Merchandise Review:
At last, the Marvel Select Thanos is here, and in-hand! This has been one of the most eagerly anticipated figures in the select line, and I've been dying for this release since it was announced at last February's Toy Fair. A few retailers got theirs on November the 9th, which was about a week early. Most shops got theirs on the 16th. Unfortunately, because of typical Diamond shennanigans, my local shop didn't get theirs in until THIS week. Believe me, the wait was irritating. I'm not big with the delayed gratification. Anyway, lets get this review started!
 = crap on a cracker, = passable, = well done, = NICE!
PACKAGING
In a word, "flimsy" would best describe it. The MS figures are large and heavy, and they really should come in boxes as opposed to the giant blister cards they actually come in. Its hard to find one that isn't bent or banged up in some way, so that makes these figures less attractive to the MOC/MIB collectors. Fortunately for me, I open everything, and thus its almost a non-issue. Also, the blister-card IS nicely adorned with cool graphics and images.
SCULPT
Its virtually flawless. If I really wanted to be a nit-picky bastard, I could complain about the lack of the rectangular border-deco on the edges of Thanos' gloves, which the boots do indeed have. However, the rest of the sculpt is SO good, I don't care. This is the definitive rendtion of the Mad-Titan. He's huge, he's solid, he's heavy, and at 8.26 inches in height, he LOOMS over almost everything else, and looks as if he's going to eat your entire collection for breakfast with a side of bacon and a frosty carton of OJ (Yeah, he'd drink it straight out of the carton, and you wouldn't say ZIP about it) to wash it all down. That's just cool. In another nice touch, I had noticed that the prototype displayed at Toy Fair lacked the Infinity Gem on the back of the hand. However, they had corrected this by the time the figure went into production. Now that's what I call paying attention.
PAINT
And here's where we find real problems. Its rather difficult to find one of these with a good paint-job. As I went through the case, I saw some with smudged or chipped paint, and some uneven coverage. Fortunately I managed to find one with a pretty good set of paint apps. However, that doesn't excuse having to go through a whole case just to find one good one. At the near $20 price-range, the QC on the paint applications should be far better then they are on the Marvel Legends line. And even the good ones have problems with rather crappy paint-washes on the figure's face, which is a shame given the level of detail in the sculpt. And I really hate the overuse of the red paint around his eyes, because it extends far down on his cheeks and makes him look like he's blushing. Also, the paint on the Infinity Gems is too dull. They don't pop like they really should.
ARTICULATION
And the pendulum swings back to "awesome". The MS line has gradually been increasing the articulation in its figures, and Thanos is a shining example. With 18 points of articulation, he's very close to a Marvel Legends in that regard. What's even better is that none of the articulation really mars the sculpt, and that's why I don't miss something like an ab-crunch, which often looks bad. Thanos boasts ball-jointed shoulders, hips, and neck. A swiveling waist, biceps at the shoulder-balls, thighs at the hip-balls, and forearms beneath the glove-edges. He has the standard hinged elbows, kneees, and also ankles. And, get this, the hinged joints are actually partial ratcheting-joints. Sweet! The only articulation I'd actually say I'd add are boot-swivels, but even without them, the articulation is pretty much all you could ask for.
ACCESSORIES
Thanos comes with a really well-sculpted figurine of Mistress Death, who also comes with a human face-mask that is really well-painted. And what Thanos figure would be complete without the all-powerful Infinity Gauntlet? Not this one, since he comes with it! This bad-boy needs nothing else!
VALUE
At $18.99, this figure is a good value from where I'm standing. However, the lack of good QC on the paint apps, and the fact that foreign buyers are likely to get reamed price-wise, brings the value rating down by one gem.
THE VERDICT
So close. So VERY close to absolute perfection. Its scary how cool this figure is, even with the poor paint. This is one of the best figues to ever grace the Marvel Select line, and is a damn fine figure overall. Major props go out to sculptor Phil Ramirez, because the sculpt was truly done right. If we never see a Thanos in the Legends line itself, I'll be okay with this version. This is easily the finest, coolest, most accurate Thanos figure that Toy Biz has ever produced. Kudos on a job well done. Now, just find a way to improve the QC on the paint apps, and we'll be golden.
Photos:
Taken with my Fujifilm Finepix A 345 Digital Camera. As always, click for the bigguns!
Review by CORVUS - Wed, November 23, 2005
|
