Spider-Tracer: Vampire Wars Action Figures

Hard to believe that 2022 is just about half over, isn’t Spider-Man fans? And in those first six months, the spin-off character of Morbius the Living Vampire had his own solo movie premier on April 1^st (I promise, it wasn’t that kind of joke). I myself have yet to see the movie, despite it recently getting a rerelease due to the popularity of some Morbius memes (I have no idea why Sony thought that was a strong enough reason to bring the movie back out). While the film didn’t earn itself a toyline, did you know that Morbius was once the central theme in a Spider-Man wave of figures back in the 90’s?  It’s true, and the line was, of course, called Spider-Man: Vampire Wars. And for this month’s Spider-Tracer, we’ll be taking a look back at those figures! Alright guys, it’s Morbin’ time!

 

These ToyBiz-produced figures were undoubtedly made in 1996 to tie into the 90’s animated Spider-Man cartoon, a show which made heavy use of ol’ Morbius… for some reason. Seriously, the guy appeared more than even the Green Goblin himself! Anyway, let’s start with…

 

Anti-Vampire Spider-Man

 

 

Out of all the Spider-Man variants in this wave of figures, this one probably makes the most sense. I mean, the last thing Spider-Man probably wants is to become a vampire (more on that one in a few). The armor is a cool design; this was one I had a kid. The sunlight blaster made sense, and the suit in general is something I could see Spider-Man whipping up to fight Morbius or a vampire horde. My only complaint, design-wise, is that he probably should have had a helmet and better neck protection, but hey, I’m no Spider-Man, so what do I know?

 

Air-Attack Spider-Man

 

 

I suppose it makes sense that Spider-Man would need something to help him fight in prolonged air-battles, especially where vampires are concerned. The figure itself is a basic Spider-Man figure repainted with some flying suit attachments. This figure, for me, was boring; probably why I passed on it when I was growing up. It honestly could have been placed in any Spider-Man wave with a flying villain, from Vulture to the Hobgoblin, and it still would have made sense. This was probably a cost saving figure, as the figure’s body’s mold was entirely reused. This was probably the least exciting figure in the entire wave.

 

Vampire Spider-Man

 

 

This figure looks to explore what would happen if Spider-Man, at some point in this Vampire Wars story-line, was bitten by Morbius, and thus mutated further into a winged night terror. I know Morbius bit Spider-Man in the comics at one point in the 90’s, but I don’t recall him ever becoming a vampire as a result. Still, this figure has a really great sculpt, and he launches a spider/bat hybrid creature (because that makes sense). He also comes with a regular bat sewn into his cloth red cape. Why he wore such a cape, or where he even got it, I couldn’t say.

 

Blade the Vampire Hunter

 

 

If you’re going to do a big vampire storyline, it makes perfect sense to bring in Blade; and that’s just what this ToyBiz toyline and the 90’s cartoon did. Blade turned out very, very well; his sculpt was great! His weapons were odd, though. He came with axes and a blaster of some kind, but no sword or wooden stakes or even garlic gas bombs. At least the figure came out great.

 

Morbius Unbound

 

 

Of course this wave of figures would have Morbius in it, but with his usual look already having gotten a figure at the time, this was the next logical choice. But what’s that? You’re saying Morbius never looked like this in the comics? Well… you’re right. However, in the 90s animated series, Morbius mutated further into a man-bat creature (leave it to the Neogenic Recombinator!), and that’s what this figure is meant to represent. He had this strange bat-by sidekick included (he was never in the show or comics to my knowledge), but the really cool feature was the blood pumping action! By pushing the button on his back, you could see the blood pumping in his chest’s veins. I definitely picked this one up back in the day, despite this look only being relevant for an episode or two. Being so top heavy made this guy hard to stand, but that was a minor flaw in an otherwise sweet figure.

 

Did you guys collect these figures back in the day? What’s your favorite Morbius figure? Let me know in the comments section below!