Another month and another wave of Marvel Universe is out in stores. Target stores have been stocking these regularly, shortly followed by Toys R Us and Wal-mart. This line is the future standard by which figures will be measured, so how does this new wave stand up? See inside.  

Red Hulk- This figure is the same figure as the wave two green and gray Hulks.  Even thought it’s the same body, I like this version better. This figure is proof that a change in paint and a new head can change a figure dramatically.  The paint on this figure is slightly muted taking away a shine first two have.  The new head sculpt matches his comic counter-part, and if they were to redo the old Hulk head with a new one, we might get a perfect Hulk in this scale.  

Moon Knight-  A single color figure always worries me, it can go one of two ways; they can either look cheap or they can have a wash that ruins the look of the character.  Moon Knight turned out to be a good balance, with just enough wash on the figure to make it look white, but not too bright.  The only place the figure has paint issues is on the forearms, which are too shiny. Again an earlier wave figure that I did not like has been transformed into a figure I like.  Moon Knight uses the Daredevil body and with a new head and a cape the figure does not feel as stumpy.  He has a good range of motion with the exception of the hips, like most of this line.  They feel slightly fragile and it’s hard to get the legs to 90 degree angle.  He comes with two accessories, though he can only hold one at a time.  He comes with a staff and a moon shaped boomerang weapon.  Having an open hand hurts the figure overall because he can’t hold both weapons, or hold the staff with two hands.  The nicest touch on the figure, though, is the hooded head.  Many times figures with hoods have the cape attached to the hood while the head is a separate piece.  On this figure the head and hood are one piece and the cape is separate.  The head can look in 360 degrees but because of the cape he can’t look up or down without using the abs joint.  

Blade-  I really wanted to like this figure but again Hasbro reuses the Punisher body, and again it disappoints. The paint and head sculpt on this figure are perfect.  Not only is the body a bad one to use, but the hands can’t hold any of the weapons he comes with.  He comes with his gun, sword and the s-shaped blade.  All three are too small for his hands, and if you want a perfect blade you will have to swap out the hands with another character.  The last detail on the figure that does impress me is that he has an opening on the back of his coat to store his sword, which the character can even reach back and hold on to.  

Union Jack- Again, another figure that uses the Daredevil body, but this one actually came out better than the devil himself.  A new head, belt, and ankle ties make him a much better figure.  His paint is perfect, and all the breaks in the paint don’t make him look as stumpy as Daredevil.  Thought a great figure, it is not without its flaws.  Once again in this wave the hands let you down.  A character with two weapons who can hold them both is an issue.  The other issue is that the belt hinders his leg articulation.  

Hobgoblin- This last figure of the wave is like all the others, part from a previous figure, the Green Goblin. Like Moon Knight he has a separate hood and cape which is something I like a lot on these figures. He also comes with a glider, pumpkin bomb and pouch. The only problem I have is that the glider has no stand, and the figure on his own has some issues standing. The problem comes from the thin legs and some package warping. What could help him is a thigh articulation to help with the lower legs. If we had a stand of some kind for the glides with would help with the leg issues, and give us something that should be included with these characters.  

There you have it: 3 months 4 waves.  While there is reuse, those figures that have newer parts show a great deal of improvement. The accessories continue to be a part of this line, and there are very minor issues with the line as a whole.  Though there is no Blink yet.

Wave One Review

Wave Two Review

Wave Three Review

Picture Gallery