POP: Anti-Venom

Here's another POP creature that crawled its way towards me! The negative version of the Original "Venom" is here in POP version! Eddie Brock is indeed Antivenom! Let's check him out.

If Funko was a bit bolder, they'd try and execute the others; meaning the more obscure Symbiotes within Venom's legacy. But I do want these Venom and Carnage though.

As with all POPs, you'll get a very basic version of the character, get a chibi version, and some traits that the character is known for. I do adore just how freakishly adorable this guy is. With that symbol, that face, and that little tongue, I definitely can say that this is a great POP of the peculiar symbiote transformation of Eddie Brock.

I mean, just look at that face that only a mother can love! Just as a quick story, the Antivenom "symbiote" is the result of Eddie's cancer reacting to his original Symbiote.

And I don't have very many Antivenom figure; the simple fact is that they haven't made a lot of him. I only have the Select and of course the Marvel Legends Antivenom.

With an adorably menacing face, Antivenom is a pretty neat addition to my growing POP collection. Believe me, it's growing and pretty soon, I might just find myself having a symbiotic relationship with Funko this year.
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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! 

ML Hobgoblin BAF: Anti-Venom

Ah yes! The Hobgoblin BAF set of the Amazing Spider-Man line. I'm not sure how I feel about the BAF and a couple of the figures, but I do know there are some I want to get like Anti-Venom over here. So it's Eddie Brock after surviving cancer and gaining a new symbiote. Not 100% about his story but here we are with a figure of him in the 6in scale! What to say about this guy?!

So here's the box and the set that come with him. Some good figures here and there that I really like but for the most part I'm still ambivalent about getting the entire set.

Just off the get go, I will say for someone who is as feral as Anti-Venom, his paint job looks slightly too clean. As hasbro will go, paint details lack aside from minor things like the black logo and the orange contrast in his mouth and eyes. Despite the bland coloring, it fits this negative Venom. I mean, I have the Select version and as far as Marvel Select goes, they are fantastic in details and paint jobs but we have come to know Hasbro for lacking so I suppose this one is sort of expected. It's not an ugly paint, it's just not above what Hasbro does. Mold wise, I'm content. He can be a bit bigger since it is the former Venom we are talking about, but it's good enough. The hands are recycled from Carnage and Hasbro's Toxin; was hoping for alternate hands. I was just hoping some sculpts of symbioses protruding from him here and there but alas, not so much.

He comes with one of Hobgoblin's leg which again, I'm not so sure I will be buying him. Oh and one lackluster accessory that really does very little to add to the figure:

Yeah, it does very little to nothing.

His articulation came to no surprise as well. It doesn't do him injustice, but it doesn't do him as much advantage since as far as I recall, while he is a big character, Brock had some agility thanks to the symbiote's duplication of Parker's spider abilities. The 'big man' mold we have seen lacks that pose ability so I can say that there are certain things that are deterred. Though he still has some good range of articulation that allows him some posture that I would imagine this Venom would be in. The fun factor of his range of movement still exists and a bit more natural than Drax, I would say.

Superior Spider-Man

And I don't know why, there is just something fun about the photo shoot with having Anti-Venom pose with a bunch of other Spider-Men related/Symbiote related figures that I own! I didn't pose him with any red and blue Spideys but here he is with his symbiote clan:

Symbiote party!

"They all left and didn't help me clean up!"

In conclusion, I love this figure despite my qualms with it. It's a nice contrast to my symbiote collection with how white he is. He is so vibrant and just cool to look at. While I may not say that he is Brock's best symbiote suit(apparently he is now the new Toxin too....?), I will say that I'm still a Symbiote junkie as I was when I first started liking Marvel hardcore(way back when). Still, I'm not sure I'm convinced with buying Hobgoblin Set. We'll see. 

Random Collection: The Venoms

Here we are again and the undying love for the once prominent and well loved version of Venom! Okay so a couple of these Venoms aren't Brock, but go figure! These are some of my favorite Venom action figures and you'll just have to love it with me!

The Amazing Spider-Man Venom

Way back when, Spider-Man had his own very exuberant line of toys coming out from toy biz(and later on Hasbro). There were a myriad of Spider-Man and villains that came out during that time; many were just mediocre, some were terrible, and some were jewels. This guy right here, this Venom who is almost in close relation with how the Venom Icon is detailed, this guy is one of those jewels(also came with a 'stealth' variation). This guy just looks mean and almost down to the intricate detail of Venom. Again missing those white 'web shooters' on the back of his hand, but everything else is great!

Venom: The Madness

This insane and distorted version of Venom came from the line called: "Planet of the Symbiotes". Venom's madness I suppose as the figure labeled it. While I never got too deep with the comic book saga where Earth was invaded with a plague of symbioses(I think that's how the plot was), I did get a bit enamored by this figure. Had this once when I was a child, lost him, then got him back some odd years later. Not a whole lot of articulation, but it's the details(though not exuberant in it) is where it's at.

Ann Weying: She Venom

I believe the story line was "Sinner Takes it All".  Somehow, and for the life of me, I can't remember, Eddie Brock's ex wife ended up with the symbiote and she is called 'She Venom'. Aside from the fact that she didn't last as the said Venom, she also ended up offing herself later on. Don't know the reason why, but it does lead to more of Brock's insanity thus leading up to giving up his Symbiote, then his near experience with death, then his Anti Venom stage and... so forth. What a convoluted mess Venom became, let me tell you! At least we got a female version of him for a little while that isn't red and yellow. Which reminds me, I also have that figure as well and it's also in the same series as this Venom and the previous figure I showed which Venom is completely mad. Articulation is lacking in these, by the way.

McGargan Venom Hasbro

This figure is amazing. Articulation is once again with us and we get an added scorpion tail which is homage to McGargan's former villain identity: Scorpion.  Now again not to delve too deep into the story line, this bad guy gained the symbiote after Brock abandoned it and he was Venom for a while. He gained red eyes and his logo changed a bit, which this figure doesn't show. Once in a while he would have his scorpion tail, but it wasn't too often. While his Venom was short lived, he did spawn a couple of figures and this one was probably my favorite one. Bad ass.

Now I have a couple of other Symbiote related toys. I don't know why but Marvel went a bit overzealous with the whole symbiote story line. They became almost as diluted and overused as he whole term "Mutant".  Again while the stories of Venom may have hit a dark and lack of zestful road, I have to say that most of their figures are awesome and I'm looking forward to a couple more. Perhaps a good 6 inch Anti Venom?

Yeah? Okay, what's the next figures to blog about this month?

Marvel Legends Icon: Venom

I remember way back when when Marvel Icons were the pinnacle of collecting for me. Icons came with a hefty price of $50! Back then, that's a freaking punch in my wallet's groin! But nowadays, that's a thrift price for such a prestige and colossal figure! Glad I bought two because I wanted to keep one in the box while the other for these kind of occasion!

The box on its own is pretty impressive. If I was to compare it to a box I really enjoy from a collector merchandise, I'd say it's like the window boxes of the playarts series. Again the transparency allows for a good visual display, the very 'museum' feet of the shape, and of course add in some classic looking art on the back and a comic book, well, it's pretty cool inside the box.

But to really appreciate this bad boy, it's all about posing him and taking advantage of his monstrous stature! The detail in this figure with the muscular sculpting was well done! He just looks like a walking and lethal machine with his colossal figure and then to top it off, he also has his classic bad dental hygiene face! Fangs and snake like tongue and all!

While his jaw articulation allows one to really capture some of the ways Venom is known for with that 'face', his tongue could use a bit more than just 'one' bendable 'joint'. It's only about half way that I can really get some bending action on his tongue so it makes the rest of his said tongue rather dull and a bit too stiff. Some of the green saliva that Venom exuberantly lets out as he speaks and growls is missing in the paint job which could add in some more of that ferocity that Brock displays. The spider emblem is lacking the more prominent way it has been drawn, but since the figure is the way it is, I suppose i can forgive that minor distortion. Though the white 'web shooters' on the back of his hand is also missing gives me something more to gripe about. Wish they could've added that minor detail in.

Putting the missed details aside, posing this beast is a lot of fun because of his articulation. It allows for a lot of great scenes that could be jovial or menacing, depending on the imagination of the person that owns this Icon. Suffice it to say that the articulation for this bad boy is astounding from head to toe(literally). I made the erroneous act of just having him 'stand' there for the longest time or pose in a rather insipid 'rawr' posing. It's only quite recently that I started using him with his feral-like personality. Venom is a BEAST, therefore he deserves to be in such a pose. That and he is a bit on the melodramatic state.

"Once again and forever, We Are VENOM!"

With that said, this Icon is going for about $70 nowadays. I got him way back when when he was at his standard price so I consider myself prudent for that. Passed up the Wolverine and the Iron Man one, but again, those were the days when I was a big Spider-Man fanatic! And yes I have the Spider-Man Icon as well.

This month is all about rekindling old love and 'promising' for a good and better tomorrow. What that has to do with my toys? I really have no idea... except for the 'rekindling' part since I'll be doing a lot more 'nostalgia' time. Moving on.