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Picked up the first wave of deluxe 4” Avengers Assembled figures yesterday. I say deluxe as these are the more articulated versions, not the basic $6 versions with 5 points of articulation. I was a big fan of Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, and was wary of the relaunched series, but I’ve given it a try. I personally think the Assembled show is nearly unwatchable. I’ve only made it through to the end of 1 out of 3 episodes. It lacks the style, humor and rich, engaging narratives of EMH. I was, however, excited to see the 4” figure lineup in press shots and impressed with the character selection. I was equally excited when I saw them on the pegs even if they looked somehow...familiar.
Several online etailers have these in stock now, and according to those, and the two sets I found on pegs at K-Mart for $9.99 ea., the initial cases are packed evenly with 2 of each character. Kind of surprised, I expected Cap, Iron Man & Hulk to be the more heavily packed. Nice to see an equal ratio for a change. Anyway, these guys are an interesting lot. At first glance, they look awesome, especially next to their cheaper, happy-meal-like counterparts. The packaging is certainly more attractive than anything we’ve gotten from Hasbro/Marvel in a while. But soon after you really look at these, you’ll see them for what they actually are - pretty kit-bashes of existing MU/Movie/Indiana Jones (yup) parts with fresh new paint jobs and some newly sculpted heads and add-ons here and there (Hulk looks to be the only 100% new tool). Oh, and of course we get those big spring-loaded guns and missile launchers repacked from the recent Marvel movie lines again. With that in mind though, kitbashing is one of Hasbro’s strengths and it works really well here, despite varying degrees of articulation depending on what base body is used. They’re an attractive bunch with an ambiguous look that works for the AA animated series or just as well alongside other MU figures. Whether you think these are worth it or not, especially if you own MU or Movie Avengers, will vary from consumer to consumer. I think they look great. My only real gripe with the first wave is Cap comes with that big ol’ shield launcher, which is fine except the included shield cannot be held like he normally would due to the giant drum on the back of it, making it difficult to display - a replacement here is definitely called for unless you wanna skip this Cap altogether. Hulk & Widow are the standouts, but Falcon and the Skull are pretty darn nice too.
The next wave looks excellent (Thor, Hawkeye, Leader & Fury - more kitbashes w/Thor appearing all-new), though I’m left wondering if we’ll even see them at major retailers or if they’ll get shuffled off to some discount chain. Despite Hasbro’s announcement that Avengers Assemble is replacing Marvel Universe, the first wave of these apparently have the same DCPI/SKU as the Avengers Movie figures (at least at Target), meaning most stores are waiting to unload all their Skrulls, Chitauri & Stealth Iron Men before stocking these. Hopefully things will iron out in time for the holidays. We should all get something worthwhile out of this horrible show.
Several online etailers have these in stock now, and according to those, and the two sets I found on pegs at K-Mart for $9.99 ea., the initial cases are packed evenly with 2 of each character. Kind of surprised, I expected Cap, Iron Man & Hulk to be the more heavily packed. Nice to see an equal ratio for a change. Anyway, these guys are an interesting lot. At first glance, they look awesome, especially next to their cheaper, happy-meal-like counterparts. The packaging is certainly more attractive than anything we’ve gotten from Hasbro/Marvel in a while. But soon after you really look at these, you’ll see them for what they actually are - pretty kit-bashes of existing MU/Movie/Indiana Jones (yup) parts with fresh new paint jobs and some newly sculpted heads and add-ons here and there (Hulk looks to be the only 100% new tool). Oh, and of course we get those big spring-loaded guns and missile launchers repacked from the recent Marvel movie lines again. With that in mind though, kitbashing is one of Hasbro’s strengths and it works really well here, despite varying degrees of articulation depending on what base body is used. They’re an attractive bunch with an ambiguous look that works for the AA animated series or just as well alongside other MU figures. Whether you think these are worth it or not, especially if you own MU or Movie Avengers, will vary from consumer to consumer. I think they look great. My only real gripe with the first wave is Cap comes with that big ol’ shield launcher, which is fine except the included shield cannot be held like he normally would due to the giant drum on the back of it, making it difficult to display - a replacement here is definitely called for unless you wanna skip this Cap altogether. Hulk & Widow are the standouts, but Falcon and the Skull are pretty darn nice too.
The next wave looks excellent (Thor, Hawkeye, Leader & Fury - more kitbashes w/Thor appearing all-new), though I’m left wondering if we’ll even see them at major retailers or if they’ll get shuffled off to some discount chain. Despite Hasbro’s announcement that Avengers Assemble is replacing Marvel Universe, the first wave of these apparently have the same DCPI/SKU as the Avengers Movie figures (at least at Target), meaning most stores are waiting to unload all their Skrulls, Chitauri & Stealth Iron Men before stocking these. Hopefully things will iron out in time for the holidays. We should all get something worthwhile out of this horrible show.
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