Kingpin

The fact that his name is only "Big" implies the existence of an even Bigger Chungus. The colossal overlord of the underworld, the Kingpin has his dirty hands in almost every criminal enterprise on the East coast. His enemies often mistake his massive girth for flab - it is, in fact, over three hundred pounds of solid muscle! Kingpin is the Build-A-Figure for Spider-Man Legends Series 8 - buy six of the figures (you can skip the multi-limbed Spider-Man, because his extra arms were already taking up a bunch of extra space in the package) and you'll be able to assemble your own fully daunting Wilson Fisk. There has been a Marvel Legends Kingpin before, from the Face-Off series near the end of ToyBiz's run. It hasn't aged terribly, but it's more than a dozen years old at this point - a new version should be able to improve things significantly, right? Assembled, Kingpin stands 7⅝" tall, which is larger than the old figure. I know some fans were annoyed that he was going to be nearly Hulk-sized, but it's not inaccurate: look at the comics, and you'll have a much easier time finding panels where he absolutely dwarfs the people around him than panels where he's sized like a normal human being. Comics are an exaggerated world, and Kingpin is an exaggerated character. Yes, the toy is big: he's supposed to be big! This Kingpin is wider than he is thick - ToyBiz's version had a gut that stuck out pretty far, while this one keeps the belly more taut. He's not so thin that he can button his jacket, though; that's hanging open, with only the vest buttoned. It's more in keeping with modern fashion than the cravat he used to wear, which he's replaced here with a purple necktie that matches his pocket square. He's still wearing a pinky ring on his left hand, though; he must really like that thing! The clothes fit like real clothes, with little wrinkles to show how they're hanging on his body. Less colorful than they used to be, it must be said: white pants, white vest, white jacket, and black shoes and shirt. At least there are golden buttons on the vest. You get your choice of two heads for the figure: one, unhappy but restrained, the other bellowing in anger. That's something Hasbro's been doing more of, lately: figures with multi-part faces to allow for more realistic open mouths; here, Wilson's tongue, lower teeth, and the back of his throat are molded as a separate piece that's plugged in through the underside of the head. Looks good, without the mouth needing to be open ridiculously wide to get it out of the mold. Kingpin has a balljointed head, hinged neck, swivel/hinge shoulders, elbows, and wrists, a balljointed chest, balljointed hips, swivel thighs, and swivel/hinge knees and ankles. The chest joint isn't terrific: it turns well enough, but there's barely any tilt to it, and it's not the fault of the jacket that it won't move. Of course, a guy the Kingpin's size wouldn't be tremendously flexible anyway, so it's not like we're missing a chest joint on a Spider-Man or something. The figure gets an accessory, something that's far from commonplace with a Build-A-Figure. It's his diamond-topped cane, and it measures a bit more than 3¾" tall. The black body gets slightly warped from its time in the tray, but that will just make it look like it's bending under his weight. The stone at the top is clear plastic, and fits into his right palm very well. Kingpin is one of the most famous examples of a villain getting shuffled from one hero to another, but you may not realize how long it took: he was introduced in 1967's Amazing Spider-Man #50, but didn't meet Matt Murdock until Daredevil #170 - in 1981! It's kind of impressive how fast Kingpin and DD became cemented as the archest of arch-enemies. This may not be the most amazing series of Spider-Man figures ever, but Kingpin is a great BAF. Black Cat | Puma | Symbiote Spider-Man | Night Thrasher | Silver Sable | Red Goblin -- 04/18/19

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