I need to bitch about a buck or base figure that just needs to be retired. It’s time Hasbro, you’ve gotten your money’s worth, time to kill this buck. The buck in question is the one that was made for the Toy Biz Marvel Legends Two Packs, it was Punisher. It was a great buck for the time and it was a beautiful base figure, it was a tall large bodied figure, great for the time, but it’s time to move on.
As I saw the announcement for the possible Marvel Legends X-Men wave with Stryfe and Magneto it hit me, that base figure being used for Magneto, no longer looks in place with current Marvel Legends. Standing next to the Hyperion/Luke Cage/Sabertooth buck and the Archangel/Black Panther/Hawkeye/Cyclops/Hyrda Agent buck it looks outdated and of lower quality.
I get that it’s a good large sized build, something slightly larger than 6 inches but not pushing the 6+/7 inch range. The buck’s been used for Ka-Zar, Nic Fury, Ultimate Cap, Steve Rogers, Drax and probably some others that I am missing. It’s served us well but let’s face it, it’s time to say good bye. Seeing Magneto use that buck is just as frustrating as seeing Toy Biz use the Iron Man buck for Magneto back in the day.
Ugh another pabs rant about anatomy, pabs dude after all these years give it up. I’d love to, but I just can’t. Recently I went to town on this buck since I was mad at it, trying to figure out what needed to be changed, and it was a head to foot problem. The feet for starters were really small, some corrections were made but take a look at ole Nic Fury from the Hasbro 2 packs, small feet. The leg musculature is also very spherical and tubular, yeah the muscles are all there but they don’t look organic, just look at Sabertooth and Cyclops if you are in doubt about what I am talking about. The legs are also really long! The ball hips are modern day point of contention as most collectors prefer the barbell of the modern figures that result in a t-crotch, rather than the 45 degree pinning of the ball joint the hip in the Punisher base being referred to. The other area that I can’t get past is the abs and chest, lack of definition or muscles, short from crotch to shoulder. The ab-joint is ridiculously narrow, and has gaps and doesn’t look like it fits together very well. And the range of motion sucks. The biceps are abnormally large, they look like they fit in a Masters of the Universe display. And the neck is short. Yeah I just wrote all that, and you just read it.
What’s the deal? Why is Magneto constantly getting shortchanged in the buck department. Yeah, I get the idea, the Toy Biz Punisher buck is a good size/build for good old Magneto, but man the buck is just outdated! Magneto is an a list character, show some love and give him a newly sculpted, designed and tooled buck. Let the dude shine like the light he is. It was done for Doom, and Moleman! But never Magneto. Hasbro, it’s time to buck up and spend some money on a new buck for your portfolio, give us a good mid range buck to replace Old Punisher and launch it with Magneto!
