REVIEW: Spider-Man (The Amazing Bag-man)

When Toy Fair 2012 revealed the upcoming roster for the Marvel Universe line, there was one figure that really grabbed my attention and triggered my curiosity. It was said to be a variant for the Future Foundation Spider-man, but by the looks of the figure I couldn't see Spidey in him. He looks like a barefooted member of the Fantastic Four with a paper bag on his head. I wasn't really sure if it was some kind of a gag or just a concept series, so being the comic noob that I am, I did a little research and to my surprise that's exactly what it is.

"In Amazing Spider-Man #258, Spider-Man heads around to the Fantastic Four building, so that Reed Richards can have a look at his new black costume, which has been acting a bit strangely.When it turns out to be an alien symbiote, they remove it post-haste, leaving Peter with nothing to protect his secret identity. Johnny Storm kindly finds a Fantastic Four, but of course, the FF don't have much use for masks, and so they have to improvise! (paper bag)"

I never knew Peter Parker wore such odd improvised costumes. There's even a Bombastic Bagman version, Paint Splat Boy, and Net Masked hero to name a few. 

Judging from the photo of the sample figure, it was something that I was looking forward to dispose off if it was included in the set since I'm not really a huge Spider-man fan, and I do tend to limit the duplication of a character per figure. Surprisingly, Bag-man Spidey was the lone Wave 19 figure that was included in the assortment. The day before the distribution event, I was really decided to let go of the 2 Spidey which was included in the set. However after seeing the actual figure on hand, I immediately saw and felt that it was a keeper which leads us to this review.

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Where did I acquire it?: Robinsons Galleria event distribution
How much?: Set of 8/ Php 500.00 each (approx $10.00)
Condition during acquisition: MOC

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Packaging: 

They still retained the new design from the Wave 17 line. I must admit, I hated the change in packaging back then, since I thought it would ruin the consistency of the look, especially for MOC collectors. Though as time passed by I grew to like the new ones better. 

The card artwork shows the regular version of the figure which is the Future Foundation Spider-man as well as the included collectible comic shot. At the back of the packaging we have MODOK as the card character for this wave. It seems like the MU line, has dropped the 1 card character for the whole series and decided to go with different card character per wave.

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Accessories: 

The figure doesn't come with any, othen than a "collectible comic shot" which is made of a thin flimsy cardboard. Although I wish it included even the most overused web slinging accessory which comes with the old Spidey figs like the one at the back of the packaging for FF Spidey.

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Sculpt:

PROS:

• From its folds, dents and ragged edges, the paperbag on his head is very much detailed that it captured the behavior of a paperbag well.

UPDATE: 

2ND UPDATE:

Tried to paint his hair.

•  A real headsculpt is used inside the paperbag, which up until now is a mystery whether it's a reused or a unique one. So it seems like the sculpt is a glued Peter Parker, JRS style. Still waiting for someone who's willing to sacrifice their figure just for us to see the said headsculpt. THERE IS A NEW HEADSCULPT! Thanks to Amuro Mk Ii of PTK for the tip and his courageous attempt! 

• The feet are so detailed that you can see little sculpted toe nails on it and subtle veins.

• The Cyclops body mold they used looks fantastic! (no pun intended)

CONS:

• Looks a bit too tall to be Peter Parker. Since they used the new Cyke mold, he becomes as tall as Cyclops who is listed around 3-4" taller than Spidey.

• Two gun gripping hands. How I wish they could have had one web shooting hand or even a closed fist maybe.

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Paint:
PROS:

• The "4" logo on his chest is painted flawlessly. If you look closely, it's filled up with clean stripe pattern.

• Paint wash on the figure making the muscles more defined.

CONS:

• Not much gripe on the paint, though I wish they could have added a paint wash on the bag as well.

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Articulation:

PROS:

•  This is what makes this figure even more incredible! The use of the new Cyke body mold gives justice to the poseabilty of Spider-man. I don't care how many time they reuse this body mold as this is close to perfection as we could get for now, though I'm still hoping for double hinged elbow and a ball hinged wrist but that's just me asking for too much.

CONS

• A ball hinged wrist could have been a great addition for web shooting poses.

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Size Comparison:

L-R: MU Series 1 Spider-man (dark variant), Series 4 Spider-man (bag head variant)

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Angle View:

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Overall Grade

Overall the figure comes in as a surprise! It's definitely one of those one of a kind figure in terms of aesthetics and it even looks better on hand! A great odd looking figure plus superb articulation equals a winner! Hands down one of the best variants and figure from MU so far!
Accessories - N/A
Sculpt - 4.5/5
Paint - 4.5/5
Articulation - 5/5
Value - 5/5
Final Grade- 4.75/5