Marvel Universe Reviews
Loki & the Savage Frost Giant

I had little intention of buying the Frost Giant. He looked cool at SDCC , but I generally only buy Marvel Universe figures of characters I know & like. And yet, when Vault called me late last week to tell me the newest Gigantic Battles had shown up at Wal-Mart, I found myself driving over to check them out.

As you’ve astutely gathered, that Frost Giant came home with me. There were a few reasons: he looked cool in the package, I had $25 burning a hole in my pocket, my wife wasn’t with me, etc. But to be honest, I think the biggest factor in my picking him up was because he didn’t have to be just a Marvel Universe purchase. He belongs with them to be sure, but he also fits well in a Marvel Legends display. He could come in handy battling against the Legendary Comic Book Heroes’ Conan, Masters of the Universe Classics Vikor, or a bevy of other warrior-themed figures.

Of course, I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out that there’s a Loki in the set too. He wasn’t so much of a selling point for me, though he certainly helps to justify the price of the set. It’s not Loki’s fault, I’ve just had very little experience with the character. I’ve never read a Thor comic (though I am picking up Keiron Gillen’s new run on Journey into Mystery), so most of my Loki knowledge came from an old episode of Spider-Man & His Amazing Friends. Thor appears early on in the episode (it might even be the first time I ever saw Thor) and gives viewers a quick monologue about Asgard, the Rainbow Bridge, Frost Giants, Loki, etc. For the longest time, I thought Loki was simply Thor’s brother ā€“ that his origins in Norse mythology were simply overlooked for the sake of convenience. It wasn’t until years later that I learned Loki was indeed still a child of the Frost Giant Laufey, but had been raised by Odin as Thor’s adopted brother and later his arch-rival.

* – That episode actually features Frost Giants too, if I recall. Iceman ends up being sent to Norse Hell and is saved by the Frost Giant queen who then takes him back to her kingdom as her lover. Hilarity ensues. That was show as crazy like that. Iā€™m still kicking myself for not picking up that 3pk.

Loki appropriately uses the thin MU buck (think Spider-Man). Below the neck, it’s the same body we’ve seen a time or two before. I still don’t like how soft the hand sculpts are, but the fist and the open hand work really well for Loki (as you’ll see in a few of the pictures).

Like any buck figure, the head sculpt is where the whole piece succeeds or fails and, man, does Loki succeed. The horns and ponytail are present for accuracy, but it’s the face sculpt that really impresses. It’s not soft at all despite the scale and has excellent details with a great expression that’s perfect for a trickster god.

The paint work was hit and miss on my Loki. You can clearly see where the gold stripe down his chest didn’t quite meet the yellow paint for the collar, but it’s mostly blending out because most of the edges are sharp. The tampo for the scales is extra clean and that saves the whole area I think. The various yellow and gold parts blend well throughout the figure. The face is well done, but also peculiar. The face is molded in a yellowish flesh tone and then painted with a darker flesh tone. It’s hard to see unless you’re up close, but the highlights on his face are actually areas where there is no paint. It’s so strange, I almost question if that was done purposefully, but it works so well that it must have been.

Articulation is the only area where I wasn’t pleased with the figure, but it’s more about my dislike of how Hasbro handles the articulation on the line. I lament any figure that doesn’t have a waist joint or uses the simple one-piece ball joint for the head. Despite the head only having limited up and down movement, the other joints all have decent range and the figure stands well unlike a handful of my other Marvel Universe figures (there are some leaners in the above photo).

Loki is a nice figure. His face and hands are expressive and he looks sharp on the shelf with his color scheme. It’s just that I clearly bought the set for the Savage Frost Giant and Loki hasn’t been getting my full attention. I mean, a Frost Giant picture even spilled over to his page. Sorry, Loki. Continue to the Savage Frost Giant…

36 thoughts on “Marvel Universe Reviews
Loki & the Savage Frost Giant

  1. Nice review and pictures as usual, but I kinda want to see pictures of this: “The Marine is sporting the tusked helmet with his dress blues while my Frost Giant looks like the Captain of the Love Boat!”

  2. I’ve been trying to forego any more 3 3/4 figures, but you may have sold me on the Giant. I’ll have to keep an eye out!

  3. Great pics with the Frost Giant! I’m definitely going to need to pick this guy up. Will you be doing a Goliath/Clor review?

  4. Outstanding as always. I am glad you posed him with MOTUC figure cause that is what I wanted him for since I do not collect MU. Thanks!

  5. I can’t wait for these to hit my Wal-Mart! They really outdid themselves on the Frost Giant!!

  6. Wow. Frost Giant is seriously awesome. This is a great example of what Hasbro can do in larger scales with Marvel when they devote the resources to it.

    1. Pretty much. With Bill Foster being built on Cyclops, this wave churned out two great oversized figures with hardly any new tooling. Pretty smart too.

  7. that shot w/ tytus really drives that point home, doesn’t it?

    this set looks great, and will be a definite “must-buy” once i lay eyes on them.

    1. I didn’t include any of it my review because it’s not about the Giant specifically, but the thing about Tytus being so crappy actually pales into comparison to how crappy the similarly sized DC figures are.

      Those were $20-30 and while they retained the overall SP buck/look of the smaller figures, they were rotocast with only the basic articulation preserved, just like Tytus *had* to be. Since they won’t share bucks across toy lines, it’s moot, but if they’d properly done the DC figures, they’d have a 12″ fully articulated buck to be reused when needed.

      Flash forward to Hasbro giving us a toy like this thanks in large part to their investment in Thor years ago.

    1. See my comment to DR, Nik! It’s sad to me the state that DC toydom is compared to Marvel. I mostly blame Warner Brothers, but Mattel doesn’t help much.

  8. Shoot – more money to Hasbro. I demand you cease and desist making MU stuff look so damn essential….I gotta eat sometime this month.

    Oh, and nice review.

    1. Sorry, Motorthing. Food is overrated anyway! I do have some more MU reviews coming up, you might need to buy some canned goods and stock up…

  9. Great review, you really showed the versatility of this guy with the comparsion shots.

  10. “…when Vault called me late last week to tell me the newest Gigantic Battles had shown up at Wal-Mart, I found myself driving over to check him out.”

    Y’know, I’m good with you and Vault potentially redefining your relationship with each other, but I really don’t think this review is the proper time or place. šŸ˜‰

    I HATE how much I’m liking this figure set, as I really can’t afford it right now. I was somewhat confused by the first shot with the oversized Loki, but then it made more sense.

    I love the clarification/critique of Mattel’s poor strategizing in your response to D-Rave, hopefully it can be a subject for another Rant column. IAT has established itself as a blog that offers not just gripes but rational answers/solutions, that’s just one more.

  11. I was able to have my Frost Giant hold the axe in its right hand, but I had to really work with the hand to get it in there.

  12. Things like this make me (sort of – not financially though) wish I had gotten into MU, but I like consistency of scale and since my main collection is DCUC collecting 3 3/4 inch Marvel figures just doesn’t work out. Even though they’re different companies I’d want the overall aesthetic of the figures to work together. GI Joe and Star Wars are different beasts, but I’ll always be a fan of the six inch figures for comic based properties.

  13. Awesome. I’m not much of an MU guy, but I saw him the other day on a toy run and became fascinated by him. I really, really try to limit my collection to anything based in nostalgia, otherwise my collection would run wild. But I just have to figure out a way to add him to my collection. Was there any character even remotely similar to the Frost Giant in the MOTU world? I want to add a giant to my MOTUC display, but Tytus is a stinker and the Shadow Beast is underwhelming. This just feels like *the guy.* I do feel like he’d fit nicely with Vikor and Battle Ground Teela, but again, no nostalgic connection to them, so I’m not adding them to my display. Curse the obsessive ways of the adult collector!

  14. I finally got this set today, Loki is cool and even though that body has been reused so many times I think it works for Loki. The Frost Giant is just WOW! Pictures do not do this figure justice. Best Gigantic battles fig yet.

  15. Where & when is this pk coming to the metropolitan area(NYC). Is this a Wal-Mart or TRU exclusive. I’ve been looking 4 this & a couple of other figures & there no where to be found. Same series 2 figures but I have all 11 series 3 figures so I’m content for now. It would be so nice if they would give accurate release dates for the MU line.

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