“The power of the sun in the palm of my hand.”
Almost 2-years after the release of Spider-Man: No Way Home, the Hasbro Marvel Legends team brought us a winter wave of figures from the movie including the three different versions of Spider-Man as well as MJ, Matt Murdock, and Sandman. The wave was further enhanced by the release of two supporting deluxe figures, the Green Goblin and Doc Ock.
Doc Ock, like Green Goblin, is packed into a Deluxe Marvel Legends windowless box rather than following the blister-carded packaging used on the other No Way Home figures. The same design principles from the card are carried forward onto the box, predominantly the gold and red tramlines. Doc Ock (like the Amazing Spider-Man from the main wave) is not presented as a No Way Home release and therefore the background colouration and imagery on the main segment of the box front is orange rather than blue and the packaging uses the 2004 Spider-Man 2 logo. The figure is illustrated posed on the front of the box and in more neutral stances on the side and rear with clarification of the contents included on the rear. Inside the box there is no plastic tray to keep Doc Ock in check as seen with Green Goblin, instead, he is wrapped up in wax paper and secured with the inner cardboard tray.
While the packaging may be branded as Spider-Man 2 (2004) the figure itself is very much based on the No Way Home look. The full new figure featured Octavius wearing a black shirt and trousers cast in simple black plastic and without any key paint details, but plenty of sculpted textures and folds to mimic fabric. Over these sits the mechanical straps of the manipulator arms as an individual silver section wrapped around Otto’s waist. Over the outfit, we then have two softer plastic coats, an inner brown trenchcoat complete with collar and pocket details, and an outer green coat with the same level of detail as well as painted buttons in black. These buttons reflect the sum total of paint apps across the body with the costume finished only by a pair of brown gloves hands and brown shoes.
The mechanical arms come pre-attached to the body which was a surprise as I expected them to be a plug-in assembly on arrival. These are fixed in place and are made up of a metal armature surrounded by soft plastic metallic gunmetal arms. Each arm ends in a plug onto which one of six included claw pieces can be fitted. These include a pair of articulated open and closing claws, and a similar-sized pair of fixed claws, both of which are inclusive of an inner red circular panel. You also get a pair of wider claws that are braced as stands to support posing the figure walking with his mechanical arms.
The head sculpt and likeness to actor Alfred Molina is on par with Green Goblin and one of the best Cinematic likenesses so far in the Marvel Legends series. The facial features are enhanced with face print tech around the key facial features and the look is finished with Otto’s glasses. Unlike Goblin, these glasses are not removable - but they do feature transparent lenses through which the eyes of the figure are clearly visible. To provide a slight degree of variation for Otto himself, there are two sets of hands provided - one a pair of clenched fists, the other a pair of gripping hands.
Articulation on the figure is the usual 18 points, all pinless. The legs are fully mobile but are held back by the length of the two coated sections. The arms allow for more gesturing as does the neck peg. The key feature of Doc Ock is the articulation on those wired armature arms which are fully poseable right across their length. Some caution is recommended while posing these, this softer plastic will degrade with time and may start to split if over-used. There are also reports of the arms snapping where they connect to the body if the arms are put under too much stress. Work slowly and methodically posing the arms, and hold them on both sides of the point you wish to bend to restrict pressure at the joint.
Once you’ve worked out the arm posing, there are plenty of Doc Ock posing options available to you. The most challenging is having him stood, fully supported, on two of the arms using the oversized claw feet. The issue here is balancing the figure front and back so it doesn't tip either way - but once balanced it looks really impressive. There are similar balancing issues if posing Otto on his own two feet as the weight and length of each of the arms easily push him off balance - the easiest solution is to try and use the lower arms as a further anchor point on the floor leaving the upper arms to be posed in an attack position. The options for display are almost infinite and within a wider display the Doctor will certainly be a key focal point.
The Deluxe Doc Ock from the No Way Home series is a real highlight (alongside Green Goblin) in a set of figures that have exceeded a lot of expectations. There are obviously some licensing issues that means he is branded as Spider-Man 2 which will throw off a 'mint in box' display alongside the other figures, but this is definitely the older No Way Home Otto Octavius ready to face off against all three Peter Parker Spider-Man variants. Like Goblin, there is scope here for future variants too - most likely an updated red ‘Stark Tech’ armed version as an exclusive. The No Way Home series has sold particularly well and Doc Ock in particular has sold out the fastest in both pre-orders and any subsequent restocks to date. One not to be missed.
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About Me : As a child of the 70's and 80's I grew up in a golden age for action figures and in my youth bought and sold myself through collections of Star Wars, G.I. Joe (Action Force) and M.A.S.K. while also dabbling in He-Man, Transformers and Ghostbusters. Roll forward and I am now reliving that Youth with the action figures of today and am a collector and fan of the larger 6-8 inch figures from my favourite movie and TV licences - including the ones mentioned above, but also the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Doctor Who and the Aliens. I launched The Mephitsu Archives in 2015 with a view of creating a UK focused site or these figures where fans can pick up the latest action figure news, read reviews and get information on where to buy their figures and what is currently on store shelves. I hope I am delivering that to you guys...