Marvel Universe: Black Widow and Thor

Black Widow and Thor 3.75 Marvel Universe 2010 Series 2 by Hasbro. Cost: $7.99 each. Impulse buy. First Black Widow figure I've bought. First Thor figure I've bought.

The new series finally came into the store today. I decided on these two to add to my collection. I passed on Luke Cage. I may or may not get Bucky if he's still on the shelf next week. The last Marvel Universe figures I bought were Ms. Marvels. They didn't come with stands, so it was very nice to see these included. These stands have TWO pegs!!!! These figures are meant to be in a standing position, and I'm glad to see that they have done this for these stands. The last 3.75 figure I bought was comic War Machine, and it was the first 3.75 Marvel figure I bought that came with a stand. The stand that came with it was disappointing. It had only one peg and had a lame card gimmick.

Black Widow comes a gun that fits her trigger hand poorly. So poorly, I have her holding it in her left hand by the handle on top instead. Her belt is a loose piece hanging on her hips. I have no clue why they did this. It doesn't look any better than if they had just molded it on and painted it. Her face sculpt isn't incredibly sexy, and yet it's not ugly either. Overall, she's an average figure.



Thor on the other hand is a magnificent figure to behold. He comes with Mjöllnir which is easily held. His sculpt from helmet to boots is beautifully detailed. From the 3.75 line of toys, this is easily the most satisfying one that I own. Overall, Thor is an epic figure. I can only hope that Emma Frost, Mach IV, or Songbird get made as well as Thor has been.

FFXIII Play Arts Lightning

Lightning figure from Play Arts. Cost: $39.99. Impulse buy. Third Play Arts figure I've bought.

Upon unboxing Lightning, I noticed a fancy looking stand. It looked like an over sized Figma stand at first glance. Instead of a nut and screw, like on the Figma stands, Play Arts decided to use a plastic push-pressure thing. It feels pretty flimsy and is no where near firm enough. Play Arts' stand continues to use a clamp, instead of the much better joint into the back, to hold the figure.

Lightning comes with a folded sword that fits into her sheath, a folded out sword, and two open positioned hands to interchange with the closed fists that are already attached to her. Both swords have a tiny hole to attach to her right open hand. The left open hand does not have a joint for the swords to be attached. Lame. The folded sword has bits that can fold out for a gun look. These bits are rubbery and also feel very flimsy. I felt I was close to breaking it as I fiddled with it.



As for the figure itself, it's huge. Not Marvel Icon's huge, but still pretty damn big. Most of her clothes are rubber molds, which are very nice. Another nice touch, her cape has a joint. Articulation is almost typical Play Arts. There are two extra things Lightning has that my Play Arts Yuffie does not have. One, her knees are double jointed and they are awesomely poseable and still stiff. The other thing is her waist is also double jointed, and thus way more flexible. Lightning passes the "Randy Orton pose" test, but she fails the "Masataka pose" test. Only just barely though because of not having good wrist joint.



I think they failed to capture her hair. It's too pink and the hair looks awful. I would've liked it a lot if there were more hand choices. Interchangeable faces would've also been very nice.

Overall, it's still a nice figure. Her poses look lively, apart from her emotionless face. I like it.