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Thursday, April 24, 2014

Infinite Spider-Man Series - Ultimate Green Goblin Wave Black Cat

I finally got a hold of some of these figures in person as I was trying to avoid the high prices of the internet, as many of you fellow collectors do also. I purchased this version of the Black Cat at a local Walmart for around $ 19.99 . Good luck at getting her at this price on the world wide web . For those of you whom may not know, this is the second Black Cat action figure in the Marvel Legends franchise. The first one came out back in the early 2000s, by Toybiz packaged with other Spider-Man villains . Also quite a few collectors have wondered why Hasbro left  some of the character's names off of the packaging. Black Cat is one of them. I think I know why. Instead of her name being listed, the phrase " Skyline Sirens" headlines the packaging instead . I assume this is Hasbro's way of notifying us fans of a chase figure, or running change as they now call it. If there is no chase figure, then the character's actual name will be displayed instead of an alternate title.

As you can see the chase figure for Black Cat is Spider-Girl . The packaging is very neat looking in person, these internet pics just don't do the packaging justice. It looks a lot better in person than it does here. Black Cat and Spider-Girl looks as if they are in 3D if you hold the box a certain way under a lamp. Now on to the figure herself. Black Cat has just one big major flaw in my opinion , "standing". Sorry to say , but you will have to fight with her a bit just to get her to stand properly without falling. Another flaw I feel she has is that she is too tall. However I feel as that's not as major as the balance issues, which I will elaborate more on later,as this flaw can be somewhat fixed.
               I think the reasons why it is tough to get Black Cat to stand properly are several . First off, she's kind of top heavy, this is due to the weight of her hair. Also I think the high heels are contributing to the uneasy balance issues . I'm not saying that she is impossible to stand, but once you get her in that right stance or pose she stands nicely without falling. Try putting her in a battle stance, with her knees slightly bent as if she's ready to attack someone . This strategy helps a little as I have tried it myself.
                                  As for accessories, Black Cat comes with two. They are the torso of the Ultimate Green Goblin and her whip .Also there are instructions for putting together the Ultimate Green Goblin Build-a-Figure .

( NOTE ) I purchased the Black Cat figure at the same time as the Beetle and Superior Spider-Man , So I snapped together the BAF pieces together as soon as I opened them . My bad, as I wanted to take a pic of the torso by itself to give you an idea of what the figure comes with, but as you can see in the instructions that the Black Cat does indeed come with Ultimate Green Goblin's torso . Black Cat's whip is a nice looking bendy, rubbery weapon . But if you read the comics, not only is this a weapon but she also uses it to transport herself through rooftops and ceilings , just like her "frenemy", old webhead himself.
           And for those of you wondering if the whip can fit into the hands of the old Toybiz Black Cat, the pic below answers that question , yes it can .
When comparing the two different Marvel legend Black Cat versions, you can see that Hasbro's version is indeed an upgrade in the looks department, however I prefer the flat feet of the Toybiz version over Hasbro's high heels version .

Also as I've noted earlier, as a slight flaw I feel that the figure is too tall . Even though it measures right at six inches as the pic below illustrates, you can also see that she looks as if she is slightly taller than Superior Spider-Man .

Spidey is supposed to be taller than her, not vice versa. However this minor flaw may be due to the high heels. If you want to make her shorter than Spidey, you can try bending her knees just a little to decrease her height . Another minor flaw with this Black Cat figure is the difficulty of turning her head left and right and up and down. Her hard plastic hair restricts head movement somewhat . And if you turn her head too fast, it may pop off . Don't panic however, it easily pops right back on .
 As for the looks of this figure, it is very equivalent in quality to the old Marvel Select Black Cat . Judge for yourself in the comparison pic below .
                                                  FINAL   THOUGHTS
(1) ARTICULATION - She has the normal basic articulation of your average female Hasbro Marvel Legend figure. The only uncommon restrictions seem to be in the wrists . The wrists turn but do not bend.
( 2 ) STANDING  ABILITY - Now this is where the major problem is as I've mentioned in the article. She does have balance issues and you'll have to work with her a bit for that proper stance. Once you get her in that perfect pose, she stands nicely . It'll just take a lot of effort on your part .
( 3 ) WHAT  I  LIKE  BEST  ABOUT  THIS  FIGURE ? Nice sculpt . One of the best looking action figures Hasbro has made in a while . Her hair is sculpted nicely too with the blue wash to provide shading .
( 4 ) WHAT  I  LIKE  LEAST  ABOUT  THIS  FIGURE ? It's difficult to make her stand . She's somewhat top heavy . And it is just a little bit too tall for a female figure .
( 5 ) WHAT  COULD  HAVE  BEEN  DONE  TO  IMPROVE  THE  FIGURE ? Make it shorter and easier to stand . Make the hair lighter to prevent top heaviness, as top heaviness in any action figure is what causes balance issues when it comes to standing properly .
( 6 ) GRADING  SCALE - On a scale of one to ten, despite the multiple flaws I've mentioned , I give it a 9.0 . The minus is for the above mentioned flaws of course, however this is one of those action figures that allow the positives to outshine the negatives. After all, the flaws I've mentioned can be fixed . If the flaws could not be fixed at all I would have given this figure a lower score, but since adjustments can be made to the flaws there is no need for a lower score .
( 7 ) FINAL  ANALYSIS  - Overall I am glad to add Infinite Spider-Man Series Black Cat to my collection . The only thing that may bother you fellow collectors is to decide if you like her better than the Toybiz version. As for myself, look wise I like her better than the Toybiz version . But under other circumstances such as balance issues and head movement, I prefer the Toybiz version. And for you customizers that may like the Toybiz version better, you can easily transform this figure into another character, since her head is very easy to remove and reattach . As I've already mentioned the positives outweigh the negatives on this figure, and for the reasons I've mentioned in this final analysis, you'll be glad also to add Black Cat ( Felicia Hardy ) to your collection .

2 comments:

  1. She is very lovely too bad about the balancing issues.

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  2. You're exactly right sir. Her being a cool looking figure is her best asset and standing is her worse.

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