We finish up our look at the Caliban wave with yet another redo and first-timer. We got a Forge a long time ago in a two pack with Wolverine in the same type of costume, but that was back in the BAD HASBRO days, and that body was like a fifth generation copy from an old VHS tape that your friend got from another friend who bought it out of the back of someone else’s trunk. Caliban is making his first appearance since the 5 inch days.
Forge is one of those mutants whose power is hard to capture in toy form. At its most basic level, he can essentially engineer any type of technological creation through some type of mutant intuition. He’s also a Native American, which is a rarity in toyland. Since his power is invention, you can’t really pack him with “stuff to invent,” so you have to do some of the legwork yourself.
Speaking of legwork, Forge also has a very unique habit of cutting off the right thigh on all of his clothes. Some people might say “dude, you can just cover up that techno leg of yours” but Forge ain’t about to do such a dumb thing. He has a robotic leg, and that means he has a big stack of right-side thighs of all of his pants sitting in a big stack in the corner of his workroom. And I’m assuming he invented a way to keep the rest of the pant leg from drooping. Are tiny nanotech suspenders for the bottom of a pantleg a thing? If they aren’t, then Forge invented them. Mutant!
Forge is based on the Buckycap body. Now, I like the Buckycap body, I have never had an issue with it, but even I will admit that we are probably coming up on the expiration date for its use. There are a number of other bodies that have come along that I like a lot more, and as good a run as the Buckycap body has had, I would not be sad to see it replaced permanently.
Body aside, we’ve seen some of these parts in other places–the shoulder straps and cuffs and such. The frilly boot tops are new, as is the holster, and obviously his cybernetic leg is brand new. It all boils down to Forge not being one of the more exciting figures from the wave, but he is essential to the overall X-men grouping and is such a way way way better figure than his previous figure that there’s nothing really wrong with him not being wowyzowy. Sometimes a toy just fills the role it needs to fill. Updated Forge: box checked.
The head is an improvement over the other head as well. There’s a placidity to it that isn’t terribly exciting, but makes him look like he’s thinking. Constructing in his mind, maybe. He’s building a better mousetrap. Some people have updated his head with the viewfinder thingy from the Dirk Anger head, and that has added a little oomph to his head, but he looks fine as is, 1970s-era motorcycle cop mustache and all.
He comes with a pistol which fits nicely into his holster, and a laser-rifle type of gun. Since this is Forge and his thing is inventing, then you can imagine that it’s a gun that shoots tiny pellet that have the genetic material for a Doberman inside of them, and once the pellet enters an enemy’s body, the genetic material speed-gestates into a full grown Doberman which then chews its way out of the hapless target’s body. Why would someone invent something like that? Because he’s a mutant and he can.
It’s the end of the week. This is the kind of review you get at the end of the week.
The man for whom the wave is named brings up the rear of our Mutant caravan this week. Caliban was a scrawny Morlock who was put on the Charles Atlas program and got turned into a giant beast of a badass by Apocalypse. Nobody’s going to kick sand in his face anymore. While there is an argument for getting the other version(s) of Caliban, this is arguably the more visually impressive version, and makes for an excellent looking figure. He’s on the big guy body, which is very well-articulated for being a big guy.
He has a screaming head stuck in perma-rage mode—just right for super-pissed Horseman of war. He also has a nice set of clawed anger hands. Some fists would have been nice as well, but then I’m always asking for fists.
I am a fan of this body. It has an excellent range of motion, and most of all it’s big without being too big. There’s a proportionate bigness to it, but it doesn’t completely dwarf other characters. Call me crazy, but that’s important to me. It’s a good size for a character like Caliban, but it would also work well for someone like Puff Adder. I need a couple of these bodies for customs, but there is no way I am army building BAFs. Side note: am I the only one who would kill for a Puff Adder as the build a figure for a wave? Probably.
Anyway, Caliban wouldn’t have been high on my list of must-haves—I will still kill whomever I have to to get a Strong Guy–but having him in hand he’s a lot of fun, and looks good being angry big smashing guy.
This was a hell of a wave, and I am done!