Happy Spider-Man day! (yep it's August 1st for whatever reason) Here at GEN we like to celebrate it the only way we know and is with action figures! But instead of doing a boring review, we want to highlight 2 vintage figures that have skyrocketed in price since the Spider-Man No Way home movie debuted.
By Chris "Hunter" Diaz.
To that extent, we went to our archive and found several old, yet functional figures we bought during the Toy Biz days, and also during the Garfield run (We did not paid scalpers for these ones) So sit back and take a look to these treasured (and dusty) pieces of plastic memories:
Wrestler Spider-Man (Toy Biz, 2002)
It's 2002 folks! and Spider-Man has just released in theaters. Those of us who were there can recall the endless merchandise aisles in Kay-Bee Toys, Toys R Us, and every other retailer known to man. To that end, Toy Biz released 3 waves of 6 inch figures for the movie. Wrestler Spidey here appeared in wave 3, along with Battle Ravaged Green Goblin, Power Punch Spider-Man and others:
Image source: Ebay. (cause we ain't that crazy to buy it carded)
His pre-posed nature was surely an annoyance, but the level of detail here was impressive for 2002, and still remains so to this day. Remember: The "best" sculpts we had so far were those hideous X-Men movie toys who were still clogging pegs despite being clearanced at $1.99. This Tobey likeness was a quantum leap in articulation, engineering and accuracy.
(Of course cleaning it was a feat, Dust really loves those web patterns)
This is a view of all the accessories: The pants, shirt and mask are all made of stretchy rubber, that surprisingly has held up super well after all of these years!
Of course, to dress him you needed to pop out his arms and lower legs. The Spider-Man mask is made out of rubber too...
...Unfortunately, it has not fared too well, and has since solidified and cracked. It can barely fit on Tobey's head. Is more an accessory nowadays than anything else.
And here it is! The infamous wrestler Spidey. He has skyrocketed in price since the release of the no way Home movie, we assume cause of the Tobey head sculpt. His use in the actual movie was fairly short but the scene was pretty funny. "BONESAWWW IS READYYYYYY!!!"
I will not tire of repeating how surprised I am to see the quality of the rubber holding up after 20 friggin' years. Learn from that Mattel! (DC Universe Classics Clayface anyone?)
The paint on the spider chest symbol has more of a wash than anything. In the prototype images, it was supposed to look more like an airbrush, just like Peter did in the movie:
Years later in 2007 when Hasbro took over the Marvel License, he was re-released in a new package and pretty crappy paint apps. We don't own a sample so we have no idea as to how the materials have held up until now:
Image credit: Ebay
Image credit: Ebay
SHOULD YOU BUY: Absolutely no. At the time of this writing, prices for this fellow are going for about $200 for a carded sample, or $70 to $80 for a loose, incomplete one. That Spidey mask is super difficult to find in good shape.
THE ONE YOU NEED:
If they are making these, you bet your wrestling Spidey that the licensing floodgates are completely open for much better figures that we have yet to see. We can even bet Mafex will throw his hat on the ring soon.
You can buy now the Tobey Spider-Man here:
(Yep, the likeness on this one...destroys all)
Another one you don't need:
The Amazing Spider-Man Movie Series Movie Edition Spider-Man (Hasbro, 2012)
It's now 2012 kids! and Hasbro is still trying to figure out their 6 inch action figures. At this point, the return of Marvel Legends had been announced, but most of their movie figures were released as retailer exclusives. Such was the case with this one, who was sold via Walmart, at the tail end of the line:
Image credit: Friggin' Ebay
This Garfield offering was the best they did, cause unlike the first release, it included an unmasked Andrew Garfield head, a skateboard, stand, a backpack and the horror of seeing the Spider-Man suit re-designed in such a way.
I was reluctant to even collect this one since the engineering looked pretty bad, and that reluctance led me to buy perhaps the best version since he was released nearly at the end. (I did skipped out on The Lizard, which I would later regret)
This Andrew Garfield is as unsettling as seeing a baby spin inside a microwave. They truly massacred our boy here to a point where he looks like a victim of bad Botox. You can see the misery in his barely recognizable eyes.
I spared you the pain, and put on the extra Spider-Man head. In this case it's an alternate head and not a rubber piece. The articulation on this guy is clunky and unimaginative. Despite being a modern figure, it doesn't flow well, posing him is cumbersome, and feels like punishment.
Sculpture is decent but not remarkable. That suit had tons of unnecessary intricacies that were not translated into the toy, and quite frankly, are not missed either. The color should have been a bit darker too.
He includes a backpack with an elastic band that is used to secure his skateboard. The skateboard has free rolling wheels.
Don't leave it there for long periods of time since the black paint from the skateboard will transfer onto the backpack.
SHOULD YOU BUY: EFF NO!!! prices for this monstrosity on Ebay go for $220 carded. His 3 3/4 inch counterpart is also expensive as hell.
THE ONE YOU SHOULD GET:
As usual, Bandai has teased an Andrew Garfield Amazing Spider-Man figure based on the No way Home movie. Unfortunately it will no longer include the Andrew Garfield head. Preorders are open now:
But wait, there is more!
Mid July 2022, Hasbro also revealed a No Way Home Spider-Men 3 pack exclusive to
Hasbro Pulse for $89.99. They are renders mind you, and no word was said if they were going to include alternate unmasked heads with the pack, but is another option to get these 3 at a fraction of the vintage ones:
And there you have it folks, 3 alternatives to overpriced vintage Toy Biz Spider-Man toys that are sure to please fans of all means. Start re-selling those ToyBiz ones if you want to buy the new ones!
LLLLLLLATER!
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