ToyBiz released their final update to the female body with their Series 15 Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew and Julia Carpenter) and Wasp. It was an honest-to-goodness great attempt to get their female buck down, but the translation from prototype to production just fell short. Luckily for everyone on the planet, Hasbro will be releasing a new version of Spider-Woman on what appears to be the Thunderbolts Moonstone buck!
So much potential, all of it lost. I’ll say this, the prototypes looked amazing. OK, not perfect. They had some kind of weird belt-thing going on that gave them this grandma-panties look, but let’s face it — these looked good. The faces had, and still have, these great face sculpts, and the overall proportions were great looking. In fact, the figures turned out well. Jessica Drew is a star in Marvel Comics these days, playing a huge role in The Avengers, and she’s one of those old, classic characters that deserves excellent treatment in Marvel Legends. It looked like we were on our way.
And then production hit! I have no idea what happened. All the prototype elements are there but the figure came out looking odd. Really long skinny legs, way too skinny waist, the grandma panties turned into a diaper. Luckily the head sculpt remained intact.
Until Hasbro’s is released, you will have to make do with… this one. From the articulation point of view, it’s a great figure, almost. It’s got everything and more that can you think of. But the abdominal joints just don’t work well. Kudos for the attempt, and, truth be told, if hadn’t been for figures like Spider-Woman, companies like Figma and Bandai would have never figured out how to improve these joints and get them to work. Hasbro is working on it; Moonstone almost had it and Medusa definitely has it, which is great since it opens the door to get other characters like Wasp redone down the line.
The other major issue is that, well, she can’t stand. The combination of the ball hips, spindly legs, and high heels is a recipe for disaster. If the ab joints worked better, you might be able to get some balance out of her, but good luck with that. The other thing… where are the wrist swivels? It’s an incredibly huge miss on a figure that’s supposed to be a poseable as Spider-Man! At least she has bicep swivels. Here’s the breakdown:
Hinged ankles
Swivel calves
Double hinged knees
Swivel thigh
Ball hips
Ball waist
Ball chest
Ball shoulders
Swivel biceps
Double hinged elbows
Hinged wrists
Hinged neck
Swivel head
Quick note: the webbing under the arms has more or less rotted away. It’s why it looks horrible in the pictures. Pulling it off the shelf, she practically dissolved during the shoot.
The paint on the figure was typical ToyBiz — fantastic. I really love and miss all the old ToyBiz paint apps. They were crisp, clean, and made most of the transition from prototype to production beautifully.
As mentioned, unless Hasbro pulls a fast one, you don’t have to waste a dime picking this one up off the back office; you can wait for Hasbro’s newer version on a way better buck. But if you are determined, here are some suggestions.
