Review of Lizard - Amazing Spider-Man
Marvel Select action figure

Introduction

The summer blockbuster season keeps rolling along, and the next big superhero to hit the screens is Spider-Man. Will the reboot be good? Tough to say, although I'm liking the trailers so far.

The Hasbro toys have been pretty weak so far, but Diamond Select has the license to do larger scale figures (7" scale) in their Marvel Select series. I haven't seen Spidey himself yet, but I did pick up the new Lizard late last week.

These will run you around $20 at most retailers, and you can find them online or at your local comic shop.

Packaging - ***
They've used this same sort of 'book shelf' packaging for many years, and it works well. It's a bit over sized and wasteful, but collectors will appreciate the consistency. And I like the lizard graphic on the binder edge!

Sculpting - ***
Marvel Select figures are generally in a 7" scale, which makes a character like the Lizard mighty big. He comes in at 8 1/4" even in the bent knee stances you'll have him in.

The detail work is excellent - I love the skin texture and musculature. Unlike the smaller version I reviewed earlier, this one does not have the ridiculous pin head, which makes the conflict between the head design (more human than lizard) and the body (more lizard than human) much less of an issue.

While I like this head better, there's still something really weird about the grin. It's not as much scary as it is sad. He looks emotionally unhappy, depressed even...I'm just not getting the killer feel from the expression.

Paint - ***1/2
While there's not a ton of small detail work, what's here is very clean, especially the eyes. The work on the teeth is a little rough, but acceptable.

The varying skin tones might not be considered detail work, but getting this sort of shading and transitions correct can be very tricky, and makes or breaks a character like this. It looks great here, very realistic and reptilian.

Articulation - ***1/2
There's plenty of articulation, but the design of the character makes some of it a bit less useful than usual.

That's particularly true with the legs. The design of the feet and legs means that the ball joints at the hips, knees and ankles don't work quite the same way they would with normal human anatomy.

You can use them to get him to stand, but you'll find that adding in the tail (which has a ball joint at the body) increases the stability of most poses.

The ball jointed shoulders, neck and elbows are very useful, and the torso joint tilts and turns extremely well. Finish up with some great ball wrists, and the amount of posability is much higher than I expected considering the lizard body style.

Accessories - Bupkis
Most Marvel Select figures come with some cool accessories: dioramas, bases, weapons, etc.

No such luck this time around. While I'm sure this is due in part to the much larger size of this figure, it's still a let down.

Fun Factor - ***
Solid sculpt and paint, good articulation, scary monster from a summer blockbuster - it adds up to a very good action figure for play. The joints are very sturdy, and he can easily hold up to the usual sandbox battles.

Value - **1/2
At $19 or so, you're still paying the usual Marvel Select price. Considering how much other figures have risen in cost, that's not a bad deal. An accessory or two would have boosted this another half star, but it's still an average value without.

Things to Watch Out For -
Zippo!

Overall - ***
This is a much better rendition of the new movie Lizard than what we've seen from the mass market series so far. That's no real surprise though, considering what a great job Diamond Select has done with other Marvel movie properties, like Captain America.

I hadn't planned on picking this guy up, but I saw him on the pegs of my local comic shop and that was enough to sell me. A couple accessories would have gone a long way to boosting him another half star, but once I find a movie Spider-man to go with him, that minor issue will probably fade away.

Score Recap (out of ****):
Packaging - ***
Sculpting - ***
Paint - ***1/2
Articulation - ***1/2
Accessories - Bupkis
Fun Factor - ***
Value - **1/2
Overall - ***

Where to Buy 
Online options include these site sponsors:

- Entertainment Earth is also at $20.

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

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