We have gotten a handful of Hobgoblin figures over the years. The first one was a very archaic version of the more demonic Jason Macendale Hobgoblin way back in Spider-Man classics series 2. Then much later we got a nicer classic Roderick Kingsley version that, while a bit spindly-legged, still holds up. Now we have a third version of Hobgoblin, this time representing the more modern Phil Urich version. As with each version, there’s a thematic similarity with various upgrades.
This version of the Hobgoblin debuted in Dan Slott’s run on Spider-Man, and it was designed by Humberto Ramos. While his art can be a polarizing thing (I’ve never really cared for it), my huge affection for Slott’s run immediately made me game for this Hobgoblin. It retains the familiar orange and blue elements but adds just enough upgraded touches to make it a pretty cool take on a classic costume. But does the toy live up to the design?
Being a Build-A-Figure, Hobgoblin benefits from a completely original sculpt that, of course, brought out the “waste of resources” comments, but this is not a design that could have been done easily on a stock body without so many overlays that they may as well have gone for a new sculpt anyway, so here we are. It’s well-sculpted and fits the character well, giving off that evil menace we’ve come to expect in Hobgoblin over the years. His face is appropriately evil, but even with a separately sculpted hood you’re not going to get much easy range of motion there.
He has most of the standard articulation we’ve come top expect nowadays, except for one outlying area where instead of the standard bicep twist he has a cut joint. I can understand why from several points of view: the costume itself breaks there, so it’s more seamless in a neutral pose, and it allowed them to mold the blue and the orange parts in their respective blue and orange parts and forgo an ill-matched paint job. While the straight-across bicep slice is rapidly going the way of the dodo, the reasons behind it showing up here and the relatively unobtrusive nature of it aren’t a figure-killer by any means. I can’t really raise the ire to poop a stink about it either way.
Other than that, all his other articulation points are fine. His chest has a decent range of motion, and it has a pretty healthy clicking sounds that locks it into place, so he won’t be flopping to and fro while you’re whipping him around and making shrill cackling sounds while attacking Spider-Man, which we all know you’re going to do, so don’t even try to deny it. I’m doing it right now!
RoboKillah has a video review giving you the mobile skinny:
His belt region is thankfully made of a decently flexible plastic so it doesn’t inhibit his articulation too much. He’s still able to raise his leg and he’s able to get a decent side-to-side range while not being able to do full splits.
This Hobgoblin deviates from the other Hobgoblin designs by ditching the familiar Goblin Glider in favor of Goblin Wings. The wings are attached securely both by a peg and by the two straps that go around his shoulders, so once they’re on, they won’t be easily falling off at all, unlike, say, Hawkeye’s quiver.
Hobgoblin’s badassery is completed by a flaming sword. There’s really nothing more visually striking in most fiction than a flaming sword, and this one is dynamically sculpted and cast in a nice clear plastic. It’s a heavy sword, though, and it will drag his arm down just by the weight of it. His wings feature a small slot and a second flameless sword hilt that you can plug in to the wings for when he’s not smiting people with his gigantic firesword. That’s a pretty cool little addition.
Being a huge fan of Slott’s Spider-Man work and loving the various versions of Hobgoblin, I enjoyed this Build-A-Figure waaaay more than the Ultimate Green Goblin of the previous wave — something I didn’t even care to build. Luckily every figure in this wave was a must-have as well, so for me this was a positive experience all the way around.
