Monday, September 26, 2016

Toy Review - Marvel Legends Space Venom BAF Ultimate Spider-Man Peter Parker

Today, I will be taking a look at the Space Venom BAF wave Ultimate Spider-Man Peter Parker figure.  Hasbro has made teen body so that it is more suitable for the Ultimate Spider-Man’s teenage character.

At first glance it looks very much like a shrunken down version of Pizza Spider-Man figure released earlier.  Let’s see whether this is the case.


Packaging (3 out of 5)
The Ultimate Spidey Peter Parker is packed in the regular Marvel Legends packaging with a transparent window showcasing the figure.  There are two Ultimate Spidey figures in this wave (Peter Parker and Miles Morales) and both figure shares the same box art.



I got my figure loose without the BAF part so the packaged pictures are from MarvelousNews.com.

The reason why I knock off points on the packaging is that because of the bubble that houses the figure, the wall-crawling hands are warped very badly.  I did a search online and I find that this is a common problem.  For my figure, the wall crawling hands are so warped you can even take that it is trying to make a Vulcan salute.  I had to heat the fingers with a hairdryer to shape it back to make it look normal.



Sculpt (4 out of 5)
I really like how this figure looks.  The body is a lean but not overly muscular male body and is really fitting for a teenage body.  I do like how Hasbro make the effort of making the body looks like that it is under a costume with fabric stretching over the body e.g. lower back and side of thighs.  Personally, I do find the feet a little too big but it somehow helps in standing, so not a big complain there.





For the Spidey mask, I like the large eyes.  On first look it might look like Pizza Spidey, but when placed side by side, you can see that the eyes are larger in this Ultimate Spidey sculpt.

This figure also includes a Peter Parker unmasked head.  If I am not wrong, this is the second Peter Parker head Hasbro has given us with a Spidey figure.  The first being the SDCC 2007 Stan Lee Spidey figure, while for Pizza Spidey it is a half unmasked head.  I like the Peter Parker head sculpt.  I am not a fan of Ultimate Spider-Man comics but I must say this is pretty good rendition of the artwork.  One thing to note is that for the Peter Parker head, there seem to be some remnant plastic along the chin.  It looks as though the head was not pulled cleanly from the mold.  It is not as bad on mine, but I have seen worse from others.


This figure comes with interchangeable hands as well (to be covered in detail under accessories).  I want to highlight that Hasbro too the extra effort to make sure the hands are smaller compared to Pizza Spidey to make sure they fit the teenage body better.  And for those who wish to know, the wall crawling hand can still hold on to the pizza slice that comes with Pizza Spidey, though the fit is not perfect.



Paint (3 out of 5)
This Spidey figure has painted weblines like Pizza Spidey and the paint is generally clean.  I do have some misaligned web lines on the mask that bug me a little.  So if you can, definitely pick a piece with better paint when you are buying this figure.

Again, Hasbro has gone with not painting the red pegs in the inner elbows and forearms.  I guess we have probably got used to this at this point.

The spider symbol on the chest and back is quite similar to the Pizza Spidey’s.  I like the comic look to it.

After some posing around, I find that the blue paint on the armpit area chips off, revealing the red plastic underneath, which is kind of irritating.  You might want to be careful when posing.



Articulation (3.5 out of 5)
This figure has the added mid-calf swivel that was missing from the past few Spidey figures, and it is a welcomed addition.  However, Hasbro removed the shoulder butterfly joints.  Interestingly, even without the shoulder butterfly joint, the range of movement in the shoulders is still pretty good.  I guess this is because of the leaner upper torso from the teenage body and may not work as well with a thicker adult torso.  Hasbro included the awesome ankle pivot joint on this figure (thank goodness).  This figure also has peg holes at the bottom of the feet.



The hips articulation is also not bad.  It has a better range of movement than Pizza Spidey but still unable to do the splits perfectly.  I think the hips range of movement is similar to the Civil War movie Spidey figure.

This is the widest stance possible taking advantage of the hip articulation and ankle pivot with both feet remaining flat on the floor.


I also tried to put this figure into the four point crouch.  It can somewhat pull it off, but the lack of shoulder butterfly joint did not allow the hands to come together closer to give tight crouch.  Also the limited range in the hips is kind of preventing the figure from getting into a perfect crouch.




Posing the figure around revealed a key issue with the ankle articulation.  The up/ down hinge of the ankle seems to be rather limited on the upward movement.  And this is real pity.



Joints (3 out of 5)
The joints on my figure is quite tight, with the exception of the right shoulder swivel, right wall crawling hand hinge and right web shooting “Thwip” hand hinge.  I hope this is just on my figure and not a widespread issue.  I also find that the socket for the wrist is very tight, so the switching out of hands pulled on the hinge joint, which makes the loose hinges worse.  I might try to use the hairdryer to loosen the socket a little and see if it helps.

Ok, so now to track the surprise Hasbro like to drop on us by changing the peg sizes, the neck peg is much smaller than Pizza/ Raft Spidey, so the Peter Parker’s head cannot be placed on the larger body.  But to be fair, the head looks a little too small on the adult body.


The interchangeable hands pegs, fortunately, are the same as Raft Spidey (means it is different from Pizza Spidey).  So you can use the hands from this Ultimate Spidey on your Raft Spidey, but the unfortunate thing is that the hands are smaller, but it may work in certain poses though.


Action Feature (5 out of 5)
Zilch, no action feature, which is perfect and suits me just fine!


Accessories (5 out of 5)
The Ultimate Spidey Peter Parker comes with the Space Venom BAF left arm.  Since I got him loose, I did not get his BAF part.

The figure is packed with plenty of accessories.  He comes with:
- Spidey masked head
- Peter Parker alternate head
- 2 x web shooting “Thwip” hands
- 2 x fisted hands
- 2 x wall crawling hands


I gave this category a perfect score, as I am grateful that he comes with these many interchangeable parts.  Of course you can ask for more (action stand, web lines etc), since he is missing a pizza slice compared to Pizza Spidey, but I am contented with what we have gotten.


Value (3 out of 5)
I did not give a high score in this category because I had to get him loose on secondary market.  But you can add a point or two in this category if you find it at a good price.  He (and Miles) is the additional figure in the box anyway, so he should not be that hard to find.


Overall (3.5 out of 5)
Overall, I will say I like this figure.  I will definitely add him to my comic Spidey figure guide.  This is a well-made/ sculpted Spidey figure and I definitely welcome the addition of mid-calf swivel.  I am not even that bothered with the lack of shoulder butterfly joint, though it definitely would have improved the four point crouch pose.

The key issues I have with this figure are the limited ankle hinge upward movement and the QC issues (some loose joints, paint chip, warped hands and misaligned web lines).  I am still not totally happy with the hips range of movement though, which I think has room for improvement.



Score Recap:
Packaging – 3 out of 5
Sculpt – 4 out of 5
Paint – 3 out of 5
Articulation – 3.5 out of 5
Joints – 3 out of 5
Action Feature – 5 out of 5
Accessories – 5 out of 5
Value – 3 out of 5
Overall – 3.5 out of 5

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