Whatever knows fear burns at the Man-Thing’s touch, but whoever knows the Netflix wave will be able to put together a Man-Thing of their very own. I was initially little surprised at Man-Thing receiving an updated figure via Hasbro, but then the reason dawned on me.
A few SDCCs ago, we received a Thunderbolts box set, comprised of Luke Cage and other members of the Thunderbolts team active during Jeff Parker’s run on the series. Continuing the theme, some other Thunderbolts members have popped up here and there, so that probably had a big part in Man-Thing — who acted as transportation due to his Nexus of Realities taxi service — showing up here.
Plus, it’s just a cool character.
ToyBiz put out a great-looking Man-Thing waaaaay back in series 8, which was in 2005. After 12 years, that Man-Thing, while pretty great for its time, is very much of its time, and is due for an upgrade.
Hasbro’s Man-Thing corrects a few minor issues I had with the ToyBiz version. The biggest issue was size. While the TB Man-Thing was larger than a regular figure, there was a certain scrawniness to him that seemed counter to usual depictions, and that problem is rectified by Hasbro’s rather hulking Man-Thing. This Man-Thing is girthy, as is appropriate of a proud Man-Thing, whose lumbering size dwarfs those around him.
The second issue I had was the length of his tendrils. ToyBiz had some pretty stumpy face-vines, but Hasbro has a respectable set that hangs way down low.
So basically it boils down to a lack of length and girth with ToyBiz’s Man-Thing.
Oh the humanity.
Man-Thing’s torso features a rubbery overlay. I’m not sure what it looks like underneath, not what the body will be used for later. I don’t know if there’s a fully sculpted chest under there that will be used later, or if it’s something created literally for various overlays to be placed overtop of it. It’s very strange, but that seems pretty fitting for the character. I do like the way the head kind of juts out. With the hump on his back and with him properly hunched, it gives him a decently comic-accurate silhouette.
Man-Thing features single-jointed arms and double-jointed knees. He has a decent range of motion in both his wrists and ankles, and, along with a torso crunch and waist swivel, he’s fairly articulated for a lumbering mass of muck.
I’m split right down the middle with his sculpt. It’s very busy and swampy and appropriate, but I almost think its a bit too … viney, for lack of a better word. I’d like a bit more unfocused muck and a little less ropy vines. Again, that boils down to the multitude of depictions he’s had over the years. My immediate image of him is lumpy masses of mulch but this is equally valid, so it’s not truly an issue, just personal preference. I can easily find pictures where he’s almost smooth, so I’m glad he at least has texture and isn’t just a Juggernaut BAF painted green or something.
The paint is another area where I’m split down the middle. While it might be a case of me asking too much, I’d like to have seen the various parts of the sculpt that are obviously supposed to be roots painted as such. I think the brown — like those on his face-branches — interspersed among the green would have done a nice job of giving him a bit more atmosphere, instead of just green green green. That’s one aspect the TB Man-Thing did very well. However, that’s not to say there aren’t various greens at work here, and there is some gradient work on his leafy parts. But it is a lot of green that could stand a few touches of brown here and there. It’s nothing I can’t do myself if I was inclined, but they definitely seem as if they were sculpted specifically to have a brown paint app applied
I wouldn’t have put Man-Thing very high on the list of figures I thought needed a redo, nor was it one I thought we’d be getting, but once it was officially announced I found myself very pleased with the prospect of getting one, and having it in hand, it easily replaces my ToyBiz figure just on the bulk factor alone. Plus if I’m being honest, I never really liked those tree limbs jutting from the TB Man-Thing’s back. Where the TB one aimed for artistic license, this one aims for comic-accuracy and succeeds.
But please, stop saying it’s close to being a Sasquatch. That’s wrong on so many levels.
You can order the entire wave and build your own Man-Thing at Big Bad Toy Store
