Review of Skrull Giant Man vs Captain America action figures
Marvel Universe

Introduction

I haven't been a huge fan of Marvel Universe figures. I welcome the smaller format, but the execution has been all over the place. There's been some great figures, but an awful lot of them are pretty mediocre.

But Hasbro managed to suck me in again with these new two packs. Why? Because they match up a itty bitty MU figure with a huge Marvel Icons sized figure, and I still love the 12" figures done in this style.

Toybiz first gave us these big figures as Build A Figures, back when men were men and BAF's were BAF's. When BAF's shrunk down in size, this scale found a home under the label Marvel Icons, and we've been treated to a number of really cool Marvel sixth scale figures at a reasonable price, both from Toybiz and from their successor, Hasbro.

There are two 2-packs that I know of that are Wal-mart exclusives right now. The first I'm reviewing tonight - a Skrull as Giant Man vs. Captain America. The other set is Goliath vs. a classic Iron Man. The big figures are (as you'd assume) Goliath and Skrull, while the Cap and Iron Man are slightly altered versions of their previous MU releases.

The Goliath/IM set actually has a variant. The one shown on the packaging is wearing a blue and yellow outfit, but there is also a red and blue version. I have no idea which is more common.

These are running $27 at my Wal-mart, but I've heard that some are a little cheaper. Your mileage may vary.

Packaging - ***
It's a box, always a plus, and it's a skinny box at that, making it easy for the MIBers to store. The graphics and text are good, with some personalization on the back as well as specific character artwork.

It's not collector friendly per se, but if you don't mind discarding the billion twisties involved (the Chinese Mafia must have huge stakes in the twisty tie market), you can put both figures back into the plastic tray and slide it back into the package, relatively damage free.

Sculpting - Skrull ***1/2; Cap **1/2
When it comes to the big Marvel figures, we've always seen a lot of re-use with body parts. Skrull as Giant Man is no exception, but not all his parts come from the original Giant Man BAF, as you might expect.

While I haven't held them side by side yet, I believe that pretty much everything from the neck down (with the exception of his new neck piece) comes from the Magneto Icon from a couple years ago.

The head is an all new sculpt, and it's a very detailed one. I love the work on the teeth, and the roughly creased face and pointy ears look excellent.

The smaller Cap is not why I bought this set, so his overall appearance wasn't a big concern for me. I'm happy with the regular release version, and this repaint doesn't do a lot for me.

While this is pretty much the same figure, he gets a whole star lower in score here this time around. The difference is all wrapped up in the sculpted belt, which has a huge holster for the gun and a huge sheath for the knife that are way out of proportion. Adding insult to injury, they also get in the way of some poses, particularly sitting ones. It's hard to create a variant on an already great figure - it's kind of like remaking the movie Halloween - and by adding in the goofy looking belt they've taken several steps back.

I'm not thrilled with his large hands either, and these appear to not be the one's he had the first time around. I'm not sure why they went with these larger versions, but it doesn't help the overall look. Or maybe they are the same, and I'm just more annoyed by it this time around.

Paint - ***
Neither paint job is awful, but they are pretty much standard mass market stuff.

Cap's been repainted in a neon sort of style, and it does nothing for me. The cut lines are fairly clean, and there's only a little slop here and there, but the overall effect left me cold.

Skrull's paint work is decent quality too, but there are a few minor issues that hold it back from potential greatness. The largest of these is the heavily applied but lighter colored wash used on the face. The intent was to bring out the details, but instead I think they managed to cover them up.

Articulation - ***
If you have one of the previous Caps, or pretty much any Marvel Universe figure, you know what to expect with the little guys. Lots of joints, but not always the highest quality pins.

He has a ball jointed neck, ball jointed shoulders with a cut joint on the bicep side of the ball, single pin elbows, double pin knees, single pin ankles, cut wrists, waist and calves, an ab-crunch joint, and ball and socket ball jointed hips.

The hips don't work quite as well here as they did on the previous release due to the over sized items on his belt. The joints are also a little weak, and some are looser than I'd like. Even with the problems though, he's a surprisingly fluid figure.

Skrull also has the same articulation that's been common to the Marvel Icons line. There's a ball jointed neck which actually works pretty well this time around, as well as ball shoulders and hips with joints on both sides of the ball, pin ankles and wrists, double pin elbows and knees, cut waist, and ab-crunch chest. 

A number of the joints are the clicky style, and they are VERY tight, almost too tight. On the plus side, once he's standing he'll stay standing.

Accessories - Cap ***; Skrull Bupkis
I'm counting all the extras with Cap, and that leaves nothing for Skrull. Of course, you could count Skrull as THE figure and even Cap would be an accessory!

Cap has the same shield he's had with previous releases, with two bands and a plastic clip to hold it on his arm. It doesn't work as well this time around however, due to a very soft plastic being used on the clip. It's easy to bend or even break the pincers when putting it on his forearm, so take care.

He also has a Luger pistol and large knife. These fit in the over sized holster and sheath on his belt. The gun looks good in his hand, but the knife is out of scale. Still, it's nice to have multiple weapons with him this time around.

There's also a paper product included - the Secret Invasion comic book number 6 (of 8). If you aren't familiar with the story, this one issue isn't going to do you a whole lot of good...and if you are already familiar, you probably don't need it. It has some great artwork though, and might get the younger set interested in reading the rest of the story.

Fun Factor - ***1/2
I don't know if the Skrull invasion books are all that well known with kids. I suspect not,making this version of Skrull (or any version of Skrull) probably a less likely candidate for play.

But Skrulls have one thing going for them - they're ugly green aliens. And this one is a giant next to the Marvel Universe figures, making him an ideal monster/villain for them to battle. I think most kids will overlook any character background (or lack thereof) and just enjoy his brute ugliness.

Value - **1/2
I've heard some folks complain about the price, but it's not too bad for the set of two. Icons figures had risen to $20 a pop, and MU figures are currently $8 and up, depending on the store. Getting two for less than $27, plus the comic, isn't bad, even with the amount of re-use.

Things to Watch Out For -
I didn't end up with any issues. As I mentioned, the joints on the Skrull are almost too tight, but they didn't seem like they would break even under a fair amount of pressure.

There is that soft plastic on the clip for Cap's shield though, and you'll want to take care when using it.

Overall - Skrull ***; Cap **1/2
Sometimes, I have a bias toward a particular style of figure, and with the Skrull as Giant Man, it's one of those cases. While he's a solid figure, I suspect I like him more than most folks will because he's going to make a nice addition to my shelf of 12" plastic Marvel figures.

In fact, I liked him so much when I was at the store, that the fact that he came with a rather lame Cap variant did nothing to dissuade me. Folks that aren't into Secret Invasion and already have the first, more classic Captain America in the Marvel Universe style are less likely to be enamored with this set.

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

Where to Buy
This is one of those unfortunate Wal-mart exclusives. I don't think they'll be as tough to find as the DC Universe Classics wave 10 figures, but I have only seen them at one of our three close stores so far.

You can also try ebay to see if you can snag a deal.

Related Links -
Other reviews include:

- I've looked at some of the smaller MU figures, including the regular Cap, Hulk and Thing, Iron Man, Black Panther, Wolverine and Punisher, and Silver Surfer, Daredevil, Human Torch and Spidey.

- You can check out other 12" Marvel figures in this style, like Giant Man (BAF), Sentinel (BAF), Galactus (BAF), Apocalypse (BAF), Nightcrawler, Phoenix, Collosus and Daredevil, Silver Surfer and Torch (Icons), Magneto and Cyclops (Icons), Doom and Punisher (Icons), Ghost Rider (Icons), Thor (Icons), Venom (Icons), Spider-man and Beast (Icons), and Wolverine (Icons).

You should also hit the Search Reviews page, in case any other applicable reviews were done after this one was published.

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