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I can't wait to watch this guy play cards!
Maverick absorbs the force of enemy attack, converting it into hyper-concussive blasts of power.
He does? That's his power? We literally couldn't have told you, despite reading the comics when he was introduced. Maverick was created by Jim Lee at the same time as Omega Red, and is definitely one of those "proto-Image" characters who have no clearly defined logic behind them. Heck, it was only one month after his first appearance that we were told Maverick's real name (his real alias, at least), his nationality, and an explicit description of his powers, but none of it sticks in the mind - he was just a fancy suit of armor and a name that gave no clue to his abilities. A year later he could have been part of the WildCATS team, and no one would even have noticed the difference.
Even back when he was working with the CIA's "Team X" (precursor to the Weapon X program), Maverick's trademark was an armored faceplate. Yes, even when they were just wearing black body suits with gold armor on top. There was never any explanation for why he wore it, or if the pattern meant anything, but it's his thing, so the toy needed to reproduce it.
Amazingly, this toy is an entirely new mold. Yes, it was the only way to re-create Jim Lee's design, but these are some very specific molds with no immediate clue as to how they'll be reused in the future.
Maverick is definitely a '90s creation, with all the armor and the pouches and the straps. Hell, the comics could have called him "Yellow Cable" if Maverick didn't clear a copyright search. The armor on his arms, legs, and abdomen is the banded stripes of metal style, while his gloves and shoulder pads are smoother - though still technological - pads. I never realized it until now, but the black V on his stomach is probably meant to be straps holding the chestplate on. Looking at the old art, the vertical flares on the shoulders should move with the arm rather than staying with the chest, but doing it this way means the arms can move to the side better.
It's surprising how many separate pieces this figure gets. The belt, and the brown and gold bands running up over his shoulders? That's its own mold, so the chest balljoint can still turn all around. So's the tiny respirator hanging around his neck! The backpack is technically separate, though it has been securely glued in place; the four cables that run up from it to the back of Mav's head glue into a notch up there, but they're PVC so they don't mess with the movement.
Like Bishop, Marverick was one of
those characters, no matter what their mutant abilities were, whose real power seemed to be "has guns." Therefore, this toy has guns. They're pistols, '90s X-Book standards: one with a round silencer on the end, the other more squarish with two magazines hanging down from the sides. Both are based on guns Lee drew in that first storyarc, and can be held in either hand (though only the round one can fit in the holster on the figure's belt.
He also has the left arm of Strong Guy, this series' Build-A-Figure.
ToyBiz planned to release a Maverick figure pretty early in its 1990s X-Men line: he was supposed to be in Series 4, but kept getting pushed back, and was eventually only released in a hard-to-find KayBee two-pack with a rerelease of Trevor Fitroy - a character he never interacted with. (Patented OAFEnet Fun Fact: the back of that packaging called Maverick a "freelance peace-keeping agent.") Hasbro released their own Maverick, in their darker days, but this is the one we've all been waiting for.
-- 09/29/20
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