ML Sandman BAF: Black Suit/Symbiote Spider-Man

Definitely one of my favorite Spider-Man costumes! The Black Spider-Man is simple and genius all at the same time. It was both cloth and a living organism and not to mention, it also became Venom, formerly one of my favorite Marvel characters(way back when). So here's his modern age action figure! So does he contend?

Right off the bat I already know that I will not be getting this wave, but with the amount of figures I do want, I might just cave in. We will see. I'm always on the look out for additions to my Spiderverse shelf, but it's getting ridiculous.

I won't talk a lot about the mold since it's a familiar one. It's a mixture between Pizza Spidey and Scarlet Spidey, so enough said about that.

Right off the get go, it's a full on black plastic so there is not much to talk about when it comes to the paint job. The white for the eyes, the symbol, and the top of the hand are clean; something that a lot of Black Spidey figures suffer with how strong the black color is on the plastic. Luckily mine have pretty strong layers of white paint on all areas. They were really going for the symbiote Spidey here more than the cloth Black Spidey.

He gets two pair of hands that do fit the character well. Some people might say he needs a 'thwiping' hand, but considering its suppose to be more a Symbiote Spider-Man, the fists do well. I do wish there was an alternate head that shows the symbiote-like face or arms that are showing the symbiote fading away. Something. Or black webbing coming out of his hand. Oher than that, it's alright. The Sandman accessories for the BAF looks nice.

His articulation should be familiar by now as he retains the mold's range of movements(Pizza Spidey's range is definitely greater than Scarlet Spidey since Ben had the sweater to hinder the shoulder joints). Again, like a broken record, they need to do something about those legs that will allow more Spider-y like poses. Also as a note, his joints get loose a lot more than any other Spider-Man figures I have had in the past. I've seen and heard more than once that there is a lot of QC in this figure. Unfortunately, this is mine.

And without any kind of webbing accessories or anything to change things up, Black Spidey is lacking some fun factor.

But that doesn't mean he is not without his fun factor.

I will tell you right now, he is probably the best 6 inch figure that we got from both Hasbro(Rulk series) and Toybiz.

In conclusion, I had my fun with this figure. I do wish he had more to offer, but I am not at all disappointed. The Black Spider-Man is one of my favorite outfits of Spidey; definitely more than the red and blue. So to have an updated and modern version of this suit is more than welcome. Now I wish Iron Spider gets one! 

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! 

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.