Marvel Legends BAF: Absorbing Man

Venom, Spider-Gwen, Ben Reilly, Beetle, Morbius, Speed Demon, Jack O'Lantern

The First BAF of 2016 in my possession and let me just say, it is probably the best Spider-Man wave I have acquired! The variations of characters (mostly villains), the step up in the accessory department, the refreshing attention to details, the comic book homage... this wave was awesome! I have to say, I only really dislike ONE figure (Lady Beetle), and even then, she isn't the worst Hasbro has come up with. With all that said, how does the BAF himself absorb all this fun factor his wave offered? Well, let's get to this guy then!

Well, I don't know much about Absorbing Man. His powers are pretty obvious; I think he has something to do with the Wrecking Crew at one point, but all in all, I am oblivious to him. I know of him. As a figure, right off the get go there are a few things about him that stands out. Most BAFs I have come across are pretty simple in terms of what it has to offer display wise. Absorbing Man shows variety. Just to show what I mean:

He has two options for his head and he has two pairs of arms.

 

Basically there are a few variations on how to display him and how to make him look. He has a plain face, 'absorbing face', metal absorbed right arm, rock/earth absorbed right arm, concrete left arm, and a plain left arm. Maybe a variation for his body would do good, but that's me being ridiculously too needy. Still, glad that we are given these options. So, now to take a look at him in a full circle with my favorite combination.

 

I found out from ShartimusPrime that this body Mold is from Terrax. It's not exactly bad for it, but the back does have some unnatural anatomy for a human being based character. Other than that, we get the usual dull paint job, except when we start getting to the arms that 'absorbed' and the head; then we start talking about details on the paint job! There are sculpted features to really try and convey what he absorbed; the concrete really does look like concrete, etc.

 

I think that is his highlight, the paint details and sculpted details when it comes to his arms and the absorbing face. Mold wise, he is a muscular guy so it fits. The purple striped pants could have been his jailer pants, but I guess it's okay because it gives a pop out color. The head at times looks huge, but it's okay, honestly. Not a bad shaped figure. Just the fact that there were some thought put into his alternates really makes the figure fun visually.

And I might be just guessing here but the last BAF I reviewed was the Goblin Knight. Of course Absorbing Man is the bigger figure out of the two but with Hobgoblin having more of the uniqueness, I think these two are a good addition to the rogue of villains. Hobgoblin is a bit more questionable on the BAF side though.

I talked about his variant arms and heads, other than that, the only other accessory he has is the ball and chain. It's pretty weak accessory actually. It can't have as many dynamic pose because it is not really articulated and it is a pretty dull color.

Articulation wise, he isn't too bad. If he had more movement on his ball and chain he would have better dynamic poses, but other than that, he comes with the expected range of movements for a figure this 'big'. Not so much 'range' of movement, but if he was able to hold his weapon with one of his left hand, it would give a little more variation in his poses; but again, with his articulation basic to our expectations, it shouldn't be that much of a hassle to get him to pose here and there.

One can get him to do some action poses with certain angles of his ball and chain.

And of course Absorbing Man will be sharing a villain shelf; the one I deemed as the "Apocalypse" shelf is the place t o be. And yes, it's getting a bit crowded on the villain side. Maybe they need more Hero BAFs!

In conclusion, as a BAF, he is not bad at all. I rather enjoyed him and with the thought brought upon by the various display options, I think Hasbro did a good job for this. His set is also not considerably bad; with Lady Beetle the only one that really does not meet the mediocre expectations, I think this BAF Set is a success. Now does this abate the rest of Hasbro's mishaps with lack of accessories, paint jobs, and other poorly executed patterns? No not at all, but its BAFs like these that really give Hasbro some credits. They have a couple more BAFs coming out and we can see who I gather this year! 

ML Absorbing Man BAF: Lady Beetle

Next on the list for the Absorbing Man BAF is Beetle. The female Beetle of Marvel, to be exact. I know nothing about her. I looked up some details and she is the daughter of Tombstone and just wanted the life of her Father's career. She is somewhat recent; appeared when Bucky became Captain America after Civil war. So as a figure, let's just go right into the details.

The running variant for Speed Demon, so there is no need to showcase the back. The art on the side is more loyal to her figure version; in the comic book images I saw, her eyes are bigger. Said eyes resemble Spider-Man's buggy look.

I had this feeling that I was not going to like this figure and I was right. I was never a fan of Beetle as a villain and Lady Beetle does not offer much in that regard. I did not read the areas where she was active, but she just seems very generic. Her designs pay homage to the original Beetle whom I did not like. Her figure version is definitely her, but again the designs do nothing to impress me. The wings we have seen before so it's not a wow factor. It's identical to Wasp's just repainted. The color scheme is not great for me but as a paint application on the figure, it turned out nice. The molds aren't terrible either and I have to say that for what some parts are, it makes this figure decent for some. Now let's go to the are that really kills Beetle for me.

This was another goof on my part when I was opening the packages that contained this set. I snapped Absorbing Man's leg right away, forgetting I have yet to take a picture of it. So the torso is in there with the shot. SO... accessories are lacking or not there. I can't really count her wings as accessories can I? It's like saying Thor's cape or something is an accessory. No variant hands. No rocket launcher that I see her use a lot in the comic book pics. NOTHING.

And to top it off, it seems I may have a Beetle that is rigid since her articulation is a bit stiff. After some warming up, I finally got her to move her 'potential', which wasn't as impressive as it could be, unfortunately. These articulated wings would be a bit more awe-inspiring if it wasn't for the fact that a previous Marvel Legends didn't own these before, and said figure had the same body articulation and lack of accessories, then I would be impressed with the wings. Don't get me wrong, it looks good. The figure isn't bad looking on its own right, but she is not an impressive character and the fact that she possesses the same cons as Wasp.... well... it's like a redo of the past failures.

Between the two, the Ultimate Beetle is a better figure with all its 'unique' molds and the fact that he just looks cooler. Still, they both lack accessories.

All in all, this figure does not deliver what the previous figures in this wave did. Lacking accessories takes a lot away from her fun factor, and the fact that her movement is very limited makes her even less of a legend. But, as variety comes, she's a good addition. She also has a BAF piece that does not have a variant; she has a leg, and Absorbing Man's leg only comes in one form. But, I have her so no use to really whine about it. She'll be in my villains galore shelves for sure!

ML Infinite Series: Ultimate Green Goblin BAF

Beetle, Superior Spidey, Black Cat, Electro, Carnage, Spidey

First and foremost let me just state that this is probably one of the best BAFs that Hasbro has dished out! In fact, it's the first BAF I have completed a full review on each and every single figure(something I will most likely make a habit out of). Hasbro's decision to make their BAF "Infinite Series" lines concur with the movies wasn't entirely well received for a little while though I understand why they did it! Nowadays people know Marvel Studios than the Marvel Comics itself so presenting their toy lines with a label that is familiar with casual fans will most likely have more fruitful result. My real qualms with that is the characters that would be provided; Will these characters be mainstream/movie characters? Or will Hasbro touch base with some of the not so popular characters in the comic books? Luckily this one did a great job mixing in recognizable characters from the movie but adding in some underground and popular comic book characters. The BAF may not be my personal favorite but this review will delve into what makes Ultimate Green Goblin worth it. Besides, isn't that face something anyone would love?

I'll give you the reasons why I'm not the biggest fan of this BAF right off the get go. First and foremost, this thing screams Hulk all over it. It's plainly obvious that it is from an Incredible Hulk mold! From what I know it was from the Avengers 6' inch action figure and they didn't do a very good job trying to hide it at all. I mean with the fact that they are both green and gargantuan it's a hard task to truly distinguish when using the same mold. I have no qualms with the mold, it's a good mold for large muscular characters, but they should've made him more like the very first adaptation of the Ultimate Green Goblin with the purple cloak and all. That and those denim jeans has got to go since it's the exact same ripping patterns as the Hulk I believe. But be that as it may, the details that are Goblin's alone like the spikes on his arms, the beastial feet, and the satanic creature of the black lagoon head mold does it justice.

And if the back looks too plain, there is always the flame affect that this figure is graciously rewarded with. Again, kudos for Hasbro for taking some tips from Toybiz and the imports!

I'm not entirely sure why the flame affect did it for me but what it accomplished made me like this figure that much. It has a pretty good mold and the paint accentuated a rather 'fiery' feel to it(as it should). The one thing about them is that they don't really hang on to Goblin as much as I would want especially the back flame. If one doesn't move him as much they'll stay, but literally they just hang and a slight angle it will make them just fall off. Still, the detail molded in them and the fact that they arm flames aren't identical, it's beneficial and it adds to the overall 'energy' of the figure.

Now in regards to his articulation, he has pretty much every standard bending ability as modern figures these days would ask for. For a big guy, he can be pretty nimble as a toy so I can take solace in that. I could pose him to do some pretty feral things that still makes him look like a juggernaut(sorry Cain Marko!) that he supposedly is(in the Ultimate line, he is responsible for Peter Parker's death).

But those Incredible Hulk pants though is killing off most of his aesthetics for me. He just reminds me of Hulk and/or Abomination! I really wish they put more effort into making him distinguishable than the other mean green giants of the Marvel Universe!

Speaking of giant, Mr. Ultimate Osborn doesn't quite stand up to the mighty Galactus. Well all joking aside, Hasbro still has yet to make a gargantuan BAF lately that matches up to the standards of Toybiz. Okay so maybe they had Fin Fang Foom way back when, but that's one out of how many BAFs have they made? They're more popular for BAFs like Hit Monkey, Puck, and Rocket Raccoon who are dwarfs compared to Apocalypse, Sentinel, Galactus, etc. So perhaps after the next two BAFs announced that Hasbro will pick up the size, huh?

Personally, Ultimate Green Goblin as stand alone figure doesn't have the compelling qualities that will get me just to buy him. With a very obvious Hulkness to him and the Ultimate universe has never been my cup of tea, this figure isn't making any top tier for me. Though what does make this BAF worth it are the pieces on its roster. Out of the six figures only one I barely didn't care for but ultimately with how the variant hands/heads are implemented, dynamic affects, new molds, and brand new packaging, I say in the end it was a note worthy catch. It was a hard toy hunt that I'm not doing again, but it was well worth it(now). 

ML Ultimate Green Goblin BAF: Beetle

The second character I opened up for the Ultimate Green Goblin BAF which is the Ultimate Beetle. Okay it's time to say that I know almost close to NOTHING about Beetle in the 616 Universe of Marvel. To top that off, I know EVEN less about the Ultimate adaptation of this said character. But I will say is that his design is a bit more to my liking. Maybe the Silver Centurion colors? who knows.

Yes, the box, great! There is a variant figure to Beetle which is Boomerang. He looks okay enough but I probably will pass on him since Beetle is the one I really want and got.

It's a shame in regards to accessories that he doesn't get alternate hands like some of the other figures do. He gets the detachable wings and of course the left foot BAF piece of Ultimate Green Goblin. Kind of a 'meh' if you ask me.

Detail wise? I like the color a lot! I mean the work added on his mold does add the feel of it being armor. Of course with his wings he looks so much better!

Side profile conveys more of the details. Again wings adds more look to him.

And the back for sure NEEDS the wings on!

Articulation is almost as good as the details with this guy. I mean it does have the basics and posing him is lots of fun! Standing him is even easier because his feet provides enough stability. There are certain things about his costume designs that hinders a few of his movements which does add a minor bummer affect here and there. Shoulder bumps and his wings are the major culprits for articulation hinderance but again, it's not that big of a deal since there will be ways to get around it! I mean getting him to flying or "I'll blast you bzzzzzzz!" poses is a cake! Having alternate hands would've came in very handy(punnnn!) but it's not super important I think. Still got a pretty versatile figure.

Got a good figure and another piece to Ultimate Green Goblin, I'd say not bad. Again I wasn't expecting Ultimate Beetle to deliver as much as he did but he did! Again lacking accessories and some articulation hinderance, but overall I am elated to have him!