Let the Secret Wars Begin!

It’s verrry rare that I get a chance to grab anything here before everyone in the US already has it, and since I’m impatient and don’t like reporting on old news, I usually order anything I really want from the states. Being a Marvel Universe fan, I already had dibs on some Secret Wars 2-Packs from the land of Old Glory, but lo and behold, I found the first wave right here in Aussie today! Once I picked my jaw up off the ground, I grabbed them and raced home to get them up on the site asap. Wondertwins etc. can wait!

The concept of the Secret Wars 2-Packs is a clever one – one which would have been great to see in 6”, but that’s a lost argument methinks. Hasbro isn’t just getting mileage out of the 25th Anniversary of the series though – they’re also getting a great deal of mileage out of the figures already made in the Marvel Universe line. In the first three 2-Packs we are only getting two new characters: Klaw and Thunderball.

I’m glad I got to pick through these at retail, because unlike the Marvel Universe singles, which haven’t seemed to vary much in quality from what I’ve seen on the pegs, the QC of these figures is all over the place, at least in the packs I saw. All the Thunderballs I saw had different degrees of sloppy paint apps on the faces, I got the only Klaw that didn’t look like he’d put his makeup on in the dark, and the only Spiderman that had a head that didn’t look like a squashed pea. These figures have some interesting structural differences to the first MU sculpts too – for example the new sculpts don’t have ball-jointed feet, just rotating ones, and they have some funky chest articulation, particularly Wolverine, who looks like a barrel-chested pygmy because of the way his chest juts out. Disturbing.

Thankfully my Thunderball and Klaw were the best of the bunch, as these were the ones I was obviously looking forward to the most. Klaw is a great figure, although the lack of properly articulated feet means that he’s harder to stand than he should be. Thunderball is also excellent, although his ball and chain are harder to position than it might seem. Still, it’s great to see them in plastic and standing next to their Secret Wars peers.

Kudos to Hasbro for producing different versions of the repeat characters (except for Spiderman, who in his non squashed pea head state is the MU single version as far as I can tell). Cap has his brighter 80 ’s colouring (although he sports the belt with attachments on it as per the other versions and not the comic-correct plain black belt that is pictured on the card back). This redder version of the Human Torch is actually my favourite of the different versions seen so far in this line – and not just because he stands easily on his own unlike the other two.

In the end these figures are better enjoyed as a group than on their own, and that enjoyment is only going to increase as the next waves of two packs come out – thankfully with fewer repeat characters than this one.

Looking forward to seeing the Secret Wars cast more complete, but would also like to see a bit more consistency in the QC and structure with what Hasbro is doing with the Marvel 3 3/4” scale. Between the MU singles, the Wolverine Origins line and now this, we have three variations on a theme – make up your mind guys!

You can see an expanded range of pics at Facebook, and discuss this at the AFB Forum. 

Until next time!