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Oh, Hasbro, Hasbro, Hasbro; what are we going to do with you?
Powers from the realm of Asgaard fuel the superhuman might of these rampaging wrongdoers.
There is no "these" wrongdoers, just "this" wrongdoer, thanks to the same old story we've complained about so many times before. Until now, Hasbro's unreleased variants have just been annoying. Red Deadpool, Future Foundation Dr. Doom, Danielle Moonstar, Blade, Sentry, Iron Fist, Lyra, retro(ish) Hawkeye, and the one-two punch of White Phoenix and AoA Jean Grey... missing out on all of them was frustrating, and disappointing, but that's all. Now, however, Hasbro's inability to recognize (or correct) their own shortcomings is actively preventing us from completing a team, and that's not cool.
In Series 2, Thunderball and Piledriver were released as variants, and to get them both you had to be able to shop on two different sides of the country. Now here we are in Series 5, and Wrecker and Bulldozer are being released the same way. Well, in theory. Wrecker's out (again, "in theory:" I ordered direct from Hasbro, because he hasn't made it to stores yet), but Bulldozer is nowhere to be seen.
Wrecker uses the same limbs as the other members of the Wrecking Crew, so the arms, shins and feet date all the way back
to Hulkling. The torso is completely new, since Wrecker wears a thick jacket rather than spandex. The deep striations on the torso seem to be an attempt to make the coat blend with the pre-existing shoulders (which were quite heavily lined themselves), but the sculpt of the arms and legs is much subtler. So you've got small lines on the limbs, big lines on the shoulders, and even bigger lines on the chest. He also gets a raised collar, and the flap of his jacket is a sculpted element. He has a wide belt with a woven texture and vertical capsules all the way around.
The belt does limit the figure's articulation slightly, because the waist is so obviously oval. The rest of his joints
move well, though the left forearm was stuck fast when I opened him - half an hour in the freezer fixed that easily. He also can't really look up, thanks to the collar on his jacket. He includes the mystical crowbar that gives him his abilities, because if Thor gets a hammer, why should other kinds of basic tools not be eligible? What's next, a magic screwdriver? It's 4½" long, which is huge for a crowbar. Of course, Wrecker himself stands 7⅞", which is huge for a 6"-scale figure (Marvel says Wrecker is officially 6'3").
He also comes with two pieces for the Marvel Legends Series 5 Build-A-Figure, Rocket Racoon. There's one bodypart - the head - and one big gun. It's the same one the Marvel Universe figure came with, so you get points for consistency. The head has a hinged jaw.
Wrecker's good, but he's sort of a disappointment without Bulldozer to complement him - and we'd be saying the same thing if their availabilities were reversed. Whenever they're asked about all these missing variants, Hasbro keeps saying they "haven't found a way to release them," which (as pointed out by someone funnier than us) is pretty dumb. Here's a suggestion: put them on your website, stupid. Looking at the list up above (and counting Bulldozer), Hasbro's got 11 figures that are MIA; that's enough to fill two complete series. Oh wait, modern Rogue and Phoenix Cyclops, that's 13. Your customers want the figures, retailers want to sell them to us, and the only thing standing in the way of that is you, Hasbro.
-- 11/11/13
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