Marvel Legends: Rhino Wave Review

With Toy fair long gone and some very cool new toys announced, it’s time to take a look back at some of the past waves with a Crawlspace catch up review. This time I’ll be reviewing the Rhino Wave.
The Rhino wave consists of Kraven, Scarlet Spider, Superior Venom, Ghost Rider, Chameleon, White Tiger, and Misty Knight. Misty and White Tiger actually came with the same build a figure piece, and because I bought that part online, I don’t have either of them and will not be reviewing them.

What better characters to start off with than the spiders?

Sculpt and Accessories:

I really like this Scarlet Spider figure. I don’t think you could ask for a better looking classic hoodie figure of Ben. He’s got a new hoodie mold that looks great, and even has the little hoodie tassles on it. His huge eyes set him apart from the normal Spider-Man figure, as do the bright red colors. One thing I thought was really cool is that the spider emblem was painted on his torso in such a way that it maintains its shape whether you have him bent forward or backwards. His belt, web shooters, and ankle pouches all look great on him as well, and they’re actually loose and can move around a bit. Ben comes with the standard 3 pairs of Spidey hands that most have these days. Careful when taking his hands off though, his web shooters might slip off

Superior Venom is a different beast altogether. He was a figure I wasn’t sure if I actually wanted, since I’m not a huge fan of the story, but I eventually submitted because I’m too big of a symbiote fan to not have them all. He uses the standard pizza Spidey mold, though with a few very obvious differences. Like his toes! He’s got some nice clawed feet which lend well to the creepy vibe he’s got going on. The only pair of hands he comes with fit very appropriately for him, in a clawed, menacing position. This guy is also painted very well, with his crooked and messy web lines painted with purpose. I may not be a huge fan of Ramos, but I think this figure accurately brings his design to life. The teeth and eyes look very good, and really bring the unsettling vibe together.

Now, I can’t talk about this figure without mentioning his tentacles. He comes with four of them, and they all plug into his back, but they can’t actually move, which is a big shame. They’re all just stuck in one position, and it looks cool, but it would be so much better if you could move them around with a bendy wire or something. However, a really neat, albeit, unintended feature, is that you can actually fit the tentacles into his hands. This makes it look like he’s using his symbiotic shapeshifting abilities to turn his hands into tendrils to lash out, which can lead to some fun looks.

Articulation:

Despite having a new mold with no butterfly joints, I still feel like Ben’s articulation is really good for a spider-figure. Other than that, he’s got all the same joints as Superior Venom, and his ab crunch can bend a surprising amount. His legs also can bend up really high much to my delight, maybe even a bit more than the pizza Spidey figure I have, letting him get some really dynamic poses going on. Superior Venom has the typical movement a Spidey figure should have, but the tentacles can unfortunately get in the way sometimes.

Scarlet Spider:

Pros:

• Best figure of the hoodie costume I’ve seen
• Paint looks great
• Can still pose like any spider figure

Cons:

• No butterfly joints

Grade: A

Superior Venom:

Pros:

• Appropriately creepy looking
• Tentacles provide a fun accessory
• Fantastic paint application

Cons:

• Tentacles can’t move
• They can get in the way and easily pop off

Grade: A-

Now it’s time to talk about Spidey’s favorite Russians

Sculpt and Accessories:

If we’re gonna talk about Kraven, I’m gonna have to start with one of my least favorite parts about the figure. That face. Not only is it disappointingly detailed, but the figure I picked up has badly painted facial, leaving it kind of lopsided. It really looks bad straight on. It’s a real shame too because the rest of the figure’s detail is fantastic. The skull knee caps, the lion vest, the bit hanging from the spear, it all is great! The Lion vest is even a soft rubber that you can take off if you want to have a bare chested Kraven. He’s even got a little necklace you can take off. He uses the Hyperion body, which is almost a bit too big for his head, but the vest helps hide it.

Chameleon is an awesome figure, because he’s actually 3 figures in one. His suit looks great, and it’s a suit sculpt they’ve used before, but the only real complaint I have about it is that the feet seem to be a bit uneven on the bottom, making it hard to stand him at time. The tie is also not perfectly straight, which is a little annoying. Chameleon’s head is good, though it’s got a blue wash painted on that I’m not a big fan of. Makes the figure look a bit weird. But Chameleon wasn’t why I wanted to buy this figure. No, it was for the accessories he comes with. Not only does he come with 3 guns, a pistol, an assault rifle, and some sort of gun with a clip you can actually take out, but he comes with alternate Hammer head and J Jonah Jameson heads. The body feels like it’s a bit too small for Hammerhead, but it works perfectly for Jonah. He’s got a perfect angry expression with the tilted mustache and everything.

Articulation:

Kraven doesn’t have any special articulation. The Hyperion body is alright, but his rubber vest really limits some of the movements you can get his arms in, but it still works well enough. His belt is loose, so you won’t have to worry about that getting in the way of his legs at least. Chameleon’s body is good, but the soft plastic of the suit jacket really restricts some of his movement. That pick is the farthest I could get him to bend backwards, but you probably won’t be bending him around a whole lot anyway. I plan to keep this figure as Jonah most of the time anyway, and the poses he’s gonna be in are mostly gonna be used for yelling about Spider-Man.

Kraven:

Pros:

• Beautiful detailing
• Removable jacket

Cons:

• Bad paint on face
• Restricted movement

Grade: C

Chameleon:

Pros:

• 3 figures in one!
• Great looking business suit
• Perfect looking JJJ head

Cons:

• Restricted movement
• Uneven footing

Grade: B+

And now we’re gonna review the last two of the wave, the Rhino and the Rider

Sculpt and Accessories:

Ghost Rider is without a doubt, one of the best figures I own. He uses an older AIM uniform for his body, and it works beautifully for his motorcycle jacket. But the best part about him is his head. The flames around the skull look simply amazing, and they even put detail into the bit of skeleton showing on his neck. It’s all translucent plastic, which creates a very nice visual, especially for lighting. His biggest the only thing that really damns the figure (ba-dum-tsh)  is that he doesn’t come with a bike. His only accessory is a lone chain link around his torso which you can take off and have him hold. I know why they didn’t include the bike, because it would make the figure cost double what it does, but it’s still disappointing. I did however, make my own chain out of a small chain necklace by looping a wire through it (There is actually a current Ghost Rider figure out now that is a repaint of this in his classic colors, and it comes with a bike and chain!). One last cool detail is that he’s actually got two orange pupils painted in the back of his eye sockets, which is a really nice touch.

Rhino is the Build-a-Fig of the wave, and he looks excellent. He’s very huge and intimidating, especially with his partially masked face being a big grimace. The detailing is really good, giving his hide a nice textured feel, like a real rhino would have. Even the toes look good. He was the first Build a figure I ever completed, and I was not disappointed at all. What’s more, He actually comes with an alternate head. It’s stuck in a wildly screaming position, which almost looks comically silly, but it does have the full face exposed like classic Rhino. You can also take off the shoulder pads if you really want the full classic experience.

Articulation:

Probably the best part about Ghost Rider is the fact that you can actually open and close his jaw. It really lets you get an even better look at his beautiful bones, and lets you make a variety of expressions. I can’t get over how much I love this figure. The rest of his articulation isn’t anything to really get excited about, but it’s perfectly fine for him. He doesn’t have a neck hinge, just a ball the skull sits on top of, but it can still move around a lot.

Rhino is a solid figure. And I do mean solid. He’s got a nice weight to him, but his joints are solid as well, and he can balance in a lot of positions. Unfortunately, his size also plays against him, and his huge limbs mean he only has single joints elbows and knees, which means he can’t bend his limbs at more than a 90 degree angle. His head also can’t look that far up, but if Rhino is charging, I guess he would be looking down. His ab crunch was the only real loose joint on him, leading him to flop around a bit if you’re not careful

Ghost Rider:

Pros:

• Amazing looking skull and flames
• Movable Jaw
• Good detailing on suit

Cons:

• No bike
• No chain

Grade: A

Rhino:

Pros:

• Very Solid figure
• Incredible texture and detailing
• Different types of heads

Cons:

• Single jointed limbs
• Floppy ab crunch

Grade: A-

This was a really solid wave overall, with Kraven’s face being my biggest disappointment, and Ghost Rider being one of my highlights. I’m sure to pick up the new Ghost Rider figure ASAP so I can really let Ghost Rider shine on his bike. As always, here’s some fun photos of the figures I took.