“Can the Spider-Man come out to play?”
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.
Green Goblin was released in November, and unlike the carded figures, he was packed in a deluxe Marvel Legends windowless box. The packaging did mirror some of the design principles of the carded wave with the red and gold tramlines, the use of the Spider-man logo, and the deep blue backing colour that also contained images of Norman Osborn’s Green Goblin. Illustrations of the figure are used instead of the window with a posed version on the front and more static shots on the side and rear confirming the full contents. The whole piece was packed up under the No Way Home logo.
Unusually for a window-less box, the interior of the packaging included a plastic tray held in place by an outer cardboard sleeve. This allowed the figure and glider to be secured without any risk of damage or warping - an issue we have seen when accessories in particular are wrapped in the wax paper and left somewhat unsecured in the inner box.
Green Goblin is, of course, a full new figure from the ground up, and based on his look at the end of No Way Home with his suit now inclusive of the tattered remains of his purple hoodie as well as some repairs he must have worked on before the final face-off with Peter at the Statue of Liberty. The entirety of the base figure is cast in a metallic green with plenty of detail across the suit. Elements are then neatly picked out in gold and purple with silver also utilised at the knees and around the waist. The body is overlaid with a soft brown rubber strap that makes up Goblin’s belt and pouch as well as extending up over his shoulder. Over this sits the tattered purple hoodie. This is an individual piece, but is hooked in over the head and under the arm so removing it will take a bit of work and there is a risk of damage. The suit is completed with some armaments on either forearm - the left arm is retracted while the right arm has the two spikes extended from the main body of the weaponry.
Goblin features two head sculpts, the first is that of Norman Osborn (Willem Dafoe) sculpted with that crazed Goblin smile. The likeness is one of the best to date in the Marvel Legends Cinematic releases and is bolstered by the face print detailing, the styling of the hair, and a pair of removable goggles that sit over the head and include transparent purple lenses through which you can see Norman’s eyes.
While the Goblin mask was smashed at the start of the film, Hasbro has included it in this set as an alternative head. It is cast in the same metallic green as the suit with yellow eyes and silver teeth details. It swaps out easily with the Osborn head - but does leave a touch of exposed skin when worn around the neck. If you do choose to display Goblin with the mask, then there is a figure hack at the bottom of our review that can put the Norman Osborn head to use as well.
The final accessory for the set is a single Goblin Bomb cast in orange with a green button. It fits perfectly into the sculpt of the right hand - so much so that I thought that it was magnetic to start with when it snapped into place. This allows you to pose Norman ready to throw the bomb, although there is no other way to holster it on his belt for example when not in use.
Articulation is 18 points in total, all pinless. Goblin doesn’t appear to get butterfly shoulders, but that doesn’t affect posing in any significant way. The legs and arms are all fully mobile with additional pivots built into the ankle rockers for mounting and riding the included glider. Goblin does feature the drop and pivot hips we are seeing now on a lot of Marvel Legends figures. That means the legs drop down to pose and that can feel a bit springy and I have seen some of them break quite easily.
Moving onto the Glider, and again this is a brand new piece sculpted for the set. It is made up of silver cast parts that connect to a central undercarriage. Each wing is connected by a pivot that then allows the Glider to articulate in the middle with either wing pivoting outward or inward when flying. The paint apps are quite simple with purple added to much of the upper wing surfaces. The front prongs are included but are soft for safety reasons and can be warped out of the box, or from posing.
The glider has an included flight stand, and this is the triangular piece that originated with the Star Wars Black Series speeder bike. It features three circular balls that slot into the joint at the base of the glider. These three options allow for low, medium, and high posing with the remaining three points of the stand providing a stable base. The connection can be temperamental. Both my son and I have the same figure and his stand is really tight to secure, but then holds the glider well. In contrast, mine is easy to connect but sits quite loose which means my Goblin can pivot off to the side or front if knocked.
Each wing features a foot grip that can plug in and out of both the glider and the figure. These are handed so you will need to line up the left grip with the left foot and vice versa. I found it easier to get the grip on the foot with the foot peg slotted into place, and then place them and the figure onto the glider. The articulation all works to support the flight position, particularly the ankle pivot - but also a pivot on the foot rests themselves which further enhances the available positioning of the feet and legs and allows not only general standing on the glider poses, but replication of the sharper turns with the glider angled down but the figure remaining upright.
All in all, this is perhaps one of the best Marvel Legends Cinematic releases to date. The sculpt is great and matches what we see on screen - albeit scene-specific for the final battle. The paintwork is great, the articulation works perfectly and the interaction with the glider is great - although that will be dependent on the fit of your stand. The accessories enhance the figure further with the Goblin Bomb and those removable goggles. And the inclusion of the helmet is a great nod to fans who will want to display their Goblin paying more of an homage to his first scenes in No Way Home or even Spider-Man 2002 - although I think with the key components now available to them it would be remiss of Hasbro not to give us an original Green Goblin figure if they can do so? A highly recommended purchase and a purchase not to dwell too much on as the figure is selling well, although at the time of writing remains available at many stores indicating a sensible level of these have been made available.
Figure Hacks
If you aren't a fan of that flesh-tone neck when the Goblin mask head is in use, the Etsy seller RDJCustoms have you covered with a pre-painted neckpiece that slots straight over the neck joining up the chest armour with the helmet.
And for those of you who want to revisit Spider-Man (2002) and a suited Norman Osborn, I can confirm that the unmasked head is a pretty good fit to the Agent Ross figure from Black Panther. The flesh tones of the neck to the head are very close so no repainting is needed. The blue suit and tie are also a relatively good match to the scenes outside the Museum in the original Spider-Man movie.
Keep Track of all the Marvel Legends figures from Hasbro at our comprehensive
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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...