Welcome to another Dan's ToyBox Review. This... this is the figure I've been waiting for. I know we were all thrilled when Hasbro released their Final Swing Spider-Man and though he's become a fan favorite, I'm still disappointed with the poor-quality control. You can see my review HERE. The Bandai/Tamashii Nations SHFiguarts version, on the other hand, is an absolute thing of joy for me. Sure, there are some issues and chances are good that when Mafex finally announces their version, it will become my favorite, but until that time... SHF owns that number one spot for me!
So... let's discuss!
If you haven't seen Spider-Man No Way Home by now... I don't even know what to say... what are you waiting for? Go! Watch the movie! Because otherwise this review is one giant spoiler for the ending scene!
Accessories: 8/10
SHF has a history of making sure we have a plethora of goodies to pose up figures with. The packaging has also slimmed down considerably, offering much sleeker storage options. The figure is packed with two heads, with different eye sculpts, one narrowed and one with wider open lenses. There are two web shooting effects, a short line and a mid-length webline. Both of which attach at the wrist pegs and are made of a clear plastic, which is somewhat pliable, but I'd recommend being careful so as not to bend them. There is a longer webline for swinging poses, which will plug into his web holding hands. Spider-Man comes with five pairs of interchangeable hands: One pair of fists, one pair of web swinging, one pair of wall crawling, one pair of relaxed, and one pair of web thwipping hands. He also has a small tool to pop out a panel on his back and plug in the small port plug which can be used with most standard display/flight stands. I have noticed that SHF has reduced the number of weblines. In past offerings there were two of each of the thwipping webs and two swinging lines unfortunately, this has a minimal effect on the reduction in price.
Appearance: 9/10
Spider-Man missed out on a perfect score in this because of two small elements which were utterly disappointing to see.
When you crunch the figure forward... the paint apps for the spider on his back are totally shot. As you can see SHF attempted to "extend" the look of the spider when you pose the figure, however, they chose to curve the tops of the legs inward, which breaks the illusion. Additionally, they bottom portion of the spider on his upper half starts tapering and then fails to match up with the bottom portion on his lower torso. This makes for a very odd look even when he's posed upright, much more so when crouched. The other half of this disaster is the red ring of his "belt" at the bottom of the lower torso. To hide the gap that was visible in previous SHF figures, they added a small inner piece which was a stroke of genius. However, rather than leaving the bottom of the lower torso blue, for some reason SHF elected to paint a red belt strip around it. This, as you can see, gives another very odd look to the figure when he's crouched or crunching forward. These are the two most glaring issues I have with the figure, which is so sad because this is one of the best-looking Spider-Man movie figures I've ever seen. When this costume debuted onscreen, I know I cheered as loud as anybody else in the theatre and when Hasbro released their version, I was excited for it to arrive. Sadly, it has problems all its own. Now, with the gripes out of the way, let's talk about the rest of the figure. The metallic blue gives an amazing look of spandex as pictured in the film and the reds are brilliant. I am so impressed with the application of the weblines and the eyepieces as well. The white lenses are super clean, and the black is solid, without any overspray anywhere. I'm still torn as to which head I want to display him with. Both front and back logos are clean and look amazing, aside from the issues discussed already. When posed with the clear webbing, the figure takes on an amazing life of its own and really stands out on my shelf. I know this costume didn't appear until after Tobey and Andrew's scenes were over, but I'm looking forward to posing it with those figures as well. I am planning a movie Spider-Man figure comparison article in the near future, so watch for that!
Articulation: 8/10
SHF has long been associated with solid articulation engineering. This figure is no less of an example. However, in spite of the really good articulation, there are some problem areas, which we'll discuss. Spider-Man has outstanding head and neck articulation. The head can turn side to side with ease, has amazing tilt for attitude and/or his curious pose and can look up nicely and down very well. The neck is also articulated and can tilt back, forward, and side to side, thus increasing the range of head movement. The shoulders are built on the traditional SHF butterfly and ball joint design. He can raise to above a T pose, shrug up and down, rotate 360 degrees, and does have minimal forward and backward hinge. The range is limited though. His bicep swivel works well without any hindrances. The elbows have incredible range and bend in well beyond 90 degrees. The wrist pegs will hinge and pivot but take care when swapping the hands. I discovered that the peg on my figure's left wrist has a tendency to give me some trouble when plugging a new hand onto it. It will hinge easily, and I do worry about accidentally snapping it. Moving on to his upper torso. The top diaphragm joint rotates easily but there is minimal forward and backward crunch, which is disappointing. The lower joint increases crunch range forward and, to a degree, backward but has no side-to-side tilt, nor does mine have a waist twist. The legs, complete with the swiveling butt flaps can do a fantastic split and kick forward very high, along with a decent back kick. I know the butt flaps are universally disliked but having them allows the legs to move higher up when kicking forward. The thigh swivel works but be careful so that you don't scrape the paint. The double-jointed knee design is terrific and continues to provide the range we need for basic Spider-Man poses. The ankles have basic hinge and pivot and the toe hinge is sturdy enough to support the figure in a crouching pose. More range in the torso would have easily elevated this score.
Affordability: 8/10
As this is an import, you know it's going to be pricey. I landed mine on BBTS for $84.99. This price is a bit less than the normal rate for a new figure. However, as I mentioned earlier, he does come with fewer webs, no display stand, and only one alternate head, which puts the pricing more in line with previous similar offerings. I don't really have an issue paying this amount because I'm not getting hit with overseas shipping costs. There are many outlets overseas which will allow you to get your import figures much sooner than stores here in the U.S. and though you will pay less for the figure, you're going to get hit with higher shipping rates. Personally, for me, it's worth paying a bit more to support a domestic retailer and have a lower shipping cost even if I have to wait a little longer than other people.
Overall, I really like this figure a lot. Were the costume design on his back done differently, the overall grade would have been awfully tough not to give an extremely high score. As it is, I have to put my innate bias aside and try to be objective. Even with the design issues and the articulation limitations, this is still a darn fine figure to have, especially for any die hard Spider-Man fan. With that in mind, it's very easy for me to give the Bandai/Tamashii Nations SHFiguarts Spider-Man No Way Home "Red and Blue Costume" a solid:
8.5 out of 10 ToyBoxes
I'm very happy with this figure and so thrilled to have him on my shelf. It's going to be fun to see what Mafex eventually offers, and I know I'll be adding that to my collection. Until then, this is my favorite No Way Home "Final Swing" Spider-Man action figure. Until next time... GEEK OUT!!!