Feb 14, 2018

It came from the Toy Chest: What Stan joined together, let no Quesada put asunder.

I am, of course, talking about the Spider-Marriage. So, I got me a Toys R Us Spider-man and Mary Jane two pack. Never saw it on stores, so I went through a reseller who was selling it without much mark-up.
I don't think I need to explain Spider-man/Peter Parker... Mary Jane is a different story. She's the impossible girl next door. Super hot, super popular, supermodel, that falls for the geek next door... The same geek that went inside his house the night MJ's neighbor was shot and popped out the window as Spider-man. You see, Mary Jane always knew Peter's secret. She was curious to see if the man was as cool as the Spider, but she found that a kind, sometimes neurotic man with a guilty conscience that tries to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders because the one time he acted selfishly, his world came tumbling down. Now the guy is driven by a sense of responsibility, which makes him endanger his life every day as he attempts to stop crime in New York City. Despite the troubles with his dual life, Mary Jane became the pillar of strength, when Peter needed it the most. This she saw in Peter Parker. What Peter saw in her was a caring woman, who came from a very dysfunctional family. Forced to wear a bubbly mask, Mary Jane became the life of every party. Peter found a light, beyond the mask, someone who could ease his pain of failing Uncle Ben, both Captain Stacy and his daughter, Gwen, failing his friend Harry, his Daughter May, His clone "brother" Ben Reilly, and others.

These two were married in a weird synergy of combining the Newspaper comic strips, the mainstream comic books AND a live action wedding celebration at Shea Stadium

Then Marvel wanted to stick Peter in a permanent youth mode and tried to replace Peter Parker with Peter Parker while allowing Peter Parker to walk into the sunset with MJ while Peter Parker remained Spider-man. I am talking about the Clone Saga. That failed and they had Peter and MJ to separate, but they were brought back together... Then Aunt May was shot with a bullet that No one in the Marvel Universe could find a way to cure her... So Peter and Mary Jane sold their marriage to the Devil... Better known as Joe Quesada. In the comics they used Mephisto. I'm using Tony Stark because my MS Mephisto is MIA.
Articulation:
Spidey has a standard ML buck, but for some reason, I can't pull off the MVC stance, or the web Yo-yo pose with him. The thigh movement range seems to vary from figure to figure despite being built similarly.
4.0
MJ fares a bit better with her normal female buck. She doesn't require crazy martial arts poses, but she has decent range. 4.5

Paint and Sculpt:
I'm not too sure on what this version of him is supposed to be, but I have a couple of Hasbro Spidey's to use as his vanilla look.
UPDATE: Spider-Armor Mk. IV
The Peter Sculpt is where this figure shines. He looks very Peter Parker-ish unlike the one from ToyBiz that looks a bit like Michael Jackson.
4.5
MJ fares a lot better here. She is wearing JEANS WITH SCULPTED DETAILS!
Shame that she isn't sporting her traditional hairdo with bangs, but at least the Hasbro Sculptors make much prettier ladies than The ToyBiz Sculptors. She even has freckles!
5.0

Accessories:
Peter has 4 extra hands and an extra head.
I've commented before that we need an extra pair of gripping hands for webbing (whether store bought or homemade) other than that, the accessories are versatile enough.
5.0
MJ gets the short end of the stick here... A Purse. No extra hands, alternate head, nothing...
2.0
Overall:
Peter gets a 4.5 while MJ gets a 3.83 as her score. The lack of accessories really hurt MJ, which is the better toy. This puts the two pack at a 4.16 final score. Get this set JUST FOR MJ.


No comments:

Post a Comment