Flashback Friday Follow-Up: Toy Biz's X-FORCE Wave 3
Posted by Curto on February 7, 2009 at 12:00 PM CST:
As a special follow-up to this week's Flashback Friday update, the CTR spotlight remains on Toy Biz's X-Force line all weekend long!
Action Figures - Wave 3
In 1994, I was working at a video game company designing characters, monsters, and quests for players. Several of my old classmates would soon join me there, and together we not only created the world of the game, but we also hung out reading comics and collecting toys!
Toy Biz really knocked it out of the park with this wave, which included action figures based on the some of the newer X-Force cast of characters, which were actually a number of the old New Mutants joining the team with spiffy new costumes. Artist Greg Capullo was illustrating the book, and the toys now featured the new costumes from the comics. Now which came first, the design from the comics or the toys?
We also started to see other characters from the X-Universe sneaking into this line, as both Cable and Deadpool got their own titles, complete with a supporting cast that just needed to become toys.
Cable (Air Assault)
This is my favorite figure of Cable. Not only does it have a nice sculpt to it, but the colors are appealing, plus there's a fun "flying" action included in the backpack. Even better, the backpack is removable, so you can just display him on your shelf. Or hang him from the ceiling...it's up to you!
Mojo
Awesome. Just awesome. Back when I was in high school, Marvel published the LONGSHOT limited series, which introduced a lot of new characters who would later become incorporated into the X-Universe. The insane ruler of the Mojoverse, everything he does revolves around TV!! So all of the adventures of Longshot (and later, the X-Men), are actually a TV show, viewed by millions...or at least they better view them, or else they would die. This figure may be a little small in scale, but it's got more articulation than any figure in the entire lne. Granted, most of this in in the chair...but it's still ironic, since Mojo doesn't have a spine!
Pyro
A longtime enemy of the X-Men, Pyro was a member of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, and for a time, the government-sponsored Freedom Force. He had the mutant power to control fire, so of course he had flame throwers attached to his costume. While the figure is very accurate to the comics, there's one thing that has always bothered me about characters with tubes attached like this...they make for such easy targets.
Quark
Another character from the LONGSHOT limited series! Quark is so obscure, most fans probably had no idea who he was. Bu8t he was a big character (which toy Biz loved to make over in the X-MEN line), and he has a ram head....a RAM HEAD! Cool! Throw in some long rifles and a quick-draw action feature, and this is one of my favorite figures in the line because it's just so unique.
Rictor
A former member of the New Mutants, Rictor rejoined his friends in X-Force and sported an outfit that looked more like he was part of an old Heavy Metal hair band! Despite this really goofy costume (which must have been a challenge to draw consistently), Rictor is a great representation of the character. WHy? Because Rictor's mutant power is that he vibrates things until the fall apart. This figure includes a knob that when wound up and released, vibrates the figure so much that he moves across the surface until he either stops or falls down! Which leads to hours of fun (okay, maybe 5 minutes or so)!
Shatterstar (Dual Sword Slashing)
This is the second verison of Shatterstar, and now he's all decked out with a better costume. He's still got that crazy ponytail, but he's also got the buffed-up build of a warrior. It's a little bit over the top, but most of the X-Force designs were as well, so it works for him. ANother one of my favorite figures in the line.
Sunspot
Here's another former New Mutant that joined the team, with a new costume to boot! This figure includes the standard twist-and-punch feature, which isn't all that exciting. A few years later, this body would be reused for a Spider-Man figure. (Yeah, I got nothing on Sunspot...he's boring.)
I'm in New York reporting from the New York Comic Con all weekend long, so be sure to stay tuned to this site for all the news coming out of the show, including a sneak peek at the future of the Marvel Universe line!
As a special bonus, be sure to stay tuned throughout the weekend for more figures from the X-Force lineup! Because I can't work all the time, and I know you'll want something to read while I'm offline, the rest of the action figures in the toy line will be spotlighted in a series of special follow-up reports. Enjoy!
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