Figure it Out Astonishing Wolverine

An Astonishing figure!

I am not a very big person when it comes to getting comic book figures, sure I enjoy comics; naturally, I am a collector of plastic, and it’s cool to see them. But honestly, a lot of the lines just don’t hook me. I see the Macfarlane stuff and hey they are damn great sculpts but you can only go so far in a line that is ninety-nine percent multiverse Batman before it becomes a bit repetitive. Well thanks to a little site called YouTube and my regular addiction dealers at Hasbro, they hooked me back in. I mean granted they did a bit ago as me and Ili got a few X-men 97 figures. But one livestream caught my attention: They were updating a Wolverine look I actually in my brain consider the gold standard for interpretations of the canknucklehead: The Astonishing uniform.

I saw the reveal on a Hasbro pulse feed and was hooked the second I saw him, showing Ili she even had to admit it looked really good. Life moves on and last weekend I was picking her up, I figured this thing would come out in the fall. So when she texted me that it was in, I was a bit confused. I even said, “Are you sure?” She must have seen me, ‘cause she just casually walked by me and handed me the figure and said “Look for yourself, you’re welcome!” As she continued with her job.

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So here he is, in all his glory, now why do I like this style of Wolverine? Well, I’m glad you asked but first…

The Stats:

Bought at: Target, I think I live there to a degree

Paid: about 21 dollars (retail is 24.99)

TL:DR This figure should not be this good, the bar is set for a figure of the year here

Anyway, so why do I like this style? It rests on the fact that this was the first real X-men book I followed on the regular that was not in Trade format. Secondly, while the writer has had some questionable choices and traits. I enjoy Joss Whedon when he goes all into something cause the man commits to it. Thirdly, and I think the most important. The artist on this just crushed every single thing he did. The artist is named John Cassidy, he is also known for working with Warren Ellis on a great comic series called Planetary, which was itself a very unique and crazy story.

I am not one usually to study art that much, but the way Cassidy drew just made you look at every little detail in awe, even Emma Frost a character I can’t stand (though I’ll be honest, they kind of sold me on the pairing of her and Iron Man recently.) I was taken aback by how she was drawn and the sophisticated bitch she usually came off as which also had a dash of elegance as well. There was an Astonishing Wolverine figure done years ago that I had, but it’s been lost to the dust of time, I remember it being surprisingly slim and lean, and the claws always bunching together.

I remember back then while not being impressed with it thinking to myself “Well, one day someone will do this right I guess.” Funny how the younger me at times can be right, so if the old Marvel Legends figure could be considered the theatrical release, today’s Wolverine is the director’s cut. Cause man they bring everything to the table.

You of course have your basic “standard” Wolverine accessories, clawed hands, mask and also unmasked. Also included are two closed fists, an open palmed hand and a pointing hand. While you would think those last two would be kind of unassuming. It’s actually those and the unmasked head that make this figure the gem it is.

I was surprised just how well this figure was photographed, and I think I could not find a bad picture I took. Every visual dynamic is there. Even the mask managed to somehow get that flat to the fabric style that the comic book did that always stood out to me when I saw the art. I think the only thing on the visual side I didn’t like was the claws are not separated enough for my preference, but considering the other figure had them all racing to the center, I will take this win any day.

As far as movement and flexibility, whatever pose you can think of for him there is a good chance you can do it. Most of mine we’re done in the position I had him because one of his legs was locked too tight and I haven’t done the tricks to make the bend point more flexible. So applying to much force would risk breaking it, and I like this figure too much to risk that. The paint applications on the inside you should be careful as my figure has some blue blotches from the paint application on the inside. Again, just have yet to clean it out.

Some of the poses I put him in were based on the old Marvel Vs. Capcom games, but I just wanted to see the range we could get him into and a lot of it surprisingly worked. Scale-wise this will be on the shorter end of the size spectrum, but Logan is always short and angry so that is fine, but if you like the tall Hugh Jackman style, don’t expect it here, this is more comic scale.

So yeah, there is not much to say about this, it’s probably one of the most visually impressive figures I’ve ever photographed. I showed Ili some of the pics and she was just as floored by how well this hunk of plastic can take a picture. He’s currently chilling with Iron Man and Rouge on our shelf. It’ll look great on your shelf, it is fun to mess around with, and it is just a great update to a solid base. I feel like he’s gonna be a hard one to find. So, if you are out and about and see him…just get him, you WON’T be disappointed….