Review – Spider-Man – 6″ Movie Amazing Spider-Man, Hasbro

When Hasbro announced a line of 6″ figures based on the Amazing Spider-Man movie, it was a given that the title hero would be receiving his own figure. I originally had no interest in purchasing this figure, since I don’t very much like the look of the suit in the movie, as he looks very much like a basketball. However, when I had the figure in my hands and I was inspecting it in package, it had potential. I decided to give it a shot, and at the very least I could review it and possibly get some other use out of it.

Here I’ll be judging the figure on its own merits and I’ll keep my bias over the new movie and suit of out the review. So join me as I take a look at the new Walmart exclusive 6″ Amazing Spider-Man action figure.

PACKAGING– The packaging is nothing special. The blister has a funky shape to it, but it mostly a standard rectangle, on top of a card back. The logo for the movie is plainly seen, and you have the figure front and center with his accessories displayed. The package advertises that he comes with a “whipping web line” right on the front, yet neglects the fact that he actually comes with THREE web lines, not just one. I didn’t know this until opening the figure, and felt it a miss on the part of the package design. You’d think that you’d want to advertise something like that a little better. The back just shows the figure, and again no mention of multiple web lines.

SCULPT – As I mentioned in the introduction, Spider-Man here definitely looks akin to a basketball. Of course that’s how it looked in the movie as well, so at least it’s well represented here in figure form. There are all sorts of different textures going on in the suit, and for those of use who are very tactile, you’ll love handling the figure. The little circular indentations are patterned all over the suit, though the red areas also have the webbing sculpted in.

I’d like to note that on the figure, all of the webbing on the suit is sculpted in negative relief (that is, sculpted into the figure), whereas as far as I can tell, in the movie his webbing is actually in positive relief. It’s supposed to be raised on the suit, much like in the Sam Raimi movies. It’s just odd to see Hasbro be so movie accurate, but completely do the webbing on the suit wrong.

PAINT – He’s painted in vibrant reds and blues. I feel the colors should be toned down some, but it still looks pretty good on this figure. There are a couple of splotchy areas, where some red got onto the blue part of the figure, around his biceps and his belt. There’s not a lot of detailing either. His eyes are a metallic gold, and there’s some silver detailing on his feet, but aside from that, there isn’t much.

It would have been nice to get some dark washes on there to help bring out the sculpt, or at the very least fill in the webbing on his suit to help make that stand out more. That would have done wonders for it. To be more movie accurate, it could also have a sort of glossy or metallic sheen as the suit in the movie gives off.

ARTICULATION – One thing the packaging boasts is “super articulation”, and that’s something this figure definitely has. It may not be as articulated as some past Toybiz figures, but it certainly has plenty. He has a ball jointed neck with a disc hinge that allows for up and down movement. He has ball jointed shoulders, bicep swivels, double elbows, swivel-hinge wrists, a floating ab joint, ball jointed hips, thigh rotators, double knees, and the new style of rocker ankle Hasbro has been implementing.

He’s got about 32 POA which is damn good. The biceps are a tad restricted for some reason, and I wish his head could look up more, but I was surprised at how well everything else works. The wrist joints are cool, because his left hand (the “web shooting” hand) allows you to position it up or down to get the iconic web shooting pose Spidey is famous for. However, he right hand’s hinge only allows for side-to-side movement, so you can have him grabbing onto something (another web line perhaps?) and have him look natural. I really like this.

The ab joint has a really good range of motion, and the legs are easy enough to pose. The hips go in at a 90 degree angle, so there’s no awkward twisting of the legs to get him to pose. I also love how good the ankle rockers look, and how well they work. All the joints on him are tight. Like, really tight. Perhaps too tight right out of the package. It will take a few minutes to “break in” all the joints, but once you do, posing is a breeze.

ACCESSORIES – Spidey includes a hexagonal figure stand, and three “whipping web lines”. The figure stand is forgettable, but the web lines are excellent. They’re cast in a pearlescent white, and they each have a loop on one end, and a hook on the other. Yes, you can hook them all together to wrap up the Lizard, or any other Spidey foe you wish. I love this. Not only that, but Spidey holds on to them very well, so if you wanted to somehow pose him actually in mid-websling, you could. In this day, it’s awesome to see toy companies actually including character appropriate accessories, especially when so many have all but completely stopped. Kudos.

QUALITY CONTROL – The bottom part of his left knee was torn a bit. Where the lower knee joints meets his lower leg, the plastic was torn some. I bought two of these, and only one was like this, so it’s likely not a widespread issue, but it’s something to look out for.

FUN – Spider-Man has an inherent level of fun, I think. That alone will make kids want this figure, but what about adult collectors? I do think the figure is a lot of fun. I’m definitely a Spider-Man fan, and while I may not care much for the design of the suit, I do have to admit to the figure being fun to play with and pose.

OVERALL – This figure has its issues. The sculpt isn’t entirely move accurate, the paint is lacking detail (and has splotchy areas), part of the plastic on his knee was torn, and while the articulation is plentiful, all the joints are too tight out of the package, which could cause the figure damage when breaking in all of the joints. He could really have a better range of motion in his shoulders, and he could do with a few more points of articulation, like a proper waist swivel, and some toe joints. Despite the issues, it’s not a horrible figure, and if you’re a fan of the new movie and collect in the 6″ scale, I’d recommend at least thinking about picking it up. As for me, I’m definitely going to stick with my ultra poseable Spider-Man 2 action figure for my collection.

FINAL SCORE: 2.5 / 5

Where to buy: None of my sponsors have this figure for sale, but if you’d prefer the 7″ Marvel Select Amazing Spider-Man figure, here are a couple of options:

BigBadToyStore

Entertainment Earth

Amazon