1,2,3,4… I declare a trade war! It’s Figure Friday now with 25% less column due to tariffs!
For this week I’m going to write about the Mafex bootleg Wolverine made by CT Toys that I just ordered from AliExpress and…what’s that? Oh, god damn it.
Wait, we can get mail from China again? Whatever. I’m sure that’ll change five more times before the end of this column.
Well, I’ve burned my two best jokes so we best get to the toy talk.
Spider-Man Marvel Legends Retro Collection Agent Venom
This week, I actually got out there and pounded the proverbial pavement looking for toys, and I have to say it was preferable to sitting at home and stewing. Early in the week I went fairly far afield from my normal stomping grounds looking for the new Agent Venom figure.
You see, I had a major case of social media fear of missing out due to this figure seemingly popping up everywhere BUT Michigan. I began checking local Target stores only to find every other figure from this wave, and let me tell you, it’s a real mixed bag.
Aside from Agent Veno,m there’s Spider-Man Unlimited from the late 90’s cartoon that I only remember as being “not-Batman Beyond,” Spider-Boy, a character that looks cool but I’m not familiar with, Electro, Chameleon, and Kaine. The last three on the list don’t do much for me, and I’m not looking forward to seeing them at Ollie’s or Ross stores in a year.
After two fruitless weeks I decided to start working smarter and not harder (but not smart enough since it took me two weeks to come up with this plan) and began checking the Target app on the daily. I’ll freely admit that this method feels a bit like cheating since I’ve been driving around hunting for toys since I got my driver’s license. It really does undercut the excitement of walking into a store and finding something you’ve been hunting for on the shelf.
The other morning, I checked the app, and to my surprise, a store in two towns over had FIVE in stock. I pulled the trigger on the purchase as quickly as possible and headed out to pick it up once my workday ended. A short car ride later, the figure was mine.
I’ve never been a massive Venom fan, and it seems like a normal response to growing up when the character was in everything. These days, it seems as if Marvel has tripled down on Venom, but there was a brief period when they caught my attention.
Almost a decade ago, they paired Venom with Peter Parker’s former bully, Eugene “Flash” Thompson, who had been wounded in the line of duty while in the Army. The Venom symbiote had been whipped into shape and was now a kind of nifty black ops suit for Thompson, who could only wear the suit for short periods to prevent permanent bonding. That last bit is especially funny since Venom gets passed around more than the common cold recently.
The figure itself is sublime for the $25 it’s priced at. You get multiple pairs of hands, some weapons, and an unmasked head that we’ve all agreed looks enough like Aaron Eckhart to where he may have a likeness rights case on his hands. The figure is complete with the new pinless joints, which are quickly becoming the gold standard for Marvel Legends figures, and the sculpt is just detailed enough to make a figure that’s primarily black visually interesting.
The only potential downside I can see is that the white detail paint on the figure feels like it may be prone to chipping at some point down the road. I’m sure Josh will tell me to hit it with some clear coat or something to avoid that.
It’s a solid enough figure that I’m considering picking up Spider-Man Unlimited and Spider-Boy if I can get them at a deep enough discount. I’m also looking forward to the inevitable Agent Anti-Venom figure that I’m sure is already in the works (ya see, they took the character and inverted the colours, making him all white with black trim because of comics).
That’s all I got for this week. Please remember to secure your own oxygen mask before helping others, and I’ll see you in a fortnight.
