{"id":17208,"date":"2012-02-27T06:03:15","date_gmt":"2012-02-27T12:03:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=17208"},"modified":"2012-02-27T17:05:48","modified_gmt":"2012-02-27T23:05:48","slug":"marvel-legends-2-in-1-constrictor-review-terrax","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=17208","title":{"rendered":"Marvel Legends 2-in-1
Constrictor Review (Terrax)"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>Nope, there\u2019s no Thing in today’s Two-In-One, but we\u2019ve got two great Marvel Legends up for review nonetheless. Ghost Rider\u2019s review is on the books, so it\u2019s time to take a look at the final figure in the Terrax Wave (though, ironically, it was one of the first I purchased): Constrictor! <\/p>\n

Before I kick in to specifics, I have a slight confession about Constrictor. I like the character for a really dumb reason. <\/p>\n

When I was a wee tot, Mattel produced the Secret Wars<\/em> toy line and I was hooked. Yes, they were only 5 POA and had those silly (& awesome) lenticular shields, but I loved Spider-Man as a kid and that line represented my first shot at him in plastic. Now, when I was little, my parents generally bought new figures all year long and held onto them (unbeknowst to me) to ensure that I had one hell of a birthday or Christmas. Secret Wars was one of those lines where I got the majority of them in a big batch. <\/p>\n

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That first year<\/a> got me that coveted Spidey, introduced me to Cap, Iron Man, & Kang, enshrined the opinion that Doc Ock is a more important Spidey villain than the Green Goblin, and instilled an appreciation for an armored Doom that neither Toy Biz nor Hasbro has fulfilled in 6″ form. <\/p>\n

The second year<\/a> was a little different. We found black Spidey on the pegs of a Kay-Bee toy store in Springfield and I fell in love with the symbiote costume (my excitement level was sufficient enough that my parents bought him on the spot), Hobgoblin also supplanted the Green Goblin as a preeminent Spidey villain, and (embarrassingly) I somehow came to view Baron Zemo as a Spidey variant. There were some other figures in both waves that I’m not mentioning here, but after that wave – that was it. I had them all. <\/p>\n

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Or so I thought. What this ambling little deviation is about is that there were more<\/em> Secret Wars figures. Three more, released only to foreign markets<\/a>. I wouldn’t have known until years later, surely info delivered via one of the 90s toy magazines, but my little collection of played with, scuffed up, Marvel Secret Wars figures was suddenly incomplete. No Iceman. No Electro. No Constrictor. (a-ha!)<\/p>\n

In the years since, Constrictor is still the only figure I’ve never seen (the other two were at a con somewhere, under glass, with a $100+ price tag), but the impression was made. Without having the first clue who he even was, I wanted a Constrictor. So much so, that I’ve bought two in the last year alone…<\/p>\n

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The sad part is that I’ve really never read a book that featured Constrictor as a credible character. I didn’t even know his back story until recently, when I was prepping for the Marvel Universe review that never happened. It turns out that he’s actually got a really cool back story. The poor guy was a S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent sent undercover as a supervillain. They gave him the snake motif, a nifty armored suit, and some sweet electrified prehensile coils. He was all set to bust the criminal underground wide open! Then he kinda sorta had a breakdown and forgot the whole secret agent part and just became a supervillain. Doh. Some more recent comics have portrayed him more as an anti-hero than a two-bit villain and I’m on board with that. Personally, I want to see Gillen on a Constrictor ongoing… <\/p>\n

Okay, so yeah, here’s a classic Noisy review. I’ve ended up at the bottom of page one and I haven’t talked about the figure. Sometimes I wonder why folks keep coming here… <\/p>\n

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Constrictor is built with the minimum of new parts: the head and forearms\/hands\/coils. This works for the most part, but I hope this isn’t the basic body Hasbro intends to use for the standard spandex characters. One, there’s a frikkin’ belt buckle right in the middle of his costume. Two, this body is notorious because the lower torso and the upper torso don’t line up. It’s not a deal-breaker, but supervillains shouldn’t wear diapers. Continue to Page 2…<\/a><\/p>\n

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Other than those, which I’m officially classifying as just nitpicks; the buck gets the job done. The new head sculpt is particularly fantastic. This guy looks downright maniacal. I know I just got done saying I’d like to see him get his own title in the anti-hero vein, but the figure works great as a villain. I’m not quite sold on the fang teeth, but the expression is great and the raised edge for the orange detail looks great too (though it does make you wish it could’ve been done that way across the whole body). <\/p>\n

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The other new pieces come from the forearm down. They don’t quite match with the buck, but they look fine. I’m happy with the fists, but I was a little disappointed that the coils are just soft plastic. They’re strong enough to stay up on their own, but I would’ve killed for something bendy here. Also of note, they are retractable in the comics and are glued in on the figure, so some nitpick points again for Hasbro not making them removable. I love his coils, but shelf space is at a premium and they do tend to get in the way. <\/p>\n

The paintwork on Constrictor was a little fuzzy here and there on the orange stripe, but the black lines are solid and help make sure this figure looks great unless you’re inspecting a little too closely. The paint on the head is well done, the space between the teeth is a little wonky, but it doesn’t take away from the figure. I almost forgot to even mention it. <\/p>\n

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Constrictor included no accessories, but does come with a crucial part of Terrax, the upper torso. <\/p>\n

Articulation is standard considering this is a heavily reused buck. There’s great range on the ball-joint in the neck with more ball-joints in the shoulders, hips, and ankles, swivels at the biceps, forearms, waist, thighs, and calves, double hinges at the elbows & knees, the ab crunch, and the front-to-back hinges in the shoulders. I always hate how those shoulders look, but I do love the range. They work especially well with Constrictor and his coils. Some rocker ankles and this guy is about as good as it gets (and ideally those rocker ankles would be cast in orange, Constrictor’s getting a little too ‘Bandai’ in the ankle department). <\/p>\n

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Overall, this Constrictor has a few minor issues like the molded belt buckle and I am disappointed by the lack of “play value” in the coils, but I still think I need to pronounce him a great figure. There’s a ton of good articulation, the buck & new pieces get the job done, and the paint work is solid… <\/p>\n

..but maybe I’m just happy to finally have a Marvel Legends Constrictor. I was probably the one guy waiting on Toy Biz to do this guy since day one after all. Now that I have him, my collection feels that much sweeter and reminds that I really need that Secret Wars Doctor Doom… <\/p>\n

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For more Marvel reviews, check out our Review Index<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/center><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nope, there\u2019s no Thing in today’s Two-In-One, but we\u2019ve got two great Marvel Legends up for review nonetheless. Ghost Rider\u2019s review is on the books, so it\u2019s time to take a look at the final figure in the Terrax Wave (though, ironically, it was one of the first I purchased): Constrictor!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_options":[]},"categories":[122,47,10],"tags":[1403,24,2575,1344],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pObc6-4ty","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":16513,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=16513","url_meta":{"origin":17208,"position":0},"title":"Marvel Legends (Terrax Wave) Heroic Age Thor Review","date":"January 30, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"It\u2019s finally here! After being announced nearly a year-and-a-half ago at San Diego 2010, Marvel Legends is back on store shelves in all their 6\u201d glory and with BAF pieces in tow. Our local TRU opened a fresh case this weekend and I happily snapped up Hasbro\u2019s six-inch version of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Marvel Legends"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16689,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=16689","url_meta":{"origin":17208,"position":1},"title":"Marvel Legends (Terrax Wave) Iron Man & Variant Review","date":"February 5, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"I didn\u2019t intend to purchase many new Marvel Legends. I wanted 2012 to be a year of cutting back, selling. But, the figures are getting better - the Seventh Market is expanding, Mattel\u2019s still got their hand in my wallet, and Hasbro? Well, they went and stepped up their six-inch\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Marvel Legends"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":17391,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=17391","url_meta":{"origin":17208,"position":2},"title":"Marvel Legends Terrax Build-A-Figure Review","date":"March 7, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"With 6\u201d Marvel figures only trickling out in recent years, it seemed like the toyline of the early 2000s was deep in slumber. The behemoth is awake now. I know because I just bought some figures I didn\u2019t want to build-a-figure I knew nothing about. That\u2019s the power of Marvel\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Marvel Legends"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":17189,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=17189","url_meta":{"origin":17208,"position":3},"title":"Marvel Legends 2-in-1 Ghost Rider & Variant Review (Terrax)","date":"February 27, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"I know we\u2019d need a Thing Review to be a proper Two-In-One, but let\u2019s overlook that and have some fun, alright? Terrax is complete, but I\u2019ve still got two Marvel Legends reviews before him (not to mention MOTUCS, Joes, DCUCs\u2026). Here\u2019s Ghost Rider and you\u2019ll find Constrictor conveniently to the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Marvel Legends"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":17004,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=17004","url_meta":{"origin":17208,"position":4},"title":"Vault Review: Marvel Legends Klaw (Terrax Wave)","date":"February 17, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"It appears we\u2019re actually going to have a complete Terrax to review eventually, but it is slow going getting there.\u00a0 Noisy\u2019s still looking for a blue Ghost Rider, but our biggest obstacles are the characters neither of us really want... Enter Klaw! Ulysses Klaw is a scientist that created a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Marvel Legends"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.itsalltrue.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/klaw6.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":16462,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=16462","url_meta":{"origin":17208,"position":5},"title":"Vault Review: Marvel Legends’ Hope Summers","date":"January 27, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"I had a whole other review planned out for today, but best laid plans go awry easily when you make a minor toy haul from Toys R Us.\u00a0 Not only did I discover the first wave of Transformers Prime, but also the new Marvel Legends! With the demise of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Marvel Legends"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.itsalltrue.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/mlho10.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17208"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17208"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17208\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17230,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17208\/revisions\/17230"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17208"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17208"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17208"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}