One of the highlights of Toy Fair (other than a buttload of new characters) was the debut of the brand new mid-range body that we’ve all been asking for. This body apparently fits in right between the Black Panther-sized body and the Hyperion-sized body, which makes it either perfect or nearly perfect for a lot of characters that wouldn’t have felt right on the two available bodies. Right now it’s being used for brand new Grim Reaper, and redo Kraven. I know a lot of people feel that if we got a character ten years ago we should be happy with it and only want new characters, but let’s face it; a lot of those old ToyBiz figures suck by 2015 standards. Even Hasbro’s earlier efforts suck by today’s standards. Better is just better.
A perfect world would mean unique sculpts for each and every character that perfectly captures their four-color status, but that’s not happening any time soon. However, this brand new body does open up some character choices that, previously, the appropriate body did not exist for. There’s a handful of characters we just received in 2014 that would have been perfect on this body. Meaning Gladiator. Gladiator would have been perfect on this body. Dammit. Hasbro is killing it in the toy realm, but they’re still iffy on the patience front. Oh well.
I’m going to break my list up into five heroes and five villains. The list may seem a bit redo-heavy, but remember that fun toys are fun, and good fun toys are…gooder fun.
Wonder Man
Wonder Man’s previous Legends figure is old, abysmal, on the wrong body, awkward, and is only good for the boots, which have since been reused on numerous Wonder Man customs. But a brand new Wonder Man on this mid-range body would be just right. While Hasbro would no doubt go for the modern look, you can easily have a safari jacket version with just the right overlay and an alternate head. I’m thinking easy swapariant or whatever with this one. Either way, We desperately need a new Wonder Man, and we finally have the right body for it. One of each would be just great please.
Classic Drax
Drax is more popular than ever, which is not something I would have ever thought possible back when he was a niche character who died and came back as a niche character before dying. Dude dies a lot. If the rumored Guardians box-set actually happens, we will have three Drax figures before too long: pants Drax, updated Pants Drax and movie Drax. But with this brand new body, we have the perfect vehicle to get the Drax that started it all. Why stop when you’re on a Drax roll, Hasbro? Give this body some bootcuffs and give us all that classic Drax figure before his heat wears off.
Doc Samson
Hasbro tried. They really did. Doc Samson’s previous figure got a dedicated sculpt and everything. But those hips, and that old Hasbro articulation, and those hips…he was a mess, salvageable into a fun toy only with work and time and a blindfold. But Since Hasbro has proven that they’re willing to go back and correct past mistakes, now is the time to deliver that Doc Samson that we should have gotten back then. It would be fantastic to get a Samson figure that doesn’t do the Barbie splits when you’re trying to pose him.
Namor
Speaking of past mistakes, Namor was one of the biggest. Pale, scrawny, tiny, awkwardly articulated: he was essentially everything that Namor should not be. We have never received a good version of Namor’s most recognizable look, but now we have the body and we have the means. And those little scaled trunks of his will come in handy on another figure on this list. That’s how you diversify. Make this nearly-nude dude before you make any other version Hasbro, because we the people need a good one.
Silver Surfer
This one is iffy, because this body might be a bit thicker than the Surfer requires. I’m going to say it will be the only body we’re going to get that’s as close as it needs to be for him, and we desperately need another Silver Surfer. Toybiz’s Surfer is…well, it’s a ToyBiz Surfer, which means it’s outdated. And the Hasbro one we got before was on a body that never should have existed for characters like the Silver Surfer or Vision. Not having a good Silver Surfer for the collection is a crime against plastic.
So that’s a lot of redoing older figures, but it’s time, and if a bad toy exists of a good character, can you truly say you have the character? I know, right?
Next for the villains:
Absorbing Man
Another ToyBiz/Hasbro two-time effort. ToyBiz was really hard to get for most, and Hasbro’s again suffered under their articulation boners. It’s time he got a new figure, and this body is just right for him. Give him that distinctive bald head, a wrecking ball and his classic purple prison pants and keep the half-transformed stuff away from him. I’ve got an imagination that transforms him for me, I don’t need the half-brick.
Classic Loki
This counts as a redo, but it also counts as a GLARING HOLE. We’ve never had a Marvel legend version of the original appearance of this timeless, classic villain. With multiple movies under his belt, Loki hasn’t been this popular since Norsemen were bowing to him. Take that scale-crotch from the Namor figure above (reuse!) and give us a great, evil headsculpt above the classic version of this nefarious bastard.
Count Nefaria
When a guy can single-handedly take on the entire Avengers team and win, he deserves a stellar figure. This is the body we’ve been waiting for. Avengers villain, perfect body, super strong, colorful, eye-catching design—that all equals toy gold. Since we’ve been getting a lot of Avengers villain love recently, Count Nefaria seems like a no-brainer for some upcoming wave, or even an SDCC box set. I’m not picky about the how, but make it soon.
Tombstone
Tombstone is a great villain with a unique look that now has a body perfect for him. With a few add-on bits and some newly sculpted pants-parts with new boots, we could get a nice version of this albino badass to terrorize Spider-man, Daredevil, Luke Cage or any other street level hero that comes across his path.
Melvin Potter Gladiator
Well, at least one Gladiator needs to be made on this body, and if it’s not the Shi’ar one, then it will be the Daredevil villain. Give him some buzzsaws for his wrist and that swanky helmet of his and he would fit perfectly on this body. We just got a brand new Daredevil, he’s got a Netflix show coming up, so if there’s any time to start chucking villains at him, now is that time.
Have some different opinions? Think I’m completely right? Either way, leave a comment and tell us how you feel.
