Toybiz your legacy still lives on! A lot of collectors of this genre still vehemently believes that Toybiz WAS the pinnacle of Marvel BAFs and Marvel toys in general. Some would say that there will never be another that can rise up from the ashes that happened when Toybiz "stepped down" from the throne. Well, I won't entirely try and refute those claims but I won't be 100% on board with it since Hasbro still puts out a quite a bit of good stuff. But I still try and reel in some of these classics and my latest haul is none other than Jean Grey as the host of the Phoenix Force. Have to say I'm pretty elated to have this one! So let's see how she fares after some time passed!
One of the greatest thing about Toybiz packaging is nostalgia and the fact that shoplifters on the action figure genre had a harder time doing swaps! Though taking the figure home and being one to open toys, it's pretty inconvenient at times. Honestly, Toybiz makes it seem like keeping them inside their case was the better route. Still, Phoenix didn't have as much annoying wires binding her to her case as other Toybiz toys did. The back shows the figures in this series(I have the Gaijin/Fall Wolverine!) as well as a short bio on Ms. Grey.
This is where I'll have to say that age shows in Toybiz's sculpt on a toy. While
to me this doesn't look
that bad, it's definitely not as refined as Toybiz's later toys and aesthetically, Hasbro is taking the cake right now. Let's start with the face! It's not terrible like a couple of figures I have seen from both
Hasbro and Toybiz but for someone imbued with the power of the Phoenix Force, she should look more 'attracting' than that. At have more of a 'wow' factor rather than a 'meh'. A bit more fiery details on the hair would've made her better, but again, there's been worse. Body wise, one can truly tell that it's an aged anatomy. While the articulation is superb(we'll get into it), the joints and the articulation points are what hinders the overall body look. This is where Toybiz faltered at times with their exuberance in making the character be as pose-able. Proportions seems a bit off as well with her arms being long, probably from the fact that her hand hangs too low with the articulation point. Again she's a bit on the 'funny' side here and there, but the overall look isn't bad.
Now since this is from a series and not from a BAF series, it comes with an accessory and no piece of course. Now the accessory on its own is no other than Jean Grey's Phoenix force signature and aesthetically it's not bad. It's not great and perhaps we have seen things from the most(and the only) fire affect accessory from Hasbro which is
Ultimate Goblin's, but despite that, it still looks its part. The one thing about this accessory is that it's a stand! Something that Hasbro has yet to truly give us(I don't count those dumb grey things as 'stands'). And this stand has three things going for it: aesthetics, to help Jean Grey stand, AND:
To help her fly!
There is a thumb tack hole on the back of the accessory AND the bottom piece folds back and adds another support so that it will be able to hold Jean Grey with ease. The prong on the Phoenix is also strong enough so Ms. Grey an have the floating affect with ease as well! Again, Toybiz grace from way back when still reverberates now!
There are a lot of points of articulation when it comes to this figure. Some even unnecessary but I suppose for what Toybiz was aiming for back then, it made sense why they put them in. I've already talked about how much I didn't like the hands and how the wrist articulation might've been a factor why her hands are 'too big' (same case with Spider-Woman). The 'y-joints' on her legs makes things awkward at times and the toe articulation is a bit odd as well. Her head is hindered by that hair as expected, and the ab crunch lacks any real strength to make the 'feel' of flight prominent. Okay with all that said, I'm still thoroughly appreciative of what this figure can do. I'll say it's still above the standard expectation of what Hasbro's articulation can do, just joint wise and aesthetically it's not as refined.
All in all, I do love this figure. I got it for a good price and for what its worth, it's a must in my gallery of Marvel Legends. It has a lot going for it still and I know I was harsh on it because it's one of my favorite characters. Though aged as it might be, it's still fending off some of the factors going against it with some of the things that makes Toybiz TRULY legendary. Good accessory, great character, and effort put into the product, Toybiz, you still rock! Phoenix will rise again and her mark in the Toybiz realm truly is worthy dying for(okay that's a bit dramatic but I think I got my point across!).
Some Words: A really obscure character of the DiD world indeed! Truthfully, it was almost a strenuous task to get some pics of this lovely red head in distress! So why pick her? Well, one of her alias is after all the Phoenix! The new year, the new damsel to send us off, so this is the pick. She's not my favorite, honestly out of all the X-Women that rose to fame, she is the one gal that didn't seem to truly get my attention. Maybe it's the lack of DiD material? I don't know. But, here we are now trying her out on the ropes! So what to say about her?
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