Hasbro has been doing a good job at giving us updated versions of older figures. Some of the most noteworthy upgrades have been to Spider-villains, mainly because the old Spider-Man Classics line insisted on the addition of action features for a lot of figures. Action features suck.
Thanks to Hasbro, I now have an Electro and Shocker with elbows, and a Mysterio without an oversized dome full of strange, twisting heads. It’s a good time to be a bad guy. While I’m always keen to get as many brand new figures as possible, there’s no denying how satisfying it is to get a really great new version of a character that renders the previous one completely and utterly obsolete.
In no order, these are the top five most necessary updates.
Hydro Man
It is very rare that I refuse to buy a figure, but I refused to get the TB Hydro Man. With stiff, action-feature laden arms and a costume choice that didn’t scream Hydro-Man to me, I chose to ignore his existence. I only did that with one other figure on this list. Hydro-man has been depicted many ways, but he always seems to revert to one basic look, and I need Hydro Man in his black shirt and jeans. I know, many would say that it’s not “super-villainy” enough, but I really like the fact that the dude can turn himself into water and doesn’t give a shit about what you think of his clothes. Sandman has tried costumes too, but he always goes back to the striped shirt and jeans. Give Hydro-Man some swappable water-appendage arms and I’d finally buy a Hydro-Man
Tarantula
Yes, this is the other figure I refused to buy, and it damn near killed me, because I love Tarantula and his pointy shoes. Me not buying a more niche-ish figure is like…well, it’s like something. But that figure was an early Hasbro mess, with a body that was like a tenth generation copy of an old episode of some PBS show. We have way better bodies now to give Tarantula his proper due. Hasbro has been rectifying past mistakes, so I hope this one is on their radar. There is no way they could possibly do worse than their previous effort.
Scorpion
Scorpion’s TB figure was one of the better figures. The action feature was relegated to his tail and could easily be ignored. There will be two schools of thought on him: straight redo, or give him an updated costume. Many people like his more recent overly armored-up body, but to me that one looks like the artist has never seen a Scorpion. It looks like a hermit crab or something. I do like the more streamlined version as shown, but obviously I prefer the original. Whatever design is chosen, Scorpion would benefit from a better figure, and if it’s a look that isn’t at the top of my want list, at least the previous figure is one of the better ones.
Vulture
The first Vulture was released in the Fearsome Foes boxset by ToyBiz, and since it was technically a Marvel Legends figure, it wasn’t saddled with a playtime-killing action feature. His arms were fused so bad I used a gallon of oil to free them up, but at the time he was a pretty good figure. But it could still use updating. A Vulture was made recently, but that was (I think) the Ultimate version, and doesn’t count. At least, for me.
Boomerang
We do have a Boomerang, and it’s a really good figure, one that I like a lot. So this isn’t necessarily a redo that’s needed due to the fact that the previous figure was crappy, but more that it’s a redo that’s needed for a previous team. The Boomerang we have does a great job as the Boomerang featured in the Superior Foes of Spider-Man, but the older costume would fit right in with the Sinister Syndicate. If we can get every possible version of the Beetle, we can get both versions of Boomerang.
Honorable mention
Kingpin
I’m including Kingpin as an honorable mention mainly because he’s grown into much more of a Daredevil villain than a Spider-Man villain. But his earliest stories were firmly butted up against Spider-Man, so he deserves an inclusion. Plus he deserves a new figure, and any opportunity to say that is for the best.
Did I miss someone? Do you think Man-Wolf should replace Boomerang? Let us know!