Author Topic: Fantastic Four, Dr. Doom and Blastaar  (Read 2994 times)

Offline zedhatch

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Fantastic Four, Dr. Doom and Blastaar
« on: April 28, 2013, 08:47:23 AM »


The Fantastic Four, the flagship team of Marvel Comics.

I said that once and got into a big debate about the term "flagship."  It seems some people want to argue about anything.  The FF really changed a great many things about comics at the time.  They were the first superhero group who didn't get along.  The first team to try to put a realistic spin on the fantastic (Like Johnny Storm's reaction to their first long journey into space).  The characters had motivations and humanity rather than simply being paper cutter people in costumes.   The FF did nothing to conceal their identities either, an idea radical at the time (and one not often repeated).  And perhaps most important, they are the direct reason for Stan Lee remaining in comics.  Stan was about to give it up when he created the FF, he wanted to do a team his way and that is exactly what he did.  The success of the FF was pretty astounding for the time and even had bunches of fan mail.  Stan the man printed some of the letters in the mail column of FF #3 and that started a bigger trend in Marvel, direct interaction with the fans.  Of course in these days of Twitter and Facebook answering letters doesn't seem that direct but at the time it was petty unheard of.  Some will point to Spider-Man being the cause of Lee sticking with comics but clearly even if Spidey had doubled his impressive sales it looks like the FF really kept him going.  Let's also not forget this is the team that brought us Galactus, The Silver Surfer, the return of Namor, Dr. Doom, the first cross-over (with the aforementioned Spider-Man), The Inhumans, Black Panther, The Kree and the Skrull, Adam Warlock and the Negative Zone just to name a few.  In other words the FF is the foundation of much of the common ideas of the Marvel Universe.  

Still the Fantastic Four sometimes appear to have lost their way.  Some say it's because the team has remained constant while others say that the team never had it.  I think that maybe the team isn't as big as they used to be because they quit being what they were.  They opened up the Marvel Universe in all ways, many point to the extra-dimensional and interstellar travels but also the FF showed us the world of the Marvel Universe.    

So since Marvel Universe began I have waited for the Fantastic Four to be finished as a team.    They generally are the first team to get out in figure form due to the simple fact that the roster has remained relatively stable (with some exceptions of course like She-Hulk replacing Thing for a while and of course when Reed and Sue "retired").  We got the Human Torch pretty early and got Thing (as flawed as the figure was).  Mr. Fantastic came along after a bit in a comic pack, but where was Sue?  In the infinite wisdom of Hasbro they released her in a team pack.  In fact they released her a few times in the Team Pack for Fantastic Four.  I held out though expecting a single packed version in the more traditional garb like Johnny and Reed had been.  Instead we get invisible variants as well as Future Foundation.  So finally after all this time I picked up the original pack that had been sitting at my local comic shop for quite some time.  The results?  Well let's take a look.



Reed is the brains of the operation of course.  In recent years it seems that Reed is taking that "guy who ignores his wife for the interest of science" role.  Basically an egghead who has no sex drive.  Note that this has never been accompanied by any serious problems in their relationship to contribute to this.  Sure Reed and Sue have had problems but it seems the most "human" of the super-hero groups actually haven't had that much in the way of "human" relationships.  The topic of their separate interests does get touch on but rather than having a long term "working it out" sub-plot things are "just fine" before any real emotions are touched on.  There have only been a few real fights between them and even then it's just an "explode and make up" kind of thing

Reed's figure is a vast improvement over the last attempt.  This time they switched with the skinny mold rather than the DD/Bullseye mold from Wave 1.  The mold fits Reed much better for the character.  He'd bee 100 times better with some extended limbs to swap out though.  



The head sculpt is also an improvement over the first attempt.  His grey highlights on the side are pained much lighter than the Secret Wars pack.  In some ways it works but in others it does look like a bad paint job rather than hair.  I think if they had left it brown all around it would look better.  Maybe a younger Reed or something.  But that wouldn't have matched this outfit.  



Overall the inevitable comparison to SHS version comes out almost even.  I think the body does work better one SHS despite the weird vieniness of the legs on the SHS.   However the head sculpt is a bit better for the team pack.  In the end if you are going for Sue you are getting Reed anyway.  He's good enough but not the greatest.  

On to Aunt Petunia's favorite nephew.



So when this one was first pictured I was hoping that Hasbro would improve him much as they did Hulk.  NOPE!  It's the same as the single pack with bare feet (but they did fix that knee at least).  The hips still can move other than a swivel.  Massively disappointing.  



The body can get into some poses, but not a lot.  The big thing about Thing is, like before, he can't be put in a pose that he looks sideways.  



He has "Man Thing" lumped over stance that kills any chances to get a realistic range of motion with the head.  Why Hasbro choose this design nor why they wanted to repeat that wonderful mistake.  This could be a good figure without those screwed up mistakes.  Of course what makes this worse is the super excellent SHS version.  



Unfortunately this comes along with the set, it's a hard thing to get around.  Not only have we seen pretty similar before (Along with the Secret Wars version which appears where the calves come from).  Hasbro really should have took the opportunity to improve on one of the big characters of Marvel Universe.  After all this pack is almost one whole repaint and two repaints with new heads.  It's not like there wasn't enough in the budget to improve on Ben, then again if you look at the Guardians of the Galaxy set, maybe they think the team packs should be cheap-o's

Now to the star of the set:



I think one of my most vivid memories of the Invisible Woman was the old FF cartoon from the 1970's in which she only had inviso powers and no force fields (At least I think that's right) and she made a couple of aliens (Skrulls I think) invisible and they couldn't move because they couldn't see where to put their feet as they walked.  It was the first moment I ever said "WTF!?" and I really started thinking about how often I walked without looking at my feet, it was quite often LOL.  I got the idea but it seemed lame in an action cartoon.  

Sue was the mother hen when she first came about.  A bit of a tough girl (Some have gone so far as to call her a Bitch in early appearances) she really was never "Sexy" as most female character get slapped with in the modern world (but Namor always had a thing for her either way).

Sue did get some more provocative outfits later though.  



and who could ever forget this one:



Hey, it was the 90's.  I suppose inevitably there is the desire to "sex up" all the women in comics so Sue went from the sort of "off limits girl" to:



Yep that about sums it up right there.  

Still the figure went with a look that kind of surprized me as it was a lesser known FF outfit.



Same basics, blue with dark blue highlights but also with short sleeves.  



Sue's hair and face have changed drastically in the several decades she has been around.  This sculpt is a bit odd in that I can't help but feel she resembles Markie Post from Night Court, at least in profile (Yeah, and obscure reference).  Still it works in that Sue keeps getting "made over" every so often that she really could go several ways in appearance.  The female body sculpt is the same one we are used to.  We've seen it so much I can't think of a single thing left to say about it so I won't.

In comparison to the SHS version:



No contest.  Hasbro wins on head sculpt alone.  At least she looks like a normal human being.

There are several variations on this figure including Future Foundation:



Of course there is the Invisible and rumored to be a partly invisible (That I have never seen in person).  So I rcommend you decide which you want because those extras are not worth the time (Unless you want both Future Foundation and Fantastic Four versions but those invisible variations are kind of much).  

But this still isn't done of course.



So I know someone is going to ask "Hey, why so mean to HERBIE" well let me get it out of the way now, if you take away the stand in front you get:



He falls flat on his face.  I have tried to stand him on different surfaces and different ways and this is always what happens.  That kills it right there.  There is an odd outlet in his back which makes me wonder if he might have been originally intended for some other purpose (maybe attached to the Fantastic car?).

And of course someone is going to start talking about the urban legend that HERBIE was added to the original FF cartoon because someone feared kids setting themselves on fire.  Oddly enough the reality was that the torch was going to have his own movie.  Yeah, that is hard to believe but the rights to him were tied up so HERBIE came in as the sub.  

Ultimately this set comes down to the desire for Sue.  Reed and Ben are elsewhere and HERBIE isn't a huge draw by himself.  I think this would have worked better as Sue and HERBIE in a single pack (Much like MJ was with Ms. Lion).  Since that didn't happen I would have to say a solid Maybe on this set.  

But hey, at least my FF is together, that's 3 teams in under a month finished for myself (Avengers and X-Men of course are the others).


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Offline zedhatch

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Re: Fantastic Four, Dr. Doom and Blastaar
« Reply #1 on: April 28, 2013, 08:52:49 AM »
Now if that were all we would be done now, but wait there is a special surprise today:



So I lucked out with this guy, I got him for $3 (with shipping that ended up being less than a single packed figure).  So why would I want this figure and not the Spider-Man that came with him nor any of the Future foundation.  Pure novelty. 

If you remember back with the White Vader and White Snake Eyes (Artic ROC) and Black Storm Shadow, there is some novelty in seeing a character being somewhat out of character like this.  Doom in white just isn't something you think of despite the fact that this is how Doom appears in the comics. 

In case you are wondering about the gun, yes I have it but part of me feels:



The figure is a straight repaint of the Secret Wars pack and Single pack.  He has the same exact merits and flaws of both figures (including the arms being unable to rest on the sides) however the knees don't have the huge issue of being knocking together as the Secret Wars figure had so I do wonder if some minor retooling was done here. 



The figure is very detailed and not quite a white as I originally expected due to some wash that was added to it.  While I dig the novelty of the figure I will be blunt in saying I don't get Doom working with Richards.  I read up on the why's and all (attempting to not spoil here) but it just seems forced and not organic.  I mean Doom hates Reed.  Let's not forget how Doom tried to hurt Franklin too.  I suppose it doesn't matter as Doom is in another dimension for now though. 

Still it seems you can get any variation of Doom you might desire.



Still there is a big part of me that says make one more, in all black just for fun. 



So if you can I would say grab Doom if only for novelty purposes.  Him and White Vader will probably have some interesting adventures to say the least.

But wait, there's more.



Big Blastaar is one of those Marvel Villains I think most kind of write off too easily.  He's every bit as powerful as many of the top Villains in MU.  However his whole motivation centers on the Negative Zone which has very little effect on the regular MU and thus I think he doesn't really get treated as a serious threat.  He's not well known for that reason either.  In fact I know of many that would refer to him as a C-List villain and it would be hard to argue with them.   Blastaar has gone toe-to-toe with the Avengers and nearly come out on top though.  He also has attempted to invade the Earth several times.  He was once imprisoned in Adamatuim and cast to the bottom of the Atlantic.  Yes, he survived which should put his Badassery meter into +1000.  He also has "died" but apparently he can hibernate and he came back with a vengeance taking over the Negative Zone Prison introduced in Civil War. 

It should be noted that Blastaar is presented in his original look rather than the drastically different look he has shown recently. 



I have to admit in a rare out of character moment for me I actually like the more modern look for him.  Still I am amazed this character ever got made for MU at all.  He wasn't high on anyone's want list that I have seen.  Although when Toybiz has done FF related lines he did come up fairly quickly but I suppose that was because next to Doom he was one of the more power bad guys FF had.  Still it seems most of FF has been ignored in the MU line so again he becomes very unexpected. 



Blastaar borrows heavily from the Juggernaught mold which works for him.  Like Juggy he is huge and looks incredibly powerful.  He has nothing indicating his concussive blasts but does have a variant with translucent forearms indicating such.  I really like the open hand as it can nearly grasp smaller figures like Mr. Fantastic to create some dynamic poses.  The collar is the most original piece along with the head.  The look really sells his classic look.  The face is a bit odd but so was his earliest appearances so it fits. 



Blastaar looks like he could take down the Avengers by his shear size alone.  We have seen this kind of oversized mold with Apocalypse, Thanos, Skaar, and Hulk to name a few.  It's still an effective mold for those purposes. 



I would have to recommend Blastaar.  I can see arguments for better villains, but with as weak as MU has always been with villains it's a miracle he was even made.

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Offline Tamer

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Re: Fantastic Four, Dr. Doom and Blastaar
« Reply #2 on: April 29, 2013, 02:55:10 AM »
Loved the background you gave us and comparison pics to previously released versions. Back on the front page.

Offline zedhatch

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Re: Fantastic Four, Dr. Doom and Blastaar
« Reply #3 on: April 29, 2013, 09:13:26 AM »
Thanks. 

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