Spider-Tracer: Maximum Carnage… the Toyline!

Welcome back, Spidey fans! I hope you’re all doing well. For this month’s Spider-Tracer, I thought we should take a look back at one of the forgotten “Maximum Carnage” offerings from back in the 90s; everyone remembers the comic and the addicting video game, but what about the toyline from ToyBiz? It was the first comic Spider-Man storyline to get its own action figure line! This toyline often gets forgotten in favor of the 1994 animated series of action figures; both series of figures came out in the same year, which may be one of the reasons it’s often forgotten (the other being that the animated toyline lasted longer).

 

The toyline only featured three characters: Spider-Man, Venom, and, of course, Carnage. None of the other heroes or villains from the comics received figures in this line, though several of them would get figures in other lines later (Cloak and Dagger got their own 2-pack of figures, for example).

 

This next part is speculation on my part, so if anyone can fill me in on the actual details, please let me know in the comments section below (information on the “Maximum Carnage” toyline is scare, to put it mildly). The “Maximum Carnage” toyline made sense for a number of reasons. For one thing, it allowed Marvel and ToyBiz to capitalize on the popularity of the comic storyline, which had come out a year earlier in 1993. Now, this was not the first time a comic storyline from Marvel got its own toyline; that honor falls to Mattel’s “Secret Wars” toyline from the mid 80’s. So why “Maximum Carnage”? Spider-Man is a well known character and property, even in the early 90’s before the movies had materialized. The X-Men (at that time, a relatively unknown property outside of comic fans) had gotten figures before their animated series came out, and they sold really well. Second of all, with the animated series on the way for ol’ Web-Head, it would allow ToyBiz to reuse any of the molds they made for one toyline in another. If you look at the first series of 5” Spider-Man action figures from the animated toyline, the two Spider-Man figures, Venom, and Carnage are also the same ones from the “Maximum Carnage” series of figures. ToyBiz didn’t even need to redeco the figures with new paint jobs or new accessories. In fact, I would guess that ToyBiz just did a larger production run on those four figures so as to meet the demand of both toylines. This is also probably why Carnage received a figure in the first series of animated Spider-Man figures, despite his character not appearing on the show until season three. It also probably explains why his figure is off-model with the show’s design, and had white teeth as opposed to black, though, to be fair, the early comic appearances for Carnage didn’t have them, either. Weird.

 

And now, without further ado, let’s take a look at the “Maximum Carnage” figures from ToyBiz.

 

Carnage

 

 

Carnage was the only 5” figure to get a single carded release. He included a “Bonus Collector Pin”, as advertised on the box. The pin was more of a clip, and, unless you clipped this over the neck of your shirt, it didn’t really want to stay on your shirt well (heck, let’s be honest, sometimes it didn’t even want to stay on the neck of your shirt well). The single released Carnage included a snap-on two-clawed accessory for Carnage’s hand to help imitate his weapon hand morphing abilities from the comics. On Carnage’s lower back was a piece of plastic that allowed for the figure to slash back and forth if moved by the user’s thumb. Carnage had 10 points of articulation, which was a lot for back in 1994: He included a neck swivel, shoulder swivels, elbow bends, leg swivels, elbow bends, and waist swivel. It’s especially worth noting that this was the only 5” Carnage that got the accurate, all black teeth in the entire line; not even the Carnage figure in series one of the animated Spider-Man figures got them! Perhaps this was a way to try and get collectors to make sure they bought this figure…

 

Carnage vs Venom

 

 

What’s a Carnage-based toyline without Venom? The Carnage figure in this set was the exact same as the aforementioned single carded release, except for two things. Here, Carnage had white teeth instead of the black teeth. And finally, instead of the two-clawed accessory, he came with an extending piece of symbiote that also snapped onto his arm. Venom’s action feature included a chomping action; when you squeezed his legs together, his jaws would open. Venom had two less points of articulation than Carnage in order to accommodate for the action feature (he only had 8, and couldn’t turn at the head or waist). The same “Maximum Carnage” pin from the single carded Carnage figure was also included here.

 

Carnage vs Spider-Man

 

 

Carnage is the same exact figure as the Carnage that was in the Carnage vs Venom 2-pack (including the white teeth), except that his accessory is a snap-on ax hand instead of the extending piece of symbiote. The Spider-Man in this set would move up and down the strings protruding from his wrists to suggest web-lines. Cool, no? Spidey had a neck swivel, waist swivel, leg swivels, and knee bends (nothing in the arms due to the action features) Of course, this set also included the same “Maximum Carnage” pin…

 

“Triple Threat” Spider-Man and Venom vs Carnage

 

 

What’s that? There’s no pin in this set? Huh. Venom is the same as the figure in the Carnage vs Venom 2-pack. This time, Carnage gets all three snap-on weapon pieces and the white teeth. The Spider-Man in this set fires a web-line from his right arm and includes a neck swivel, shoulder swivels, right elbow bend, leg swivels, and knee bends. I feel like this figure was sculpted to swivel at the waist, but I don’t remember mine being able to. If yours did, and I made a mistake, let me know in the comments section below (this could have been a quality control issue on my figure).

 

Die-Cast Metal Spider-Man and Venom vs Carnage

 

 

These mini figures featured metal bodies, and, as I recall, soft plastic heads and arms. The heads, waists, and arms swiveled, but that was it as far as articulation goes.  While the pin was omitted, a collector stand was included. The animated series also reused these metal figures in other 2-packs, where each set featured Spider-Man and a different villain.

 

Deluxe Edition Carnage

 

 

Carnage received an upscaled 10” version of the single carded figure (you could tell by the all-black teeth; the animated 10” version had the white teeth head). Also included was the 2-clawed snap-on accessory. I clearly remember getting this figure like it was yesterday and just thought it was the coolest thing. You could also use this figure with your 5” figures since, a few years later in the “Planet of the Symbiotes” storyline, Carnage became a giant by absorbing different symbiotes!

 

And that was the “Maximum Carnage” toyline! While it had lots of reuse (okay, almost everything in this line was reused at one point or another), it still made for an interesting toy-line. And as a kid at the time these were coming out? They were fun! Did you have these as a kid? Were you collecting them? Let me know in the comments section below; I’d love to talk toys with you!