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When this guy slides into your DMs, he really slides into your DMs!
Iceman keeps his cool in battle with his ability to turn water to ice and freeze his own body to temperatures below zero.
That's not all he can do: sure, originally he could just cover himself with a layer of frost, which was later changed to the ability to encase his body in ice (though somehow we could never see the human dude inside that ice shell), but even that wasn't the end of his evolution; eventually he would turn into a solid ice being, but even then, it wasn't until Emma Frost took over his mind that the full scope of his abilities were revealed; he is basically connected to every water molecule on the planet, able to move his consciousness through them instantly and re-form his body from nothing. He then promptly forgot he had this ability, until another writer had him "discover" it all over again, like it was something new.
When ToyBiz made an Iceman Marvel Legend, it was based on a
recent Spider-Man body. Now that Hasbro has made an Iceman Marvel Legend, it's also based on a Spider-Man body. That's... progress? As before, the figure is molded in translucent plastic, though this time it's just blue, rather than being clear with blue painted on top. And the joints are the same color, rather than being white, so apparently that limitation has been overcome in the intervening dozen years.
And speaking of being white, that was basically how Iceman had been portrayed in the comics until the '90s: as a plain humanoid guy with a slightly blocky head, colored solid white (or at least a very pale
blue). Writer Scott Lobdell struck upon the idea that plain white characters didn't really look very flashy on the page, so he wanted to change things up. His editor nixxed the idea, because ToyBiz had just released an Iceman toy and would be upset if the character suddenly looked very different in the books. So when Emma Frost took over Iceman's body, she was weird and spiky, but then things went back to normal. Shortly after the issues saw print, the marketing department asked Lobdell if he could make Iceman like that regularly, so they could use it as a basis for more new toys! This toy takes its cue from that era, getting newly molded forearms, fists, and shins, all with small ice spikes coming off them.
He's also been molded with new bare feet -
is there an Amazing Bag-Man in the works?
If that weren't enough, the hole in his back accommodates a small "backpack" of ice crystals that creep up over his shoulders and onto his neck. If you want an Iceman who's closer to the classic look, pull that off and you're most of the way there! It's a shame they didn't include a second head without the icy anime hair, and instead just a squarish "bald" head - then all we'd be missing are his boots.
Despite his new molds, Bobby Drake has all the same articulation as his amazing friend: a balljointed head, hinged neck, lateral pec hinges, swivel/hinge shoulders, swivel biceps, double-hinged elbows, swivel/hinge wrists, a hinged torso, swivel waist, balljointed hips, swivel thighs, double-hinged knees, and swivel/hinge rocker ankles. The joints are a little loose and gummy, particularly the ankles. But hey, at least nothing broke when I moved him - even the pecs, which are so often a source of consternation. Given the choice between "just a little loose" and "oops it snapped," I'll take the former.
Iceman comes with a piece of this series' Juggernaut Build-A-Figure, Juggernaut. Not only did Bobby fight Juggernaut as one of the original X-Men, he was also on a team with Juggernaut at one point (and absolutely hated him). He comes with the left arm.
Iceman is the slowest seller of Series 2, often the only figure seen on the pegs. And no, he's not as flashy or as in-demand as Wolverine or Deadpool, but he's still a good figure. And imagine how much less popular he'd be if he were just a plain white human without all the spikes!
-- 03/27/17
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