Iceman - Marvel Legends By Hervé St.Louis Jul 23, 2005 - 10:26:00 AM

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Ice Man is one of the original X-Men introduced way back in X-Men #1 in 1963. The youngest of the original team, Bobby Drake has been with the team on and off. He joined other super hero teams like the Champions and gained much notoriety by being featured in the 1980s Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends’ cartoon series. Ice Man has been featured as a young student in both of the X-Men feature films.

Likeness

Ice Man’s face is not as square as in many comic books. Here, his forehead is soft and facial expression more human than robotic. He sports the red square X belt buckle that the X-Men wear these days. Because of the articulations, it’s difficult to say whether Ice Man sports his traditional costume or not. One thing the figure captures well is the angst in Ice Man’s facial expression.

Sculpt

Ice Man is thinner than several Marvel Legends action figures. This is due to the lack of strong shoulders and the type of articulations he has in the area. It seems Toybiz reused some parts from the X-Men Cyclops and the Spider-Man Classic Daredevil for Ice Man but I can’t say it is so 100%. Parts like the thighs, the torso, the biceps and the feet must have the same mould. As Ice Man’s built consist of a muscle man of ice, it would make sense. Yet, Ice man looks menacing enough and his face, full of the rebellion and brashness for which the character is known.

Paint

The paint job is good, especially as we are dealing with a translucent action figure. There’s a blue finish on Ice Man’s base plastic that covers partly the action figure’s internal mechanism. The finish gives a sparkling effect to Ice Man. Unfortunately, the paint wasn’t used all over Ice Man’s body. For example, Ice Man’s toes lack sufficient paint. Although they are painted, the white plastic base of Ice Man’s shoulder and hip joints contrast with the rest of his body.

Scale

Ice Man is taller than Nightcrawler, shorter than Colossus. As a six-inch Marvel Legends action figure, he fits well with the other released X-Men. As mentioned above, his built is thinner than many other Marvel Legends figures. This is correct as Ice Man is smaller than most in the comics. However, they surprised me to see than Nightcrawler had a heavier built than Ice Man.

Stability

Ice Man can stand on his own, but it’s difficult to find the proper balance. His articulation is very stiff. Adjusting his ankles, for examples, means that the angle is either too steeped in one direction or the other. There’s a click mechanism in the articulations that forces a specific degree angle for all articulations. Ice Man’s base, an ice mountain built on top of a sentinel’s hand, holds the figure securely, but he’s bent instead of standing upward.

Articulation

Ice Man has 38 articulations. He has a double shoulder articulation mechanism allowing him to move his arms at greater distance. This feature was not necessary and makes the figure more difficult to pose than it’s worth the time. On top of that, he has ball joint shoulders, biceps curls, double elbow articulations, forearm curls, bending writs and palms. In his legs, Ice Man has ball joints, but the type that allows the figure’s thighs to move sideways, front and back. These are the best. He has double knee articulations, thighs curl, calves curl, bending ankles and bending toes. Ice Man’s chest benefits from the new design imagined by Toybiz. As well as having standard waist twists and crunching abdominal, Ice Man as an extra upper torso twist. The neck moves from its base on the collar, but the head moves independently from the neck. It also has a bending articulation. This figure’s articulations are cool, but the figure is so stiff, unlike most Marvel Legends, that when one moves something, it feels as if the plastic will crack.

Plastic

Ice Man has hollow plastic. The translucent stock used is more fragile than other material. Although the visual effect it produces for Ice Man is cool, the figure is not very resistant. Toybiz included a complicated articulation structure in the shoulders that at once break the beauty of the sculpt and add what seems like unnecessary parts to the area. There’s an encased shoulder blade part that doesn’t move and is only there to support the extra shoulder articulation.

Props

Ice Man comes with the ice mountain base, a reprint of X-Men #18, published in 1966 and a VS trading card featuring Ice Man. Toybiz really pulls not punches with the props it includes in the set. They have filled the comic book with ads for other Marvel Enterprise products. The comic book does not feature the modern Ice Man on whom the action figure is based.

Diorama

The ice mountain comes as three pieces that we must assemble. First, there’s the sentinel hand where one attaches the first ice tower on a large peg. The peg has specific shape so you are forced to twist the ice tower in the direction suggested by the peg. Fortunately, one can unscrew the large peg and change its direction. On top of the ice tower, one puts the ice base where there are pegs for Ice Man’s feet and two hand tunnels where one should insert the figure’s hands. Once inserted, the hand mimic the ice creating gesture of Ice Man. Unfortunately, Getting Ice Man’s hand to fit, as shown on the picture is nearly impossible, without contorting the figure, making it susceptible to be damaged. Note that the Sentinel’s hand is much larger than the torso found with Colossus’ base or the upcoming 16 inch Sentinels from the Marvel Legends Series 10.

Packaging

The package is a clear bubble attached on a card. They have attached Ice Man and all the parts. One the back of the card, there’s a short bio on ice Man with some stats on his powers and skills. There are images of other Marvel Legends Series 8 action figures too.

Cost

The price of Ice Man varies according to the retailer. Large surface stores get their stock directly from China in their own containers along with all types of other products. They can pass this added gain to their customers. Many comic stores and other places order through distributers. They have fewer discounts than large chains that operate throughout North America. They order fewer quantities too.

Availability

In every case of Marvel Legends Series 8 figures, there are two Ice Man action figures. This means that there is enough Ice Man around. As part of the X-Men, Ice Man is of interest to collectors trying to assemble a complete team.

Read related articles and reviews such as:

X-Men: The Evolution of a Revolution
Colossus
Ultimate Wolverine
X-Men Movie Two Nightcrawler

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