Action Figure #747: Marvel Legends Spider-Venom

 Spider-man with chain-webs goes hard.

 I heard about Spider-Venom a few years ago. He wasn't called that, it was just Spider-man, but they were hyping it as the new take on the symbiote suit. Well, I read the five issue mini series, and the world has never seen a more inconsistent look. Sometimes he had wens, other times chains. Sometimes they forgot about the white fingers. They always forgot about the white soles. Except on the covers. It's a shame, because the suit looked really cool, but the artist just seemed to forget how it was supposed to look. At least, no such problem with the action figure!

 Not this buck again! Look, this is a fine buck... for younger heroes, or a younger Peter. They really need to stop using the Amazing Fantasy buck on modern costumes. Aside from that, he looks phenomenal. I love this take on the symbiote suit, and it looks great in plastic. He comes with two fists, two open hands, two web shooting hands, an unmasked head and the same chain accessory that Wildchild came with. Currently I display most of my heroes with their masks on, but this Peter head is fantastic, he looks mean and has a dash of symbiote coming up his right cheek.

 Articulation on this guy is excellent, as expected of the buck. Double jointed elbows and knees, butterfly joints, swivels on his biceps, thighs and boots, a hinged waist and a ball jointed ab crunch. As mentioned before, he is a bit shorter than Bucky Cap and most current Spideys... which he shouldn't.

 I love this figure. The design is great, the accessories are great, articulation is great, the plastic is not as gummy as Hasbro at its worst... if only they had used the Renew Your Vows buck...

9.5

Action Figure #746: Marvel Legends Mary Jane Watson (Iron Spider) (Magic: The Gathering)

 They've gone ahead and did it, they gender-swapped my favorite Spider-Man!

 Next to Anti-Venom, Mary Jane Watson (Iron Spider) was the other Magic: The Gathering crossover figure I wanted the most. I mean, sure, she doesn't wear this in the comics, but it's a much better idea than she hosting Venom, being Jackpot or.... oh my god, between those and Paul, what the F*** is wrong with Marvel?

 Well, this is the Iron Spider but female. While MJ gets mostly gold paint over her body, thw spider design on her chest and abdomen is actually sculpted. It's still a nice looking design, and my favorite version of Spider-Man, so I do love how it looks on MJ too. It seems the female is the deadlier of the species, because she gets four waldos instead of three! The head sculpt is identical to the one that came with Gwen and the one that came with Spinerette, but with windswept hair. She comes with two fists, two web thwipping hands and a masked alternate head.

 Her Waldos include an extra orangey paint on the inside of the waldos that do add sone extra pizzaz to them. They look really neat.

 Articulation is alright. She has double jointed elbows and knees, with swivels on her thighs and biceps. Sadly, no boot swivels. And while she does have a ball jointed ab crunch, it doesn't have much range, and there's waist articulation at all. Usually, I'd be OK with this level of articulation, female figures do get the short end of the stick, but on a Arachnid figure? She should've been made on the new Black Widow sculpt. She's a hair shorter than Bucky Cap.

 She's not the most spectacular figure ever made, but what can I say? I love this design a lot, so I\m happy MJ gets to wear it too! Although she could've benefitted from the new buck.... all things considered, Hasbro, where's Aaron's version of the Iron Spider?!

8.5

Action Figure #745: Power Rangers Lightning Collection MMPR x TMNT Morphed Donatello

 Donnie got's edge now!

 And now I've got to write about MMPR Morphed Donatello don't I? He did come bundled with Leo after all!

 Well, Donnie should've been the Blue Ranger, because clad in Black like this... he actually looks cool. Like, honestly, the black and gold simply looks too cool, making this one, so far, the coolest looking one of the bunch. He comes with two fists, two gripping hands, two open hands, the Black Ranger's Axe and the Axe in a Staff mode, he also comes with an energy effect for his gun as well as a brilliant unmasked Donnie head, which is sporting some badass golden goggles! The only issue with him would be that the staff's holster on his back doesn't hold the weapon very well.

 Lightning Collection always keeps their standards! Double jointed elbows and knees, butterfly joints, although you won't get much range due to the shell, swivels on his biceps, boots and thighs and a ball jointed waist... that you can't use beyond tilting him to the sides or turning him around, due to the shell. He has no ab crunch articulation, but he does have drop down hips. He is almost as tall as Bucky Cap.

 Unbelievably, they made Donnie the coolest looking one of the bunch, so far these Turtle crossover figures have been really great, it's a shame they didn't sell very well.

8.5

Action Figure #744: Power Rangers Lightning Collection MMPR x TMNT Morphed Leonardo

 They still count as teens with attitude, right?

 Couldn't just start 2026 without some Ninja Turtle action, in this case, MMPR Morphed Leonardo takes the center stage!

 Well, I'm a bit miffed that Leonardo, the leader, got demoted to blue. I get it, it's the color commonly associated with him in animated versions, but still. That said, Leo's take on Billy's helmet is fire, and his trident blades look pretty cool and are a nice twist on Billy's weapon. He comes with his two swords, an unmasked head that looks great, two fists, two gripping hands, two open hands and a single effect for either of his katana's.... which is a bit lame, they could've easily put another one.

 Lightning Collection always keeps their standards! Double jointed elbows and knees, butterfly joints, although you won't get much range due to the shell, swivels on his biceps, boots and thighs and a ball jointed waist... that you can't use beyond tilting him to the sides or turning him around, due to the shell. He has no ab crunch articulation, but he does have drop down hips. He is almost as tall as Bucky Cap.

 While I think he should've been the Red Ranger this is still a nice 6 inch Leonardo to own. He looks beefy, has nice articulation and pulled off the Crossover motif perfectly.

8.5

Action Figure #743: Marvel Legends Man-Wolf (Magic: The Gathering)

 This JJ Jameson doesn't want pictures of Spider-man.

 Can't say that Man-Wolf was high in my list of most wanted figures, but he WAS introduced, in human form in Spider-Man, and he did show up as Man-Wolf in a few issues of Marvel Team-up, so.... why not?

 At first I thought this was some kind of Magic-ied redesign, since I vividly remember the character wearing a yellow jumpsuit of sorts. Well, I looked it up, it seems that eventually they changed his design to this emerald armor one-piece. And, well, he does look very nice, as the green, gold and white goes hard. Quite a few things were sculpted just for him too, and they managed a very nice, furry look for his limbs. He comes with two gripping hands, a grabby hand, a fist, a sword that they've reused many times, a bow that we have seen before, a single arrow and a multi-arrow accessory for his quiver.

 The arrow accessory is kinda neat, because you just fold it and snuck into the quiver, letting the arrows look like individual pieces but staying in place quite firmly.

 Articulation-wise, he gets double jointed elbows and needs, as well as swivels on his biceps, thighs and waist, and a hinged waist. Oh! and you can open and close his mouth! The shoulder pegs are as gummy as usual with modern legends, but the joints are pretty smooth, so it doesn't feel like anything will break. This is one figure that I think would've benefitted immensely from swivels on his boots, but sadly, he doesn't have them. It's not absolutely necessary, but since he is a furry fellow, more range on his shins would've helped making him more feral looking.

 A thing to keep in mind is that his bracelets prevent his double jointed elbows from reaching their full bend. It's not too bad. He is a bit taller than Bucky Cap. Another thing, since his hands are white... except the paint from the accessories to rub on his fingers.

 I think that he was probably the figure I was least excited about the Magic wave, but he came out awesome. He is a fun figure to play with, and will look nice on any shelf thanks to its eyecatching design and color design.

9.0

Action Figure #742: Power Rangers Lightning Collection S.P.D. Pink Ranger

 The most hardcore Pink Ranger. The only one without a skirt!

 I found the Dekarangers so cool, that... well, I just had to finish the team(Spoilers!), although only the S.P.D. Pink Ranger arrived with my last haul!

 Well, design-wise she's another asymmetrical ranger so I love her. Black and pink go nicely together, to she looks pretty cool. In her case, I also love her weapons, she has this sort of retractable club thing that makes her look as if she means business. In fact, she comes bundled with an unhelmeted head, two gripping hands, a fist, a hand for her badge, the badge itself, the blaster thingie and her club in extended and collapsed forms.

 Since she comes with the blaster and it fits perfectly with the collapsed club, I'm guessing this is a tool of hers, much like the Green Ranger's.

 She's on an older buck, which has a few shortcomings. Her elbows are single jointed, but the bend goes slightly beyond 90 degrees, while her legs are double jointed. She has swivels on her thighs and boots, a hinged waist and a ball jointed ab crunch. She does have butterfly joints, but they only add range behind her, still, a good addition, but not the best. The only issue with this buck is that the legs are a bit gummy and skinny, so some poses might be a bit harder to balance. She is a bit shorter than Bucky Cap.

 This is probably the coolest Pink Ranger I own, yes, even better than the Ranger Slayer, so I quite like her. She is a bit gimped in the articulation department, but you know how Hasbro is with their female bucks, why try harder? But other than that, she's dope!

7.5

Action Figure #741: Power Rangers Lightning Collection Dino Fury Red Ranger

 Back with the dinosaurs!

 Well, I know almost nothing about the Dino Fury Red Ranger nor his Sentai counterpart besides it being another Dinosaur Ranger, and if I'm not mistaken, they went for a dinosaur motif because Sentai wasn't doing so well and Dinosaur seasons always do well... guess Gozyuger should've been a Dinosaur season, huh?

 Well, I've mentioned with the SPD rangers about how much I like asymmetrical designs, right? Well, this Dino Fury guy looks amazing. The right side of his torso, including the right arm, is clad in shiny silver, but all throughout his body he has this gold accents that are just delightful... and don't even let me get started on how cool his knight-like helmet is! I absolutely adore this guy. He comes with his unmasked head, which does look like the actor, I looked it up!, a pair of gripping hands, as well as a silver fist and a red pointing hand, not to mention the mandatory effect piece for his last accessory: His sword. His sword looks really cool, but it's one of the gummiest accessories I've seen in the line so far. 

 Articulation is exceptional as always, with double jointed elbows and knees, butterfly joints, swivels at the biceps, thighs and boots, a ball jointed ab crunch and a hinged waist. Everything you need to get him to look cool. Surprisingly, he is as tall as Bucky Cap.

 Honestly, this is a brilliant ranger design that looks really great in plastic. I'm happy to add him into my collection... and sad this will be a team I won't get to finish.

9.0