Silver Surfer zooms across the galaxy on his surfboard looking for new planets to be consumed by his master Galactus! That is, until he finds Earth, falls in love with it, and tells the giant planet eater to buzz off.
This silver-skinned cosmic hero from Marvel Comics made his debut in Fantastic Four #48 in 1966. He’s an ancient character by comic book standards and has been involved with just about every super team and hero to bless the pages of Marvel. He’s had his own series and still has his own series. And prior to this 6-inch Marvel Legend action figure, he even had a couple of 5-inch incarnations. But this figure debuted in Marvel Legends Series 5 and is a follow up to the Fantastic Four theme in Series 2.
Silver Surfer uses the Spider-Man Classics Daredevil base body, which was kind of like the Bucky Cap (or Daredevil) figure that we all know and love these days. Back then, everyone was wanting every character on the Daredevil base, which was understandable, it was a fine-looking figure. Silver Surfer was the perfect match for the base; it just needed some new feet, a new head, and some snappy pointing-finger hands. The head is probably the most discussed as it doesn’t really look like any Silver Surfer drawn to date. Yeah, it channels it, but it’s not a great sculpt. The feet are a bit wider and fatter than Daredevil’s in order to hold magnets that would allow Surfer to cling to his surfboard.
The articulation of this figure is insane; it’s got all the standard Marvel Legends joints and has some hinged rocker shoulders that allow him to stretch his arms out. As I play with the figure and snap photos, I can see that his joints have not withstood the test of time. He flops and lops and barely holds any pose. Maybe I’ve just had too much fun with him in the past and he’s worn out. Either way, he’s loose but still a ton of fun to pose in the hands.
Surfer comes with two great accessories: Howard the Duck and the Surfboard. The Surfboard comes with a base that holds the board in place for flying positions. The arm that hold the board to the base can be detached and attached to anything that allows for more cosmic surf-i-ness. The base is a sculpted comet or asteroid or space debris and looks really cool. In addition to the board and base, Silver Surfer comes with a Howard the Duck pack-in. This may be the figure that steals the show. Back in 2003, Disney and Marvel were not affiliated, and Howard was in a bit of a limbo state, but ToyBiz took a chance and snuck the bugger in. And, boy howdy, did the crowd go wild. Howard has limited articulation, but he makes for that with a fantastic sculpt.
As with all the early Marvel Legends, the paint work is simply amazing. The design and production crew really went all out and made some of the prettiest figures. Whether it was the base colors, highlights, washes, or small details, the early Marvel Legends action figures had a lot of great painting.
You can still pick this guy up here:
