The new Marvel Legends Spider-Man Infinite wave is slowly making its way across the nation (and other nations) as we speak, and judging from the response and levels of anticipation on the boards, this is a wave a lot of people have been looking forward to. Among the hotly anticipated figures in this wave is a classic villain that dates all the way back to The Amazing Spider-Man #1 — The Chameleon!
Now, it’s not necessarily the character or the figure itself that has fans in a tizzy hunting down multiples to buy, even though Chameleon is the very definition of a “classic Spidey villain”; it’s the fact that Chameleon comes packed with two swappable heads in the likeness of J. Jonah Jameson and Hammerhead — two more classic Spidey characters that add a whole lot of value to this figure. By picking up extras so those heads have bodies to match, this is tantamount to Hasbro giving us three new characters/figures here. So let’s see if this figure is really worth all the trouble and expense it’s going to take to score multiples.
Packaging is the same as it ever was. Unfortunately I had already tossed mine when it came time to photograph this guy, so the above image is courtesy of a Google image search and CMDstore.com. It’s Standard Spider-Man Infinite stuff that we’ve seen since the line debuted last year. The window box is nice here since it shows off everything Chameleon comes with, which is actually a lot of stuff: heads, a Build-a-Figure piece, and guns — this is way more than most figures in the line come with, which is a good move on Hasbro’s part because, well, Chameleon on his own is kinda boring.
The base body is one we’ve seen before. It was used as the base for Agent Coulson from the Toys R Us exclusive Avengers 3-pack. Here the suit is a sort of twilight blue with a black shirt and a tie that sometimes looks black and sometimes looks a very dark greyish blue. The only thing new here is Chameleon’s head, and it’s a pretty basic design, but it absolutely nails the spirit of the character. And I have to say, of all the suited bodies we’ve seen from ToyBiz, Mattel, and Hasbro, this may be the most well-executed suited body because the sculpt and articulation work well together, and the proportions of the overall figure look balanced. I would have no problem buying this body again and again for whatever suited or civilian characters they choose to make.
As mentioned, the head sculpt is very simple with minimal paint apps, but in an effort to give the figure more depth instead of just a plain white face, the good ol’ light blue shading was used around his eyes. It doesn’t look terrible and I think it does add some character to the figure, but I can see others opting to paint over the blue to keep him a nice, stark white. And for some reason I keep thinking “Voldemort” when I look at him — it must be the nose.
Chameleon is a fairly average “civilian” size, so other figures, like his wave-mate Kraven, cast a more imposing shadow than he does. This makes him a more unassuming figure on the shelf and adds some diversity to Spidey’s Rogues Gallery who tend to be a rather colorful bunch.
In terms of articulation, this suited body is every bit as well articulated as what we’ve been seeing from Hasbro lately. I find there’s no pose I’d like to put him in that I can’t, and he’s an easy figure to pose and balance despite being another figure with no calf swivel. Between this body and the Pizza Spidey body, I really find myself not missing that articulation point at all. His breakdown:
- Ball neck
- Hinge-and-swivel shoulders
- Bicep cuts
- Double elbows
- Hinge-and-swivel wrists
- Ab crunch
- Swivel waist
- Ball hips
- Thigh cuts
- Double knees
- Rocker ankles
The packed-in heads can be popped on Chameleon’s body with minimal effort, but I found that I really don’t like either head on this body. It’s too much of a “gangter’s suit” for J. Jonah Jameson, and I can’t help but think it’s too slim and not quite “gangster” enough for Hammerhead. It suits Chameleon well, but that’s it. So instead I opted for the following:
This is the movie J. Jonah Jameson body ToyBiz released way back in 2002. It’s dated and inadequate in many ways, but it’s still the best option around for a Jameson figure, I think. The articulation is minimal and there’s a pesky action feature, so it’s way less than ideal. It came with a desk and chair set, so it does still work in a purely functional way — all I need is for J. Jonah Jameson to sit behind a desk and look as though he’s screaming. Mission accomplished. The head is not a perfect fit, however, so I had to add some museum putty to make it stable, and the flesh tones don’t match either, so I’m going to have to do some painting soon. Apart from that, though, this old figure is still a very viable option despite its shortcomings.
Now, I just don’t know what to do with Hammerhead. I don’t think there’s a suited body anywhere that does the trick, so I opted to use my DC Universe Classics Question figure as his body. It’s not perfect, but Hammerhead has worn a double-breasted suit in the comics, so this sort of works. The coat isn’t ideal, but it’s something I’ll have to live with until something better comes along. This body also makes him pretty tall, which may be an issue since Hammerhead isn’t one of the taller villains, but at least he’s not taller than Kraven. I can live with it for now. And like J. Jonah Jameson, I had to use some museum putty to help the head sit securely.
If the suited body had worked better for the two pack-in heads, I probably would have bought multiples. But since I found resources that work okay in my fodder box, I’m good with just the one Chameleon I picked up. I think this figure is definitely worth the trouble it’ll take to find because I feel like I got three new figures for the price of one here, so the value is definitely there.
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