Spider-Woman By Big Bear Apr 10, 2007 - 9:08:10 AM

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Spider-Woman, alias Jessica Drew, is a Marvel Comics super heroine. The character first appeared in Marvel Spotlight #32.  Spider Woman has been a pawn of Hydra, an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., and currently a New Avenger.  Due to her recent surge in popularity, Toy Biz made her into an action figure.

Likeness

This version if Spider-Woman appears as a basic rendition of what this Marvel Comics character looks like.  She does not bare resemblance to any particular artists’ rendition in my opinion.  This is just a basically generic mold of Spider-Woman.

Plastic

Spider Woman has sturdy plastic but is very soft in the arm area.  Be careful as you twist and bend as the joint at the biceps is easy to break.  The cobweb wings that are trademarks of Spider Woman are made of soft and pliable plastic.  While it is sturdy enough to hold form, the attachments to her sides and arm can be easily torn if there is too much movement.  Her bushel of hair is also made from a soft plastic.  While one is getting familiar with Spider Woman, I suggest that you treat her kindly.

Package

This is a Toy Biz Marvel Legend so expect the typical clamshell design.   The package keeps everything safe, but is a chore to open.  The card has the standard character bio, series photo, and power level grid. The newest feature is that the interior of the card is now a character specific diorama that is to be used for colorful background to pose the character with.

Sculpt

The body of Spider Woman is on-point.  The design is basic, but neat.  While she does look good, she is not an overly attractive figure.  In fact, this version of Spider Woman is not as good looking as the version released by Marvel Select, but this one is both more affordable and comes with a piece of Modok that makes her more desirable to own.  The real problem is the eyes on the mask.  They are sculpted unevenly.  When the paint is applied, it looks like Spider-Woman has a crooked face.  The other problem with Spider Woman is the size of her hands.  Her hands are long.  They are far too big for her frame.  These problems make what would have been a great figure into something average.

Stability

Because Spider Woman is given heeled boots instead of flat feet like Rogue or Warbird, she is a little harder to stabilize.  While she can stand well on her own, you will have to work to find the right pose.  Add to the fact that her legs are loose in the hip area and you will come to the conclusion that posing her can be a real pain.  This is one figure that definitely needs a stand.  Gratefully, Toy Biz has put peg holes in both heels of her feet.

Scale

Spider Woman is a good size.  She fits in well with most of the Marvel Legends without towering over most of the male figures.

Articulation

The area of articulation is a gift and a curse when it comes to Spider Woman.  Spider Woman has all the standard points of movement that we come to expect except that her forearms have no swivel movement for 360 degree motions.  She has a thin neck with a ball joint so that she can move her head around freely, but that motion is limited due to the amount of hair that Spider-Woman has.

The web-wings are interesting.  They limit her mobility of the arm as the wings are plastic instead of cloth and are attached to her arms and her side.  Her arms can only move and raise up so much without tearing the attachments of her wings.  The legs are also very loose at the hip joints.  The ball-joints on the shoulders of my Spider-Woman were very stiff and I almost bent the arm off so be careful.

She does come with waist movement and rotation in the upper torso.  The legs move too easily due to the looseness in the ball-jointed hip area.  Double pin movement at both the knees and the elbows.  Spider Woman even has circular rotation on her boots and bendable ankles.

Props

Her props include a character specific diorama, the comic book Spider-Woman #1, and the Head of the Modok BAF.

Paint

The paint job is very simple.  The basic mold is cast red so that is hard to mess up.  However, the yellow and black applications are all painted on and there was not given the greatest of care when it came to painting this figure.  Expect to endure overlapping, running, blotches, and other paint problems when looking for a decent Spider-Woman to own.

Cost

Originally the Spider-Woman figure was going for $9.00 and tax, but some places have them at half-price.  They are still cheaper than the current batch of figures by Hasbro, so pick this series of toys up while you can.

Availability

When I bought her, she was hard to find. Now Spider Woman, and many of her fellow figures from Marvel Legends series 15 can be found at Toys "R" Us and Kay Bee.  If you cannot find them there, then you will have to surf the Internet to find figures from the final ML series from Toy Biz.

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