Can man fall in love with a plastic figure? Can man fall in love with a plastic figure in the image of another man? No? What if he's ripped like wet paper gone through a shredder? Read the review to find out the answers to these hot, sweaty questions!
Name: Wolverine
Line: Wolverine: Origins
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Released: 2009
Price: Retail: $7.99-$8.99
Scale: 3.75 in. (figure is about 3.80 in. tall)
Accessories: Extra set of Hands
Sponsor Listings: Amazon-$15.99
Whoa, who is that sexy hunk of man-plastic that's found its way into my home? Oh, he's not the real Hugh Jackman? Could have fooled me! Har, har, fine, it's not THAT realistic, but this figure still has a fine sculpt. The clothing hangs naturally, even the jacket despite being a separate highly-flexible piece. The forearms might be too crinkled, but they're acceptable. There are even some zippers on the cuffs and a buckle at the collar.
The small belt-buckle managed to keep its details at this size, the pants also look fantastic. Why can't I find sexy pants like these? (Maybe I just need to lose weight *sob*). Not sure what to think about the claws, all 3 are fused to one piece of plastic, with the area between them painted grey. This prevents the claws from warping and from being bitten off by some hungry kid, but they look like fins at first glance. Though after a while you get used to them. They're sculpted straight into the hands, they're not glued-on pieces. There are no fingernails, I'm guessing it's because the claws more than make up for them.
Hugh is wearing a wife-beater underneath (though he'd never beat his wife... because they keep getting killed before he even has the chance to think about it), and it hugs his muscles with appropriately-thin folds of fabric among them. The hair looks good and the face is hilarious. If you cover the eyebrows, he looks totally mellow and like he's smiling. With the fierce eyebrows, he looks like Jack Nicholson about to hack some babies into pieces. Leave it to Wolverine to make even eyebrows be "fierce".
The boots have curved soles, they look nice but make it hard to stand Wolvie up. You'll notice the stand I had to use in some of the pictures. When his legs are wide open, there's no problem, but anything less and he topples forward or back.
Sculpt Score: 9 / 10
Few factory paint-jobs at this scale get any better, there is almost zero slop and only a little bit of fading on the coat, but even that can pass as weathering. The jacket is cast in that color with some light dry-brushing, and amazingly it's enough to make it look more realistic. The colors are subdued for a "movie-feel", no bright yellows or oranges here. The shirt has a dirty fleshy-colored wash, so I have two guesses at what the effect is supposed to be; A) Dirt or B) Hot sweaty Hugh Jackman in a wet shirt. Nice.
The pants don't get any dry-brushing so they look dead, just a solid block of color, hiding the seams and folds of the sculpt. The boots and belt are neatly painted, everything has a matte finish except the pants. Heh, shiny pants. The face looks soft, more like Gene Hackman than Hugh Jackman, but Hugh is in there if you look hard enough. The hair is flat black so it looks semi-grey and the eyes may just look like brown dots, but they're actually brown dots with another smaller black dot on top, nice. Claws look metallic enough, the space between is grey and where I'll be, watching, waiting for youuuuu. The space betweeeeen... *cough*
Paint Score: 8 / 10
If the elbows were double-hinged, I'd have nothing to complain about! The elbows have their usual limitations, and the feet are suffering a bit too because of the long boot-cut jeans encasing them. The articulation isn't even noticeable on this figure, it blends into the folds of clothing. All joints are tight, the pivot in the torso is solid and useful in creating all sorts of realistic poses. The jacket doesn't limit any movement at all.
The double-hinged knees work here because they aren't terribly noticeable. Double-elbows would look good too, but we can't have everything.
Articulation Score: 8 / 10
Wolverine is a plain ol' fun character, like a cranky grandpa who swings his cane at bratty little grandkids at 2 miles-per-hour. But that's comics-Wolverine, movie-Wolverine is a more mature take, less slashy, more feely. More save-the-princess than stab-the-hairy-spiky-mutant-turtle. He's a more sympathetic character, and kids don't know what the hell sympathetic means, much less even pronounce it! Kids want stabby slicing action, and the big claws provide an outlet for that. The figure looks like Jackman on-screen, but what about kids who haven't seen the movie and get this toy as a gift? There's nothing to say it's Wolverine aside from the claws, it looks like some random guy with cool hair and blades on his hands, which granted, is a pretty cool concept in and of itself. And the exrta hands are slightly open so they can stick a giant gun in there for when they're feeling blasty.
Fun Score: 7 / 10
An extra set of hands is the right direction to go when prices are at this level for a small toy. The removable jacket, and entire body really, is perfect for customizers to make civilian characters. Easily swappable body parts are always a god-send, gotta love those poppable heads. The packaging isn't too eye-catching, but then again, neither is Star Wars packaging and people love collecting that MOC, so what do I know. And again, take advantage of the 2 for $10 sale at TRU.
Value Score: 6 / 10
9 / 10 - Goddamn, check-out those abs!
9 / 10 - Great apps but needs some more on the pants.
8 / 10 - The added bonus of camoflauged double-hinged knees is always appreciated on these small figures.
7 / 10 - It's Wolverine, but will your kids recognize him?
7 / 10 - Still not so good.
82 / 100 - This is a Great Toy
This is a fantastic little toy, still not quite worth the retail price, but it was almost there.
-DrNightmare
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