Marvel Universe Wave 6 – Warpath, Jean Grey, Sunfire, and Vision

Marvel Universe Wave 6 is officially the first wave for 2010, but with sell-through on the Marvel Universe line strong, it’s been showing up at bricks and mortar retailers for several weeks now.  If this wave, I only picked up four of the six figures, passing on the House of M Spider-Man and the training uniform Wolverine.

Although I think the body they used for Spider-Man, originally from the black costumed Spidey, is superior to the one that’s been reused several times already for all the other Spideys, I just don’t need this variant.  And for Wolvie, I’ll wait for the running change on the head sculpt that should be a lot better than the initial head.

Here’s the packaging, featuring the new HAMMER and Norman Osborne themed artwork by Mike Deodato.

Warpath

Most of the figures I picked up show how the Marvel Universe line continues to get stronger, and Warpath is one of the highlights.  He reuses the Thunderball body that was introduced in the Secret Wars line to good effect, and comes with a two knives and a sheath that will fit one of them, but with the handle facing either way.  His hands are somewhat open, but the knives come with guards that also function to keep them in his hands.  The paint shows how far we’ve come from the first wave, with the black and silver much more vibrant than what we got in the X-Force Wolverine.  I’m looking forward to the red and blue variant from Warpath’s Uncanny stint that will be delivered as a running change.

The nit that I’ll keep harping on until they change it on all the MU figures are the hips.  Without the hip swivels, the leg articulation is missing key points of articulation.  I keep thinking the knees are pointed inward, and there’s really no way to change that.

Jean Grey

On the other hand, Jean Grey is the low point of the wave, which is a shame because fans have been clamoring for her in this costume for a long time.  The problem, which I think I will try to fix, is how low Jean’s head sits on her neck – this is exacerbated by the extra height that her shoulder pads add, making her neck seem even shorter.  While removing the pads reduce this somewhat, it’s still not enough – the head needs to be raised a little.

The headsculpt itself is pretty, and the paint on it is also good, so I think with some minor tweaking the figure will be as good as it deserves to be.

Sunfire

I think Sunfire is my favorite figure in the wave.  Like Jean, Sunfire in his classic costume is one that fans have been demanding.  He shares the new medium build body that was introduced in Wave 5.  And while it looks just a tad buff for Sunfire (and the classic Cyclops) I still like it a great deal.  I also like that Sunfire’s belt buckle is a sculpted element and not just painted on.

The paint here is probably the weakest in the wave, with some bleed through on both the white and yellow.

Vision

Vision, despite using the Daredevil body that is one row of abs too short, is still a pretty good figure.  I think his costume design gives an illusion of a longer torso, and the paint on him is very vibrant.  The addition of this cape could be a good thing – I could see Hasbro reusing it for a Shi’ar Gladiator and Dr. Strange, although I wouldn’t like it much if they used the Daredevil body for either of those characters.

Overall, this is a strong wave for Marvel Universe – aside from the short-necked Jean Grey, I think each of the characters is served pretty well by their figures.  The addition of stands for 2010 is also welcome,  but made me realize that some of the base bodies have their peg holes at the heel, while others have them at the toes.  Here’s an instance where uniformity would be better.  But I still prefer the clear stands, and peg hole placement doesn’t matter at all with those.

Looking ahead, Wave 7 will likely build on MU’s success.  I hope to bring you a review of those soon.