This
Black Widow figure has been a long time coming. Not this specific
figure, necessarily, but a Marvel Cinematic Universe, Scarlett
Johansson Black Widow figure was long overdue.
Samuel
L. Jackson’s cameo as Nick Fury at the end of Iron
Man was our first glimpse
at a larger world of superheroes, but Johansson’s role as Natasha
Romanov in Iron Man 2
was the affirmation that we would be seeing these Marvel superheroes
working together. It wasn’t just a cameo – she had a major role
in the movie. Going into Avengers
two years later the core of the team were essentially Nick Fury, Tony
Stark, Natasha Romanov, and Phil Coulson.
Besides,
Mattel released about fifty guys in the
same suit over the course
of its DCUC and Movie Masters lines. Surely Hasbro can release one.
As a build-a-figure, maybe?
While
Black Widow’s character hasn’t gotten quite the same amount of
definition as the rest of the Avengers (save Hawkeye), she has been a
central and important and hot redheaded character for years now. She
was long overdue for a figure. As strong as the Walmart Exclusive
Avengers figures were, the lack of Widow (and Coulson) left the wave
feeling less than great.
But now
we finally have a figure of Johansson as Romanov and Hasbro pulled
out… well, most of
the stops.
It took
a lot of effort to get this figure. I’ve been checking Amazon
almost every day since last November for a Star Wars Black Series
Boba Fett (I have one, but I want another for my Wall of Fett. I need
one hanging there, but it isn’t a figure you can just keep in the
box. It’s too spectacular). On March 8th
I found the movie version of Cap on there, so at that point Winter
Soldier and Black Widow became part of my daily search. Winter
Soldier showed up on the 27th
of the same month, so the search for Black Widow and Boba Fett
continued.
On May
7th
I was texting Belligerent Monkey and Evil about toys
(what else?) and how difficult it had been to find Black Widow. Out
of habit I pulled up Amazon and there she was for regular price. I
ordered and texted the guys to do the same.
A few
clarifications:
- Boba Fett, Black Widow, and pretty much any other action figures are pretty much always available on Amazon. But not for regular price. Scalpers use the Amazon store to sell just like they do on eBay. So listings for the things you are looking for will pop up, but at grossly inflated scalper prices. Black Widow was around $65 and Boba Fett was never less than $45 for a long time. Actually, Fett still goes for that. Thanks to The Oncoming Josh I don’t have to worry about it anymore. And yes – the Fett review will be coming soon.
- Lest I lose my toy hunting cred, I still do the brick-and-mortar search thing. I don’t have the time that I used to, so this is limited to places I can reasonably pass going to and from work, but I do still frequent the stores looking for loot. I bought all of the new Spider-Man Legends at retail.
- This isn’t really a clarification, but an observation – I seriously have to stop buying Marvel Legends. They are way too expensive now. I have let myself get to the point where I can justify $22 for a 6” scale action figure. That’s not okay. I pulled the plug on Matty’s DC figures because that’s how much they cost. Granted, most of the new Marvel Legends are far superior to those in quality, but I just can’t be spending this kind of money. Especially with build-a-figures involved. The new Toys R Us Exclusive X-Men wave has a Jubilee build-a-figure that I really want, but to get her I have to buy a Magneto and a Cyclops that I don’t want. That’s about forty-five dollars’ worth of extraneous toys that I certainly won’t be able to unload on eBay.
- Also, I have said all of that before. First when the Legends went to $14.99 and then again when they went to $19.99. I have no resolve when it comes to toys.
Side
Note: I find it interesting that Hasbro won’t pull the trigger on
X-Men movie style figures. All I can think is that Spider-Man is so
kid friendly and that the Avengers franchise is just too darn big not
to.
FIRST
GLANCE
Upon
opening the Amazon box and seeing the figure in the package my first
thought was that holy shit, this was worth the wait. The sculpt is
very
strong and distinctive and immediately stands out as something that
the creators at Hasbro put a lot of effort into. It’s like they
knew we were waiting for this figure and didn’t want to disappoint.
The amount of accessories alone was impressive.
Then
I noticed the holsters. Surely they hadn’t fucked them up like it
looked
like they had fucked them up.
PACKAGING
I’m
working really hard right now to line up podcast episodes with toy
designers, but I’d like to talk to somebody that has designed
packaging for a few companies, as well. I think it would be
fascinating to hear about coming up with new styles and dealing with
the requirements and ideas of the toy production companies. I say
this because what else am I supposed to say about these boxes that
I’ve already discussed ten times?
I
will mention again that I wish Hasbro would put just a little extra
effort in and do biographical stuff on the backs:
Codename:
Black Widow
Real
Name: Natasha Romanov
Height:
5’3”
Eyes/Hair:
Green/Red
Abilities:
Being super foxy and badass, skilled in the use of pretty much every
weapon ever made; including alien stuff
Uniform:
Skin-tight, butt-hugging super Kevlar/Nomex blend
Bio:
Black Widow was a Russian spy that killed a
lot of
people. She eventually saw the error of her ways, fell in love with
Clint Barton, AKA Hawkeye, and joined S.H.I.E.L.D.
C’mon
Hasbro - that took me thirty seconds.
LOOKS
First
– Mrs. Troublemaker said that this figure’s proportions were
weird. She said this right after I opened it and was still in awe of
the detail, sculpt , and facial likeness, so I didn’t ask for
specifics because I didn’t want to be brought down from my new
figure high; especially after spending two months hunting this down
(for me that’s a long time to spend looking for a current figure).
She is, of course, right. Black Widow’s hips and boobs are kind of
exaggerated. But at least she isn’t the stumpy little nightmare
that the Man of Steel Movie Masters Faora turned out to be:
Yeesh.
And,
most importantly, Hasbro didn’t just repaint the same buck they’ve
been using for every single female figure they’ve released since
they acquired the Marvel license.
The
likeness on this figure is one of the best Hasbro has produced. It’s
an outstanding portrait of Scarlett Johansson – not just her
features but the expression of quiet resolve or calm determination or
whatever that is. It’s more than just a neutral face, but
thankfully not yelling or anything. The hair is long and straight
like it was in Winter
Soldier, but it does have
some shape to it. The sculpt makes it appear to hang on the shoulders
and in the back it’s swaying slightly. The paint on the face is
perfect – one of the best deco jobs I’ve seen. The eyes are very
lifelike for this scale and nothing is off-center or painted too
thinly.
The
articulation is blended into the profile about as well as it could
be. I think the reason the hips are a bit wide is to give the joints
enough housing to have a wide range of movement. As for the perhaps
larger-than-they-should-be boobs, I dunno. Maybe they cover the
abdominal joint a little more?
One
thing I’ve been really appreciating lately on my action figures is
texture. I’m definitely tired of lines that use the same buck over
and over again regardless of how appropriate it might be (Masters of
the Universe Classics are somewhat exempt from this due to the clever
conceit that farming parts is the gimmick). I’m way over seeing
plain bodies with paint where sculpt should be. This Black Widow is a
shining example of what should
be done with texture and sculpt. Her bodysuit is chock full of
definition and it looks spectacular. There is a mesh-like pattern on
the inside parts to give the appearance of a more flexible material
while the outside portions are smooth and look armored. Every detail
of the belt on her abdomen is sculpt – even the logo. I like the
way the belt is done – it goes through her uniform rather than
around it and you can see the fabric bunched around her midsection
where it sits. This design makes a lot more sense than the one in
Avengers.
All of
the figure’s buckles and belts are sculpted with buckles and a
profile that sits out from the base sculpt – they all have
thickness. Her gauntlets are part of the arm sculpt, which I prefer
over older Widow figures where they would slide around. These are
also much sleeker. The fingerless gloves have seams and padding, sort
of like MMA gear. The fingers are defined and separate. Also, the
paint is clean – the flesh tone doesn’t bleed onto the gloves and
vice-versa.
Romanov
has a SHIELD logo on either shoulder and they’re both clean. I’m
used to seeing minor scrapes on apps like these, but not on this
figure.
The
bodysuit is grey and black, with a pretty good separation between the
two. There’s just one spot on the left thigh where it’s a little
sloppy and it isn’t very noticeable.
The
boots lack paint, but have a cool sculpt. Lots of buckles and zippers
and stuff. It’s nice to see the wedge heel as opposed to an actual
high heel, though a regular boot would make so much more sense. Of
course, Johansson is only 5’3”, so all of the dialogue scenes
would have to be wide shots.
Here’s
the problem – those holsters. And there are lots of problems with
those holsters.
In an
effort to not interfere with the figure’s movement, Hasbro decided
to keep the straps separate from the belt. I get what they were
doing, but obviously it looks terrible. The two alternatives here
would have been to make the straps part of the figure’s sculpt or
to make them, the holsters, and the belt separate rubber pieces with
a lot of flexibility. I have other figures like this – a Dark Angel
and a Tomb Raider. The problem is the expense involved, so I would
have gone with just sculpting the straps onto the figure. It wouldn’t
have looked as good, but it would have been better than what we got,
which visually doesn’t even make sense.
And yes
– those pistols are
a part of the sculpt. They are not removable.
ACCESSORIES
Black
Widow comes with Mandroid’s torso and shoulder cannon, and extra
head, and an extra pair of hands.
You
might be thinking, “But wait, Phantom – you forgot guns!”
No,
I didn’t. Hasbro did. This character that uses guns all
the time;
like, it’s completely her whole gimmick, does not include guns. She
has hands posed to hold guns. But she does not have guns. I do not
understand this at
all.
And it doesn’t make a lick of sense. You can discount the whole
rest of the Marvel Legends line that is chock full of gun-toting
characters whose figures have come with piles
of firearms – Taskmaster, Punisher, Madame Hydra, Madame Mask,
Cable, Deadpool, Domino, various Agents of SHIELD – and even within
this series
you have Red Skull, the AIM Soldier, the Hydra Agent, Winter Soldier,
Baron Zemo, and Cap himself that come with guns. It’s ridiculous
that this figure does not.
The
extra head sports Widow’s hairstyle from Avengers
and I’m convinced this one was supposed to come out on a different
body much earlier. I’m very glad that Hasbro decided to include it
here because it looks great. The face is the same, but the shorter
hair actually works better on the figure and allows for more
movement. When the long haired head is on the figure it sits forward
a bit too much because of the collar on the suit.
The
extra hands look great and are easy to switch out, though I was
afraid that the tiny pegs would break or twist off. Of course, these
would look even better if they had some pistols to hold.
FUN
Don’t
let this figure’s excellent and very female profile fool you –
the articulation all works very well and some great poses can be
achieved. The only improvement I would have made would be the
addition of double-jointed elbows. I think the wrists are too thin to
have supported pivots.
The
lower body has a great range. The hips work very well in all
directions, the knees are double-jointed and have deep bends, and the
ankles support a good range of movement. Most importantly, despite
the narrowness of the feet and the height of the heels, the figure
stands quite well. I have a lot of female action figures that topple
over all the time thanks to high heels or tiny feet or both. This one
is balanced pretty nicely.
The
extra head and hands are great, but the exclusion of guns definitely
cuts into the play value. I have a ton of extra weapons in my parts
drawer, but I really shouldn’t have to hunt any down.
OVERALL
The
core figure is fantastic. This is another one of those occasions
where the thing that the company did wrong is even more infuriating
because of how right they got the rest of the figure. This is a
beautiful figure with a fantastic sculpt. It’s going to look great
on your shelf surrounded by the rest of the Avengers. But it just
isn’t complete. It should be the be-all, end-all Black Widow, but
ti simply isn’t.
Despite
the bad holsters and the lack of guns being two separate – and
fairly major - issues, I just can’t bring myself to give this
figure a 3. It’s too darn good.
4
out of 5
Interestingly
enough, this is not the first Black Widow movie figure to lack guns.
I reviewed the Marvel Select
version a while back and it, too was missing pistols despite having
hands posed to hold them. I wonder if maybe Johansson herself is
responsible for this. There are certain qualifiers that come along
with licensing an actor’s likeness. She might have some weird
hang-up about selling toys with guns to kids. Stupid Hollywood
liberals.
 |
| I had to do at least one with a gun. That's the rifle that came with Winter Soldier. |
I
haven’t seen this figure for regular price since I bought it, but I
hear that they are packing two per case in future shipments. Still, I
recommend you go ahead and buy one now to help support Needless
Things!:
wow 2 heads. Good!
ReplyDeleteI know! I was very pleased with that.
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