Green Goblin

Good God almighty. This is the figure of the year. ToyBiz has done it to me again! Just like they did with the MTV Animated Series Lizard, a figure I thought would come out neat has ended up being truly awesome and darn-near takes my breath away every time I pick him up. This is essentially the best figure ever made because it combines equally all three major parts of action-figure aesthetic (Sculpt, Paint and Articulation) and comes in under $10. I just... I can't even put into words how impressive the detailing is on this figure. Its almost impossible to adequately describe the sculpt, it really is something that needs to be seen in person to really be understood. Even having seen the prototype at SDCC, I was amazed when how much of the quality, all around, of the prototype had been maintained in the final product. Then, on top of that, this is by far one of the best paint jobs ever. Holy crap! Highlights, washes, layers... it's all here. Again, with the exception of the MTV Animated Lizard, and maybe some of the Ashley Wood McFarlane product, I'd say this is the best paint job ever achieved on any mass market action figure. It even looks better than many busts and statues I have. The gloves, boots, and hat are all cast in a deep purple, which then has a sort of magenta dry-brush and finally some black airbrush applications. The jumpsuit is cast in rich blue with a somewhat lighter blue heavy dry-brush and finally a gray-blue light dry-brush. The armor is either cast in (or has a thick base coat of) black (the chest, shoulder blades, butt and thigh bits of armor are part of the body sculpt) which then has a heavy silver dry-brush and then a light bronze dry-brush. So basically the three most common/major colors of the figure are each composed of a three-layer paint scheme! This big Goblin has a balljointed head, ball-and-socket shoulders, bicep swivel, double-jointed elbows, swivel gloves/forearms, swivel wrists, swivel waist, V-Crotch (aesthectically great but face it, people do love their balljoint hips), swivel thighs, double-jointed knees, swivel boots/shins, and pivot ankles. All on a roto-cast figure? Oh hells yes! He even has two accessories! Ol' GG comes with two equally well-sculpted and painted satchels that are rather similar to the ones that came with the Humberto Ramos-style Green Goblin. In fact, they are so detailed the small satchel has a button hole in its flap and the large one has a loop on the satchel for the belt or "tongue" on the cover to slip through. Unfortunately, the plastic used for these is too hard to actually utilize the features. Though with the larger one, the sculpts match so perfectly I think it may be intended to be "closed" during manufacture as the satchels are constructed from multiple pieces. A pumpkin bomb or especially a glider would have been really cool to go with this figure, but again, the quality of the figure really so exceeds any need of "bells and whistles" that even the two satchels seem to be lovely extras that just add further dimension and color to the figure. The only three "real" problems with this figure is that a) he lacks a glider, b) he is not in the 6" scale and c) that there is no equally impressive Spider-Man for him to face off against. Some might complain that this is essentially a fully "made-up" design and not really comic accurate, but to that I have to say that the design is still very impressive and engaging and really only builds on what we all know as Green Goblin (much like the first Hobgoblin). Honestly, all of the "complaints" are rendered either minor or wholly moot by the sheer impressiveness of the figure. [Actually, this is Terry Dodson's version of the costume, which debuted in Marvel Knights Spider-Man #1 --ed.] Whatever! Let's break it down: 12 inches tall. 26 points of articulation. Incredibly well sculpted. Stunning paint. An SRP (Suggested Retail Price) of $8.99. This is basically a Marvel Legends figure that is twice the size and two-to-three times the quality for only one additional dollar! Why in God's name are you still reading this!? Every man, woman and child should be out scouring their local stores for this, one of the best figures of all time! Why doesn't ToyBiz turn the great rotos like this and Venom into normal-sized figures? Tell us on our message board, the Loafing Lounge.

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