Flashback Friday Follow-Up: Toy Biz's X-FORCE Wave 4
Posted by Curto on February 8, 2009 at 08:00 AM 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! Get all the info on 1994's action figures from wave 4 after the jump!
Action Figures - Wave 4
Wave 4 continued to feature the X-Force team, but this wave was really focused on the background characters. Some of these guys have only had a handful of appearances before (and since), and it was nice to see Toy Biz taking a gamble that fans would embrace the toys. Most collectors I knew at the time bought pretty much everything and anything X-related, so it did not matter who they were, just that they looked cool. Since I was very familiar with the comics, I had a special kind of fun seeing the lesser-known or brand-new villains being added to the line.
Black Tom
Here's a long-time enemy of the X-Men, who faced off against X-Force thanks to his niece, Siryn (we never did get a fgure of Siryn...a shame). Black Tom Cassidy used to carry a shelaleigh, but he was merged with it at some point and was given the power to shoot blasts of energy from his hands....which is what this figure is meant to represent. The projectile is held back by a string, which was most likely done for safety reasons, but is a little odd.
Cable (Deep Sea Gear)
Yet another Cable figure! Now decked out in underwater SCUBA gear, this figure maintains the solid sculpting that was done for the team leader. Add in a speargun that fires a harpoon, a knife and removable flippers(nice!), and you've got a cool action figure. I guess Cable's cyborg arm doesn't rust underwater?
Commcast
Here's anothere great example of Toy Biz's willingness to really take chances with this line. I mean, does anyone know who this guy is? He had a handful of appearances in the first DEADPOOL limited seires, and that was pretty much it. But he still became an action figure due to the interesting design and Deadpool's growing popularity...and hey, Deadpool needs someone to face off against, right? Commcast also included a first for this line....a working holster! And he's got a cool vovering platform. See why he became an action figure?
Killspree
Another one of those silly X-Ternals is made into a figure....although this one is actually pretty cool. He's got a unique outfit, lots of blades (kids love characters with blades!), and his action feature allows him to slash at his opponents. Not a bad figure!
Slayback
Speaking of characters from the DEADPOOL limited series, here's one character that Deadpool faced off against, and then was killed shortly afterwards. But he also had some cool abilities, like extending cybernetic arms. This Slayback figure included that feature by having arms that expanded and contracted at the touch of a button. So even if you didn't know who he was, you could see that he was fun to play with.
Warpath (Smashing Power Punch)
A second action figure version of the team's strong man, this time with a more powerful physique and a more cultural costume. Packing a powerful punching action feature, this version of Warpath isn't the most exciting figure. But at least he doesn't have massive shoulder pads this time!
X-Treme
Created during a summer full of new characters introduced in the annuals, there's not a whole lot behind this character. He's Adam-X, the X-Treme, and he was meant to be a lager character in the overall X-Men mythose.... He was intended to be a long-lost third Summers brother, but that story line was changed, and X-Treme has faded back into obscurity. The figure can throw the twin axes, and we know kids loves blades on their super folks...
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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