Johnny Storm, aka the Human Torch, made his first Marvel Legends appearance in Series 2 of the Toy Biz run. Using the Spider-Man Classics Spidey base figure this was one of the great early figures. I guess it’s more of Spider-Man Classics Daredevil figure which was based off the Spidey base, smooth surfaces and no etched webbing. And if that doesn’t take you back, the this review should!
We’ve already covered the rest of this wave, Thing, Namor, and Dr. Doom and Johnny finishes it off. The Human Torch is another great, classic character! He’s part of Marvel’s first family, The Fantastic Four, and he’s been through hell and back. Younger brother to Susan Storm, the Invisible Woman, he’s constantly been playing the goof-off younger brother constantly teasing Ben Grimm, aka The Thing, and getting into various mischief. That isn’t to say that Torch hasn’t done some growing up over the years, he’s had his fair share of drama. Just check out Original Sin’s Thing story line.
As mentioned the figure is based on the old Spiderman Classics base figure, it was a great sculpt for the young adult in the growing Marvel Legends universe and as sometimes mirror to Spidey a perfect fit. There isn’t much in the way of muscles, but then the Torch was never really shown as a big monster pile of muscle, most of his physique was pretty non-descript. It’s a simple base figure accentuated by sculpted flames, they aren’t removable and they don’t get in the way of the figure. Sometimes these sculpted parts can get in the way, not here.
The articulation is great! There was so much built into this base figure and for the most part it was pretty reliable. There were some things that could use improvement, the neck ball doesn’t give much range of motion and the hips are spread wide. Other than that I love the articulation on this figure. Here is the breakdown:
Hinged Toes
Rocker ankles
Hinged ankles
Swivel calves
Double hinged knees
Swivel thighs
Ball hips
Swivel waist
Ball abs
Ball shoulders
Swivel biceps
Double hinged elbows
Swivel forearms
Hinged wrists
Hinged fingers
Swivel neck
Ball head
Torch comes with a flame base that he can attach to around his waist, there is a spurt of flame that attaches to his right hand and you can cup his other hand behind the flame ball to make it look like he is shooting flame. It’s a great base and one that captures the essence of the character.
He’s a great figure, but he’ll look dated in your current Marvel Legends collection; however I do recommend picking up the figure for your collection, there’s a nostalgia to him that is hard to resist. You can pick him at:
