GALACTUS!
Sean Mcquaid reviews Avengers action figures
FOR SEAN'S UPDATED LOOK AT AVENGERS FIGURES, CLICK HERE.
For instructions from MANIA's Chris Galdieri of "Scratchbuilder's Toolbox" on creating homemade Avengers action figures, Click below:
(For Adam Hardy's additional informative comments, Click Here.)
Abbreviations:
THOR
IRON MAN
More recently, Toy Biz unleashed an entire Iron Man
line, based primarily on the awful animated series, that actually lasted
for several assortments. The "basic" Iron Man from the first assortment
is essentially the mostly red, mouthless, "modular" Iron Man armor from Iron
Man 300 that Van hates so much, only with a mouth added. Later versions
included Hydro-Armor Iron Man, Stealth Armor Iron Man, Hologram Armor
Iron Man (actually the red and silver suit from IM 200), and so on. The
basic and Hologram Armor versions are probably the best Iron Men in this
set, though their removeable shiny armor parts (common to all the
armored figs in the line) are a bit of a pain, the paint flakes off
easily, and they don't quite look right in the case of the boots and
gauntlets. The new Avengers line will feature an oversized Iron Man in
the awful Heroes Reborn armor.
HANK PYM
WASP
HULK
RICK JONES
CAPTAIN AMERICA
HAWKEYE
QUICKSILVER
SCARLET WITCH
SWORDSMAN
HERCULES
BLACK PANTHER
VISION
BLACK KNIGHT
CAPTAIN MAR-VELL
BLACK WIDOW
MANTIS
BEAST
MOONDRAGON
TWO-GUN KID
HELLCAT
JOCASTA
WHIZZER
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY
BINARY
FALCON
WONDER MAN
TIGRA
SHE-HULK
STARFOX
MOCKINGBIRD
WAR MACHINE
THING
SUB-MARINER
FIREBIRD
DOCTOR DRUID
MOON KNIGHT
MARRINA
YELLOWJACKET II
DEMOLITION MAN
MISTER FANTASTIC
INVISIBLE WOMAN
GILGAMESH
USAGENT
QUASAR
HUMAN TORCH
SERSI
SPIDER-MAN
STINGRAY
RAGE
SANDMAN
MACHINE MAN
SPIDER-WOMAN II
LIVING LIGHTNING
CRYSTAL
THUNDERSTRIKE
DARKHAWK
SWORDSMAN II
MAGDALENE
DEATHCRY
MASQUE
IRON BOY
GREAT LAKES AVENGERS
1950s AVENGERS
-Sean McQuaid
THOR
GIANT-MAN
IRON MAN
Retro Iron Man
JUSTICE
TBM refers to Toy Biz's initial generic Marvel line
If you can find it and you've got the cash, Thor was made as a Mego doll
back in the 70s; kinda goofy, but quite good for a Mego. More recently, a
Thor action figure was released as part of TBM. That's probably the one
you saw. Nothing special. The upcoming Thor from the Avengers line looks
too bloated and overmuscled and grimace-happy for my tastes.
When Mego scrapped plans for their Doctor Doom doll, they recycled it
into a pretty-good Iron Man doll with a cloth-and-plastic approximation
of the standard 70s armor. Be warned, though; on account of being created
as a Doom fig, this fig has the dreaded faceplate nose that Iron Man fans
mocked so much back when Iron Man actually added a nose to his faceplate.
The Secret Wars line included what may well be the best Iron Man fig to
date, Rhodey in the classic 70s armor. Nice sculpt, though the paint job
tends to be cheap and easily worn off and the accessories are lame. Still
probably the best basic Iron Man fig. TBM offered an Iron Man with
removeable armor, but he was pretty clunky-looking on account of the
removeability feature (the armor was the red and gold suit from just
after Armor Wars).
No figures of any sort to date, though he does appear as Yellowjacket in
the "Captain America and the Falcon" board game guest-starring the
Avengers. So do Iron Man, Thor, Wasp, Hawkeye, Vision, Scarlet Witch and
various bad guys.
Recently included in the Spider-Man line, but in her hideous "bug Jan"
form from the Crossing. She's sculpted and painted well enough and comes
with silly snap-on "bug" armor, and I haven't had the heart to get one
yet even though it is the first Wasp figure--I just hate that version of
her. Maybe I'll pick her up in the clearance bins.
Hulk's appeared in MANY toy lines over the years, most recently his own
largely godawful line from Toy Biz. Figs from this line are collecting
dust everywhere. A decent basic Hulk can be had from the downsized second
assortment--breakout Hulk or something like that, forget what he's
called, but you'd know him when you see him. Green skin, purple pants,
basic Kirby design.
I think there may be a fig of the short-lived Rick Jones Hulk in that
Hulk line...
Has appeared in various toy lines for years, but hasn't been done well
recently. Mego Cap was a joke; no gloves, bad boots, oversized head.
Secret Wars Cap was lame, too; cruddy paint job, and awful "secret
shield" with picture-flashing action instead of his real shield. TBM
sported a decent though anemically sculpted Cap with a launching shield
that, despite the annoying action mechanism, at least looks like his real
shield. More recently, Toy Biz added Cap to their Spidey line. This
latest Cap is oversized (bigger than the average TB fig), absurdly
super-buff, inaccurately painted and sports a rather constipated
expression. Worst of all, he comes with a super-lame "sparking shield"
that's too small and colored incorrectly. He does, however, come with a
transforming skycycle. There have been rumours of him being re-released
with the new Avengers line, possibly with a better version of his shield.
Only one figure to date, from the second assortment of the Iron Man line.
It has its flaws (iffy proportioning and a less than ideal version of the
classic Hawkeye threads), but it's a must for any Avengers collection:
beyond the fact that the mere existence of a Hawkeye figure is
indescribably cool, he is clad in a variation of his traditional blue and
purple (the costume from his last LS) instead of the Crossing look; he's
nicely sculpted and painted; and he comes with a knife, quiver, bow and
several arrows, all stuff from the comic book costume and all made
sensibly enough. No lame made-up accessories or disfiguring action
features.
One figure to date, in the "Mutant Armor" assortment from the X-Men line;
a repainted Spidey body (appropriately slim) with a newly sculpted
Quicksilver head. A key Avengers character and a decent likeness of the
character in his second costume, the classic blue and white, and as such
a must for any Avengers collection. There are three flaws, though: his
head doesn't seem to fit onto his body that smoothly, making it hard to
turn and prone to cracking at the neck; the paint job is slightly
inaccurate, going for a darker shade of blue than usual and the
simplified shortless look of the animated series rather than the comic
version, which includes trunks; and his accessories, a big gun and a
rolling speed effect platform, are rather lame. Still well worth getting
at retail price, though. The facial likeness is quite good, and the
costume's a reasonable approximation of Pietro's classic outfit. There's
also a repaint black and white version of this fig that I've heard some
people describe as his AofA costume and others describe as his current
costume, but I've yet to see it myself.
Slated for inclusion in the current Avengers line. The pictures look very
nice indeed, but I've yet to see the actual product. It's also still
possible that Wanda may be oversized and incompatible with most of the
other TB figs. Thankfully, the dismal failure of the Hulk line and fan
backlash against the Avengers line have prompted Toy Biz to swear off
randomly "upsizing" their figures in the future.
None to date.
None to date.
Surprisingly, none to date. Not even in the Fantastic Four line, which
seemed like a no-brainer to me. He'd be an easy figure to make as a
repaint of something else, though, so odds are he'll show up.
So far, just the exclusive Marvel's Gold fig now on sale; a repainted
Archangel II mold with a repainted Silver Surfer head and a cloth cloak.
Pix look okay, though the wristbands carried over from the Archangel mold
are a nagging unnecessary detail; minor but noticeable. 
None to date.
So far, just the exclusive Marvel's Gold fig now on sale; a repainted
Archangel II mold, which fits Marv perfectly since it even includes
wristbands repainted to resemble his nega-bands. Looks quite fine from
the pix. 
None to date, though there were rumours of her being included in the
Spidey assortments.
None to date.
Various versions of Beast have been done for the X-Men line, though all
are flawed in some way and most are pretty bad. The closest thing to a
good basic Beast is the original X-Men version of the character, but the
eyes have no pupils, the proportions are a bit off and the legs are
spring-loaded and as such not very poseable; however, a better basic blue
Beast may be included in a new assortment later this year, and a
good-looking version of Hank in his original furless X-Man look will be
available as part of the classic X-Men boxed set.
None to date.
None to date.
None to date, though she'd be an easy repaint job.
None to date.
None to date.
None to date.
She does appear in figure form as Ms. Marvel (packaged as "Miss Marvel
Universe") in Toy Biz's "She-Force" line. She's wearing her cool costume
from Avengers 200. The figure is pretty dang lame, though; it's a
repainted Medusa, the belt sash is merely painted on, and the paint job
is inaccurate (the shoulders are covered rather than bare). On top of
that, the Medusa mold includes sculpted-in costuming details that don't
belong on Carol's costume, and the fig is just kinda flat and dull. They
should have done Carol by repainting the Phoenix fig, a much better
bodily figure with a sculpted-in belt sash. Instead, they used the Phoenix
mold to do a version of Ms. Marvel II (Sharon Ventura); there's just no
justice...
There have been two pretty-good Falcon figs: the Mego doll from the 70s
(quite fine) and the Secret Wars fig, with moveable wings and Redwing.
Nothing done with Falc recently, though.
He was offered as a mail-in exclusive in the third issue of Toyfare. The
pix look quite nice. It's an Archangel II body with a Dan Ketch head.
He's in the red and black suit he wore for most of the AWC series. Only
flaw: no belt jets. A cloth jacket would have been nice, too (hey, they
threw one in with their Shadowcat fig).
There's a Tigra fig in the She-Force II line, but I'm not bothering with
it; they did a nice job of painting it, but it's still just a Black Cat
body with a tail slapped on. Among other things, this means that Tigra
has strangely over-furry wrists and ankles, black high-heel boots and
awkward poseability (one arm is stuck way out to the side for no
especially good reason).
So far, just the oversized and butt-ugly She-Hulk from the current Hulk
line, gathering dust on pegs everywhere. There are two versions of this,
one in a purple leotard and the other in an FF leotard. Comes with a
giant crossbow for no apparent reason. I skipped this one.
None to date.
None to date.
As noted, the good-looking Iron Man fig from Secret Wars was Rhodey
(though the pix in his accessories inaccurately depict him as Tony). As
War Machine, Rhodey had two figs in the Iron Man line: a basic fig (an
okay reproduction of the original War Machine armor, complete with
shoulder-mounted artillery) and a subsequent variation. An "unmasked"
variation with removeable helmet is also now available.
Thing has appeared in tons of toy lines, most recently the short-lived FF
line. The basic Thing fig from that set is quite good, and there are
several variations as well (Thing in FF tights, Thing in trenchcoat,
etc.). The basic Thing fig has also been available in two-packs with the
solid super-poseable Spidey fig.
Namor's first and only fig to my knowledge was in the FF line. Okay
sculpting and painting, but they gave him that sappy ponytail and spikes
on his gauntlets, not to mention a lame button in his back for a punching
action mechanism. The classic flat-top short hair, spikeless gauntlets
and no action feature would have been better.
None to date.
None to date.
Now available as a Marvel's Gold exclusive figure through Hanger 18;
looks pretty good--repainted Hercules body with a repainted Spidey head
and cloth hooded cloak. 
None to date.
None to date.
None to date.
Many MFs in many toy lines over the years, most recently TBM and the FF
line. The FF version had stretchy rubber arms and a removeable harness
for Reed's techno-gear.
Many IWs in many toy lines over the years, most recently TBM and the FF
line. The first FF version of IW was a repainted Spider-Woman mold--not
bad except for the awkward face painting and limited poseability. The
second version was a brand-new mold in clear transparent plastic to
simulate invisibility. Both versions came with hand-held force shields
and rolling force field platforms.
None to date.
The TBM line repainted its Cap figure and released it as a USAgent in
original costume. Okay if you want a USAgent that badly. A new USAgent
(in his Force Works costume) was made for the Iron Man line but never
mass-produced for reasons unclear. Only prototypes exist. The mold was
later used for the "Astral Armor Professor X" with a Prof X head.
None to date.
None to date, though the FF Torch has been done quite a few times.
None to date, though she's be an easy repaint job.
Dozens, perhaps hundreds of versions of this guy over the years. Best
recent version would be the "super-poseable" Spidey I mentioned earlier,
featured in the TBM line, the Spidey line and various two-packs. There's
also a "basic" Spidey fig (great sculpting and painting but limited
poseability) in the current "Web Traps" assortment of the Spidey line,
the first "basic" version of him in quite a while.
None to date.
None to date.
A fairly poor Sandman figure (but the only one to date) is available as
part of a "Maximum Clonage" 8-pack available for $20 US. It's a repainted
Hydro-Man, so the facial likeness is off and the trnasformed hands, which
were sculpted as water, look more like mud than sand.
None to date.
Due to her prominence in the Iron Man cartoon, she was one of the first
figs in the Iron Man line. Good likeness, but stiff arms, poor action
feature and lame accessories. Has been repackaged as part of Hall of Fame
line and has been repainted into many other figures due to largely
featureless body.
None to date.
None to date.
None to date.
None to date.
None to date.
None to date.
None to date.
None to date.
None to date.
None to date.
None to date.