ToyBiz’s Series 4 Punisher is still one of the best Punishers made. Everything about this figure is just about perfect and it will be a hard figure to follow up. Certainly ToyBiz has tried to improve their Punisher; in the Face Off 2-packs they released a classic look with a really small head, and Hasbro has yet to achieve a Punisher that stands up to this figure. This is just a great modern Punisher.
Punisher is one of those great Marvel characters. His first appearance in Spider-Man cemented his place in the “urban legends” corner of the Marvel Comic Universe. His appearance in Daredevil was fantastic as well, and in the ’80s he finally got his crack at a stand-alone comic (well, a mini-series). Mike Zeck and Steven Grant put together an amazing 4-issue mini-series that catapulted the character into stardom. Shortly after, the character got his own title, and, well, a few more titles in the ’90s followed. Grant and Zeck were able to tap into the dark vigilante theme of the mid to late ’80s that was popular in comics, giving Marvel a relatively untapped character with a cool look that could wreak havoc in the Marvel Universe. In the early 2000s, Punisher saw a revival in the Garth Ennis Steve Dillon MAX series, and he’s been trucking pretty steadily since then. The recent Punisher series started in 2014 and is a good read. His appearance in the Red Hulk-led Thunderbolts was fun, especially his relationship with Elektra.
The action figure channels that John Romita Jr. look from Punisher War Journal. It’s a great sculpt and one of the few that really does look like a comic character jumping from 2D to 3D. The figure is sculpted with army pants, heavy boots, and a tight shirt. The build on the figure is average, nothing special or complicated in it. The chest skull is etched, and, as was the case with Spider-Man, there seems to be some collectors who like the etching and others who don’t. In this case it seems to work and doesn’t feel overly forced. There’s a ton of wrinkles in the clothes that really make the figure pop. It’s that attention to detail that makes this figure stand out.
The figure sports most of the standard Marvel Legends articulation. The figure sports hip hinges instead of ball hips, and there is no ab joint. It’s too bad that there isn’t an ab joint of some kind, but it’s understandable as it would be a challenge to put an ab joint and not break up the sculpt of the raised teeth on the skull. The hip hinges work very well and integrate well with the sculpt, and they have a full range of motion. Here’s the breakdown:
Hinged Toes
Rocker ankles
Hinged ankles
Swivel calves
Double hinged knees
Thigh swivels
Hinged thighs
Swivel Hips
Swivel waist
Rocker shoulders
Ball shoulders
Swivel biceps
Double hinged elbows
Swivel forearms
Hinged wrists
Hinged fingers
Swivel neck
Hinged neck
The included base is an excellent piece. It’s wall mountable and is another great diorama piece. Tons of guns on the ground, empty casings, grit and broken railing — just like you expect to see in New York City on every street corner. Punisher does come with two guns: a rifle and a handgun. Both of them fit well in Frank’s hands and are pretty decent pieces.
This is another great figure for the Marvel Legends collection and it still holds up. I’ve lost mine, and after writing this review I realized that I need to buy another one, unless Hasbro plans on making a decent update this year.
I’d like to make a quick shout out to Benty for taking pics of his Punisher and letting me slap some words on them. He’s helped me finish Series 4 and put another ToyBiz series to bed.
You can still pick up Punisher at:
Pooping on Wonder Woman’s plane is awkward no matter who you are.
I love the upper body but the lower doesn’t fit in too well with ML. I did a custom a long while back to fix that by putting the movie Pun legs on this upper with these boots. Since it’s quite simple to swap black parts on figures it was easy and came out looking great. I threw on the cloth Gambit cape and a ton of scaled firearms and bladed weapons all over him as well. He’s loaded for a one-man war now.
Now I am planning a redo with this recipe:
ROML Punisher head and neck
TBML4 Punisher torso and arms
Bucky Cap-style pelvis and legs
either TBML4 Punisher or FO variant Punisher boots (Will decide once I have all the parts ready)
combo of TBML4 Punisher belt clips w/FO variant belt
Trying to capture the look of the Zeck-era costume as much as possible since that was my fave look for him, and then add the Lee/Portacio style with the coat.
All I need is a Bucky Cap-style fodder body to get started. Since I’m constantly broke and have no clue who has one for trade that might be a while. *laugh*
Also different artist styles/eras allow newer and older figures to mix on shelves. Hell, sometimes even different lines.
I agree the constant reuse and painted on details as opposed to dedicated sculpts is watering it down a bit.
Newer Legends are very clean and a use a “less is more” aesthetic. Older Legends Had heavy washes/dry brushes and lots of sculpted detail. Grimey almost.
Personally, I enjoy both.
The Urban Legends Box Set version of this figure is all black. Has that goofy ass looking head though. It is kind of cool in a funny way.
Gotta try this. But the fabric one for me. Not the pleather from the box set Gambit. This would give old Frank an NES The Punisher game feel.
On my Punisher I currently use the Nick Fury hard plastic black coat and shotgun from Jonah Hex DCUC figure
Fair enough. I definitely feel as though we’ve come to a point where even different characters are still seeming somewhat ambiguous simply by virtue of more and more reuse these days and subsequently, that loss of dedicated sculpts has definitely had an affect on more ‘artistic pieces’ from the mass market venue.
I don’t think we’ve lost that completely yet, and the work will always be what speaks for itself – on a piece by piece basis, but there is definitely a watery stigma or sliding scale of multiple things to be considered from any era, sure.
I do quite love this Frank though. And reeks of distinction and personality.
You use the Gambit cloth trench coat on this figure too? I seldom take it off him. Gotta admit, I enjoy the tiny bit of color that brown gives him.
I still have those Punisher War Zones. That was very cool stuff.
Still one of my all-time favorites.
And I love the range of motion in this guy’s articulation. He’s still one of my only figures that can kneel on one knee and shoot a rifle with both hands convincingly.
My problem with that is “standard” becomes a sliding scale.
Today’s standard held against these older waves looks skinny and generic. Conversely older ones compared to new ones often seem to have weird head sizes and man boobs.
This is my display Punisher.
Whenever new figures come out the new wave of collectors bash the older ones, but to this day this is the best Frank out there.
Quite a few of the newer ones are good, but that lack personality and just feel watered down. This Punisher always felt like the real deal.
It may have slight issues, especially when weighed against today’s standards, but it’s still one of my favorite MLs and definitely my favorite Punisher thus far.
Romita Jr worked on Punisher War Zone with Chuck Dixon. Their work on that title remains some of my favorite Punisher stuff, ever. The opening arc would be perfect for a movie or arc on a Netflix TV series. Love this figure as well, remains the best Punisher figure yet.
This is my personal favorite marvel legends figure, maybe the second legends I have ever purchased and it is an unbeatable punisher figure. The only downside being no big guns! No worries though, the Neca terminator 2 minigun fits him perfectly and coupled with gambits cloth trench coat solidify this figure as the pride and joy in my collection. I also painted the gloves and boots black to match the ennis/Dillon welcome back frank version of the character.
“Punishing the imaginary toilet”
What would the title or caption be for the last pic? It had me cracking up at work.