{"id":27203,"date":"2014-03-05T00:45:45","date_gmt":"2014-03-05T06:45:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=27203"},"modified":"2014-03-05T00:45:45","modified_gmt":"2014-03-05T06:45:45","slug":"marvel-universe-hercules-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=27203","title":{"rendered":"Marvel Universe
Hercules Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>4\u201d Appreciation Week rolls on! It was a little tough figuring out what to review for this week. I haven\u2019t bought any new toys at retail in nearly five weeks (my Joe Sub & Matty Sub toys were some of the only new toys during \u201cNo Toy February\u201d). I didn\u2019t want to review all Joes, so I was looking back for any Marvel Universe, Star Wars, 4\u201d DC figures that I bought over the last year and didn\u2019t review. Sadly, that made it not that difficult! There\u2019s a lot of stuff that hasn\u2019t made it on the site for one reason or another. <\/p>\n

In my Marvel pile, I had a few choices, but ultimately went with ol\u2019 Hercules because he\u2019s one of the more fun, and more well done, figures out of the crop I have sitting on my shelves. I haven\u2019t bought a ton of MU since ML came back, but I\u2019m always down for Thor-related figures and Hercules fits the bill. He first appeared in Thor\u2019s first annual, way back in 1965. (A Herc had previously appeared the year before in Avengers, but he doesn\u2019t count.) Hercules, a great Lee & Kirby creation, has been Thor\u2019s rival ever since that First Appearance. I haven\u2019t followed the character religiously, but make figures of characters that first appeared in Journey into Mystery, and I\u2019ll surely bite. <\/p>\n

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My favorite thing about Hercules is that he\u2019s so hilariously ripped that Hasbro had to make an all-new buck for the figure. Seriously. They had a bigger, more muscled buck and still had to say, \u201cnope, not good enough\u201d. Now, I\u2019ve got no problem with \u201cbuck\u201d-based toy lines. I understand the times we live in, but the flipside is that it\u2019s special when a figure gets an all-new sculpt. This is the son of Zeus, the mightiest Olympian, and the sculpt shows it. The other great thing is that Herc creates a new buck to be used in the future. Some smart add-on parts like the harness and the belt, along with his unique bracers and sandals makes the figure absolutely Hercules while also making it available for re-use. Gotta love it. <\/p>\n

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There is one funny thing though \u2013 this isn\u2019t Herc as he originally appeared (we did get that in a so-so Hasbro Marvel Legend), this is He-Man Hercules from the 1980s. I don\u2019t mind one bit, it still looks cool, but I\u2019ve never been able to shake off the He-man vibe. Maybe it\u2019s the giant H on his belt. Which, I mean, obviously stands for Hercules. I think one thing I appreciate about the 80s look here is the Secret Wars thing. If Herc had gotten a Secret Wars figure, it would\u2019ve looked like this, except y\u2019know posed in that odd \u201ctaking a step\u201d stance. <\/p>\n

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Even better, the articulation lives up to the great sculpt. The ball-jointed neck is great. There are also ball-jointed shoulders, wrists, hips, and inverted ankles; swivels at the biceps, thighs, and shins, single-hinge elbows, double-hinge knees, and the ab-joint. Everything works great (except maybe that ab joint, Hasbro does weird things in these torsos) and it\u2019s what makes Hercules really sing. He\u2019s bulky and can pose great. That\u2019s awesome. Continue to Page 2…<\/a><\/p>\n

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There were some paint issues on my Hercules which is a shame because there isn\u2019t much paint. Most of the work is done with the appropriately-colored plastic, leaving the face details the crucial area. It\u2019s hard to see in the pics, but the beard on my Herc is fairly sloppy. He\u2019s one of the figures I want to take the paints too should I ever have a free decade. Below the neck, the few paint apps are sharply done. <\/p>\n

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Hercules gets one accessory, his classic cudgel. It\u2019s the one he should\u2019ve come with and I\u2019m glad he has it. It\u2019s a well-done piece and fits great in either hand. The only thing I don\u2019t like is the \u201cleather\u201d loop hanging from the grip. I never like those, but this one is a little extra frustrating \u2013 it\u2019s big enough that it would look great hanging from Herc\u2019s belt, but the belt isn\u2019t removable. Doh. Still the sculpt is solid and the paintwork clean, so I\u2019m happy. <\/p>\n

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Overall, Hercules is easily one of the best MU figures to come out last year. Heck, he might be one of the best figures in the entire line. His original sculpt suits him perfectly and I love seeing him in his 80s duds. The real gem though is the articulation. I love when the big boys can move. Too often, bulk translates into limited articulation in any scale. What I really enjoy about MU though is how much love they\u2019ve given Thor when ML hasn\u2019t. That line completed its Wrecking Crew. It\u2019s got a Frost Giant. A Radioactive Man not stuck in developmental limbo. Clor. Enchantress. A frickin\u2019 classic Loki! And now a great Hercules to hang out with Thor. MU just needs to give me a Zarrko, Grey Gargoyle, & Mr. Hyde and I\u2019ll be one happy MU collector. Oh, and get Executioner & Valkyrie out of limbo. And that orange Foom. And a Ego the Living Planet wouldn\u2019t hurt. Did I mention I love classic Thor?<\/p>\n

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

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<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":27204,"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":[169,26,34,10],"tags":[24,257,2567,2274,888],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.itsalltrue.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/herc00.jpg?fit=480%2C195","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pObc6-74L","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":12411,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=12411","url_meta":{"origin":27203,"position":0},"title":"Marvel Universe Checklist Updated","date":"April 25, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Our Marvel Universe Visual Checklist has been updated with the latest news, images, and links. We've added the newest images from Hasbro and a handful of review links to our 2011 page while the Captain America & Thor movie pages have been updated with the latest release information respectively. Continue\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Marvel Universe"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11278,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=11278","url_meta":{"origin":27203,"position":1},"title":"Updates to the Marvel Universe Checklist","date":"January 20, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"As promised, we've got a massive update to our Marvel Universe Visual Checklist. It's been revised, updated, expanded, overhauled... I'd go on, but I don't want to have to get out the thesaurus. Suffice to say, it was well past time for Hasbro's Marvel line to get the same treatment\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Marvel"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11531,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=11531","url_meta":{"origin":27203,"position":2},"title":"Marvel Universe Reviews Thanos & Captain Marvel","date":"February 3, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"I've avoided buying too many Marvel Universe figures for one reason or another over the last couple years. I bought a few at first, but they didn't win me over. Lately though, the line has been getting harder and harder to resist. In the last couple weeks, I've picked up\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Marvel Universe"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":18854,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=18854","url_meta":{"origin":27203,"position":3},"title":"Marvel Universe Two-Packs: Thanos vs Adam Warlock Review","date":"May 24, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Last night I remembered that I run a toy review website. Between a business trip to Kansas City and a quick jaunt to Texas for the eclipse (and a bunch of work in-between), IAT\u2019s been light on my updates the last two weeks. Let\u2019s fix that with a Marvel Universe\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Marvel Universe"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":124,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=124","url_meta":{"origin":27203,"position":4},"title":"It’sAllTrue Review: Marvel Universe Blade","date":"July 9, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"","rel":"","context":"In "Reviews"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11555,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=11555","url_meta":{"origin":27203,"position":5},"title":"Marvel Universe Checklist Updates, Cap & Thor Pages Added","date":"February 4, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"New pages for the Captain America & Thor movie lines have been added to the Marvel Universe Resource. The Iron Man 2 and Spider-Man pages have been updated with the latest wave information. And a Two-Packs section has been added to the 2011 page. Images have been added for most\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Marvel Universe"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27203"}],"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=27203"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27203\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27208,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27203\/revisions\/27208"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/27204"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}