The Symbiotes as a concept was one that wore thin pretty fast due to overexposure and, well, exploitation. But that’s what the ’90s were all about in retrospect, right? Take a cool concept and drill it into the dirt until you learn to hate it. There were Mutants and Symbotes all over the place, it seemed, but not many were very interesting outside of the core group that kicked off each respective craze. Venom was really cool, and Todd McFarlane made you love that big, toothy grin of is. Carnage was pretty interesting too, but he was something of a faded carbon-copy of the original — still cool, but the impact and effectiveness were somewhat diluted because we had a basic idea of what to expect.
In an effort to freshen up the concept, Toxin was introduced. Patrick Mulligan, Toxin’s host, was a cop, and, like most cops, he had a vested interest in doing the right thing. When Carnage felt the need to asexually reproduce, as it were, Officer Mulligan was the unlikely choice to become host to this new Symbiote. Toxin became something of an antihero — wanting to follow in the footsteps of Spider-Man, he had to somehow reconcile the frenzied bloodlust that infused Toxin. Where Venom and Carnage were murderous psychos, Toxin was a hero — with murderous tendencies.
This is the second Toxin we’ve seen in the Marvel Legends scale. The first was part of ToyBiz’s Spider-Man Classics line, which was released at the tail end of ToyBiz’s stewardship of the brand. This version is a newly released “swap” figure, part of the new Marvel Legends Spider-Man Infinite line, which is hitting stores now. He’s a “swap” figure in that he takes the place of Carnage in wave 2 of the series, sharing the title “Spawn of the Symbiotes” with his “dad.” Neither Toxin’s or Carnage’s names are mentioned anywhere on the packaging, which is an interesting tactic on Hasbro’s part — good luck calling Target to see if they have the “other” red guy, not the “red and black” guy.
I managed to toss out my Toxin’s packaging prematurely, so the above pic is straight from Amazon. Like Carnage, Toxin comes with the Ultimate Green Goblin’s head and flame effect.
Toxin is built using the Hyperion body, the body that is current used for all perceived “oversized” characters. His head, forearms, and hands are new, as well as the “Symbiote effect” rising up from his back. I was actually surprised to see the Hyperion body used here since I expected him to be a straight-up Carnage repaint, more or less. The original Toxin (which I no longer own, sadly) was not a big figure, so I was expecting this version to be an average-sized figure too. I was pleasantly surprised to see the larger body because it makes him look like more of a monster, which is extra cool.
His head sculpt looks great — in certain light. In standard daylight, he looks a little doofy, which I think can be blamed on his giant buck teeth. In more subtle lighting, like the first and last pics, he looks much creepier, which I think was the intent here. I find it ironic that out of the three Symbiotes we have, Toxin is the creepiest of the bunch, and he’s essentially a good guy.
He’s articulated well enough. He can’t strike any Spider-Man-like poses due to his size and bulk, but it is easy to get him in cool action poses or dancing poses — whichever tickles your fancy. I’m happy to report his joints are nowhere near as rubbery as the Sabretooth from the Wolverine Legends line. Sabretooth shares basically the same body barring any character-specific enhancements, and he was a floppy mess. Toxin feels much more solid and stable.
Toxin’s articulation is as follows:
- Ball head
- Ball shoulders
- Bicep swivel
- Double elbows
- Swivel and hinged wrists
- Ab crunch
- Waist swivel
- Ball hips
- Cut thighs
- Double knees
- Cut calves
- Ankle rockers
I like that he’s a whole new figure rather than a character-specific repaint. Posing him with Carnage and other figures from the Spider-Man Infinite line makes him look pretty huge in comparison, which does a lot to make him somewhat visually interesting. Because, let’s face it, he’s not very visually interesting. There isn’t a lot of paint to speak of. He’s made on a maroon base with some crimson paint slathered on his upper body, but aside from that and the paint used on his head, there isn’t much paint detail here. He’s accurate to the source material, which is always cool, but anything that helps him in the “interesting” department is welcome.
I’m definitely a fan of this figure’s more monstrous qualities, so he has earned himself a place in my permanent collection, especially since my original ToyBiz Toxin was sacrificed to the eBay gods years ago.
Toxin, along with Spider-Girl and Boomerang, is currently hitting most stores right now. He is, again, a swap figure, which is essentially a more evenly packed variant, so be aware of that as you hunt. If you see Black Cat or Beetle hanging around, then that store didn’t get a swap case. But if you see Boomerang or Spider-Girl, then you’re hopefully in luck. The swaps are an interesting way to handle the line, but at least they’re all actually being released (*cough* Bulldozer *cough*).
If hunting for these swaps isn’t your style, then the set can be ordered from Fwoosh sponsor Big Bad Toy Store.
