Well, unfortunately Scummy beat me to the sighting.
BOOO!!!
Well I found both Giant Battles packs yesterday around 2 P.M. at Wal-Mart. I checked a couple other ones, and 2 out of 4 I checked had them in stock. It should be known that they May not be in the main action figure line with the other MU figures. Both stores I saw them at had them outside of the toy aisles separate from other figures. I almost walked out of the toy aisle without seeing them. Then I had to put back half of the GI-Joe figures that I was gonna buy on sale.
And you shouldn't have to worry about scalping....there were at least 8 of each at both stores, and I'm sure the other WM stores will have them in stock soon enough.
Paint applications were okay, but as usual, it doesn't hurt to be picky. I tried getting the best looking ones I found.
Goliath's paint apps were a little all over the place...not so much sloppy, but I did see some where the yellow or gold on the head weren't filled in properly. Also the yellow striping on the body isn't consistent. Mine looks like he has 3 or so different shades of yellow. He looks great though.
Skrull looked very good to me. I saw very few issues with mine that was immediately noticeable. But I do recall seeing some where the blue on the helmet was rubbed off, or the teeth weren't fully painted, and the dark body washes were variable from one to the other.
The Iron Man and Cap figures were okay. Caps paint apps and accessories are awesome, though I am far from fond of his head sculpt. Cap comes with the Union jack belt and what looked like a reused Red Skull luger, knife, and another perfectly painted shield. Iron Man is nothing special, I would have preferred a darker red and gold, instead he looks like some kind of cheap candy.
But there are some TERRIBLE things going on with the GBs. First the packaging has to be the worst packaging ever. It took me at least 10 minutes or more to get all the stinking twist ties off... that's because they twist them, then sort of tuck them in on themselves. But this is a small issue, especially if you use wire cutters or something.
I have never purchased Icon figures before, but the GB leg articulation is the same as X-men Origins figs. I don't mind that for smaller figures, but it sucks on these big guys. Goliath was horrible. His shoulder swivels were stuck, as well as his Hip hinges. Hot tap water popped his shoulders loose rather quickly, but the hinges were something else. I've dealt with stuck limbs before, but this is absolutely ridiculous. I'm a strong guy I think, and I could not for the life of me break these hinges loose. Eventually I got one popped loose, but crap that right leg wouldn't budge. I was being reserved with the force I was using with the first leg. But I absolutely lost it, and figured if he broke I'd just take him back and get another one. So I had my hands and the figure under the hot water, and I was trying as hard as I could to pry the leg back and forth to break it loose. So if anything guys, these figures are the most durable action figures I've ever owned. I was so sure he would break the whole time, but he didn't. And after tons of strenuous prying the joint finally broke loose... I guess. Cause you still have to strain to get either leg to pop back or forth. I was all shaking and everything afterward, like I had just got in a fight with someone.
I hate Goliath.
Super skrull wasn't a problem though, these same joints were rather tight, and some strong prying was needed, but I broke them loose without any hot tap. So just be aware of these problems when thinking of paying the money, and although mine didn't break I can't say yours won't.
The fact is at the end of the day, these figures are great looking, and an awesome scale compared to the smaller characters. Can't wait for more. I'd have rather had a Giant man to Goliath, but it's no big deal. I expect these will be a hit with both MU collectors as well as legends collectors. So I'm sure Hasbro will put these out a couple times a year I'm sure. I'm thinking the variant Goliath/Giant Man will be a future chase figure, probably a later wave release.
At $26.97 each they are pretty cool, that's the price of $20 for a typical Legends Icon figure, and $6.97 for a smaller character and a free comic.
