing Man BAF: Venom

Here we are! Another Venom Hasbro Legends in the review! And who is it this time? Well, none other than 'classic' Venom himself, Mr. Eddie Brock! It's pretty obvious I am quite familiar with the Lethal Protector. After all, this figure is not my first rodeo; clearly. And Hasbro has supplied one or two Venom related characters... though sadly, I missed out on a couple of them. But with Eddie Brock Venom back in town, I could not miss this guy (or this wave). With that said, let's review this new Hasbro Venom Legend!

 

Venom is the only one on this 'series'. There is no running variant or what not. Venom is just Venom and again, the art work and the photography is impressive.

Standard black costumed Venom with the recognizable spider emblem. This guy is nothing to brag about when it comes to paint since he is just black with a bit of white for his emblem and hand patch (for webbing I think) so I won't go off on reviewing that. The mold is not my favorite since I have seen this one before on a couple of odd ball figures (Sentry and Drax to name a couple). It's the big man mold and honestly, it fits okay with Venom. Surprisingly, I actually can tolerate this mold on him.

 

Now he does have an alternate head and we will get into that. But I do wish that hole on the back is covered or we were given tendrils for special affects to at least give a reason for that dumb hole. Oh well, it's a good looking figure, I can't complain. Then again, Venom is hard to make ugly unless someone is trying.

He doesn't come packing with accessories, but a variant pair of hands and head is appreciated. And yes, Absorbing man has two variant heads which is awesome. As for Venom's mug shot:

This one is a unique Venom head because I don't have a smirking Venom just yet. It's always with the tongue lashing about with the green goop; something that is signature Venom all the way. This one is familiar with Todd McFarlane's depiction of the Lethal Protector way back when he was just a plain ole' villain.

His dental bills must be mortifying. Well, this is my favorite head out of the two since its is classic Venom look, but I am not displaying him with this variant yet. Too many tongue lashing Venoms in my symbiote shelf as it is. But obviously, this one has more paint details, more sculpting, and definitely more intimidating

The articulation is nothing to gape at or to feel disappointed with. Like the previous characters using this mold, Brock suffers from certain angles being awkward looking. Though surprisingly, Venom looks good in the angles I did get.

The fist and open hands along with the variant head makes it very easy to get some great pics. But again, Venom, as big and brute as he is, still requires some kind of agility adhering articulation. Venom is after all a Spider-Man based character so he is very nimble. Again, those legs lacking the proper acrobatic need takes away from some of the possible things we could have done with Venom's dynamic poses.

Here's Venom with Parker in the black suit. Looks a bit like back in black crime.

And of course some of the Symbiote crew! Most of it is Brock with a couple of different symbiotic hosts amongst this crowd. Of course Anti-Venom sticks out the most; my most recent Venom-y figure lately.

All in all, it's not the best Venom figure we've received in Marvel Legends scale, though it is nice to have an updated Venom figure in the mix. The thought that Hasbro put with putting two iconic Venom faces is definitely appreciated. If that's not something to enjoy, Venom does come with Absorbing Man's heads so... he is a must for the BAF at the very least. My opinion? It's a cool figure. Glad to have him in my collection! 

Darkness and Light pt. IV

Distance has become a prominent thing between you and I. What has become of something that was once just you and me? Oh, I have myself to blame for that huh? What once was became a past tense because I ..... searched outside the boundaries of what was already... something zestful.

I lost you... and I feel as if I lost something incredibly important to this essence of 'us'. But the road still connects us; there might be a few walls between but we are still walking down the same path, in more ways than one. We are still somewhat 'us', I suppose. I chose my path and so have you but sometimes there is that need to take a gander at what was and what could have been.

Sometimes I still don't know what I'm going to do... because I'm still crazy about you.

Where we were....

Red and Blue pt. IV

Buried.

The angst that was brought upon by a single year that corroded what was built until foundations crumbled and we were buried. I was buried. And perhaps all of the constant fighting for, against, and for whatever finally took a huge toll on the lot of us, and from there we might have drowned in the angst of what we were trying to save, and what we were supposed to be....

We rebuild right? WE hope? We keep going. We just see what it looks like on the other side when the fighting .... is not there.

So now that was the storm. That was the real me. That was what who I am when in the eye of the raging storm. Do you still see me then, now, or what I can become?

Continuing. 

Canon pt. IV

The years roll by and times have tested us. I will never lie to you and say that I am not afraid of the future. I cannot lie to you and say that the world around us may not cease to be... I'm always afraid. I'm always going to be that dark little corner at times because.... fear seems to be fitting when time has tested and changed so much about us.

You told me in a special memento that "I fight even if I have no reason to"... truthfully, in this fiction we live, I always have a reason to fight for you. For this. You are far more than what you show yourself to be at times and the same can be said about me. You mean a whole lot to me and you are a great person. I can't let you forget that. =)

Here we are. Off into the great beyond.

Continue to help me find the answers to certain things... even if you are obstinate and unwilling to ask them at times. =)

To The Bonds that Defines Us =) 

4 years.....


"Can I get to your soul, can you get to my thoughts? Can You promise we won't let go? All the things that I need, all the things that you need, We can make it feel so real. You can't deny that you've blown my mind. When I see you, I just don't want to let go.

I hate to see you cry, your smile is a beautiful lie. I hate to see you cry, my love is dying inside.

I can fix all those lies, I run, but I'm running to you. You won't see my cry, I'm hiding inside. My heart is in pain, but I'm smiling for you. I'll always try to make things right, I need you more than air when I'm not with you. Please don't ask me why, just kiss me this time... my only dream is about you and I."


-Stereo Love

ML Absorbing Man BAF: Morbius

Morbius the Living Vampire! I often wondered what the heck that meant because Vampires are undead creatures; took me a while but I finally got it. If we are going off the animated series, Michael Morbius technically never died, he turned into a version of a vampire thanks to Spider-Man's blood... so he sucks plasma. What? Anyways, this is not the kiddy version of the Living Vampire. This is the comic book version of him and as a Hasbro Legends, let's see if he sparkles... or not! ha!

Well on a mishap on my part, I did not get the chance to take a picture of Morbius in packaging. So here we are while he is in the package from the standard retail pictures.

 

"Villains of the Night" as they call Morbius and his running 'variant', Jack. Would it not be convenient of Spidey had specific villains that attacked him during certain parts of his 24 hour run time? Like maybe Green Goblin would only kidnap Black Cat during 12-4pm and then Morbius would come out and play at around 6pm? And Sand Man only attacked in summer?

Morbius comes in two ways to display him and surprisingly, the little accessory that he does get changes how his dynamics work, least that's how I see it.

 

So his 'resting cape' position looks pretty good. Since we are on this cape, I want to talk about how this cape matches his overall paint: the glossy and dark black. As a vampire he gets the red lining that matches his collar and belt. Most of the figure is black minus his pale skin with the minor pain shade. The face is good and I don't have the past Morbius from Toybiz, but I say this one definitely is more human-ish and less gaunt. Parts of the mold is new with the collar going on. Other than that, he is not a bad looking figure. As for his 'extended cape':

 

This is more or less his 'flying' dynamics. The red lining still applies and I will most likely keep him posed like this since it adds more flare to him. The back of the cape does not match the rest of the shiny look, but it's alright. The funny thing about this is:

Makes it look like that he has a Batman shaped cape going on. Still, I do adore this thought Hasbro put.

I already talked about his cape accessory. Other than that, Morbius comes with a pair of Absorbing Man's arms, the one with the rock and concrete absorbed into him. I'll talk more about Absorbing Man, but he does come with some thought.

Morbius as a character is not the agile type of fighter, but being a villain of the night, aka a Vampire, Morbius is indeed fast, aggressive, and he does offer his own headaches for the Wall Crawler. As an articulated figure, he brings nothing new to the table in terms of his mold. He has all the basics and it is appreciated. It is nothing I will react despondently to because hey, it's better to reach the standard than fall below. An additional head would definitely make him feel more versatile that's for sure.

I need more Pla... BLOOD! DAMN YOU BLOOD! 

As a figure that holds a variant pair of arms, Morbius can technically be skipped in this wave. Should you? If you want to complete what Absorbing Man has to offer, then no, you should not. Will this figure be worth it? Well, he is the second "Legends" status figure we have had of Morbius and honestly, this one is the superior one. He is not bad, he is not great. He's a cool enough character to have in my rogue of villains. One cannot be disappointed with this guy, though I doubt anyone will be highly elated to have him. 

ML Absorbing Man BAF: Speed Demon

This is Speed Demon; no, not the Amalgam Speed Demon ("Gone gone the form of man, rise the Demon Etrigan!), but the Superior Foe of Superior Spider-Man. The second figure I'm reviewing from the Absorbing Man of the BAF set, is he as flashy as his name implies?

 

Not going to spend a whole lot of time in the box. Let's just say, this is the next set called the 'superior foes'. Again they are adding some photography in their back cover.

 

Now as for the character itself, he's a pretty vibrantly colored guy. He was supposed to be an 'evil Flash' when Marvel came up with an evil version of the Justice League. Called 'Whizzer' way back in the day, Speed Demon is now better named and... he has a big head. I heard he's a bit of a douche as a character but as a figure, he has a big head with a douche expression. I don't really have much to say except that head just seem off. The mold is okay, does the job for this guy. Came from recent Spider-Man that we got a couple of waves ago. Again, the head does not match up as perfectly as it should with the rest of the lanky frame.

He comes with a pair of variant hands and then the Silvermane head, which ties in to the story arc of Superior Foes of Spider-Man. I am not sure what this is all about but I guess the head of Silvermane has some kind of valuable information of some sort. It's a nice little addition and the head is removable (which can be plugged in to another Ultron body like Shart's review). Of course the largest BAF piece for Absorbing Man.

It's a fun little add on. It definitely is not the deal breaker or anything, but it does have some merit to have something like this. It shows some of Hasbro's consideration to some of the comic book shout outs.

One thing that is really neat about this mold is that he can actually be articulated for running poses; a speedster like this guy needs to be able to perform some of those poses for him to have some fun factor. Some poses he can actually s and on one leg for a running position. Not the pose above but the ones below is a testament of that.

Really is a funny guy. Now I won't detail too much with his articulation. It's a familiar one.

Okay so the pose above is just for fun. Speed Demon is just one of those douches that remind me of a Ginyu Force member. Though sometimes all his articulating makes his body look awkward. It does not help that he has a pretty lanky frame and it looks odd at times.

All in all, I think this figure is pretty hilariously fun. It's variety and it adds to the growing characters of our Marvel Legends Hasbro collection. All in all, he is a must and I don't think he is that bad of a figure. He is not perfect and he probably will not be the highlight of this BAF, but he is mediocre at best. Not bad at all. 

ML Absorbing Man BAF: Spider-Gwen

Well, the first of the BAF of 2016 has arrived! We'll talk more about the BAF later on obviously, but for now let's talk about the much anticipated Spider-Gwen! The star hitter of the Spiderverse storyline finally has her own Marvel Legends! So does she fit the hype of the character?

Well I'm going to spend a small time talking about the 'new' packaging of 2016. Well, honestly, it's not that new. The only thing really new about it are the nice new pleasantries of adding some flare and adhering to a 'new' title.

The side art is gorgeous and the new photography aesthetics for the back is something gawk at. OF course the bio doesn't mean much since they are so generic and terse, but again, Hasbro made an effort in changing things up a bit. Also, they seem to come into a pair and this one is labeled "Edge of the Spider-Verse", which is an adequate title for the pair of Gwen and Ben.

Also, the Spider log along with the 'Legends Series' title makes this new box exude a bit of 'newness' to it. Well, that's enough looking at the box. As for the figure:

Spider-Gwen as a character had a huge positive reception right from the get go. Honestly, I am very persistent in the notion that her popularity had some help from  the Amazing Spider-Man's Emma Stone depiction of Gwen. Everyone say what they want about the movie but Emma Stone was an awesome Gwen.

 

Now that we got that out of the way, Spider-Gwen's design is also a well received look. She is after all the rising star from the Spider-Verse story line and it really is a big help that her costume is easy on the eyes. The coloring scheme, the subtle hints of teal for web lines and flats really make some colors pop out against the black. Then there is the slight magenta that is the warm shade that replaces the standard Spidey red... yep. And the hood! Suffice to say, this figure does its wonders with replicating the color scheme. Though mine has quality issue with the white paint on her right breast; the black is coming out. Other than that, the paint is pretty much standard Hasbro (the better standard) and I am not complaining. The mold is the familiar Spider-Girl(Anya and May)/teenage body. I like the shape but again I have qualms with the articulation and we will be getting on to that in a bit. Overall, pretty good looking figure.

As always, this is Hasbro's main debasement! Okay so it's very pleasing that they gave us the alternate Gwen head and the 'downed hood'. But alternate hands is a must! Webbing! Something! And Spider-Gwen's BAF piece is Absorbing Man's ball and chain. So before we get into the articulation of the figure, let's talk about the head swapping options.

The standard masked head is great. Probably my favorite one. I really like what Hasbro did with the hood. Those web lines are all sculpted in and the colors pop out just right.

The second option is definitely just a neat thing but it is definitely not going to be my main way to display Gwen. While we are looking at this option, I like how Hasbro painted the pink 'shadowing' around the eyes. Really makes her mask seem more vibrant.

Finally the unmasked head. I'll be honest, this is not my favorite option. I wanted it to be and for honestly, compared to the past faces of Marvel Legends females (talking to you, Toy Biz), this is actually good but it just doesn't capture how I picture Gwen. Shame. Oh, and I wish the hood could fit  around this one's head but it could not.

Well as far as articulation goes, we have the same thing we have always seen with the teenage girls' mold. Again my complaint is that the legs cannot do what a spider can. Forget about the pervert train of thought about being able to spread her legs or what not... but some poses are essential to really grasp the Spider-y pose! That goes the same for male molds too. Having Spider-Man being unable to do the splits is quite ridiculous.

Regardless, Spider-Gwen is a fun character to take photos of. The head is not hindered one bit with hood on and thankfully I do not have quality issues with her hands like I did with U.Spider-Woman. Truth to be told, some alternate hands would have done wonders with more fun. And I wonder when Hasbro will add some webbing accessories? But regardless to say, I did have fun and took a bit more photos.

One thing, I did enjoy her height scale with other Spider figures. She looks just right with the original Spider-Woman:

While Jessica Drew is still my favorite Spider-Woman, Gwen does stand up tall with being second in place. Again, she scales rather well.

So as the first Hasbro Legends I reviewed for 2016, I say she starts it off right. She has defections that is for sure. Quality issue aside, we are still going against Hasbro's lack of with accessories and such, BUT they did put some thought into Spider-Gwen as they should. She is a great character and her introduction definitely kindle some fan followers! Now, to the other figures of the Absorbing Man BAF set!