Aug 18, 2015

Marvel 500 Review

Now that my local Target has completed its toy aisle reset (except for the glaring hole where the new Star Wars merch will live on September 4th), there's actually some new stock.

Hasbro is taking Marvel into the mass market blind bag arena with Marvel 500. So called because they say they're planning on releasing 500 figures in the line. If I were a betting man, I would plunk down a roll of bills on "Maybe 100, if you're lucky."

You might recall the Handful of Heroes figures that warmed pegs for a number of years. Those monochromatic army-man type figures were actually not that bad. Marvel 500 figures are around 2", just a little taller than your average LEGO minifig.

Rock out with your Ock out!
For their size, the figures actually have a good amount of detail on them. The plastic seems like it will take a good amount of rough play. They really feel like they're pieces for some kind of board game to me.


At the price of $2.50 per figure, the paint apps are minimal. Although some of the ones I've seen photos of are pretty passable. At a proposed 500 figures, you may be wondering how deep they'll go into the Marvel Mythos. Will we get Howard the Duck? Angar the Screamer? Sleepwalker?


The answer lies in variants and repaints! Here you can see my ultra-rare translucent Amputee Hulk figure. He's missing both hands and his left foot!


A little disappointing to open the bag and find this guy inside, to say the least.


Series 1 has 24 figures to collect, of which half are variants and repaints.

3 Spider-Man
3 Hulks
2 Cap
2 Venom/Carnage
2 Green Goblin
2 Ultron
2 Ghost Rider
2 Ultron
2 Iron Man
2 Thor
1 Nick Fury
1 Punisher (one of the best looking figures!)

I probably won't be getting any more of these unless I'm trying to hunt down a particular favorite character of mine. I could see these being a good pacifier for the little ones crying in the toy aisles who want something and the surprise of not knowing what's inside might be fun for them. If you're someone that's into painting miniatures, I think these could be worth picking up to customize.

4 comments:

  1. I was curious about these, but they seem to be quite the 'meh.' Easy pass, unless they start punching out unique or off-beat characters, which I doubt.

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    1. I almost prefer those, what were they called? Xerboz? The smaller figs that came in a colored plastic ball. They didn't have a lot of detail but at a buck, a much better value.

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  2. I wish they were fully painted.

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    1. I don't know how much it would drive up the price to even paint them a little more but with the blind bag Playmobil at $2.99 and LEGO around $3-$4, I don't think these are worth it.

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