MARVEL UNIVERSE: SDCC 2009 EXCLUSIVE INVADERS SET
(FEATURING: CAPTAIN AMERICA, NAMOR, HUMAN TORCH, AND THE RED SKULL)
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Coming to you live from the nerdery, Dank the Stank and the Universal Ruler Supreme bring you a joint effort in toy reviewing excellence.
This year's San Diego Comic-Con not only gave us insight into the Marvel Universe line, but also very cool "convention exclusives". I say that in quotes, since you could also pick the exclusives up off of Hasbro's website well after the conventioniers had packed up their wagons and headed on down the road.
The Invaders 4-figure set is one of these exclusives. Based on the Marvel story arc, the set includes the Human Torch (Jim Hammond), Captain America, Red Skull and Namor. a good variety of very different characters. First off the bat, you'll notice that the packaging is top notch. The big bold letters spelling out the word: classified are set across a field of a muted old comic cover mosaic. They're almost like faded newsprint images, very classy looking. Also, set right in the middle, is a Marvel 70th Anniversary symbol which sits across the great divide that is the cover. The best part of this 70th Anniversary symbol is that it's a refrigerator magnet, very cool. The packaging is set up to open like a photo album with two covers, right and left, which when you open it reveals a display worthy interior. Like a window display, each carded figure is right there for your viewing pleasure on top of a red background bordered with black, and a character name. This is an excellent idea for those OCD nerds who are afraid to bust open a package and play with the damn things. The design of the packaging is so good, that I forced myself to buy a second pack just for MIMP displaying purposes (the rest of you still have OCD though).
When you finally stop staring at how cool this setup is and bust out the first carded figure you'll notice that it also has a special 70th anniversary card and the red background also had an image of the character faintly depicted. The same image as the one on the card. all of the art for these cards was done by Joe Quesada instead of Frank Cho. All nice touches from a company that seems to have decided to half-ass their Secret Wars offerings.
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I know what you're saying, "Wow Dan, you're more excited with the packaging than you are the figures." Well, the answer to that is no. I'm not one of those 3-year-olds who gets presents at Christmas and would rather play with the wrapping paper. Although, wrapping paper does kick ass when you're 3. To say these figures are great is a huge understatement. Fans should really appreciate the effort and care that went into every aspect of these figures. Really shows that they care about the collectors by making sure that this mostly collector, if not exclusively, set is up to our outrageous standards.
Now, since you all know what the Marvel Universe is, I won't bother getting too in-depth on the articulation. We'll be focusing mostly on sculpts and paint apps. And since this is supposed to be a convention exclusive, I'm going to hold it to higher standards than I do the store figures. So, with that being said, let's talk about the figs!
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Edited by dankingery, 20 September 2009 - 04:34 PM.