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Joe Fixit

Avengers (Gamerverse)
by yo go re

ToyBiz made a Joe Fixit Hulk in 2003, but for whatever reason, I missed it. We've been after Diamond Select or Hasbro to make a new one for years, but so far this is the closest we've gotten.

Banner's alter-alter ego Joe Fixit trades scruples for extra intelligence, giving him the will & the way to act outside the moral boundaries of Bruce & The Hulk. That being said, no one can argue against his superior fashion sense, as illustrated in this stylish pinstripe suit.

He also trades strength, because the grey Hulk is not as powerful as the green Hulk, but that's only in the comics; this is based on the Avengers game, and all the various skins there are simply cosmetic, with no changes to gameplay. But it has to be hilarious, playing through a game where Banner and Hulk have been in hiding for years, but having him show up in a perfect suit.

This is the Build-A-Figure for the second series of game toys - the first series' BAF was Abomination, who was a so-so design and required three game figures (including one that was just a repaint) to build. Joe Fixit only requires two game figures, and though they're both repaints, they look different from the standard designs. So after getting four of the pieces, it wasn't some big struggle to get the last two. And thus we have a Joe Fixit to review for you.

Like that bio above says, Joe Fixit's iconic look is an immaculately tailored suit - usually pinstriped, but not always, so we won't fault this figure too much for that. That said it is striped in the game, so this toy is already missing out. It's fully a new mold: when we first saw pictures, a lot of us thought he'd at least be using Kingpin's arms and legs on a new torso, but that's not the case. Was there any advantage to not using existing pieces? Were the particular wrinkles on these sleeves and pantlegs going to infuriate The Gamers™ if they didn't match the game files perfectly? The coat and necktie/shirt collar are PVC pieces over the ABS torso, for future re-use purposes.

Hulk wears a fedora, because when you're a mob enforcer, you dress like Frank Sinatra - 1920s cosplay is all the rage among wannabe classy guys. The hat is non-removable, which works fine at this scale. To make a separate hat, they'd either have to make it huge or the top of his head small. He's got an appropriately grumpy look on his face, too.

Joe Fixit is a personality of the grey Hulk, so this one is grey... ish. There's still a strong tint of green to the shade, so under some lights it looks like they picked the wrong color. The suit is dark blue, with no pinstripes, and he's wearing a red tie with a dark pattern tampoed on it. He's even got a white handkerchief folded and poking out of his breast pocket. For ultra style, he has a pair of black-and-white wingtips. This is a far cry from tattered purple pants!

The BAF stands just over 8⅛" tall and moves at the ankles, knees, thighs, hips, waist, wrists, elbows, shoulders, and head. There's a hinged torso in there, too, but the coat pretty effectively blocks it from moving. Most of the joints are swivel/hinge combos, for plenty of poseability. His only hands are fists, but it's not like they included any accessories for him. He does like to dual-wield Tommy guns, but that's in the comic, not in the game.

The "Gamerverse" Joe Fixit was definitely a "well, I've already got most of the pieces, might as well finish it off" Build-A-Figure, and was definitely helped by the fact that the only other 6" scale toy of the character was nearly 20 years ago: he's not the best, but he's all we've got. We still want a proper comic version, though.

Iron Man | Captain America | Falcon | Jocasta | Kang | Thunderstrike

-- 04/19/21


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