REVIEW: Mega Bloks Marvel Spider-Man (Original Costume) Minifig

Produced by Mega Brands | Released March 2011

Spider-Man! Spider-Man! Does whatever a spider can!

And now he does it as a minifig!

Mega Bloks Marvel Blind-Bagged Minifigs

We've already seen the Blind-Bagged Minifigs from the Mega Bloks Marvel line - both Iron Man and the Battle Damaged version of the Armoured Avenger have been the subject of recent Reviews - and today it's the turn of Spider-Man.

If you missed either Review, the Marvel Mega Bloks are available as either play/construction sets or - in this case - blind-bagged single figures. (Although if you're not a fan of the blind-bagged concept, you could always use the pack's codes to reveal the contents.) Retailing at $2.50, each bag contains a single figure from a selection of eight, two of which are rare and one of which is ultra rare. Each figure also comes with a few accessories and a 2x4 construction brick (which makes a great stand.)

Packaging Shots

Spider-Man

After the slight disappointment of finding two near-identical Iron Man minifigs, I was a little dubious about buying another one of these blind-bags (especially given the limited number of figures and the high odds of getting a repeat figure) so you can imagine my relief - which quickly turned to joy - when I saw I'd scored everybody's favourite web-slinger.

The Spider-Man figure - like the Iron Man figures - comes in pieces and must be constructed. For those interested, the pack contains his torso, head, two arms, two legs plus his accessories (which we'll come to later.) Snapping them together is the work of a moment and - once he's assembled - you'll find him a surprisingly poseable and well-articulated toy.

The sculpt is very cool: there's (as you'd imagine) a blocky, slightly Super Deformed/cute look to the figure's proportions. He also uses unique pieces (or rather, pieces not shared with the previously-Reviewed Iron Man minifigs) and it's quite obvious who this figure is supposed to be.

We've already covered the articulation in the other Reviews but I'll recap it quickly: his neck, shoulders and hips are all ball joints. His waist, elbows, wrists and knees are all swivel joints. For a figure of this scale, that's a fair amount of poseability and it's streets ahead of the Lego Minifig line, a range these toys are - I assume - intended to compete with.

The joints hold poses well, especially given that many of them are detachable. I found my Spider-Man's left knee was a little loose but that could simply be a production error with my figure. His other joints were all fine, though.

Paint is cleanly applied, with additional transfers being used to give Spidey's costume its webbed-look. It's superbly detailed, accurately applied and looks great. Except... his boots don't feature any such webbing. It's a massive oversight and comes very close to undoing all the good work the upper body's put in. I'd have preferred to see either solid colour or webbing transfers, not a mix of both.

Extras

The pack includes an 8x2 construction block (which - as said - serves as a stand), a semi-transparent web line (which can be held as a whip or a swing-line) and a similarly semi-transparent web shield. The shield sits nicely in his hand but can also be attached via the port in his back to the figure. I like this, as when viewed from certain angles it looks like the web ''wings'' Spider-Man's costume is (sometimes) depicted with. It's also a cool way to store the piece and allows for a wider range of posing options.

Final Thoughts

I know part of the fun of a blind-bagged toy is getting a susprise, but I always prefer my surprises to be happy ones. My fear is that now I have three of the five ''Common'' figures, my odds of getting a figure I don't have will be pretty low, so that's the only real negative I can level at this toy.

The minifig itself - given its scale and price -  is excellent.

Scores

Sculpt	B+
Paint	B+
Articulation	B+
Production Quality	B-
Final Score	A-

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