I start where I left off last week with another review of a 4-inch scaled Marvel action figure: Beta Ray Bill. Last week I reviewed the Avengers Movie Black Widow and was left somewhat mum on the figure. There is nothing wrong with the sculpt, and as far as female sculpts are concerned it is fantastic, it just didn’t incite a “POW” in me. Nor does Bill.
Not too long ago I reviewed Bill’s 6-inch brother, a figure that I love. Character-wise, Bill is a fantastic idea: a cosmic Thor. It’s one of the few things that I love from the ’80s, and if the current Guardians of the Galaxy roster wasn’t already strong enough, I’d lobby for his inclusion. It’d be a perfect fit for this wanna-be god.
Marvel Universe Bill was a huge want for me. The sculpt was a big-size figure and one that I really wanted to see done in the 4-inch scale. My excitement wore off immediately after purchasing and opening the figure, however. While on one level, it seems like a fantastic figure, it doesn’t hit it for me. Hercules as a large-size figure is well ahead of Bill as far as big characters are concerned. There are some good parts; the head sculpt is solid and the legs are spot-on solid. You’ll remember I made mention of the Walt Simonson styling of the 6-inch costume and this figure captures that very well. But the shoulder pads are really big and attached to the cape and they don’t look like they are attached to the figure. It’s off-putting. In addition the waist and chest just don’t work as nicely as Hercules.
The articulation is all there for this little 4-inch action figure, and all the posing possibilities are present. The cape gets in the way, but the same was true for his larger brother. The one disappointment is the attachment of the head sculpt. It’s just a head and neck sculpt, with only a moveable part a jaw. The head is attached to the neck via a ball, but its just a glorified swivel. I was hoping for at least the same amount of posing as the larger figure with the head. The articulation breakdown is as follows:
hinged ankles
swivel ankles
double knees
swivel thighs
ball hips
swivel waist
ball ab
ball shoulders
ball elbows
swivel wrists
(ball)swivel neck
For the 4-inch Marvel completionist, this is a fantastic figure to add to your collection. He is fun to play with, making epic battle scenes with Classic Thor, Thor, and Thor, as well as the Avengers. If you really want to have some fun, include him in your The Bridge Direct Hobbit figures fighting NECA’s Balrog for some over-the-top fun!
You can still pick this figure up at:
As always you can discuss this figure further at
