I have been waiting for the Spiderman line to be a companion to the Marvel U line, and while we first took a look at the line’s big names a few weeks ago it took a while to get the other figure I wanted from the line. Venom was almost worth the wait.  

I know that all the first wave figures are not being covered between these reviews, but to be honest Scuba Spidy and all the other variants are made for the kids. The real collector pieces will be the villains, most of the time.  

Venom looked great at SDCC, but like the six inch Goblin, he was disappointing in person. There is a rush at the show about all the new figures coming out that you’re on sensory overload. Toys that look great during the show may turn out to be junk in person. It is not until you’re at retail and that $8 price tag is looking back at you that you can decide what is great. Venom is not like the Goblin, only because with a little help with a figure that I already had I was able to improve the figure. Let’s take a look at the figure without any help.  

Venom’s look is classic, from the big teeth, to the dark colors, and the bright white spider.  He looks just like he should, Spiderman on steroids. He is much larger than the Spiderman from this new line, but not compared to the black costumed Spidy from Marvel Universe. Height is an issue with this figure, but it is becoming an issue across the board, with all the lines under this scaled Marvel banner.  

It is not in the sculpt or the details that this figure falters, but in the construction. First off the legs have no articulation. The only point you can adjust the legs is at the hip joints. This limits any kind of creative posing or any posing other than standing at attention. Next, there is no abs joint, which personally I don’t miss. With a symbol as large as Venom has, the joint would break up the symbol and make it almost impossible to get it lined up correctly, while having the figure look comfortable in any pose. Moving up the body, the figure has no wrist articulation, making the arm stiff from the elbow down.  Finally, the neck peg does allow for many different poses, giving the figure the ability to look both up and down without looking awkward.  There is a give and take with the figure, for every pro there is a con.  

Even with all the issues, there are a few simple things you can do to make this figure worth the time to track it down.  

By taking the Sabertooth from the Blob two pack, and switching legs you add both height and articulation to the figure.  

If you’re ambitious you can swap the arms too and give him some wrist movement, though this requires both sanding and some precision painting of the hands. For me the sanding of the hands to remove the glove cuff without damaging the hand was outside of my ability, but could be done by someone else with more skill.  

There is also a tongue out version which is the same body as the normal with the added feature on the head.  

With a little work this has turned into one of my favorite figures for this scale. The fact that I had to pay for the new head, legs, and paint to fix him is not ideal for everyone. This line is very easy to customize, and with some hot water and paint you can build a better Venom.  

More Marvel Universe and Marvel lines Reviews and Links:

Spiderman and Green Goblin Review

Spiderman Gallery

Wolverine Origins Gallery

Wolverine Origins Review

Wolverine Origins Multipacks/Tru Pack

Marvel U. Secret Wars Gallery

Marvel U. Gallery

Marvel U Secret Wars Wave Two Review

Marvel U. Secret Wars Wave One Review

SDCC Invaders Set

SDCC Captain America 

Wave One Review

Wave Two Review

Wave Three Review

Wave Four Review 

Wave Five Review

Wave Six Review

TRU Multi-Packs

Marvel Universe Gigantic Battles