Spider-Tracer: ToyBiz’s Marvel Superheroes Spider-Man Figures

Welcome back, Spidey fans! It’s Valentine’s Day, and I thought it’d be the perfect opportunity to talk about something I love… action figures! Yep, this month we’ll be looking back at a classic line of ToyBiz action figures. To elaborate, we’ll be looking at the first Spider-Man action figures produced after the 80’s Secret Wars line from Mattel failed. These Spider-Man figures were produced as part of the Marvel Superheroes line from 1990; Spider-Man wouldn’t get his own line of figures until he got his own animated series in 1994. Essentially, these figures bridged the gap between Mattel’s former Marvel toyline and got out a number of popular characters, some of whom never had a figure before. Along with the X-Men line, these were toyBiz’s very first Marvel action figures!  For this article, we’ll be sticking to the Spider-Man-related action figures (not including the vehicles or talking figures). With all of that said, let’s start with ol’ Web-Head himself…

 

Spider-Man (1990)

 

 

In 1990, the first series included a lone Spider-Man figure that included suction cups attached to the hands for sticking to walls just like our hero had been doing in the comic books for decades. It was a neat feature, though perhaps not as aesthetically pleasing in the long run. Finally, he included a black spider web (mostly making sense so far) with a spider sculpted in the middle for… some reason.

 

Doctor Octopus

 

 

Doctor Octopus also included suction cups on two of his tentacles for chasing after Spider-Man, and two grasping claws on the other two tentacles for grappling with Spidey or any other opponent he may come up against. The grasping claws didn’t look quite right, as they were black and didn’t blend well with the grey of the rest of his tentacles, and they were rather big; essentially, they didn’t look right, but that didn’t make him any less fun. One thing to note about this Doc Ock is that he is lacking his usual portly frame from the comics, and is even shorter than Spider-Man himself. His head sculpt is pretty nice, though.

 

The Punisher (1990)

 

 

Frank Castle qualifies as a Spider-Man figure, right? He did first appear in “The Amazing Spider-Man” #129, after all. This figure came out during a time when the Punisher was rather popular character in the comics. He included four guns (half of which looked way too big for this figure), and had caps that were meant to make a firing sound when used, to make it sound like he was really using his guns; a neat little feature that we probably wouldn’t see today (Hasbro seems to include blasters as opposed to real guns when they can, to say nothing of DC’s no guns policy over at McFarlane Toys, to say nothing of the inclusion of the firing caps). The figure itself had a nice, unique sculpt, and really stood out amongst his fellow figures. Punisher was popular enough to get a rerelease later in the line sans cap-firing mechanism, and included a trench coat.

 

Spider-Man (1991; with “Real Web-Climbing Action”)

 

 

ToyBiz knew Spider-Man was a popular character, and decided to issue quite a few variants of him throughout the line’s life. This Series 2 figure included a really neat action feature for its time. Simply pull out the chest plate and attached web-line in his chest, attach that to the suction cup with its hook, and watch him reel the web back into his chest, essentially letting him climb his web. Essentially, this figure had organic webbing before the Raimi films introduced the concept 11 years later.

 

Spider-Man (1991; “Real Web-Shooting Action”)

 

 

This Spider-Man figure displayed another of Spidey’s wondrous abilities: Web-shooting! A spring mechanism in the arm allowed Spidey to fire a missile with a web that was very similar in appearance to the one that came with the Spider-Man figure from the first series. Not bad! But… not great, either.

 

Green Goblin

 

 

With all of these Spider-Man figures in the line, Doc Ock needed some help, and that’s where the Green Goblin comes in! He comes with his Goblin Glider, as well as a pumpkin bomb he can throw with the help of a lever on his back. Green Goblin featured one of the coolest sculpts in the line, and it was cool to see the character get his first figure since the Mego days.

 

Venom (1991; “Living Skin Slime Pores”)

 

 

Green Goblin and Doc Ock would get some more help in this series thanks to… Venom! Venom received his very first action figure in this line, thanks in no small part to his growing popularity in the comic books of the time. He came with the aforementioned “Living Skin Slime Pores” feature: Simply poor some ooze out of the container (shaped like the spider on his chest) into the hole on his back, press in the plunger, and watch the slime ooze out of the hole on his chest. It was neat in theory, though I’m sure many parents weren’t thrilled about the amount of slime that got all over the house as a result. This probably explains why a later rerelease of this figure in the line replaced the action feature with a “Squirts Alien Liquid” feature; it came with a plunger that filled with water and shot it through the chest hole that formerly oozed slime.

 

Spider-Man (1992; “Enemy Tracking Tracer”)

 

 

Series 3 hit the following year with a split Spider-Man and Fantastic Four theme; each figure came with a “Cosmic Defenders” subtitle on the box, which made sense for the Fantastic Four figures but… not so much the Spidey-related figure (well, maybe with the exception of Venom. Anywho… One nifty little device Spidey occasionally uses in the comics is his spider-tracer! It basically allows Spidey to home in on an enemy with his Spider-Sense. The tracer with this figure comes with a cord that could wrap around an enemy. It was nothing to write home about, but made for a nice, basic figure when you consider all of the odd action features built into the previous Spider-Man action figures in this line.

 

Spider-Man (1992; “Multi-Jointed Action Poses”)

 

 

I had this figure as a kid, and I think many would agree… he was the best! He could articulate like no other (it’s probably why I love the figures in the Marvel Legends line so much!). It would be many years before another Spider-Man figure came along that was quite this poseable. He had a really nice paint job as well; the eyes were very Todd McFarlane-esque, in my opinion, which was understandable, considering how popular that look was back then. Sure, the metal screws in the joints really stand out, but he was no less cool! ToyBiz knew it, and even reused this body a few times over the years.

 

Venom (1992; “Flicking Tongue”)

 

 

Venom got a second figure with an all new sculpt in this wave! Not even Doctor Doom got that! I, myself, actually preferred this sculpt and bought it years later to keep mint-on-card. I can’t think of a better character to get a flicking tongue than Venom (which was done with the help of a switch on Venom’s back). He also came with a piece of symbiote to cover other figures in; you could use it to capture other figures (like his box told you), or make it look like the symbiote was bonding with someone else. It was pretty cool, I must admit, for just an accessory. This Venom was just an all-around great figure for its time.

 

Aside from some rereleases and repaints in Series 4 and 5 (Spider-Man, Venom, and Punisher all saw different rereleases throughout the life of the line), the line was done offering actual new figures after Series 3. It was an unfortunate end for the Marvel Superheroes line, but, thankfully, not the end for Marvel figures (Spider-Man figures in particular!).

 

Did you guys have a favorite figure from this line? Who was it, and why? Let me know in the comments section below!