By Chris Troy
Alright, so it’s been a while FPNYC faithful (Stupid Internets!), but now we’re back at 100% and willing to give you, the reader, the latest news on FPNYC’s toy and collectibles department! Since we’re all living in a post-Thor world (the movie rocked by the way, for all of you who haven’t seen it yet. Also shame on you for not seeing it), it’s only fair that this week we look at the latest releases from the ultra-popular Marvel Universe line. Back in stock are entries from the previous wave (Spider-Women, Spider-Man 2009, Modern Day Iron Man, and War World Hulk), as well as 5 new entries to the line, all straight from the X-Men side of comics. Two of these characters are new in forms, so we’ll check those 2 out first before tackling the first time entries!
Wolverine and Cyclops are going a little old-school with their appearances in this wave. This time around, Wolverine’s sporting his costume from the first time he appeared in “Incredible Hulk #181“, and Cyclops is rocking the Blue and Yellow design from Jim Lee, 1st seen in “X-Men #1“. To be honest, there’s never been a shortage of Wolverine figures on the shelves, so you can skip him if you’re not a big fan of Logan, who’s just sporting a new head sculpt. As for Cyke, he hasn’t been a single-card release since the X-Men Origins: Wolverine line, so if you missed the limited release as well as the Classic Cyclop/Dark Phoenix 2-pack from last year, here’s you chance to have the leader of the X-Men join your ranks.
So with that out of the way, let’s check out the new characters. First off is Cable, in all of his gun and pouches 90s’ glory. Aside from the Liefield cliches he’s rolling in, Cable comes with the supposed Mutant Messiah Hope Summer, still in her infant stage from the Messiah Complex story arc. Cable, a character I never really cared for, is easily the pick of this wave. His life-long enemy, fan favorite Apocalypse, also makes his line debut and is a HUGE (when compared with the rest of the wave) figure! Worth nothing is that his face sculpt is pretty rough. Its not much of a deal-breaker, even though the first mutant is not looking his finest. Rounding out the line is Sh’iar hero/occasional X-enemy/Member of the Cosmic powerhouses know as the Annihilators: Gladiator!! It’s always nice to see the more obscure corners of the Marvel Universe getting represented, and now you have Gladiator to hang out with your Silver Surfer MU figure when he’s not punching X-Men. A solid wave overall, I just wish we gotten some accessories packaged with the characters, not just Cable.
Hasbro has also re-released some older 2-packs (Spidey & Sentry, Thor & Iron Man, Cap & Wolverine) alongside two new 2-packs; also pretty X-Men heavy. Yet another Wolverine (rocking his John Buscema black costume) is packaged with 1st time entry Silver Samuari. The Samuari, who has a fairly impressive sculpt, comes with a katana and kodachi to go toe-to-to with Logan. The highlight for me, and according to internet buzz, is the Deadpool and Taskmaster 2-pack. Both characters have seen a huge boost in popularity thanks to Marvel vs Capcom 3, as well as various appearance in on-going and mini series stories, and this 2-pack is a gem. Deadpool, who first and last appeared in back in the Wolverine Origin line, is now rocking a Reily Brown head sculpt and a new chest harness. This is Taskmaster’s 1st appearance in the line, and much like Silver Samurai, he has a great sculpt,. and comes loaded with a ton of accessories; a shield, pistol, sword, and a bow. Deadpool’s no slouch either though, as he comes wielding a sword, pistol, and knife. If you can find this 2-pack on our shelves, buy it on sight, it’s pretty great, and is sure to be one of the more sought-after releases this spring/summer.
