REVIEW: Marvel Universe's Bullseye

Produced by Hasbro | Released March 2009 [Reissued April 2011]

Though he lacks superhuman abilities, BULLSEYE is far more dangerous than many powered individuals. His skill with thrown weapons is unsurpassed, and his fighting skills are equal to even the most highly trained ninjas in the world. He makes his living as a freelance assassin, a job he enjoys a great deal. Any edged or sharpened object instantly becomes a deadly weapon in his hands.

Packaging Shots

Bullseye

The original Bullseye figure was released as part of Series 1, Wave 1. Being such an early release - combined with the character's popularity and each case only featuring one Bullseye - made him quite a difficult figure to track down. Thankfully the recent release of revision cases from Hasbro has given collectors the opportunity to pick-up some of the figures we may have missed first time around, including the re-issued Bullseye we're taking a look at today.

Each of the Marvel Universe revisions has featured some form of modification (check our Ms Marvel, Daredevil and Warpath Reviews) and Bullseye is no exception, featuring a new, much darker paint job. Although I don't have the original to compare it to, this appears the only change.

The sculpt uses one of the earlier Marvel Universe bodies as its core (it's the same used by Daredevil and some Wolverine figures.) I'm not a massive fan of this body, as the leg-to-torso ratio seems off slightly and the upper body seems too overly-muscular compared to the much leaner limbs. Thankfully Hasbro don't use this body as often as they once did, which is definitely a good thing, as - frankly - it's pretty poor and looks more like an 80s toy.

The left hand is a new piece for this body. Bullseye's playing cards are sculpted as part of the actual hand, rather than being an accessory, and this has me split. On the one hand (heh) I like that the cards always remain in-place and I don't have to worry about them dropping out when I pose him. On the other, though, it means he's always holding those cards and this limits his posing options.

The head sculpt is also new and features a superb manic expression. However, the actual production quality is very poor, with a large gouge across his jaw making him appear to have a double chin and a very sharp mold line across the top of his head.

Articulation isn't bad but it's not great, either. There's no waist joint (although his torso moves) and that is quite limiting. I also dislike how ''springy'' his hip joints are. On the plus side though, he has ankle joints that allow him to kneel properly and the joints themselves are sharp enough to hold a pose, which is good. 

Paint-wise, the figure really loses-out. Keep in mind that different units will have different levels of application but my Bullseye is horribly sloppy. His painted white boot tops don't mask the blue plastic below. Edging on his gloves is sloppy. There are numerous bits of detritus in the paint. His mask barely covers his face. His belt is semi-transparent at various points. The card backs don't have a smooth edge. The body's dark wash looks great but the head features some clumsily-applied ''highlights'' that are simply too bright. There are spots and blobs on various points of the figure. It's really very disappointing and given how difficult Bullseye is to find, it's annoying that you'll probably - like me - be left with no other Bullseyes to pick from. If you are fortunate enough to find more than one Bullseye, make sure you check his paintwork. Maybe I was just incredibly unlucky.

Extras

Bullseye comes with an assault rifle and a dagger. The dagger refuses to stay in his hand and whilst the assault rifle is a better fit, it looks out of place thanks to his Handful O' Cards left hand sculpt. You may have noticed in the above photos that Bullseye is not holding any of these accessories. Now you know why.

The figure also comes with his SHIELD file but - as a Series 1 figure - doesn't include a base.

Final Thoughts

A poor body sculpt, weak accessories and terrible paintwork make for what should be a really poor figure. Thankfully all is not lost though and there are a couple of saving graces. 

Although the execution is poor, the head sculpt's design is great. Bullseye has a superb expression on his face and it conveys a lot of character. I've spoken in the past about figures ''connecting'' and this is one figure that does just that. If you know who Bullseye is and what he's about, you'll see all of that in the figure's facial expression and immediately ''get'' it.

Secondly the card-holding hand makes him a lot of fun to pose. Yes, you have to give up any thoughts of posing him with his weapons because they look ridiculous with the left hand. Instead, embrace that and build your poses around it and you'll see that there's a lot of very cool stances and action poses you can wring out of this toy. I actually had a lot more fun photographing him than I expected to have and when you get the pose just right, it looks great.

However, I can't in good conscience recommend this figure to anyone but the most die-hard of MU collectors or to Bullseye fans. If you're neither of those, don't waste your cash.

Scores

Sculpt	B
Paint	C-
Articulation	B-
Production Quality	D
Final Score	C+

Image Gallery