Every successful toy line has that one particular series whose demand far outstrips its supply. The reasons for this are many. Perhaps that series is packed with the all of main characters. Maybe it’s loaded with the B-list favorites. The only sure thing is that finding the figures you need to complete your collection just got a lot harder. For many collectors (myself included), this was the case with the ToyBiz Marvel Legends Walmart exclusive Giant-Man Build-a-Figure series.
I remember how surprised I was when I first saw images of the series online — and how quickly I was crushed to discover they were a Walmart exclusive. At the time I was living in the city, with the nearest of the stores three buses away. How was I going find the 11 figures needed to put this guy together? Short answer: I wasn’t. I gave up after several unsuccessful trips and told myself I’d buy Giant-Man loose. I mean, how much could he possibly go for?
We all know the rest. In spite of being what many would consider a B-list character, everyone had to have a Giant-Man. Buying him on the secondary market was (and remains) a costly proposition. Thanks to my lovely wife, I did eventually end up with ol’ High-Pockets, but the actual figures he came with eluded me until I picked up the set cheap (loose and minus the Giant-Man pieces, natch) at a local toy show. It was then I finally got my hands on another long-time action figure want: the astonishing Ant-Man.
Only it’s not Hank Pym under the removable helmet; it’s Pym’s successor Scott Lang. Granted, with the helmet on you can’t really tell, but deep down inside you know. You always know.
With the helmet off, it’s a good likeness of Mister Lang as George Perez first drew him in Marvel Premire #47 and #48. He’s got a smirky, smart-ass expression that looks good helmeted or exposed, and his hair manages to have some texture in spite of needing to be flat enough to fit inside the helmet.
Speaking of the helmet, the shaping is good and the fit tight. The antennae and connector pieces are a touch on the thick side, but they would have to be, otherwise they’d snap off every time the helmet was removed.
The Walmart series had a limited tooling budget compared to a regular series, and many of the figures reflected that. Ant-Man is built on ToyBiz’s standard “slender” body, but he gets a new head, new lower arms, new boots, and a new pelvis (to accommodate his gas canisters.)
The reuse is serviceable, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to see Ant-Man updated on a newer body. And for those naysayers who think Ant-Man needs to be skinny, here’s how Perez drew Ant-Man in Avengers #161:
The Bucky body is ideal for a classic Ant-Man — next to it, the ToyBiz version comes off as gangly and dated. Not that it’s a bad figure on its own merits, but beside the newer Hasbro figures it looks off.
Ant-Man has a hinged neck, ball-jointed shoulders, swivel biceps, double-hinged elbows, pin-and-hinge wrists, and hinged fingers on the left hand. There’s a torso crunch, a swivel waist, ball hips, swivels in the thighs, double-jointed knees, swivel boot tops over hinged rocker-style ankles and hinged toes. Everything moves well, allowing the figure to get into all kinds of character-specific poses.
The bulk of Ant-Man’s color comes from molded plastic. It’s not bad per se, but it is a little dull for a character whose costume is a combination of two primary colors. The paint that is here is decent enough, but areas like the black detailing on the costume are fuzzy under close scrutiny.
The work on the face is good, with the eyes and lips looking especially lifelike for being offered at this scale and price point. The helmet looks like plastic painted silver, but it’s passable — vac-metal would have been so much cooler, but I’m two decades too late on that one.
Ant-Man came with Giant-Man’s right elbow. On its own… it probably wasn’t much fun. Happily, if you somehow were lucky enough to find all of the figures, you could build yourself a pretty nifty Avenger.
Ant-Man ended up being a nice figure that many people overlooked in their haste to build Giant-Man. He’s not perfect, but he’ll do and look good doing it until an update comes along.
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Jason R Mink is the Man in the Anthill