Review: Marvel Universe Galactus
The great thing about Galactus - well, okay, there are actually dozens of great things about Galactus - but, in my humble opinion, the greatest of them all is that he's based on God.
Yup, back in the sixties, Stan Lee was trying to think up a new supervillain for the Fantastic Four to thwart, and he came up with God. So the purple and blue giant with a magnet sticking through his head is Lee and Kirby's concept of the Creator.
If you're not big into comics, you might be a bit baffled as to how this guy could be credible as a threat. Simply put, when Galactus gets hungry, he snacks on planets. Yeah, he's a God, but he's THAT kind of God. Think Cthulhu with a flamboyant tailor.
Hasbro, in their eternal quest for my money, recently released an action figure of Galactus. At 19", he's in scale with the normal 3 3/4 inch figures, an impressive feat. He's got lights and sounds to boot, making him awfully spiffy.
I should mention that this isn't the first plastic representation of Galactus. Toy Biz put out a build-a-figure with an early line of Marvel Legends which was in a similar scale. I don't have one of those, so I can't offer much in the way of comparison. I've heard it said that this one is actually a little better. I'll believe it: this is a good toy, all things considered. I can't help wondering if Hasbro is getting ready to remake some of Marvel's other giants. I do have a Toy Biz Sentinel, but there's no reason I couldn't have a second.
I found Galactus going for a reasonable price on Amazon in early December and alerted my wife. You'll never guess what showed up under the tree on Christmas morning...
There is at least one variant of Galactus out there featuring a darker color scheme. I've seen that one in stores, and it looks pretty good. I think I prefer this one, though, as it seems a tad more classic. Actually, if you want to get really technical, there's another variant that was sold at conventions. The figure's the same, though he was packaged in a gigantic blister pack. Check out the photo when you have a minute: it's kind of awesome.
Yup, back in the sixties, Stan Lee was trying to think up a new supervillain for the Fantastic Four to thwart, and he came up with God. So the purple and blue giant with a magnet sticking through his head is Lee and Kirby's concept of the Creator.
If you're not big into comics, you might be a bit baffled as to how this guy could be credible as a threat. Simply put, when Galactus gets hungry, he snacks on planets. Yeah, he's a God, but he's THAT kind of God. Think Cthulhu with a flamboyant tailor.
Hasbro, in their eternal quest for my money, recently released an action figure of Galactus. At 19", he's in scale with the normal 3 3/4 inch figures, an impressive feat. He's got lights and sounds to boot, making him awfully spiffy.
I should mention that this isn't the first plastic representation of Galactus. Toy Biz put out a build-a-figure with an early line of Marvel Legends which was in a similar scale. I don't have one of those, so I can't offer much in the way of comparison. I've heard it said that this one is actually a little better. I'll believe it: this is a good toy, all things considered. I can't help wondering if Hasbro is getting ready to remake some of Marvel's other giants. I do have a Toy Biz Sentinel, but there's no reason I couldn't have a second.
I found Galactus going for a reasonable price on Amazon in early December and alerted my wife. You'll never guess what showed up under the tree on Christmas morning...
There is at least one variant of Galactus out there featuring a darker color scheme. I've seen that one in stores, and it looks pretty good. I think I prefer this one, though, as it seems a tad more classic. Actually, if you want to get really technical, there's another variant that was sold at conventions. The figure's the same, though he was packaged in a gigantic blister pack. Check out the photo when you have a minute: it's kind of awesome.
Appearance and Construction: 8/10
Hasbro made what I consider an interesting choice here. They designed this like a toy, albeit a very large one, skipping over extra joints (more on that below), including lights and sounds, and using paint sparingly. I suspect this was partly an attempt to differentiate their interpretation from the prior Toy Biz creation.
In general, I like toys to hide their nature when possible. That said, I kind of like the effect here. At nineteen inches, there's something infectiously fun about this action figure's appearance. Would I have preferred some more elaborate paint ops to highlight the sculpted helmet? Sure. But it wasn't really essential.
The sculpt and paint on the face is certainly solid, and I like the overall look. My one major critique is with the back of Galactus's head. Along with the gems in the front of his helmet and eyes, the whole back is lights up orange. I'm not sure there was a reason to make the back light up at all. I think he'd have looked better if they'd maintained the integrity of his purplish helmet all the way around.
On the construction end of things, the figure's extremely study. Unlike many large figures, he's not rotocast or hollow: with the exception of his light-up head, he feels like solid plastic. The front vest is actually a separate piece, which unhinges so you can replace the batteries. His chest piece is a button, which hits a second button underneath to activate his electronic features.
In general, I like toys to hide their nature when possible. That said, I kind of like the effect here. At nineteen inches, there's something infectiously fun about this action figure's appearance. Would I have preferred some more elaborate paint ops to highlight the sculpted helmet? Sure. But it wasn't really essential.
The sculpt and paint on the face is certainly solid, and I like the overall look. My one major critique is with the back of Galactus's head. Along with the gems in the front of his helmet and eyes, the whole back is lights up orange. I'm not sure there was a reason to make the back light up at all. I think he'd have looked better if they'd maintained the integrity of his purplish helmet all the way around.
On the construction end of things, the figure's extremely study. Unlike many large figures, he's not rotocast or hollow: with the exception of his light-up head, he feels like solid plastic. The front vest is actually a separate piece, which unhinges so you can replace the batteries. His chest piece is a button, which hits a second button underneath to activate his electronic features.
Packaging and Extras: -1
My Galactus came in a large box with a opening flap. It's certainly hard to pass this by on the shelves without noticing it:
The art's nice, and I can't blame them for using the back to shill the rest of the line. After all, they look extremely cool battling Galactus. Personally, this has me really wanting a set of Fantastic Four figures. Now, let's see if I can buy them without paying as much as we did for Galactus himself....
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You get two accessories. First, there's a "Top Secret" file from the desk of Norman Osborn, who had been director of SHIELD for a while. It's good for a chuckle or two, but it's certainly nothing special.
The other accessory has a bit more value. Galactus comes with his herald, the Silver Surfer, who himself comes with his silver surfboard. He's not a bad figure, though, to be honest, he's not all that great, either. His design and construction actually looks to be from the earlier waves of the Marvel Universe figures, meaning he's extremely slender and has limited leg articulation. I had some trouble getting mine to stand on his surfboard, which is a bit disappointing. I should also mention that those buying Galactus at conventions were denied the extra figure. |
I don't know. On one hand, you could consider the Surfer to be a gift from Hasbro: there's no real reason they had to include anything at all. On the other hand, this is an expensive toy. Part of me thinks he should have come with a substantial base or at least some of his devices (the Ultimate Nullifier, perhaps?). Although I'm torn, I'm going to dock a point here.
Play and Display: ----
Galactus has a ball jointed head, shoulders, wrists, and hips (though the hips are limited by his... er... skirt), double-pins on the knees and elbows (again, these are limited by sculpt), single pins on his ankles, and cuts on his boots, upper legs, midsection, gloves, and biceps.
That's a good number of joints, and they work fairly well, although several are redundant (the cuts on the gloves don't really add much on top of the ball jointed wrists), and few of the joints give you anywhere the range of motion you'd see on a smaller toy. And, frankly, that's to be expected on toys this large. Standard joints aren't designed for 19 inch figures.
I find it interesting that Hasbro omitted jointed fingers - I'm pretty sure Toy Biz stuck them in. To be honest, I was initially a little disappointed with the choice, but the more I looked at him, the more I realized I preferred this look.
I also want to address the "play" side of things: Galactus comes with some added features. Hit the button on his chest, and his eyes and head light up while he booms out one of his phrases. I've seen a few complaints about his voice online, and I can appreciate where people are coming from: he sounds menacing and evil, which isn't really how I'd imagine him. Galactus isn't exactly on our side, but he's anything but petty in the comics. He is a god, after all. In a sense, he's got some claim to the title of THE God.
Personally, I don't find the voice problematic. Sure, it's a little more "Saturday morning" than I'd have liked, but it's loud and a hell of a lot of fun. Besides, this is kind of a Saturday-morning-cartoon interpretation, anyway: why not use a similar voice?
The lights are bright, though, as I said before, I'd have preferred if they'd been limited to the front of his head. Still, no real complaints. You could make a case that Galactus might deserve a bonus point here, but I'm not feeling it. This is a fair number of features and articulation for what the toy is; not an exceptional number. At least, that's my take. There's room for different views, though, seeing as this is almost in a class of its own.
That's a good number of joints, and they work fairly well, although several are redundant (the cuts on the gloves don't really add much on top of the ball jointed wrists), and few of the joints give you anywhere the range of motion you'd see on a smaller toy. And, frankly, that's to be expected on toys this large. Standard joints aren't designed for 19 inch figures.
I find it interesting that Hasbro omitted jointed fingers - I'm pretty sure Toy Biz stuck them in. To be honest, I was initially a little disappointed with the choice, but the more I looked at him, the more I realized I preferred this look.
I also want to address the "play" side of things: Galactus comes with some added features. Hit the button on his chest, and his eyes and head light up while he booms out one of his phrases. I've seen a few complaints about his voice online, and I can appreciate where people are coming from: he sounds menacing and evil, which isn't really how I'd imagine him. Galactus isn't exactly on our side, but he's anything but petty in the comics. He is a god, after all. In a sense, he's got some claim to the title of THE God.
Personally, I don't find the voice problematic. Sure, it's a little more "Saturday morning" than I'd have liked, but it's loud and a hell of a lot of fun. Besides, this is kind of a Saturday-morning-cartoon interpretation, anyway: why not use a similar voice?
The lights are bright, though, as I said before, I'd have preferred if they'd been limited to the front of his head. Still, no real complaints. You could make a case that Galactus might deserve a bonus point here, but I'm not feeling it. This is a fair number of features and articulation for what the toy is; not an exceptional number. At least, that's my take. There's room for different views, though, seeing as this is almost in a class of its own.
Price Tag and Final Analysis: 7/10
This is a fantastic toy. I know a seven isn't a particularly high score, but that's the scoring system. I don't award bonus points for fun. Or, for that matter, for sheer awesomeness.
The amount you can expect to pay for Galactus can vary quite a bit depending on where and when you pick him up. Go to a comic or hobby shop, and you could be looking at $75 or more. That feels like a lot to me. This is kick-ass toy, but it's still a toy: when you get into that range, I start expecting high-end collectibles.
Amazon and Toys R Us, on the other hand, are currently charging between $50 - $60, which is a pretty fair price. That's a lot more than we got him for, though - I'm pretty sure my wife paid $32. Will he hit that price again? I don't know for sure, but I'm going with probably. I get the sense that Hasbro made quite a few of these guys, and they're having some trouble unloading them all. If you're on the fence about this one, stay on that fence. Sure, you might end up losing the chance to get him, but you could just as easily find him going for very little. And, honestly, I'm betting on the latter.
The amount you can expect to pay for Galactus can vary quite a bit depending on where and when you pick him up. Go to a comic or hobby shop, and you could be looking at $75 or more. That feels like a lot to me. This is kick-ass toy, but it's still a toy: when you get into that range, I start expecting high-end collectibles.
Amazon and Toys R Us, on the other hand, are currently charging between $50 - $60, which is a pretty fair price. That's a lot more than we got him for, though - I'm pretty sure my wife paid $32. Will he hit that price again? I don't know for sure, but I'm going with probably. I get the sense that Hasbro made quite a few of these guys, and they're having some trouble unloading them all. If you're on the fence about this one, stay on that fence. Sure, you might end up losing the chance to get him, but you could just as easily find him going for very little. And, honestly, I'm betting on the latter.
