SpideyWeb's Realm of Toys: Toy Review - SDCC 2016 Marvel Legends Raft Box Set Spider-Man

First of all, this review is dedicated to Glenn Webb, who unfortunately has just passed away unexpectedly on 26 August 2016. He is such an inspiration and I was so looking forward to his review of this figure. So I will try to cover what I think he would have covered if he were to review this.

I got this figure loose from eBay without the rest of the box set, so the opinions and review of the box and packaging will be based on stock photos I get from the net. I have a MOC box but it is not with me now. I may update this review if my opinion on the packaging changes when I get my actual box set.

Packaging (4 out of 5)

This Spidey figure comes in the Raft box set that is SDCC 2016 exclusive. This box set is not the typical Marvel Legends box set design. The box set has a flip cover that has a Velcro tab that is more common on 1/6 figures. The box set front artwork showcase the figures within, namely, Spidey, Enchantress, Abomination, Sandman, Purple Man and Dreadknight. The background of the art is the prison cells of the raft, which is pretty cool. The box set packaging also allow MOC display koption as the flip cover can be flipped up to reveal the figures in this box set. The top flap then can be secured with Velcro tabs on the side making it a second level of the raft prison. On this second level of the Raft, the artwork showcasing Electro, Hobgoblin and Eel. The back of the box has bios for the prisoners i.e. villains in the wave, hence there is no bio for Spidey.

Box pictures above obtained from Toyark.

Pictures for the back of the box by the awesome Come, See Toys.

I deducted a point in this category because Spidey was posed in the bubble in a dynamic pose, and some of the figures resulted having warped limbs/ fingers. I am all for cool packaging like this, but if the placement of the figure in the bubble affects the figure, it is a negative for me.

Sculpt (4 out of 5)

The sculpt of this figure is quite good. It is lean but still muscular in definition. It is basically a reuse of the Pizza Spidey figure from the BAF Hobgoblin wave.
[Added: I was informed by a bro on Marvel Collectors Singapore that this Raft Spidey is based off Ben Reilly Spidey/ Spider Carnage of BAF Absorbing Man wave. I checked and this is indeed true, and even the hand pegs are identical.]

The key difference between this Raft Spidey and Pizza is in the head sculpt. The Raft Spidey has a more McFarlane-esque large eyes. The shape of the eyes is sculpted (not only painted), but the sculpting of the eyes is shallower than Pizza Spidey’s eyes. The head is slightly larger than Pizza Spidey’s head sculpt but it is still fitting for the body. Personally I feel that though the eyes sculpt reminds me of Todd McFarlane’s artwork but the shape of the head somehow falls short of the mark. I guess that is always the challenge when you translate 2 dimensional images to 3 dimensional sculpts. If I am not wrong, this head sculpt is also used in the Scarlet Spider figure from the previous BAF Rhino wave. This is just a repaint of that head sculpt.

Paint (4 out of 5)

The paint on my Raft Spidey is pretty clean. There are the typical minute smudges and paint slips as rather expected from Hasbro’s mass production but it is still very good by normal standards. I have some misaligned weblines on the head and also some smudges on the spider symbol on the chest and that is the reason why I knock off 1 point in this category. If you are able to pick a better paint, do so, but it would be difficult considering this Spidey figure comes in a box set. Also the red paint on the biceps is a little more matt compared to the rest of the body, which is a little glossier. Some reviewers have commented on this but on my figure it is not that noticeable that it bothered me.

The weblines on this figure are all painted, as opposed to sculpted. I have no issues with the painted lines. In fact, like I said earlier, the lines are rather cleanly painted and crisp. And the painted lines make the figure more comic-like. One thing to note is that some may be bothered by the unpainted red pegs in the inner elbows.

The key paint differences of this Raft Spidey and Pizza Spidey is in the blue of the costume. This Raft Spidey has a deep darker blue compared to Pizza’s blue. Also, the spider symbol on the chest and back is different on this Raft Spidey versus the Pizza Spidey. The red on this Raft Spidey is also slightly darker than Pizza Spidey but it is not that obvious. I have to note that the spider symbol on both front and back matches very well with Todd McFarlane’s artwork as can be seen from the panels of ASM #306. I am not sure if Hasbro confirmed that McFarlane’s artwork was used as the inspiration for the spider symbols for this figure, but they seem to have nailed it.

Articulation (3.5 out of 5)

The articulation of Raft Spidey is good. Key note is that the hips range of movement is way better than Pizza Spidey, but it is still not up to mark yet. Raft Spidey is still unable to do splits, which is a shame. Also, the Raft Spidey is missing mid-calf swivel, which affected the figure getting into four-point crouch, on top of the limited hips range of movement. However, it is still possible to get into the four-point crouch somewhat, versus Pizza Spidey.

However, the Raft Spidey does come with the shoulder “butterfly” joint, which helps in getting the arms close together (think folding his arms). The figure also has great ankle rocker pivot joints!

Taking advantage of the ankle pivot and the hip articulation, this is the widest stance possible with both his feet flat on the floor.

This figure does come with peg-holes at the base of the feet.

Joints (3 out of 5)

The joints on this figure is tight for me, which is good. The elbows and knees double joints are ratcheted and the plastic used is a little soft (like rigid rubber). It has some give in it so it is not that likely to be brittle and break off.

Since this figure does not come with alternate hands, it is useful to mention that for this Raft Spidey, the right hand is the web-shooting “Thwip” hand and the left hand is a fist. The hands can be removed from the figure, but unfortunately, the pegs are different from Pizza Spidey, so we cannot swap and use the wall crawling hands. This is one of the biggest issues I have with this figure, because if Hasbro are using the same base body, it does not make sense to me to be using a different peg size. Fortunately, the head/ neck ball joint is the same, and you can interchange Pizza Spidey’s head with this Raft Spidey. However, I will note that while I have difficulties swapping heads for Pizza Spidey, it is much easier to pop out the Raft Spidey’s head, which is a good thing.

In this review, during posing I notice that because I am trying to get the figure in dynamic poses the left hip joint gets a little loose. I think constant posing may eventually result in a loose hip joint.

Action Feature (5 out of 5)

This figure has no action features at all, and this is great! I give this category full marks as I love just a fully articulated figure.

Accessories (1 out of 5)

This box set did not include any accessories or alternate parts (heads, hands etc) for Spidey. I am not considering the other figures as accessories for Spidey.

Value (2 out of 5)

I got this figure loose on eBay for more than USD40 (inclusive of shipping) to get it to where I am living now. I am not scoring this category high because either you have to get it loose like I did, or buy the full box set, which, at the time of writing is no longer available from Hasbro. But if you have gotten it straight at SDCC 2016 (you lucky one!) or at the booth price at $119.99, then this might be a higher score for you.

Overall (3.5 out of 5)

This is a solid comic Spidey figure (which I will add to my comic Spidey figure guide) so I can recommend it. It has an improved hip range of movement (cf Pizza Spidey) and the large McFarlane-esque eyes may appeal to most. Hasbro did a great job on this Raft Spidey if they are going for a McFarlane Spidey look though I feel that the head (shape?) still somehow falls short. Fans of Todd McFarlane’s artwork of Spider-Man may have a different opinion on this Raft Spidey.

However, the lack of alternate hands, different pegs to be used with Pizza Spidey’s parts, still somewhat limited range of movement of hips/ lower calf and its availability/ price is making this a just slightly above average figure overall to hunt down.

That being said, I am still glad to add this to my ranks of comic Spidey figures.