One of the things that the producers, writers, and directors of the Marvel cinematic universe of movies do so well is making the heroes appealing to all different types of personalities – there really is something for everyone. For me, personally, Thor has been one of the most pleasant surprises of the all of the Marvel movies, and I have really enjoyed him since his first appearance. Chris Hemsworth does a great job with the character and finds the right balance between imposing God of Thunder and comic relief (intentional or not). Heck, even my wife really likes Thor and she is a tough one to please, though I am sure his aesthetic qualities have something to do with it. The Odinson most recently returned to the Marvel cinematic universe after the Avengers, only to find himself mired in the difficulties of The Dark World, and Marvel Select has done everyone a favor by bringing him and his lady love Jane Foster to plastic life.
Marvel Select has been producing a lot of interesting products as of late, and while their line-ups continue to be as diverse as ever, I am really pleased with a lot of the advances in articulation that the line is making. The sculpting has always been fantastic, but, in the past, joints were often sacrificed to ensure that the aesthetics of the figure remained true. However, with most of the releases over the past year or two, Diamond and their sculptors/designers have done a great job balancing looks and articulation, and, often times, Marvel Select figures have just as many points of articulation as figures from the Marvel Legends line. I think this movie Thor is a great example of what they are capable of doing, and not being a guy that normally collects movie figures, I am actually kind of surprised with how much I really dig this guy.
I have always been a bit of a mark for Thor because his mythos does a great job of incorporating “real life,” technology, and fantasy. That last one is big for me because I have always been a fan of the genre, and I am glad that the movies have not shied away from this in the movies. While we did get a taste of it in the first film, the sequel did a fantastic job of delving into this, and having Game of Thrones alumnus Alan Taylor direct the film was a great choice. Any time we can get “off Earth” and delve into more fantastic places, I am game, and TDW did a great job of setting an expansive foundation that will no doubt be exploited as we head into the Marvel “Phase Three” block of movies.
So I would personally welcome an entire host of figures of characters from the Thor-verse, and I like that we have also been provided a figure of Jane Foster to go with him, even though it was a bit of a risk producing her. Toy fans call for the inclusion of female figures all the time, and Diamond responded with a figure that, in my opinion, has a very nice likeness to Natalie Portman, but, as has been noted, she has not been one of the best sellers for them, so we continue to walk a fine line with “wants” and “sales,” but let’s take a look at both figures.
THOR
Chris Hemsworth is one of those guys that seems like he follows a long tradition of people like Harrison Ford and Viggo Mortensen that are difficult to capture in plastic. So I was a little concerned with what the likeness would be like when the figure was announced. As it turned out, the likeness turned out quite well, and while the figure does resemble Hemsworth, it LOOKS like Thor, if you take my meaning. The eyes might be a thin, but I do like the face and it works well for a stoic Thor.
The body of the figure is the real winner, though, and I think it is a great representation of what DST can do with their quality of sculpt and current articulation configuration. All of the details of the costume are captured here and that includes the longer pieces that do not lend themselves well to articulation. However, instead of copping out and dropping the points, they did a nice job of making sure that the plastic used in the overlay pieces is soft and flexible so the movement can remain. That allows the ball hips and double knee joints to retain their usefulness, and, I have to say, this figure actually gets more movement than some of my ML Thors do, and that’s taking the game away from a line that makes that its bread and butter. I really cannot note any points that I am missing in this figure save for a MAYBE some double elbows, but that gets into the nitpick zone.
Overall, I think this is a great Thor figure, and it looks really nice posed atop his included base, but more on that in a minute.
JANE FOSTER
Before I start, since this entry is coming quite a while after the release of this figure, PLENTY has been said about this figure already. Personally, I appreciate DST’s choice in making this figure as it is giving the collector population something that they have wanted for a long time. In the end, I think there are some great aspects to this figure, but since I am a bit of an articulation junkie, Jane is a little static for my tastes. I realize that this is ridiculous since I put figures on the shelf in mostly static poses and leave them alone, but I want the options dagnabbit!
Jane is actually the opposite of Thor in that I think her head sculpt is really strong and Portman is captured really well. Sure, you are never going to mistake the toy for an actual person at a photorealistic level, but this is a great “toy” representation of her. Feminine features are hard to capture in plastic, but I like that the sculpted details are all there, but they are soft to avoid things like a flat forehead or square jaw. The paint details are soft (in a good way), but nothing about them takes away from the likeness, which is certainly a win since that happens A LOT. The alternate head also does a good job of representing that key moment from the film, though it is pretty specialized, so I am not quite sure I would ever display it. It is nice to have options, though.
Jane is, however, pretty much a statue, and I think that has a lot to do with why she has gotten some blowback in the collector community. Let’s face it, her dress/costume does not do an articulation scheme ANY favors, and it has made what she does have tough to use past a static standing pose. She does have a decent range of movement in her arms thanks to her shoulders, elbows, and wrists, but these are all pretty straight forward. Personally, I don’t need Jane to do a whole lot besides stand on the shelf, but I can see the argument about her movement. It would have been cool if she could have posed just a bit better.
Both figures come with half of a base that, when put together, looks GREAT with Thor and probably a lot of other figures from other lines. You really need both figures to make the base workable or even worth displaying because they don’t hold up on their own, but it is fun to pose Thor in various “look at me, I am a literal god” configurations, but Jane will pretty much be relegated to watching him strike his various poses.
Marvel Select is putting together a nice list of figures based on various movie properties, so even though Thor will likely never share screen time with Wolverine or Spider-Man, they can share space on your shelf. I really like the Thor figure, and Jane is fine too, but she is certainly not as exciting as an action figure. This is a stoic Thor that holds up well to all kinds of poses, so I am glad to have him on the shelf, and since it is Hemsworth, my wife probably is too.
*Thanks to DST for sending these figures along for a feature, we really appreciate it!
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