I really thought I was done with Revoltech for good. I’ve only made a handful of Revoltech purchases over the years, and I had been mostly happy with them, but in my “buy everything Star Wars” mode, I bought a few of the Star Wars Revoltech, and was really let down by what I thought was a downgrade in quality, with stuck joints that came apart way too easily. So when Deadpool and Spider-Man were announced, I was expecting a mess of a figure that would be more nuisance than fun. In short, I was happy to let it drift pass. But then worldwide acclaim followed, so I tested the waters with Deadpool.
I was, as it turns out, not done with Revoltech, and they weren’t done with me.
The Amazing Yamaguchi Revoltech line is sculpted by Katsuhisa Yamaguchi, who must have played with toys as a child. Deadpool ended up being an opiate-fueled, turbo-charged monkeybarrel full of fun, and continues to provide an endless array of poses that most figures cannot achieve. Can you lick your elbow? Well, Deadpool can. Deadpool can, and Deadpool will. He will also lick your elbow, provided the compensation is high enough.
With Deadpool in hand, I immediately preordered the rest of what is either out or coming out, because I absolutely hate keeping money and actively light it on fire with a gold zippo when I can’t spend it on sweet, sweet toys. My toilet paper is one-hundred dollar bills, except it’s really dollar bills that I add zeros to — shut up!
Robo has reviewed the already-released-and-yet-getting-second-runs-hyphenated-run-on-sentence Deadpool, Spider-Man and Venom, and Spider-Gwen (what a world) and Wolverine are up for preorder and coming out within the span of a few months.
But I wouldn’t be a proud and broke-as-hell toy collector if I wasn’t already thinking about what I wanted down the road in this line. Now, to me, the important thing about this line is that it in no way needs to supply a complete roster of Marvel heroes and villains. It doesn’t even need to be semi-complete. It doesn’t even need all the so-called “A-list.” But I would love to get the characters that would most take advantage of this particular articulation layout/scheme. So my choices aim towards maximum play value and pose appeal rather than filling-out teams.
So with that in mind, let’s take a look at the top five characters that would require the type of gonzo articulation these toys delivered. You will not find “Stand-around Guy” on this list.
Carnage
I have to think Carnage is inevitable. With Spider-man and Venom done, Carnage is the next logical step in tendril-whipping, psycho-articulated action figure showcasing. Carnage is more in line with the size of Spider-Man, so the figure will be a little bit more restrained than the Venom figure but will no doubt feature the same amount of pizzazz. Regardless of your feelings on the character, a Revoltech Carnage would make an excellent figure.
Black Panther
Black Panther is now a movie star with his own solo effort coming up, so his profile is higher than ever. He also happens to be one of the the most acrobatic and agile Marvel superheros this side of Spider-Man, but he has never had a toy that really allows that to be showcased to its utmost. A Black Panther figure that brings in a bit more of the modern gold flourishes on the claws and costume detailing amidst all that black would make a striking figure to could do pretty much anything you’ve ever wanted a Black Panther figure to do.
All New X-23 Wolverine Laura pick a name
If I had to choose another lady-type to follow up Spider-Gwen, my choices boil down to Black Widow, X-23, or Gwenpool. Despite Marvel giving Gwenpool a heavy recent push and Black Widow being very high-profile, I’m going to take a guess on X-23. She brings along the similar dynamics of Wolverine and I could see the synergy of posing her and wolverine along with the next and completely obvious choice on my list. While I do think a Gwenpool would be hilarious (her name’s Gwen Poole! Like, her real name is Gwen Poole! Bwahahah I’m easy to amuse sometimes), I’m going to bet on X-23 in her new Wolverine uniform.
Sabretooth
Much like Venom is an inevitability when you’re talking about Spider-Man, there’s practically no way that there’s not a Sabretooth figure in the works to pair up with Wolverine. I’d imagine he’d be of similar bulk to the Venom figure, with a huge, over-amplified torso reminiscent of a Simon Bisley drawing. The pictures here almost take themselves, especially if X-23 is made alongside them both and they can all have a claw-off.
And finally:
UDON-esque Taskmaster
This one is a bit of a long shot. Actually it’s a huge long shot and the least likely on the list. So far, the characters chosen for the line have been high profile hero and villain (like Spider-Man and Venom) or obvious (Wolverine will get a figure in every line ever) or currently trendy (Spider-Gwen). Taskmaster obviously has his fans, but he is none of these things. But what he does have is pizzazz. Shields, swords, guns guns guns …Taskmaster is pretty much everything ramped up to 11. And if you head towards the UDON version (no Revoltech capes, please), then you get a really cool-looking masked, armored guy that could easily fit in with Deadpool, Spidey or whomever. Basically, even though his profile is not high, his play-value would be extremely high, and would make a great entry. While he’s not very probable, he would not disappoint.