I'm officially declaring 2014 the comeback year for Hasbro. The production quality and sculpts of all their upcoming figures blow their past efforts out of the water. Of course my attention is focused on the female characters. 2013's Emma Frost and Jean Grey were definitely decent figures, but so far Black Cat and the upcoming Black Widow and Spider-Girl are phenomenal. Black Cat was originally created in the late 1970s as an enemy for Spider-Woman in her solo series. That plan never panned out, but the character was luckily recycled into the pages of Amazing Spider-Man a year later. That was a fateful move which has proven very successful. Black Cat has been a staple in the Marvel Universe ever since; acting as a villain, a love interest, and an anti-hero in a rotating succession. One thing I'm always impressed by is how she has basically kept the same costume the whole time (if you ignore her brief foray into horrible fashion in the late eighties.) Let's check out this long-awaiting and amazing figure below!
I have one complaint with this figure, but it's a pretty major one. She can't stand up. I'm usually pretty patient and creative with my figures, but even with a pegged figure stand like in these pics, she topples over constantly. The plastic of her feet and ankles is really soft and the dynamic "extended foot" look coupled with her bulky hair makes her very unbalanced. I will be displaying her with a black wire doll stand to clasp around her waist.
This new buck is amazing. This is a slightly retooled version of the body used for Moonstone and Satana from the SDCC Thunderbolts set. Surprisingly, Black Cat has had her bicep cuts removed.
Stunning!
Black Cat comes with a Whip/Grappling Hook weapon as well as Ultimate Green Goblin's Torso as her included Build-A-Figure piece.
Here is an early solicit image. I was not looking forward to her based on these pictures. Hasbro has a knack for taking unflattering glam shots.
I got kind of sidetracked collecting Black Cat covers:
Below is her first appearance from Amazing Spider-Man #194 (1979)
And here are the only two covers I could find showing her awful late-80's outfit.
I don't know what this means in German but it sure made me giggle.
Check out that face. She's gorgeous.
Time for some Group and Comparison Shots!
Here she is with the SDCC Moonstone figure. They share many similar buck features, although Black Cat has many more sculptural details.
Here are a few late additions taken with my cell phone. Note how well she fits in with previous Marvel Select figures.
Cheers!
She looks phenomenal! Hasbro really are coming along with their women.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to Jubilee, Songbird Spider-girl & movie Black Widow!
I know! VERY excited to see what they unveil at Toy Fair. My most wanted are Polaris and Firestar. Hellcat would be awesome too. With MOTUC winding down in the next few years, Marvel Legends seems to have my new favorite female buck. Can't wait to see what they do with it :)
DeletePhenomenal looking Black Cat!
ReplyDeleteI can't put her on my shelf yet. She's been sitting on my coffee table for a week so I can keep admiring her. Definitely the best Black Cat toy so far. (FYI my inclination was to say "definitely the best Black Cat toy to date" but I couldn't make it not sound creepy in my head haha)
DeleteHahaha yeah, that does sound a bit...creepy! I found her the other day and am excited to get some photos together this weekend. She really is an incredibly good looking figure in person!
DeleteGlad you found her! I've still only seen her on the shelves that one time I bought her (in a target on January 10th). Apparently Spider-Girl is showing up from US sellers on ebay so I'm going to officially start hunting tomorrow :)
DeleteThis is defo one of the best Marvel legends for awhile. Black Cat never been one of my faves but this is leaps and bounds up from the previous one. I adore the new buck. Satana and Moonstone are awesome. but for me the face and hair just does it. I am so getting her. Big time. BTW, ive giving up on my blog for now (too busy) but i might do a facebook page for my stuff. And I love your blog so much. Its a great wind down from work. Always excited to read a new entry. Thanks so much and DO keep on. Youre a star!
ReplyDeleteBlack cat has never been a fav for me either, but I always found myself reallyliking her when she was drawn by the right artist.... or in this case, sculpted by the right artists. I'm kind of smitten over her now. Aww that sucks that you have to go on hiatus. You should give yourself a date to start up again just to give you that push. I've taken a week or two here and there, but I've avoided the long stretches (so far). Packing up my toys and moving in the next few months might put my resolve to the test though. Luckily I've stockpiled photos for about 25 future reviews so I could potentially still be somewhat active with minimal effort. Thanks so much for making me one of your regular haunts. I started this blog as a fun outlet for my hobby with no expectations on finding an audience, but it's an incredibly awesome feeling to know that people enjoy it as much as i do :)
DeleteI got My Black Cat fig today. I adore her. amazing what a bit of re-tooling and a new head and hands can improve. One complain thou. Mine has the thighs a bit rough as if shes been sand down. i look at your pics and your seems the same. i dont understand. Shes smooth and shiny all over yet the thights are like that. What do you think?
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks for the advice. just been crazy busy with life. Had to move rooms twice and i havent quite finished my Marvel section. but all the girls are out. its just so difficult to make them stand up. Am planning to get a little makeshift theater for the to be photograph. i want to do it right this time. And yes i do the same. Pictures first and them just pic the best of the archive etc. I will keep you posted, as females are always my first choice. I really dont know how many i got because of you! haha. Very best, Ariel.
Interesting about the thigh texture. I honestly didn't even notice. But now that you pointed it out I notice that Moonstone and Satana have the same flaws. I've done a bit of plactic casting in my day and this is probably due to the rubber of the original mold not curing all the way, or not mixed with the same amount of catalyst as the rest of the body parts. I'm afraid we'll be seeing it in all the future figures, too :\
DeleteLast weekend, I saw her like crazy! I bought mine at TRU but I also saw her a lot at K-mart. All of the ones I saw at the various K-marts I went to (4 different ones) had an issue where her lipstick application was not right at all, like off to the left making her look really weird. It is a shame too b/c I feel she is the best sculpted figure to Marvel legends hands down, so it is a shame when it is messed up.
ReplyDeleteOh hey I must have missed this comment. Sorry about that. That sucks about her lipstick.. I still have only seen her on the shelf once (when I bought her), but I have seen Spider-Girl three times now. Makes me think that Black Cat is definitely the rarer of the two. If I ever see another one I'll probably grab her, but not if her face is bad. I thought maybe this figure would be a turning point with face paint apps because I thought Jean Grey and Hope were so lackluster, and then Black Cat was perfection in comparison. Maybe I just got lucky.
DeleteNice pictures and poses!
ReplyDeleteThe comic "Edderkoppen" is in Norwegian (my first guess was Danish--and definitely not German. The price 11.50 Kr is kronen ("crowns") instead of Deutschmark).
I'll leave the translation of "Slutten" a mystery since the meaning is very urbane compared to the mental image that the English gives me--of Spidey breaking up with Felicia because Uncle Kingpin, in the tersest language possible, doesn't consider her good enough for Peter. ;)
Well I've never had much skill for languages (or foreign currencies for that matter), so the Deutschmark/Kronen thing was completely off my radar. You made me curious enough to look up a translation of "slutten" - I'll keep pretending it's something derrogatory though :)
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