Disclaimer: Ghost Rider does not come with a bike. The images within have him on a bike, but from a different Ghost Rider figure. Don’t get mad at me if you get yours and there is no bike, based on seeing a review with him on his motorcycle.
With that out of the way, let me just say that this is my favorite Ghost Rider figure ever. And he nearly makes me want to put him up there as my favorite figure this year. As much as I loved Kraven from this series, Ghost Rider nearly knocks him off the top. Almost. I have an obsession with the new Reaper body that can’t be denied. But this figure is waaaaay up there.
Ghost Rider is a reuse of the Star-Lord/A.I.M. body, which I already had a huge fondness for. What I wasn’t prepared for was more new parts than I expected. Sure, we knew the head and neck would be new, but it doesn’t stop there. But before I get to that, let’s check out the head.
The skull isn’t a straight white, more of a spray on the front transitioning back into the flames. It gives it more of a ghost-like quality. The rest of the figure is mostly molded in black, but a glossier black was added to the boots, gloves, and buttons. I appreciate little things like that. Makes what could have been a plain costume a little more dynamic.
Speaking of added paint apps, the eye sockets also have dots painted deep within them. They simulate pupils nicely and catch the light just right to make them glow. Or at least look like they are glowing.
Mine is looking slightly to his left but it doesn’t bother me. It’s actually kind of hard to see unless you get light directly on them, but it’s still a nice little hidden bonus.
And yeah, that’s an articulated jaw.
I was surprised too.
The neck isn’t the now-standard hinge under a ball. It’s just a ball on the the top of the neck but the socket in the skull isn’t very deep so there is plenty of clearance for movement. That’s not to say that head falls off easily, it doesn’t. I’m just saying that the lack of hinge doesn’t hinder here.
So the head, neck, and collar are new. Here’s a comparison with the A.I.M. Soldier and let’s dig in.
As much as I like the A.I.M. dude and Star-Lord, Ghost Rider just seems to fill out this uniform better. He casts a better silhouette, more streamlined. And that’s due to the new gloves, belt, and boots.
The A.I.M. gloves flare out and then taper down to the wrist whereas Ghost Rider’s shorter gloves make the arms look slightly more beefy. That’s a whole new forearms, folks. The hands are reused and unfortunately have trigger fingers but you’ll see further down the page that it doesn’t matter.
And then while the old boots come to a point and are kind of thin, the new boots are bulky, almost clunky. Riding boots. They are wider and more flat so they provide a tad more stability when posing.
You can check out my video review for more thoughts on Ghost Rider too, along with just how well he can sit on the old motorcycle.
Oh, the motorcycle. He doesn’t have one. I know, right? Ghost RIDER! The best choice would to hunt for a suitable motorcycle and then add flames and paint, that will get your preferred size and style. But in a pinch I think the ML7 Ghost Rider bike works.
I was surprised to even find mine. It was packed away in a box when I ran out of room in my display at my previous house and I never dug it out after moving.
Yeah, it looks small, at least when you look at it for too long and start doing measurements in your head. But for a quick display piece that isn’t going to take up as much room on your shelf as a correct scale one, this works. And Rider’s head flames even match the flames on the bike pretty well. What else do you want?
I’ll tell you what I want — I want this figure in classic blue, maybe in a deluxe set with a newly sculpted bike. And chains. Hopefully someday we’ll see a Marvel Studios Ghost Rider movie and get the same love for the action figure line that we’ve gotten with Ant-Man so far. But until then, I’ll happily display this Ghost Rider because it’s awesome. He’s a lean, mean, penance-staring machine.
