17 replies to this topic

[dankingery]

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.

[dankingery]

First up, the Human Torch.

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As far as the sculpt goes, he's not that far off from his Secret Wars counterpart. The body sculpt is the same as the Silver Surfer. And the only differences between this one and the Secret Wars Torch are the head and accessory. Instead of having the facial features captured(i.e. eyes, nose, mouth) they opted to give him a more "blank" face. Trust me, it works. The fact that he's got flames rising from the top of his head completely makes this work. His accessory is way better than the Secret Wars figure. It's a fireball that wraps around his forearm and looks like it projects from his hand. Probably the best example of an energy projectile for the entire Marvel Universe line. So, if you like the Silver Surfer body type, this figure is aces.
Okay, so far the figure is sounding pretty good on sculpt alone, but how does it fare in the paint app realm? Pretty damn good. He's molded from a nice red plastic, so overall has a reddish appearance. Remember the old comics of the Human Torch where they just drew the dark lines to help define points of the body? Well the geniuses did it for this figure too. The overall look is pretty cool. As for the fire erupting from his scalp, that is very nicely done in a gradient of yellow on the end, down into the red plastic of the figure. Overall, a very cool figure and the intent of the design was properly executed.

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URS NOTE: Not Important, but this Figure not only shares the same body type as Silver Surfer, but all the other Human Torch figures thus far, as well as Iron Fist, and recently Electro and the 3 pack SS. When mentioning a Body Type, we are using the first figure released with the Body as the name of the Body Type. So this would be the Silver Surfer Body Type. My only gripe about this body is the often weak ankle hinge. He lacks an ankle swivel, so the balance of the figure can easily get thrown off by even the light weight of the figure. However this isn't always the case.

[dankingery]

Next, Captain America.

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Where to start? I think this Cap is my favorite of the entire line. He really is the pinnacle of action figure perfection. As of now, three different sets have all proved one thing, they weren't messing around when they painted this guy. There isn't a single flaw on him. If anything, he makes your other figures ashamed that they're on the same shelf as he is. The much more subdued tone of the colors for the plastic make this version stand head and shoulders above his Secret Wars counter-part. And the washes they used are perfect for bringing out the various depths of the sculpt. Like the Secret Wars version, this Cap has the regular boots, gloves and cowel. However, unlike the Secret Wars version, he seems to be molded much crisper. The wings on his head are more defined and his face has a more chiseled look and his scale mail seems to be more defined. A more fitting look for the super soldier. Subtle differences sure, but differences none the less.
Similar to the ultimates version that came out in wave 2, this Cap's shield accessory has the straps. I have to say, that the shield affixed to his arm looks cool, but when you have it strapped to his back, it's awesome. I'm very impressed with the details of the shield. The lines are so tight that you'd swear they had robots with laser-beam eyes do the work. At first I wished that Cap had more accessories, at least a gun, but after playing with him for some time, I realize that he needs none. A truly great figure and one that should be near the top of everyone's favorites list.

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Additional Comments URS: I agree, this is easily the best figure from the Invaders set, and probably one of the top 5 from the 2009 MU series. Of interest about this version of Cap is the addition of a White Star stenciled on his back, something missing from both the Ultimate Cap and Secret Wars Cap. My figure does have a couple specks of overflow on this star, which I can only attribute to the scaled armor being difficult to paint onto flat. This star shows the care Hasbro went through with these figures in their appearance. If you ever read an Invaders comic, you will notice this back star on the Captain America from that era. A small detail eventually taken away later. Also of note is the center blue circle of the shield. As Dan mentioned the shield is just gorgeously painted! And if you look closely you will notice a fade on this part of the shield. The blue fades from a light blue to a dark blue perfectly from one end to the other! This is just an awesome touch!
Aside from the great attributes of the figure, there are a few issues I have with it, though small. Not only does the slight overflow on the back star bug me, but the A on his forehead is slightly off center. Another kink in the chain is on the Upper Arm paint apps. They did much better melting the blue paint in with the upper body on this figure than the other Caps, but it is still imperfect. Showing some white spots through where the arm meets the shoulder balls. Other than that the figure is tops, and don't let the flaws I point out affect your decision to pick one up. You won't be dissapointed I'm sure.

[dankingery]

The third in line is Red Skull.

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The deadly tactician comes to you in full dress uniform. I think most of us believed that the Red Skull we were getting was a completely unique body-type. Turns out this is not the case. In their never ending quest to re-use the universe, Hasbro has done it again. They've taken the body from their Vogel figure of the Indiana Jones line, and modified it slightly for Red Skull. Obviously he's got a new head skullpt. And it's one that they paid extra attention to. It looks brilliant. But they must think that re-using the same body types over and over will help them cut down on pollution like some twisted form of recycling.
The plastic is now a dark, dark grey, maybe a light black with charcoal gray highlights instead of the whitish gray plastic of the Vogel figure. The fine details on his uniform like the epaulets, lapels, medals, belt buckle, and others are tipped with gold paint. His arm band is green with the Hydra symbol on it. His accessories are the same as Vogel's for the most part. You get the Luger pistol and the scepter. Both are molded in blackish plastic, with the scepter's top being painted gold.

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And now for my complaints about this figure. Of course it's Vogel's body! One of the main virtues/evils of the Marvel Universe line is the really great/suspect articulation. The Indy figures are articulated in a completely different fashion. First of all, there is no wrist or ankle articulation, not even swivels. Instead, they have swivels at the knees and elbows. Kind of a weird set up. The main draw back with this is that the angle of the swivel on the knees makes this feature almost pointless. Unless you want to make Red Skull look like he has rickets. The elbow swivel isn't as bad, but it's still an annoyance.

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As it stands, you are pretty limited on the way you can pose this figure. Does this ruin the character overall? Is it a deal breaker? No. One thing I've been considering is all the possibilities this figure holds. If you can track down a Vogel or two, just think of what you could do. Alternate uniform color, or if you've bought the army builder 3-pack and have a couple of extra hydra soldiers you could swap their heads onto the Vogel figures to make Red Skulls elite officers in Hydra. Also, if you're the customizing type, you may be able to get Vogel's hat off of his head and modify it to fit Red Skulls head. A good figure that could have been so much more.

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Complaints URS: Now the Torso of this figure isn't all that bad, but given that this is a migrated sculpt it just in no way fits with the other MU figs thus far in my opinion. My first gripe is the scale of the figure. He is shorter than most of the other figures released, since he reuses the Vogel body. Also I hate the articulation of this body. As Dan mentioned he lacks certain swivels, but my biggest disappointment is with his thighs. He only has hinged thighs. So he can only move his legs front to back...major hit on the figures usefulness. Virtually no dynamic Non-Nazi poses can be performed with this figure. Also I can't stand his accessories. The Luger isn't bad, but both the luger and scepter are very flimsy. This is good if your worried about breaking them, but bad since chances are his scepter will be warped when you remove it from the package, and probably stay that way. The barrel of the Luger is also very tiny, and although it has plenty of give, I worry that it will break. So I keep it in his holster on his side. The holster is cool, the flap pops up so you can store his gun, but the flap feels almost brittle and I worry about damaging it when messing with it. Now this could be me just being paranoid, as I havn't broken these pieces yet. And lastly...as I'm sure I could go on and on. His head is awesome! Probably the best part of the figure. However when it has sat for a while, the head tends to stick on the neck ball. So I have to fight with it to move it again. Not a big deal, but aggravating, as it only sticks when I want it to move.

[dankingery]

Last, and certainly least in my book, is Namor.

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The Atlantean comes with a head sculpt depicting a perfect likeness. It's painted quite well and has some pretty cool details. The body type is the same as Black Costume Spider-Man. Flesh tones over most of the body, but with the trademark green "swimming" trunks with the golden belt. The rest of the figure is virtually un-remarkable except for the feet. At the sides of the ankle he's got his Mercury-like wings. Honestly, they're not great. I can't quite put my finger on why they don't work, but there's something about them that detracts from the overall appearance of the figure. Maybe they sit out from the ankle too far. This is, however, a small problem compared to the wash they used for defining the flesh areas of the figure.
They chose a color which is too dark. Were it a lighter shade, I think this figure could have really looked amazing, aside from the winged feet. But since the wash was so dark, it's more of an outline than it is a faded detail. It could be that the wash needed to be a little more diluted rather than it being too dark. Either way, the effect isn't what I would have wanted if I were the toy designer.
In order to talk about his accessories, we need to talk about his hands. They seem to be pretty poor choices for practical purposes. The one hand is the standard closed hand with it opened between the fingers and thumbs. This is the better of the two, you can actually get one of his accessories into this hand. The other hand, however is the closed type with just a hole through the top for inserting items in a peg like manner. This doesn't work for either accessory. He comes with Neptune's trident and Proteus' horn. You can get the trident in his right hand, but neither work in the left. I wish they would have put a peg on the horn, opened up the left hand for more of a giant horn grasping shape and made it so the other hand could help out to hold the damn thing. It's huge! But I guess the horn is a secondary item and really, it's not like they had a whole load of options with Namor. The trident is kind of cool. It's nice to see a unique weapon instead of a re-hashing of another figures accessory. Overall I wasn't too impressed with this figure. I would have much rather had a different character, but I've never been a huge Namor fan to begin with. I think the wave 5 Namor is a much more interesting character and can only guess that they used that particular version in the mass market instead of this one because this one would be the forever peg warmer.

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Counterpoint URS: There are many things I agree on with Dan here, but others that I just have to disagree with. I thought the feet were perfect, but the ankle from the lower leg flows over the foot, as can be seen with all other figures reusing the Black Spider-Man Body Type. I hate these lower legs, and think, personally, that these are the cause of the abnormally hideous appearance on the feet. It is very distracting and definitely takes away from overall cleanness of the character sculpt. Also, I agree that the hands on this figure leave much to be desired. However the peg hole hand isn't all useless. Essentially you can fit the small end of the horn into the bottom of the fist for a raised hand to mouth blowing action. But other than that, like Dan says, it's pretty useless for other accessories. Either way I feel the hands are oddly sculpted, and appear to curve in toward the body. Personally, I feel that Namor was a must have character for this box set. His history in comics and the Marvel Universe, not to mention survival of 70 years, earns him just as much right to be along side the likes of Captain America, and the Original Human Torch. Really there aren't that many super recognizable characters left to choose from the original Invaders team aside from maybe Bucky, who I'd have preferred to Red Skull. I have to put my biased nature aside and agree however that this Namor would have been a major peg warmer single carded though.

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[dankingery]

FINAL THOUGHTS!!

It should also be mentioned that every figure comes with a fury file and letter. Sadly, there's not a secret code for unlocking character info on the website. I would have liked that little bit extra but it's not a huge loss especially since none of the Secret Wars or special 3-packs come with anything at all.

So, for $40 is it worth it? I say yes. You get four figures of exceptional quality at a price just a couple of dollars above store prices per figure. In spite of any and all flaws I've mentioned this set still boasts some of the best paint apps and attention to detail out of anything you'll find in the store.

URS Final Comment: I agree Dan. This set is amazing, and it was fun to open, and play with the figures. Despite my mentioned gripes, this set was well worth the $39.99 + S/H. Don't let the afore mentioned flaws deter you from picking one up. They are actually a dime a dozen right now, and there may still be some in stock on Hasbro's online toy store. Or if your looking for just one figure, there have been plenty of auctions for single figures from this set on eBay.

[Universal Ruler Supreme]

I also did a little Captain America Versus Red Skull Battle....But Dan had board errors while posting it...sooooo I will!!!

Please enjoy.

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[dankingery]

yeah, i've really got to hand it to urs. he takes some awesome shots. his pics really made this review. i think my fave of the cap/skull battle is the last shield shot to the jaw before he sets up to decapitate red skull.

one thing to note about not only the invaders set but all marvel universe and secret wars figures. despite their relatively light weight, they hold up to some pretty brutal punishment. i was playing with my figures this weekend with my 3-year-old nephew. he laid the smack down on quite a few figs (all ones i didn't mind if i had to replace them because they are a dime a dozen). i wouldn't say that they are a good toy for kids his age due to the small parts, but still, if you need toys that can hold up, they're pretty good.

[Universal Ruler Supreme]

yeah, i've really got to hand it to urs. he takes some awesome shots. his pics really made this review. i think my fave of the cap/skull battle is the last shield shot to the jaw before he sets up to decapitate red skull.

Thanks for the props Dan, that particular shot was one of my favorites as well. It was actually pretty difficult trying to put Skull in some Different poses. His legs are so stiff that many of the shots just involved me turning his shoulders or head, and trying to bend his knees so it would appear that he had a different stance. The camera angles helped too. I am especially fond of the shot after the shield shot...not because it was dynamic, as I thought the final stance of Cap was boring, but I loved the way Skull's face looks. Like he is about to Shizznit his pants in desperation with those bug eyes.

I have to say I was very happy with how the basic figure discussion turned out. The review had a very easy feel to it, and it wasn't a burden to read, nor was it robotic in setup as my personal reviews often appear. It made it easier to throw my own points in to the discussion, instead of me having to literally dig for things to say about a particular area of each figure such as sculpt, articulation, paint apps, etc...

Lil' Veers is pretty rough on his toys, which has made me put more stock in the resiliency or hardiness of toys. I think it tends to be dismissed and undervalued with many modern toys, especially in reviews.

When I think about MUSCLE or vintage SW I'm shocked how well those figures held up - the same with many GI Joes and He-Man. Some of Lil' Veers toys are starting to look worn out, especially Galactic Heroes. The paint on those figures sometimes comes off with a simple drop. Or popping some of the new Little People in and out of the seats (with the plug part) really makes the paint around the legs and bottom come off. My vintage Little People look good enough to be new.

I understand exactly where your going Veers. That's why I normally address Quality in my reviews. I've had so many, and I'm sure I've said this before, allegedly high quality modern action figures break from the simplest play that it's ridiculous.
As for the quality of the MU figs, it's completely hit and miss. Some feel brittle and look brittle, and others are just tops and solid. It totally depends on the body type in use. As peg size for shoulders, legs, hands, and the chest all are different from body to body. I'd say the sturdiest body type so far for basic size figs is the Punisher/Panther body. Hulk would surely be the strongest though. The rest I feel vary.
But when it comes to modern figures at all, very few appear to have the solidity of many of their vintage brethren. The plastics used, and the basic, if not archaic, articulation actually helped in their durability. I'd say sticking with basic action figures that are out today would be best for kids who are rough players. Like Batman Brave and the Bold figures, Ben 10, Secret Saturdays. They all appear to have that classic play strength, and un-compromised sculpts that appeal to kids and increase normal playability.

Hmm... Now I'm unsure where I was going either.

Edited by Universal Ruler Supreme, 22 September 2009 - 12:30 PM.

[Universal Ruler Supreme]

Well, you mentioned Paint wear on them. I recall many if not most of my toys when I was a kid having paint wear after years of play or even storage. I still have most of my Thundercats, MOTU, Joes, etc, where paint wear is apparent. I even recall having Playmobil figures who's face paint and other painted areas were completely gone or worn off.

So what I was referring to was more of a lasting physical durability, and not so much cosmetic. It just doesn't seem feasible to me that many toys regardless of the generation would retain strong paint condition during solid play.

[Universal Ruler Supreme]

I guess I was suggesting even so light play has caused paint wear.

I know they don't stay perfect, I'm just surprised how easy it is to damage many modern toys. I think we're adamantly agreeing.

Yeah your right! I didn't think of that. After all most of the paint damage to my childhood toys were from me chunking them in big boxes or bags with each other, so they would roll around and bump against each other constantly. A good example of what your referring to would be with my NECA Street fighter figures. Just from light play for posing purposes in my reviews, I've noticed adequate paint rub or spots where the paint has chipped off. Classic toy paint seemed to meld with the plastic, where as today it sort of lays on top.

[Universal Ruler Supreme]

I'm not sure I can completely agree with you on number 2. Sure less paint was used then if you consider the pretty common use of paint washes today. However just glancing through my vintage Gi-Joes, I've notice plenty of paint apps. And compared to most of the new MU figs there are probably the same amounts of paint applications to the the joes if not more.
Also I'm not completely sure about the second point of multiple parts in multiple colors. I'd say it's about the same there too. Depending on the line of course.
For example the first 4 Rounds of SOTA Street Fighter figures were all PVC/ABS plastic. All the main parts of the bodies were not molded in any colored plastics, and were almost always completely painted from head to toe. However take the Cap figure from this review and compare him with the 80's Secret Wars Captain America. Which basically consisted of 7 pieces. The Vintage Cap was molded in solid Blue for the legs and head, and the arms and body were molded in white plastic. Thus the Gloves, Boots, Face, Shoulders, Chest/Back, and Groin had to be painted.
However the Invaders Cap is molded in Blue, Red, Brown, and White plastics. I think aside from the wash, there are potentially less if not the same amounts of paint applied to this figure compared with the Vintage one. The area coverage of any overlayed colors is quite small compared to the 80's Cap.

Which brings me to my point about more durable paints. I don't know what kind of paint they used on vintage toys like Star Wars, but they were just Bad@ss durable. I think the paints used today for mass produced figures is of an inferior quality in many cases. I know I've scratched figures right out of the package, like the mask on my Darth Nihilus figure. I could probably take my fingernail and easily remove adequate amounts of paint off of these figures if I wanted to. But probably not so easily with older figures. Maybe I'm wrong here, it could possibly be that the paints on older figures have become stronger from many years of curing. Then again, I've found that the more rubbery parts of these older figures have less paint wear compared to the rock solid plastic parts.

Maybe we should have some sort of quality test between figures from 25+ years ago and figures 10- years old. Too bad I don't have anymore of my extra Vintage Star Wars figures to test on myself. Afterall I could be completely wrong on all points.