Juggernaut & Colossus

When you weigh almost 2,000 pounds and can't be stopped by any obstacle on Earth, the term "fair fight" doesn't normally apply... unless your opponent can lift 75 tons and comes encased in an impenetrable organic armor. The unstoppable Juggernaut! The unbreakable Colossus! Look out! Unsurpringly, this Juggernaut figure uses the same mold as the single-carded release - you don't design a massive body specifically for one character (or maybe two), and then don't use it the next time you make that character. It's simply not done! This is not a straight re-release, however. For one thing, the colors on this version have been completely redone. The dark areas of his suit are now brown, with a lighter airbrushing to create highlights - quite the opposite of before! Plus, the red areas (namely his boots the control-top of his pantyhose) are a more vibrant shade. It's like someone took a photo of the old toy, and increased the saturation. Also, he's not wearing his helmet. The one thing that protects him from psychic attacks, and he apparently left it at home. Also, this is clearly before he started wearing a backup helmet underneath, because we get to see his flat red hair. That's not a description of the paint, but of the hair: he's got a bad case of helmet head. His partner in this set is Colossus, a figure we haven't reviewed directly - just by way of repaints, like Mr. Sinister. All the lines of his metal body are completely sculpted in, as is his stylish X-logo belt buckle. His flared boot tops are actually attached directly to the toy's knees, while the upper part of his costume is a soft rubber shell that plugs into the torso (a fact of which we would not be largely aware, were it not for the weird choices Hasbro made with Death's Head). Colossus has a balljointed head, hinged kneck, swivel/hinge shoulders, swivel biceps, hinged elbows, swivel wrists, balljointed torso and hips, swivel thighs, double-hinged knees, and swivel/hinge ankles. All the joints move perfectly fine, though the hips do feel a little gummy. That's kind of standard for Marvel Universe, though; I've never had one break, but they feel like they're going to. The original release of Colossus painted his organic steel skin a metallic silver, which just makes sense - metal man, metal paint. This one seems to be going for "comicbook" coloring, though, so here it's just flat gray. And this time, that isn't a reference to his haircut, but the dull, unshaded color of his body. Although, because he's Russian, his hair is mostly flat. Since this is a Comic Pack, it includes a comicbook - in this case, Uncanny X-Men #102. Although this was before "Uncanny" got added to the title, so technically this is just X-Men #102, but saying that would make people think of a book released in 2000, not in 1976. This is one of the All-New, All-Different X-Men's first missions by themselves, what with Jean being in the hospital recuperating from becoming the Phoenix, and Scott refusing to leave her side. On the plus side, we get an origin for Storm; on the minus side, literal leprechauns. Also, Juggernaut never takes off his helmet, so why did the toy? This is a so-so set. Juggernaut is decent, but Colossus is kind of lame. It would have been better if they'd repainted the Dr. Strange body into Juggernaut's best bud Black Tom Cassidy. What are the odds of ever getting him as a figure? -- 06/15/15

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