It’s not a competition, but my mind does tend to evaluate who “wins” Pulse Con each year, that is, which brand I follow shows me the most wow-factor stuff. I think for the first time since these started, G.I. Joe Classified didn’t win this award for me because the Marvel team spoke my language with the release of Secret Wars.
They did start with something that I didn’t particularly connect with, the Spider-Man animated two-parter Vulture and Spider-Man, but there’s definitely something to recommend in this set. I particularly like Spider-Man’s very classic feel head, as well as the collapsed mask and vulture design, which are very different from the regular comic book versions I’m familiar with, so are a little more interesting to me than the usual ones.
I think I’m happy with Logan’s brown costume, but the shape of the mask and the goofy grin made me interested in this shot.
Spider-Man is based on a magical fantasy character, and I like the character’s softer, less muscular base body. The squinting eyes are also great, although I do wish the eyes on the main head were more like the character art on the lenticular shield.
The cap achieves the kind of blue color I’m looking for in him but rarely get, so I didn’t mind a double dip on this base. The new head is also very nice. While I appreciate the reference to Captain America’s shield being destroyed in the books, it’s a bit ironic that they recently released two classic Captain Americas without the shield. I do have a lot of hat shields, but I really wanted one that was the same size and paint job as the 20th Anniversary figure, without the damage.
It feels like the other day I was requesting roller skating accessories for the many Iron Men I own, so I was excited to see them showing up on my favorite version of Iron Man. I still have vivid memories of getting this figure as a kid, so the figure’s lenticular shield and classic gun gave me a particularly strong sense of nostalgia, so much so that I really didn’t mind buying it a third time . I never really got to use that gun with Iron Man as a kid, so I’d definitely give it to Kang.
As much as I love the retellings of classics, the highlight of this show is the new characters. Titania feels a bit overdue, and the presentation really worked for me. Even the art on the lenticular shield feels like Mike Zeck and fits in well with the old series.
I may have grown up playing the Secret Wars characters, but I didn’t actually read the first mini-series until later. My first Secret Wars was II, so I have a soft spot for the jumpsuit Extraordinaire. He’s one of the cheesier character designs that I liked, but never really expected to appear in character form. Such a reveal could make a show for me. It’s also fun to see the backs of these cards. I’m not usually a card guy, but I probably need at least one Iron Man with cards.
They apparently showed off ROM test footage in the preview, but I never got the link, so I missed it. Thump thump. I do stay away from Legends rumors, so while I’ve heard rumors of a Secret Wars wave, I don’t know the specifics, so other than Wolverine, these are nice surprises. Overall, I feel like the average number of impressions per brand at Pulse Con was lower this time around, but it’s been rolling on me in waves, so Hasbro wins this one handily. show. Not that this is a competition.
