OK, this one took us all by surprise at Comic-Con this year.  Those of us who grew up collecting the old Toy Biz Marvel Super-Heroes 5″ line immediately recognized the card backs and obvious homages to that great line that started a revolution.  Using (mostly) existing bucks and tooling, Hasbro has tugged at our nostalgic heart strings, all while giving us some pretty great renditions of these classic characters.  The funny thing is, these mostly represent little tweaks and changes that many fans have been asking for color-wise.  These are a lot of fun, and feature frustratingly little improvements that make them must-buys.  Collectors have been asking for some side-by-side comparison images, so here we go!

The Punisher

Frank Castle here is a repaint of the Walgreens exclusive, with a few notable changes.  First, he’s the classic black & white costume.  Second, the gave him the missing trigger fingers he was badly missing.  Of note, they swapped the stubble paint job on the heads, and it works much better here.  Also, the head band is now red.  Well played, Hasbro.

Spider-Man

Spider-Man is a repaint of the great “Pizza Spidey” that sold out instantly over a year ago.  This time,the blue is a more classic shade, and the red has a more matte finish.  This little change make him that much better for me.

Black Widow

Natasha here is a reuse of one of the current female bodies, and uses the new Mary Jane Watson head.  Personally,I couldn’t handle thathead, so I replaced it with the extra head that came with the Dark Phoenix set, and I think it works great.  She’s a must for those who missed the now-pricey Toys R Us two packs.

Captain America

Cap reuses the latest “Cap Wolf” figure, with a much more classic color scheme and painted on scales.  He also includes the throwing hand from the Secret Wars Cap.  As much as I like the colors used on this figure, the head still looks way to much like US agent, and illustrates how badly we need an all-new Captain America sculpt.  Still, the colors are vastly improved.

Iron Man

At first, I thought Iron Man was a straight repaint of the classic Secret Wars 80’s armor, but when I got him in hand, I was surprised to discover that he’s got the most new tooling of all of them.  He sports all new forearm and lower leg armor sculpts, and includes rockets blast effects pieces for his boots.

Wolverine

Wolverine was the one I was actually most excited about, and I think he steals the show.  Based on the uber-popular Wolverine from the Juggernaut wave, this version improves on that great figure by brightening the colors to a more classic palette, and adds the unmasked head and pulled back mask.  Expect him to sell out first, it’s just a hunch.

That’s all for now, happy hunting!  As always, see you in the toy isles!

Figures reviewed were purchased by the reviewer, and all pictures are copyright Action Figure Insider, and may not be reproduced or reprinted without the expressed written permission of the author and action figure insider editorial staff.