I bought another wave.Specifically, the Marvel Legends Across The Spider-Verse Wave 2, which I kind of see as an apology wave for how they’ve treated these movies up until now. Or the beginnings of one. But first, a history lesson. I’ve even done research and verified my memory of this was 100% accurate.
We start with the Miles Morales / Gwen two-pack, which was a hasty repaint of existing Miles and Gwen figures with the Into the Spider-Verse branding, to quickly take advantage of the movie’s release. These were OK figures for the time, but the Miles had mostly adult proportions, a comic head sculpt, and too much textuire. Qwen was better because the design from the movie hewed very close to other versions, but it was also the Marvel Legends of the time. Not great.
Then there was the Stilt-Man Build A Figure wave, which featured four figures from Into The Spider-Verse, one Spider-Man comics villain (Frog Man) and a damn Hand Ninja for… reasons. The Spider-Verse figures were for the most part fantastic. Peter B. Parker in brown robe, Miles in jacket, hoodie, and shorts over the costume, Prowler, and Gwen with Spider-Ham. Really excellent figures but also kind of a weird subset of the movie being not a full wave.
Next, Spider-Man Noir. A Target exclusive. I missed the pre-order window, never saw one on the shelf at Target, and if I hadn’t happened to go to FUCKING SCOTLAND and buy one in the Edinburgh Forbindden Planet, I still would not own one. It’s around sixty bucks minimum on eBay.
Then there was the first Across The Spider-Verse wave. A full wave, featuring Miles, Gwen, Spider-Man 2099, Spider-Woman, Spider-Punk, The Spot, and a full-costume Peter B. Parker. This wave suuuuucked. Oh, and also a deluxe figure of Cyborg Spider-Woman. Let’s fun it down.
Miles was full costume Miles with the new logo, which is fine but I had two Mileses and preferred the old logo. Gwen was Another Gwen and I had two perfectly serviceable Gwens. Peter B. was just a red and blue Spider-Man. Of which I have a bunch. Not even an unmasked head, even though the one from the Stilt-Man wave was right there and would have been fine. Cyborg Spider-Woman was cut almost entirely from the movie and was like fifty bucks somehow. The Spot was weird. I did eventually get one on deep clearance but they tried to more closely match the animated style with this wave and the engineering wasn’t up to the task. Spider-Woman was accurate but again had engineering issues. Spider-Punk was awesome though missing the unmasked head. Spider-Man 2099 was… there. I got the Jessica Drew and the Punk and bowed out after that for the most part.
So the second wave drops, and while it’s nothing mind-blowing, it fixes a lot of the issues with the first wave. More accessories, better representation of the cast, re-dos with necessary upgrades. Which you’ll learn about as I work through the many pics I made for this series.
Let’s start with Spider-Pine. The Spider-Man from the start of the first movie. Basic Spidey body, yes, but in the cartoon proportions, and this is critical, UNMASKED CHRIS PINE SPIDER-HEAD. Did I realize that’s what this was before it was pointed out to me? No. But once I knew I needed it. And it fills a gap in the criminally underserved first movie cast. Where’s my Doc Ock? Where’s my pre-bite Miles? Kingpin is a challenge, I admit, but worst of all, PENI AND SPI/DR. There was a cheap toy of them but no Marvel Legends. Much less a Scorpion. Would also take a Lily Tomlin Aunt May in a heartbeat.
But Spider-Pine is the bare minimum the first wave all too often fell beneath. As always, any Spider-figure with any compromises to articulation is a bit of a disappointment (see nearly every Spidey Hasbro puts out) so I couldn’t get quite the full squat here, but I was able to mostly do the movie shot here and I’m very happy with how this, and, honestly, all the pics I made for this series, came out.
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