Hey all, thanks for stopping by Dan's ToyBox. Today we're taking a look at the Hasbro Marvel Legends: Spider-Man Retro Series: Scarlet Spider Action Figure. I missed out on both earlier versions of this figure, mainly because I wasn't collecting as much when the first version was released and then when the next version came out, I was unable to find one before they sold out and went crazy, price wise. So, when Hasbro announced this new one, I immediately jumped on that boat!
Dr. Miles Warren, a.k.a. the Jackal managed to obtain a sample of Spider-Man's blood and used it in a nefarious plot to create a clone of the web-spinning hero! After a battle, which seemingly left the clone dead, we later learn that he had survived the fight and disappeared. Returning to New York City after a self-imposed exile Peter Parker's clone, Ben Reilly sought to establish his own identity and joined Spider-Man as the Scarlet Spider. Donning a costume of his own invention, Reilly fought alongside the web-slinger until it was "revealed" that HE was the original Peter Parker. Shaken by this news, Peter decides to leave New York with Mary Jane for a while, leaving Reilly to defend the city. We later learn that Norman Osborne had somehow tampered with the test results, and that Ben was truly the clone all along. Peter learns of this as he watches his "brother" die in battle with the Green Goblin and suffer the cellular degeneration that plagued all of Miles Warren's clone experiments.
Honestly, I wasn't a fan of the whole clone storyline in the 90's which brought the character back into the Marvel Universe and initially disliked the Scarlet Spider costume. I hated the torn hoodie and extra pouches... but this was the 90's and that was the style. Over time though, the character and costume grew on me, allowing me to appreciate it for what it was. I've got the Mafex Scarlet Spider and finally have a Legends Scarlet Spider, which does NOT disappoint!
Accessories: 5/10
Unlike the '97 X-Men Cyclops, which came packed with a pretty fair number of accessories, this figure is minimal. He comes with three pairs of hands: fists, thwippers, and wall crawling. There are no web accessories or alternate head sculpts. I'm pretty disappointed because an unmasked Ben Reilly head or even one with different shapes for the eye pieces would have been great! As this stands, we are given the requisite hands which every Spider-Man style figure should have. As we now come to expect those, the score for accessories is average at best.
Appearance: 10/10
Every now and then, Hasbro smacks one out of the park and this is one of those times. The Scarlet Spider costume is, easily, one of the simplest designs. Red bodysuit with a ripped blue hoodie, white lenses, web shooters, web cartridge refill belt and ankle pouches. Yet, Hasbro has taken this simple design and somehow elevated it. The amount of detail packed into such an easy design is kind of amazing. First off... the white paint for his eye lenses is super clean and opaque, not allowing any of the red plastic to show through. Of even greater notice is the fact that the lenses are actually sculpted on. I had to grab my magnifying lenses to be absolutely sure. The sculpt is so subtle, yet it's there and it looks fantastic. The paint application is so well done on the eyes. I'm really impressed. Moving on, the drawstrings on the hoodie are a bright white and there is no overspill of paint on mine, which makes them stand out very nicely against the blue. The spider logos are an almost glossy black with sharp lines and edges. The hoodie is sculpted beautifully, with wrinkles, jagged/torn edges, and a very realistic looking hood. Moving on to the webshooters, they are a molded silver with the sculpted detail of the web fluid cartridges. His belt, though, also shows a significant amount of attnetion to detail, from the ridges sculpted into the actual belt portion, to the individual cartridges and finally, the silver belt buckle, with the red spider signal mounted in the front. I thought for sure that we'd see some overspray or splotch, but it's really minute. There was a lot of precision put into the belt piece, which is excellent. Even the ankle pouches are detailed, the buckles and snaps are painted silver, to stand out from the darker brown of the pouches and straps. I am very happy with how this Scarlet Spider looks and applaud Hasbro for their efforts on this figure.
Articulation: 9/10
This rating will likely blow your minds, simply because we're so used to Hasbro's Legend engineering that it's become nothing really special. Yet... with this figure, the range of motion I've encountered has really surprised me. There are areas where you'd expect limitation, which really aren't that bad and there are areas where you'd hope for better range, that are lacking. With that in mind, we'll start up top. His head is on a ball peg, with the cut-out slot in the back of his neck. Unfortunately, even with that option, his ability to look upward isn't quite what we'd hope. He can, however, look down quite well and is able to turn his head side to side with ease and even has some tilt for attitude. The shoulders work better than I expected. They raise out to just above a T pose and can rotate a full 360 degrees. The butterfly joints work better going back than they do going forward, which should be expected with the hoodie overlay. The bicep swivels work fine and the double-jointed elbows have excellent range, bringing his hands right to his face. The wrists on all of the hands can hinge and swivel, even with the web shooters in place. (Be careful swapping hands though, as the web shooters are removable.) My biggest surprise came when I attempted to manipulate his torso joints. I figured the hoodie would be a huge hindrance, so you can imagine how shocked I was when I was able to get him into a decent crunch! The upper joint is a ball swivel, which allows for rotation, some side-to-side tilt, forward, and backward crunch and when used in conjunction with the lower torso hinge, increases his crunch and backbend very nicely. There is no waist rotation though, which is fine. His legs drop down some at the hips, which helps increase his range for splits. Though not as good as the G. I. Joe line, this is better than what we usually get for Spider-Man style figures. His legs kick forward very nicely, and the upper thigh cut works just fine. The knees are double-jointed as well and can bend all the way in, bringing his heel to his back. The ankles feature that wonderful hinge and pivot we know and love from Hasbro and his toe articulation is firm, which helps with posing. I even managed to balance him in a crouch, on a pillow, which you can see in one of the photos above. I did take one point off though, because my right leg is a bit loose, not too bad, but just enough to be a mild annoyance. That being said, I can definitely drop a little super glue or something into the joint to help firm it up a bit more.
Affordability: 7/10
The Scarlet Spider figure comes in at the usual Hasbro Marvel Legends price of $25.99. I can praise Hasbro for remaining consistent in pricing, but the relative lack of accessories once again disappoints for the price point.
Overall though... I really can't hide my excitement for this figure. Remaining objective though, I'm happy to give the Retro Spider-Man Hasbro Marvel Legends a solid:
8.75 out of 10 ToyBoxes!
From a personal standpoint, I'm biased because I really like this figure. Truth be told... he's going to look amazing in any Legends collection, or any Spider-Man focused collection. Thanks for all your support! Until next time... GEEK OUT!!!