While there was a lot of things people loved about No Way Home, there is no doubt that the appearance of previous live action stars ranks at the very top of lists. It was nice to see them back in action, and of course, it was nice to make them officially part of the MCU, which of course ends up sparking countless numbers of debates on which film was the first in the MCU.
While I appreciate the effort of Andrew Garfield (who had some truly unfortunate writing for his second movie), it was all about Tobey Maguire for me. I related more to his version of Peter Parker because my parents weren't secret agents. Of course, no matter which one was your favourite, you were basically assured that Hot Toys would make them all, and so I preordered my Tobey, as I passed on the original ones back in 2008 or whatever year it was.
So this figure took a long time for it to reach me. There's the usual realities of living in Canada. Also, for the unaware, there were mass complaints about the placement of the seam on the head, which I'll expand on later. There was also two versions of this figure, with the Deluxe version featuring a fancy base with Sandman and a Doc Ock tentacle.
In terms of content, I wouldn't say we got short changed or anything, but it feels that the price jumps to maintain the status quo are becoming more and more outrageous:
1 x Main Figure
1 x Tobey Maguire Sculpt
1 x Loose Mask Effect
12 x Gripping/Posing Hands
2 x Wrist Webbing Adapters
5 x Webbing Effects
1 x Web End Effect
1 x Long Web Effect
1 x Sandman Cure Effect
1 x Base/Stand
I'll be completely honest - I cannot remember the Cure being used in the movie at all, but since it doesn't feature a set of feminine curves, nobody should be surprised about that.
To get the web shot effects to the figure, you need to swap out the palms of these hands to the ones with clear adapters. I mean, it works mechanically, but considering this is the Spider-Man with the organic web shoots, the connection itself looks kind of weird. There is also the one spread web ending that you can attach to whichever of the thinner webbings you wish to use.
Out of the box, Spidey looks pretty sharp. I don't have too many Hot Toys outside of Black Widow, so its always nice to see a costume that isn't a tight body suit made of recycled panty hose. The Blue parts are still some sort of stretchy patterned nylon but it does seem that the the Red parts are made of some sort of woven fabric. Actual tailoring work is great, able to create that form fitting looking without being impossibly tight. Webbing effects on the suit are raised and appear to be some sort of rubber overlay. Accuracy of the patterns and the emblems were debated and I didn't bother looking because I'm 99% sure if I looked I'd probably find something else wrong.
The actual proportions of the body are off from the real thing, but this is pretty typical for Hot Toys.
Going right to the reason most people buy Hot Toys, the head sculpts. The Tobey head is incredibly average in the usual sense that unless you're blind, you can tell by looking that it's not bad, but there's something very obviously wrong. It doesn't deviate from the prototype much, which wasn't exactly photo accurate to begin with and was way too young looking. There's a softening of details, and I'm pretty sure that the paint on mine is wonky with the pupils pointed in two slightly different directions, giving him that dazed and confused look.
The masked head is the one that cause people grief at the original release. If you look at the top of the head you'll notice a seam, which isn't great but at least sits relatively flush to the head. The original version had the seam down further onto the forehead, and was much more pronounced. One other thing I noticed about this head is that it seems like even at the prototype stage there were two webbing patterns on it. I'm not sure which one is more accurate as I didn't look.
So the good news is that Articulation with either head is pretty much the same, mostly because Tobey doesn't have long flowing hair get in the way of head movement. Actual articulation is both good and incredibly average. The first thing to point out is the fact that the body itself features some ratcheting joints. These are located at major articulation points, namely the hips, abs and shoulders. This, combined with well tailored suit means the figure will actually hold the pose you put it in despite the resistance of the suit materials.
Having said all that, the actual level of articulation on this body isn't any better than your run of the mill Hot Toy, which is unfortunate give the fact this is a SPIDER-MAN, a character known for all sorts of deep lunges and acrobatic poses. The hips are limited by cuts in the groin piece, and the butterfly style shoulder joints offer only modest forward motion. The upper body cannot arch to the side. Head tilt is average.
Thus, overall you're gonna get your typical action poses but not the poses that make this a true Spider-Man.
Paint Applications are typical Hot Toys. I mean, as usual it's really mostly about the head sculpt though more accurately it's about wherever there's actual hard plastic parts. Having said that, there's nothing wrong with any of it in terms of technique and overall product quality. The Tobey head features some subtle stubble effects, though to counter this this some parts of the Cure effect piece look a bit rough.
Build Quality is again pretty good and the usual Hot Toys standards. Ratcheting joints hold up nicely. The suit itself I can see holding up to general posing with no issue, but what remains to be seen is how well the raised webbing patterns hold up to general handling over time - this is the first figure I have which has this particular concern. Sockets for the hands and neck seem to do the job as designed. The only rough part is some of the moulding on the Cure seems on the crude side.
It's nice to have a higher end Tobey figure in the collection, one capable of the ultimate Power Pose none the less. I like the suit and the general finish on it. But as an overall figure, there's nothing that really impresses upon me that this is a must have figure. The unmasked head is the usual melted mess of details, the articulation itself is pretty average. With the mask on you can get some decent standing Spidey poses, but once the Tobey head goes on you kind of lose all sense of "this is a REALLY COOL toy". I mean yeah, you can do some okay battle poses and web swings, but ultimately there really anything this figure can do that other can't - it just has a suit that allows it to actually pose.
For Full Gallery, please visit:
Comments