For this guide, I will focus on the red/blue (red/black) Spidey costumes and black costumes, but the figures will be shown in reverse chronological order, roughly from the latest figure to the oldest. I will also provide my views on what I feel are the pros and cons of the figure. I will also try to link to the artist who inspired the figure to the best of my knowledge.
Again, as you all know, Spidey is probably one of the most made action figures, my guide will only cover the 6 inch scale, articulated (good useful articulated figures with no action feature) and comic red/blue (red/black) and black costumes action figures. And all these figures that I am covering are figures I actually owned but since I am not such a good photographer, most of the pictures are obtained from the reference sites mentioned below. Figures from movies, alternate costumes (e.g. Morales, Iron-Spidey), knock-offs are not covered in this guide.
Comic Red/Blue (Red/Black) Spidey
Marvel Legends Space Venom BAF Ultimate Spider-Man Peter
Parker (released 2016)
Hasbro kept up the
momentum in 2016 with a Spidey themed wave for Space Venom BAF. The wave includes Miles Morales, Electro,
Silk, Spider-Girl (Ashley Barton) and Hobgoblin. This Ultimate Spider-Man Peter Parker figure
is utilising a new teenage male body that Hasbro has recently developed. The other Ultimate Spider-Man Miles Morales
is also utilising the same teenage body.
This teen body stands at about 5.5” and is significantly smaller than the
adult male body e.g. Pizza Spidey.
The overall look of this
Spidey figure is very good. Hasbro has
added the mid-calf twist that was missing in the past few Spidey figures. However, they removed the shoulder butterfly
joints. Surprisingly, even without the
shoulder butterfly joints, the shoulders range of movement is great, though it
compromised the four point crouch pose slightly. The highlight of this figure is that Hasbro
has given us a teen unmasked Peter Parker alternate head. The Peter Parker head sculpt is pretty good
and I feel it is quite a good representation of Peter Parker from the Ultimate
Spider-Man comics.
I have had hopes that this Spidey can be the best Spidey figure in the 6 inch scale but sadly Hasbro took some steps towards that direction, but then took some steps backwards. The lack of shoulder butterfly joints and limited range of upward ankle hinge sets this figure back, coupled with some quality control issues leaves much to be desired in the next comic suited Spidey figure.
Pros: Mid-calf swivel. Fantastic
Hasbro’s ankle pivot. Better hip
articulation range than Pizza Spidey, hence can pull off a decent four point
crouch. Alternate hands (fists, normal
and “thwip” web shooting) and alternate unmasked Peter Parker head.
Cons: Limited upward hinge range on ankles. Quality control issues (some loose joints,
misaligned weblines, excess plastic on Peter Parker’s head chin area, paint
chip on shoulders). Lack of shoulder
butterfly joint (though range of movement in shoulders is still decent).
The full review of the Ultimate Spider-Man Peter Parker figure can be found here.
Hasbro Marvel Legends SDCC 2016 Raft Box Set Spidey (released 2016)
This Spider-Man was
released in SDCC 2016 exclusive Marvel Legends Raft Box Set along with five
other figures, namely, Enchantress, Abomination, Sandman, Purple Man and
Dreadknight. On first look this figure
look like a straight on repaint of Pizza Spidey from the BAF Hobgoblin wave released
the year before with a new head sculpt, but on closer inspection, it is clear
that it is more of a repaint of the Ben Reilly/ Spider-Carnage figure released
months ago in the BAF Absorbing Man wave.
In fact the head is also a straight repaint of the Ben Reilly Scarlet
Spider from the BAF Rhino wave. So this
is an amalgamation of the previous Ben Reilly figures.
Personally, I think Hasbro
is going for the Todd McFarlane look on this Raft Spidey figure (have not heard
any official confirmation on this though) and it is a hit-and-miss for me. The spider symbols on the chest and back are
spot on, if you do a quick comparison with Todd’s artwork in ASM comics. As for the head sculpt, they got the large
eyes, but the overall sculpt does not really scream McFarlane Spidey to me. But the overall look of the figure is good.
One
major improvement on this Raft Spidey from the Pizza Spidey is that the hips
range of movement has been improved. This
is because for the Ben Reilly/ Spider-Carnage figure’s hip has been tweaked to
give a wider stance. But it is still not
perfect but it can hold a decent four-point crouch. One major setback of this Raft Spidey is that
it is sorely lacking in alternate hands, and because it is using Ben Reilly
Spidey’s base figure, the hand pegs are different from Pizza Spidey, so we
cannot use the alternate hands that came with Pizza Spidey, which is a major
bummer.
Pros: Fantastic Hasbro’s ankle pivot.
Better hip articulation range than Pizza Spidey, hence can pull off an
ok four point crouch. Great spider
symbol rendition from Todd McFarlane’s artwork.
Cons: Lack of mid-calf twist and toe-bent for crouching poses. No alternate hands and different pegs from
Pizza Spidey to be able to use the alternate hands
I did a more complete review of this Raft Spidey here.
Hasbro Hobgoblin BAF Wave Pizza Spidey (released 2015)
This is the first Hasbro
unique sculpted Spidey that made to this list.
It has been 10 years since the last unique sculpted red/blue Spidey (Super
Strength Spidey by Toy Biz) and it is worth the wait.
Hasbro made used of the
success they got from the figures of movie Spidey (Andrew Garfield) and Superior
Spidey released prior to this wave and they retooled the body for this Pizza
Spidey. Though the weblines are painted,
the red and blue used resulted in a very vibrant-looking figure. Together with the great head sculpt, the
figure looks like it stepped right off the comic book pages. What make this figure great are the alternate
hands, half-masked head and a cool slice of pizza. The pizza accessory does not do much but it is
still a fun pack-in. The alternate wall-crawling
hands allow of extremely cool poses (e.g. single handstand pose), allows for
punching and webshooting action poses that was unable to be achieved convincingly
with the older figures. However, this
figure is not without flaws. In order to
streamline the hips, Hasbro reduced the range of movement to the hips (less
range of movement compared to Garfield Spidey and Superior Spidey).
Pros: Many alternate hands (fists, normal and “thwip” web shooting),
alternate half-masked head and a very cool pizza accessory. Awesome ankle pivot. The figure can hold a single-hand stand pose using
the wall climbing hand.
Cons: Limited hip articulation, not allowing a convincing four-point
crouch. Lack of mid-calf twist and
toe-bent for crouching poses. Lanky mid-torso
section.
SDCC 2007 Exclusive Stan Lee Spidey (released 2007)
I feel this figure
deserves a mention in its dedicated section.
The base body is not new, it is a re-issue of the ML10 First Appearance
Spidey body in red/blue colour scheme.
However, this SDCC exclusive comes with alternate head sculpts: Stan Lee
and unmasked Peter Parker. It also comes
with cloth civilian clothes with normal un-costumed hands and feet for changing
into civilian clothes. It also comes
with a mask accessory that allows the figure to hold it in the hands as though
the mask had been pulled off.
Love the box packaging
which showcases the figure and Stan Lee interacting with Spidey in comic
panels. There is an alternate packaging,
one with Stan Lee’s spectacles on the figure and one version with the
spectacles held in his hand.
Pros: Stan “the Man” Lee head.
Peter Parker unmasked head. The
mask accessory that can be held in figure’s hand is a cool pack-in. Love the packaging.
Cons: ML10 FA Spidey base body with “sausage” fingers on hand. The civilian costume for Stan Lee does not
look that good.
Fearsome Foes of Spidey boxset Spidey (released 2005)
This figure has the same
base body as Campbell (McF) Spidey with a lighter blue colour scheme. In the boxset, the figure also has a cloth
webbing hooked on the back as an attempt as underarm webbings. The webbing is removable.
In Singapore (and maybe
also Malaysia), there seem to be a running change of the boxset whereby the
Lizard figure was an older, less articulated Lizard figure from the older red
carded SMC. Also in that running change
boxset, some of the Spidey figures does not come with the cloth webbing. There were also rumours from Indonesia that
this Fearsome Foes Spidey was issued on the red carded SMC on the Campbell
Spidey packaging.
Pros: Campbell (McF) Spidey base body i.e. able to hold awesome poses.
Cons: Not a fan of the head sculpt.
Blue Carded SMC 16 Super Strength Spidey (released 2005)
This is the first worthy
SMC Spidey after SMC changed the card to light blue card instead of the initial
red card packaging. This figure was
rumoured to be inspired by David Finch’s artwork. I like this figure but it has not surpassed
the figures before. The stocky upper
torso and the limited articulation is limiting the potential of this figure. But on the whole it is a decent Spidey figure.
Pros: Decent head sculpt. Has decent articulation.
Pros: Decent head sculpt. Has decent articulation.
Cons: Unable to pull off four point crouch. Stocky upper torso. Only middle 2 fingers articulation for “thwip”
webshooting pose, i.e. unable to make fists.
Marvel Legends Series 10 (Sentinel BAF) First Appearance Spidey (released 2005)
Since the clamshell SMC,
this is the first single carded (i.e. outside boxsets) Marvel Legends
Spider-Man figure that was introduced in the ML line. It is a re-make of Ditko’s Spidey from Amazing
Fantasy #15. In fact, a re-print of Amazing
Fantasy #15 was included in the packaging.
This ML10 FA Spidey comes
with Sentinel's head and chest as part of the Build-a-Figure (BAF). This figure comes with the cloth webbing
(similar to the Fearsome Foes Spidey) to represent the underarm webbing. The major complaint on this Spidey is the
fingers. Even though each finger is
individually articulated, the fingers are of equal length, making them look
more like sausages. Furthermore, the
shoulder articulation is a hinged shoulder, and the way the articulation
functions proved to be ineffective and affect the look of the figure.
Pros: Great head sculpt, a very accurate Ditko rendition.
Cons: The “sausage” looking fingers.
The hip articulation restricts a proper four point crouch.
SMC 12 Superposeable Spidey with Wall-Crawling Action (released 2004)
This is still my favourite
Spider-Man figure to-date. When this was
first released, many felt that this was right off the pages of Todd McFarlane’s
artwork. However, Jesse Falcon confirmed
that the inspiration of this figure actually came from Jeffrey Scott Campbell. However, many fans still prefer to call this
figure McF Spidey (including myself). The
awesomeness of this figure comes from the fact that it can hold a variety of
poses, including the four point crouch, and looked like it came right off the
page of the comics. The individual
articulated and sculpted fingers were a great as compared to ML10 FA Spidey. The figure comes with a wall climbing base with
a gargoyle that shoots projectiles. This
was in-line with the figures with action features for most of the figures
release under the red carded SMC. This
figure was a peg warmer at some point in time and was even in clearance bins in
the US, but as time goes by, this became such a sought after figure (including
any re-issues) that it goes for in excess of USD100 on eBay.
Toy Biz also issued this
figure in 2005 in a 2-pack with Abomination under SMC Classic Clashes. After Hasbro took over the Marvel license,
this figure was reissued with a red/black paint app in 2009 under Hasbro’s
Spider-Man Classics (Wave 3) with a streetlamp accessory. The Hasbro released figure also added peg holes
on the bottom of the feet.
Toy Biz
Release
Hasbro
Re-issue
Pros: One of the best, if not the best, 6 inch scale Spidey figures
that can hold a four point crouch.
Amazing head sculpt. Great useful
articulation.
Cons: Ankle pivot has very limited range. No peg-holes at bottom of feet (Hasbro version
fixed this). Lanky body sculpt. Finger articulation does not allow for a good
fist pose.
Sinister Six boxset Spidey (released 2004)
This Sinister Six boxset
Spidey (SS Spidey) has much of the base body as Snap Shot Spidey and many
people mistook them to be the same. It
is probably a retooled Snap Shot (or vice versa) but they are definitely
different. Sinister Six Spidey does not
have the upper torso twist as compared to the Snap Shot Spidey. Due to the lack of the upper torso twist it
has a shorter upper torso and this helps in getting into a tight four point
crouch. The head sculpt is also very
different from Snap Shot Spidey. Many
considered this to be a good Romita Jr rendition. This is also the first 6 inch scale Spidey
figure that has a cloth webbing accessory for underarm webbing effect. This trend would continue for ML10 FA Spidey
and Fearsome Foes boxset Spidey.
Pros: Able to hold four point crouch, in fact next best after McF
Spidey.
Cons: Bulky looking shoulders.
No mid-torso twist like Snap Shot Spidey. Finger articulation does not allow for good
fist pose.
SMC 10 Snap Shot Spidey (released 2004)
The Snap Shot Spidey
figure is the first comic Spidey figure to sport individual finger articulation
(first being Spider-Man 2 movie superposeable Spidey). I like the Snap Shot Spidey head sculpt a lot.
It reminds me a lot of the classic Spidey
I grew up with. However, brittle plastic
plagued this figure, as there were many complaints on breakage of the joint pegs.
There was a running change, with the
initial release having red pegs in the elbow and knee joints whereas the later
releases had blue pegs (or probably painted blue).
This is also the first 6
inch scale Spidey figure that can pull off a nice four point crouch pose. The included display stand also allows for
multiple action poses. I really like
this figure, and the main issue I have with this figure is the broad looking
hips when posed in a vanilla pose but otherwise in action poses it looks
fantastic.
Pros: Able to hold four point crouch but less pleasing to the eye
compared to Sinister Six Spidey (or McF Spidey).
Cons: Broad looking hips. Bulky
looking shoulders. Finger articulation
does not allow for good fist pose.
SMC 6 Parachute Spidey (released 2003)
Toy Biz started the red
carded SMC in 2002 superseding the clamshell SMC. This red carded SMC focused mainly on
kid-friendly toys and the first 5 waves seen many Spidey figures with action
features. In Wave 6, they issued
Parachute Spidey (commonly known as Para Spidey) and at that point in time,
many collectors liked it and some even called it the definitive Spidey figure.
Personally, I find the
figure decent but I never cared about the cartoony look. It has painted weblines versus the sculpted
weblines from many of other Toy Biz’s offerings. It also has the articulated 2 middle fingers
which allow for the “thwip” webshooting pose. This figure was re-issued in subsequent waves
to come with varying bases or accessories. One main re-issue was in Urban Legends boxset
in 2003. The Para Spidey in Urban
Legends boxset has a deeper blue compared to the red carded SMC version. The Urban Legends boxset has a slight
variation in packaging where the arrangement of the figures in the box changes.
Urban Legends Boxset
Pros: Decent articulation.
First good comic Spidey figure for the red carded SMC.
Cons: Cartoony looking. Lanky
body. Only 2 middle finger articulation,
unable to make fists.
Clamshell Spider-Man Classics Series 2 Amazing Fantasy Spidey (released 2002)
Following the success of
Clamshell SMC Series 1, Toy Biz introduced the second wave of SMC. This time this wave was launched with Kaybee
exclusives of Spider-Man 2099 and Scarlet Spider. The other figures include Battle-ravaged
Spidey, Rhino, red Daredevil and the ever so rare Yellow Daredevil.
However, the main figure
is the Amazing Fantasy Spidey, or more affectionately known as Ditko Spidey as
inspired by Steve Ditko's art in Amazing Fantasy #15. There were 2 different packaging as well, the
more common one is the one with the Amazing Fantasy #15 reprint inserted
whereas the other is a silver foil poster.
One other "running
change" worth mentioning would be that some of this Ditko Spidey actually
had an improvement in articulation. It
has the added bicep twist. Most of them
do not. There was no breakthrough
improvement in articulation and they only have the "thwip" webshooting
finger articulation. The clamshell SMC
ended with this wave despite doing very well. Thereafter they introduced the red carded SMC.
Figure without
bicep cut (Left) and with bicep cut (Right)
Pros: Very good articulated first appearance Spidey figure for its
time. Display base accessory.
Cons: The improved bicep cut is not on all released figures. Outdated articulation compared to newer
figures.
Clamshell Spider-Man Classics (SMC) Series 1 Red/Blue McFarlane Spidey (released 2002)
This is the first wave of
SMC introduced by Toy Biz in 2001. They
had decided to go with a new type of packaging, a sturdy clamshell instead of
the typical bubble/card packaging. This
wave did so well that they decided to package (and articulate) the subsequently
released Marvel Legends in this manner.
This is the official McF
Spidey. The design was based on Todd
McFarlane's artwork. The articulation was
fantastic in its time. The finger
articulation enables our friendly neighbourhood web-slinger to do the
"thwip" hand pose.
Pros: Pioneer for articulated figures. Great nostalgic value for me. Decent Spidey figure, even for today. Official McF Spidey. Nice display base.
Cons: Articulation is outdated compared to current figures.
Comic Black Costume Spidey
Hasbro Red Hulk BAF Black Spidey (released 2008)
In 2008, Hasbro issued a
Black Spidey for the Red Hulk BAF wave. This
was a Target exclusive in the US. The
base body made use of the old Toy Biz Bullseye body, which gave it decent
articulation. But for Spidey, the range
of movement is still limited. And for
this figure, Hasbro made hands and new ankles for this figure and the range of
movement is really limited. Note that
this was before the days of Hasbro’s ankle pivot. However, the head sculpt is nice with a good
paint app. I certainly hope that with
the new Hasbro Spidey base body, a new Black Spidey figure will be released
soon.
Pros: Nice head sculpt. Good
paint applications. Decent articulation
(but no four point crouch).
Cons: Very weak ankle articulation and no ankle pivot. No hand articulation and hands are stuck in
claw pose.
Red Carded SMC 9 Black Spidey (released 2004)
Toy Biz released an
articulated Black Spidey in 2004 in Wave 9 of the red carded SMC. The base body was based on Toy Biz ML7 Ice
Man. The hands has full palm articulation
that allows the hand to be open or closed into a fist, which works ok as Spidey
is supposed to be shooting webs from the white patch on the top of his hands
when wearing the symbiote costume. The
minor flaw is the lanky lower torso which makes the figure looks weird in a
vanilla pose. I am not a fan of the head
sculpt, or more so about the painted eyes. Personally I feel that the painted eyes and
lack of facial details make the head looks weird at certain angles.
After Hasbro took over the
Marvel license, this figure was re-issued in 2007 under the Spidey Origins
wave. The re-issue even included the
same glider accessory, with the only difference is in the paint apps on the
figure and glider, where the silver replaces any of the white paint in the Toy
Biz version.
Hasbro
Re-issue in 2007
Cons: Does not like the way the painted eyes look. Bulky shoulders. Lanky lower torso.
Clamshell SMC Series 1 Black Spidey (released 2002)
This is the first 6 inch scale
Black Spidey made by Toy Biz. It is part
of the Clamshell SMC Series 1. It
utilises the same base body as the SMC 1 McF Spidey with the exception it is a
smooth body (McF Spidey has sculpted weblines).
And since this figure
shares the same base body as the red/blue Spidey it has articulated middle 2
fingers to form the “thwip” webshooting pose.
And if you are particular about this, since Black Spidey shoot webs from
the white patches instead of the webshooters, this may be an issue for you.
Pros: Good overall sculpt. Nice
base. Great nostalgic value for me, as
it is the first articulated Black Spidey which still is a decent figure.
Cons: Finger articulation is the “thwip” webshooting pose.
References
Pictures and some
information were obtained from the following sites, do check them out and give
them your support!
Editor’s Note [end Sep 2016]: This post was originally published in March 2016 and has been updated for accuracy and to include the new ML Raft Box Set Spider-Man and Space Venom BAF wave Ultimate Spidey (teen body).
Amazing post! I have the "Pizza" figure and still trying to find one with the McFarlane body for a decent price… D:
ReplyDeleteHasbro put out a handful of new figures in 2008/09, including a black suit and one with a glider and removable armor. Were those bad figures?
ReplyDeletePlease let me know if I missed out any you think is a good figure to review. Personally, if they were articulated sufficiently, I would have picked them up and reviewed them, so in summary, yeah, I think they were bad. I did mention any reissue of the Toy Biz mold by Hasbro though.
DeleteAs for the black suit with the glider, is that the one I mentioned that it is the reissue of Toy Biz version with silver instead of white paint?
This may be the coolest thing I've ever seen on Spider Man it's very simple but looks great. Fantastic!
ReplyDeleteThanks!
DeleteI have a boxed set of a red spidey and a black spidey somewhere in storage. They are pretty tall and if I remember right only 500 were made. I think McFarlane made them? I can't find any info on the web ago about them. Do you have an idea of where to find info? Thanks
ReplyDeleteNo not really. I have not known that McFarlane toys made any Spidey figures. It would help if you provide a picture or more info on this.
DeleteI wish I could but I don't think I could dig them out quickly. They would have been made in 2001-2002 and were in the box together. I will see if I can find them to get a pic
ReplyDeleteYou don't happen to be referring to the Bandai's SIC move realization Spidey right? If it is, I did a review of it a few years back.
Deletehttps://spideywebtoys.blogspot.com/2007/09/toy-review-sic-movie-realization-spider.html
to bad you forgot the civil war 3 pack spidey. or was that on purpose?
ReplyDeleteThat was on purpose. This guide is meant to cover comic Spidey red/blue or black costume figures only. I consider Civil War Spidey movie costume. I did however do a review on the Civil War Spidey figure. Thanks for dropping by!
DeleteI am a big fan of Spiderman, watched the last movie Homecoming spiderman out of the box. It's very exciting to see the new movie of Spiderman Series. I love the Marvel comic that makes my childhood amazing. It will be fun to sale my favorite superhero toys. Thanks for sharing such a good article. I love also Spiderman Marvel Art
ReplyDeleteI love this article. Also because I'm researching exactly the spiderman figure I have. It looks to be closest to the dark McFarlane Spiderman that came with the street-lamp, but it has clear plastic see-thru eyes? Not paint. Also has two holes for some type of mounting in the back? Any ideas? I can't find.. but this is the best article out there! Thank you.
ReplyDeleteHi Joe B, thanks for the kind words. I think your Spidey figure is the red carded Spider-Man Classics Spider Sense Spidey:
Deletehttps://gofigureactionfigures.com/media/spidersensespiderman(lightup).jpg
If I am not wrong they actually reissue this figure with white eyes in a 2 pack with Dr Oct figure.
You are correct, sir! That is the exact one... thank you.
DeleteThat was the exact one! You are correct sir, it IS from the Spider-Sense kit... thank you!
ReplyDelete