Every character in this X-Men wave is a revision of a previously released Marvel Legend figure. If I pretend that the Toys ‘R’ Us exclusive “All New X-Men” box set never existed (which I think most people would prefer to), our last Iceman release was eleven years ago in the fourth X-Men classics wave. Bobby Drake was in desperate need of a redo, so I’m glad to see he made the cut and showed up in this wave.
I’m so used to Iceman figures coming packed with some kind of base, stand, or other type of ice-themed accessory. Not this one! The only thing this Iceman gets packed with is a giant Juggernaut arm. I’m not looking for a base or anything, but it would have been cool to include a couple of icy hands or something small of that nature.
Iceman is built off of the infamous “Pizza-Spidey” body. The base body is reused but the head, forearms, hands, calves, and feet are new. He also has an attachement that plugs into the hole in his back to simulate jagged ice jutting out of his shoulders. This part can be removed if you aren’t feeling it. The Pizza-Spidey body is a great base to use for a slim character like Bobby, however, the plastic used is extremely soft. This makes posing him a bit of a nightmare. His legs, especially, feel really gummy and it can be hard to find a good center of gravity without his ankles giving out on him.
What I like most about this figure over all of the past ones is the head sculpt. The bald headed Iceman was never a favorite of mine. I love the spiked hair look when he’s in his ice form. This is easily the best Iceman figure to date, even if the only paint application he has are two white spots on his eyes. He has the same amount of paint as Lockheed, Kitty’s accessory, does.
In a wave full of home run figures, Iceman is probably a single or double (sorry for the baseball talk). He’s certainly not a strike out. In fact I’m quite fond of the figure, but I just wish he wasn’t made of such gummy plastic. He’s still a needed and welcome update to past Iceman figures. Also, you are going to need him to make Juggernaut … so that’s one more incentive.
I’ve mentioned before that Entertainment Earth has cases of this wave available. Iceman is also sold as a single on Amazon and can be preordered now for August delivery.
[adsense]
If we want to stick to the baseball reference:
Havok – strike out
Jean Grey – fielder’s choice
Cable – walk
Iceman – single
Kitty – double
Wolverine – triple
Deadpool – homerun
Rogue – grand slam
Havok is definitely the weakest of the bunch, but I don’t think he’s a strikeout. He’s a perfectly fine figure with some nice new energy effects but the costume choice is pretty silly.
He’s only a K to me because even if he was on sale for $5 i wouldn’t want him. His BAF piece is more valuable.
Where did the ice accessories in the last 2 photos (looks like an ice slide and an giant icicle) come from?
The icicle was from Masters of the Universe classics Icer, and the slide is from an old Toy Biz X-Men Classics Ice Man figure.