Review : Spider-Man Marvel Select (Diamond Select Toys) Wave/Series : Spider-Man : Homecoming
Released : November 2017
£24.99
Pros : The sculpt is fantastic and captures the build of Tom Holland. Articulation is great. Cons : The base is not too visually impressive and the one we got was warped.
2017 was an odd year for Diamond's Marvel Select range with releases few and far between due to delays and unforeseen circumstances. We had been due to get 5 new Marvel Cinematic Universe figures from the three movies released in the year - Guardians of the Galaxy 2, Spider-Man Homecoming and Thor Ragnarok. After the Guardians figures were delayed it was only Spider-Man that made a Winter 2017 release and we will review him here.
The packaging construction remains unchanged for Spider-Man. We have the large blister on top a cardboard backing card with the card wrapping round the left hand side of the blister to form an art panel on the side, and the character detail panel on the front. The theme for Spider-Man is predominantly bue with a sky blue backdrop that fades almost to a white and a blue side panel that starts quite dark with the Spider-Man suit texture and fades to a more Iron-Man stye blue print design. Over the top of this is the name "Spider-Man" and this is subtitled with the "special collector edition action figure". Above this text sits the Marvel Select logo and beneath it the new 15th Anniversary badge to celebrate 15 years of the Select collectors line.
The triangular insert that comes from the side panel and across the bottom left of the blister carries the Homecoming logo, but unlike previous MCU releases there is no character image in this slot. This move from an image to the movie/series logo seems to be a permanent change as it was the same on the Daredevil figure (2017) and is the same on the upcoming Guardians figures of Drax and Star-Lord.
The back of the card see's the theme move more to a red hue. It carries a large image of the figure on its rooftop base. To the side of this is a red text box with a very general overview of Spider-Man, and while it fits with the plot of Homecoming - it could be about any incarnation of the web-slinger.
To the side of the figure image is a "Collect Them All" insert with images of the Star-Lord figure (unreleased as of Dec 2017) and Doctor Strange (who was released back at the start of 2017). Hanging over all this is the banner style Homecoming logo.
The side panel feels a little different to usual. The blueprint type background actually wraps round onto the side and on top of this is an image of Spider-Man mid-swing. The Homecoming logo sits to the top. This feels like another departure to what we have seen previously where the side panel is a self standing piece of art and usually includes a blown up image of the character.
Once opened you are presented with Spider-Man in the standard tray insert. Behind him sits the rooftop scene. The figure is strapped in with twisty ties, and be very careful removing these as they can rub the paint far too easily. There are three sets of hands just below Spidey, all held in with a length of sticky tape.
The end of 2016 and the start of 2017 has been a real breakout year for Marvel Select in terms of sculpting. While the figures have always been good, the likeness and detailing has always fallen a touch short. Recent figures like Civil War Cap and Dr Strange have taken this to a whole new level - and Spidey thankfully continues that trend.
The mask is beautifully done with the webbing being a very subtle part of the sculpt and not just painted. The eyes are expressive and are ridged around the frames as we see in the movie.
Body shape and size has been a debate for Select collectors recently after the Daredevil release, and Spidey has a similar body sculpt being quite slim and slender. This is perfect for Spidey who is of course a teenage boy in a suit.
The details on the red of the suit, like the mask, are sculpted and painted really neatly. There is a small black spider logo at the front and a larger red one round the back. We also get some larger black lining down the arms and at the waist and some wrist bands around each wrist.
Sadly we do need to mention what is not in the figure - and that is any form of piping or lining on the blue parts of the suit. While this is very subtle in the movie, it is a miss by Diamond in not including it on the figure. Thankfully it doesn't detract too much from the look of the figure.
Spidey has 18 points of articulation, and Diamond have really thought about what poses Spidey needs to achieve and upgraded some joints to suit. The head is a ball joint and rotates fully, you can also see a pivot under the head piece on the neck. Sadly this does not move to much and the head pretty much has to stay at the same looking forward angle.
We then get a torso joint which is much more maneuverable and can lean the figure forward and backward, ready for those ready to swing poses. The arms are ball jointed at the shoulder with a bicep swivel just underneath. We then get upgraded double jointed elbows, and these are a godsend for posing allowing Spidey to almost fold his arm back on itself. The arms finish with the hands which have a pivot peg at the wrist and that allows hands to be bent to 90 degrees - essentially for web slinging action.
The legs start with the usual Diamond crotch design where the legs are slotted into a peg that swings out to the side as well as forward. Now this may not be the most attractive hip joint out there, but it does do the job and gives our figure a huge depth of leg movement. These are followed by a thigh swivel and double jointed knees, so kneeling and crouching is dead easy. The figure finishes with ankle rockers that also move really well, allowing the feet to be pointed downward. These are a touch looser than I would like - but at this stage standing Spider-Man is not a problem.
Spidey comes with 8 sets of hands in total. In the pack he comes with one fist fitted and one web slinging hand. The other hands are a gripping hand and open palm. While I like the open palm for perhaps a wall climbing pose, they are a bit jazz hand in other poses. There is a gripe with the open palms in that the web shooter is not included - it is on the web sling shooting hands - and I think these are recycled from another figure and painted t match the costume.
The gripping hands seem a bit of an odd inclusion as Spidey has no accessories he can hold or grip. Agai these feel like they are painted and thrown in and certainly for me don't add much value.
The web sling hands do carry the web shooter, although if they were truly accurate there would be a section that joins up to the wrist section. The fists are a good set of hands too as Spidey is quite often getting into fistycuffs with the bad guys.
All hands slot in and out easily and click into place and hold really well.
I am getting a little bid jaded with the DIamond Select diorama bases. While they have been a staple of the line across the past 15 years, most just end up in a box and perhaps controversially I would like to see them dropped and replaced with more figure value adding parts like other heads or accessories.
Spidey's base is not really movie related. It is a cut out of a generic red bricked rooftop with chimney and slate tiles. It is hefty enough and pretty well painted with the bricks being particularly well done with the grey mortar between each red brick.
Sadly my base arrived warped and won't sit on a flat surface.
There are no peg holes for Spidey, so unlike the Daredevil figure where some thought had gone into posing the figure on the base dynamically, with this you will either have Spidey standing or sitting on the chimney.
I think back to the base with the Amazing Spider-Man and while this was again not film accurate, it was innovative in that it could be hung on your wall and allowed Spider-Man to be posed as though he was climbing the wall. Something similar here would have been awesome.
Spider-Man is small against other recent Select figures - but for me he should be. While he can be posed on his own well enough - with or without the base - he is best suited I think for a Civil War type display, particularly as he is the sole release from the movie so there is no Iron-Man or Vulture to pose with him.
Homecoming Spider-Man was probably one of the most anticipated figures of 2017 for Select collectors, and in many ways he does not disappoint. The sculpt, build and general paint job are all well executed and the articulation is about as good as it gets at this price point. There are some bits missing on the paint job like the blue lining and the web shooters on one of the hands. The base is very meh and underwhelming and is going straight into my big box of parts.
The negatives are quite minor in the overall scheme and this is as good a Homecoming Spider-Man as you can currently get from any mid-range company. while I am sure Figuarts and Mezco will outshine this figure eventually, this is a £25 figure and that makes it awesome value for money. I score the Diamond Select Netflix Daredevil a 4 out of 5.
