The Thing and Silver Surfer

Thing and Silver Surfer

Marvel Legends - Hasbro

Walgreens Exclusives

Walgreens dropped back-to-back Fantastic Four exclusives on us in a matter of weeks...and they're both heavy hitters!  While I have older Toy Biz versions of both that I was completely happy with, these are pretty much perfection and must-haves while we wait for the Fox/Disney merger to decide what happens with the future of these characters.  I can see future movie versions, but I wouldn't wait to snap up any great comic accurates.  

The Surfer comes with a couple extra set of hands, some energy effects (Hasbro really likes reusing the same three standards), and his surf board.  The board has one foot peg for his back foot, which it good enough for posing but nowhere near as fun/toyetic as the magnetic board that came with the Toy Biz version.  Everything else is great, though.  His silver paint job really pops and you can get him in a lot of great poses with the butterfly shoulder joints.

Putting the Thing out in toy form has proved quite divisive in some action figure forums:  "too tall, too wide, the shorts are wrong, his rocks aren't plate-like, he should never have teeth," and the opposite.  Blah blah blah.  Different artist have drawn him different ways, so you're never going to make everyone happy.  I was happy with the Ultimate Thing (even though I don't like the Ultimate comics) from Toy Biz's FF sub-line about 12 years back, but this new one from Hasbro has dethroned him and taken his rightful seat in the Fantasticar.  He's a happy medium with all those complaints above:  big, but not too big; wide, but not too wide; a head with teeth, and one without.  He's also got a set of open hands and a set of closed fists.  He's pretty posable for a big lug, and the detailing and paint in the rocks looks so so so so damn good!  What's not to love about this version of everyone's favorite ever-lovin', blue-eyed Thing?!

Sweet Aunt Petunia...even his butt is appropriately rocky!

 Walgreens has assembled the greatest rendition of the Fantastic Four so far.  You should still be able to find Sue, Johnny, and Reed on shelves right now as Thing and Surfer trickle in.  I wonder what's next...could the greatest villain in Marvel Comics be waiting in the wings for his time to strike?

The Fantastic Four

The Fantastic Four

Marvel Legends - Hasbro

 

Like the X-Men, Hasbro has lifted the shameful embargo on another non-Marvel Cinematic Universe family:  The Fantastic Four!  Although the catch is that they are Walgreen's exclusives.  That's not a terrible thing, as I have had no trouble with their exclusive figures thus far.  The downside is that you have to wait so long, quarterly or longer, between figures. 

 

Sue Storm, the Invisible Woman, was the first figure.  Man, Hasbro has really come a long way with the female body sculpt!  Sue looks great from head to toe. She's got a nice "phasing" effect with one of her arms to show off her invisible powers.  This is decent, but you'll have to use your imagination to go full-on invisible or wait for a fully translucent figure.  It would have been nice if they had included some sort of force shield or other effect like Toy Biz did with the Jessica Alba figures way back when.  Jessica Alba...ha...talk about phasing out.

Lack of demonstrative power aside, the Invisible Woman does come with a big accessory: H.E.R.B.I.E. (Humanoid Experimental Robot, B-type, Integrated Electronics).  Herb was a cute robot designed for the 1978 cartoon when they couldn't use the Human Torch for some reason.  He made his comic universe debut shortly after.  Stupid, yes...but he's got the mark of Jack Kirby about him, so he's cool in my book.  He's got a ball-jointed head for articulation and a clear flight stand.

 

Johnny Storm, the Human Torch, made his Walgreen's debut months later.  He's in full "flame-on" mode, which is a challenge to bring variety to a potentially one-color figure.  I feel that Hasbro did okay.  I like that you can still see some of his uniform, like the belt and symbol, and they varied some translucent plastic effects here and there.  He's got some sculpted on flames on the hands, boots, and head and comes with removable shoulder flames, like Iceman did with his ice effect.  He also comes with some hand flame effects that are similar to what was used with Sunfire.

Dr. Reed Richards, the leader of the Four known as Mr. Fantastic, had to have been one of my most wanted Hasbro re-dos.  And they did not disappoint.  He's got a set of "stretchy" bendable arms to demonstrate his powers. He's thin, reusing the "pizza" Spider-Man body with new feet and hands.  And the head, of course...not a bad take on the smartest man in the Marvel Universe.  I only wish they could have included a pipe accessory.  Ah, I'll settle for the Ultimate Nullifier!  This tiny accessory is supposed to be one of the most devastating weapons in all the universe, able to eliminate any target the wielder has in mind and instilling fear into the mightiest of beings like the world-devouring Galactus.

 

 

Even though there is a new Thing figure coming down the line, it's gonna be hard to top this Toy Biz version in my line-up.  The same goes for Hasbro's Dr. Doom from some time back.  I feel that I have my ideal fantastic family here.  So, load up in the Fantasticar and let's get into some Kirby-esque, cosmic adventure that is sorely lacking in the MCU!  Sorry, Guardians of the Galaxy...you were just a placeholder.