Spider-Man,Spider-Man!
Since the 70's ,every decade has seen a Spider-Man action figure release. Mego and Remco got the ball rolling with Pocket Heroes and Energized Spidey. Mattel would then pick up the torch In 1984 with the Secret Wars line ,giving us both a red and black suit Spider-Man figure.While most collectors who grew up In the 70's would point to their beloved Mego Spider-Man as their definitive version ,I would have to say Mattel nailed It. Nothing fancy.Just a solid 3 3/4 action figure with no gimmicks or features to get in the way of the sculpt.The web shooting and thwipp effects would come solely from our imaginations.
Things were looking up for action figure Spidey and every few years or so ,a new, more efficient version would be released.I ,for one,couldn't wait to see what the 90's would have In store.I mean,with technology booming,cartoons premiering ,It was definitely time for "THE" Spider-Man action figure to be unveiled.And then... we got...
Things were looking up for action figure Spidey and every few years or so ,a new, more efficient version would be released.I ,for one,couldn't wait to see what the 90's would have In store.I mean,with technology booming,cartoons premiering ,It was definitely time for "THE" Spider-Man action figure to be unveiled.And then... we got...
ToyBiz decided to jump into the Marvel super hero foray with their own line of gimmick heavy action figures. And Spider-Man ,imo,got the short end of the stick.Nothing ruined an action figure for me more than permanently attached weapons or accessories to their hands. In this case ,It was worst than a weapon.Try two gigantic suction cups that constantly had to be licked in order for them to stick to anything .And they did It to Nightcrawler ,too!But I'll save that for another post.Needless to say ,many kids cut the suction cups right off of their Spidey figures and I was one of them.
Even on the card back illustration,Spider-Man was drawn with the two "specially designed suction cups" on his hands.Smh.
Funny thing Is ,this version Is pretty popular today among most collectors.If only for nostalgia's sake.This one's carded but stapled shut,so I'll be taking him out of the packaging . I was also lucky enough to find It for a decent price.Well under the $20 It was trending at.Thus,my hunt for the first wave of Toy Biz Marvel Superhero figures begins.
The face on this one reminds me of the knock-offs that you'd see in dollar stores in the late '90s...
ReplyDeleteCertainly not the best version of ol' web head.Very near and dear to my heart ,though ;)
ReplyDeleteStill my favorite to this day is the 3 inch mego pocket heroes figure. Its not a good likeness of hima at all but I got it when I was like 5 so I have good memories of him.
ReplyDeleteThis version has similarities to that Pocket Heroes figure.In a weird way,Toy Biz took It back to those days In the 70s when strange gimmicks were prevalent.I think,anyways.
Deleteoh the Pocket heroes have no gimmicks , they are just straight forward 3 inch figures like the origenal star wars .The problem with the spider man is that he is really fat looking and barrel chested but his legs are really thin.
DeleteWell I was talking about In appearance ,both look really stiff and restricted.The gimmicks I referred to were those Remco energized rappelling figures.
DeleteCool figure. Are you going to cut off the suction cups again?
ReplyDeleteNah.Even though they are the source of some literally sucky childhood memories,they are childhood memories nonetheless :)
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