A few months ago, the new Marvel Universe Super Hero Team Box sets began showing up around toy stores. By far the most popular was the X-Force 3-pack, which disappeared pretty quickly. When re-stocks arrived soon after, the X-Force sets were scooped up within a week while the Classic Avengers and Fantastic Four sets lingered on shelves at Megamall’s Toy Kingdom.
I honestly don't see what all the fuss is all about.
The box is the same as the other two box sets in the series, with a louder orange backdrop this time around. It's an easy package to open, and you can pop the figures out of the tray in no time and replace them if you want to sell them off later. The big X FORCE on the front of the box helps a lot in the toy store since these sets are usually stocked below the eye line for some reason.
There are 3 figures in the set: Wolverine, Deadpool, and Warpath. All 3 of the figures are re-colors of previously released figures. Hasbro didn't even bother to provide consumers with an incentive to buy yet-another-wolverine, other than the fact that this time he's in gray and black. Some extra guns for Deadpool maybe? New hands for Warpath? Those useless mitts he's got really piss me off and can't hold his knives at all.
The only real reason to buy this set over the originals is because they are in their X-Force get ups. In 2008, Volume 3 of X-Force was launched. Instead of Cannonball and the former New Mutants being all angst-y, it was Logan leading a small strike force consisting of Warpath, Wolfsbane, and (the stupidly named) X-23. They were the X-Men's leg-breakers, the dudes who went in and punched evil-doers in the nads.
Naturally, this makes them 7 times cooler than all the other X-Men.
The were later joined by Domino, Angel (what the fuck?) and someone named "Elixir" (who looks to be pretty interesting based on the Wikipedia article). Psylocke, Fantomex, and Deadpool joined up after the original creative team's run when the title became Uncanny X-Force.
Now I ask you, with 10 characters who have been members of the team, 4 of them who haven't had 3.75" figures yet, 2 of them with figures already in production for upcoming waves, and 1 who had a figure in the appropriate costume that is insanely hard to find, why in the hell did Hasbro choose to include the 3 members of the team that have already gotten a lot of attention previously?
I'm not going to bother with Wolverine. He's exactly the same as the figure from the Wolverine Origins: Colossus & Wolverine 2-pack except with a masked head. Despite being a great figure, he still has the hunchback problems that he had the first time around.They didn't even see fit to give him those great new claws from the Silver Samurai set.
Let's move on to Warpath.
Of the three, Warpath really is the least impressive. The other 2 figures are at least very good figures on their own (the original versions are among my favorites in this scale). Warpath is just a lot of wasted potential.
He’s made from the Wrecking Crew body, but has some changes: the fist is replaced by another open hand to accommodate his twin knives and there's a belt that has a scabbard on the back that can hold one of the blades.
Despite those however, he's isn't a new figure. We've already seen this in the main Marvel Universe toyline in 2009 with Wave 6. In fact, the single packed version is better than the one included here because it's black and silver rather than the dull gray that this figure sports.
The mold is a good body, but the useless hands really irk me. They could have had something here if they just took the time to make new hands for him that could hold the weapons. Instead, they made blades with ridiculously fat handles in order to fit the ridiculously shapeless palms. As a result, the weapons fall out rather easily. Plus there’s only room enough for one blade at his back. No storage = easily lost accessories.
The Deadpool figure is probably the best one in the set, but he’s not without his own problems. Again, it’s a straight up re-color of the figure that came in the deluxe pack, “Deadpool with Missile Cannon,” from the X-Men Origins: Wolverine toyline. That in and of itself isn’t bad, since it was probably the best 3.75" Deadpool until the Comic Pack version came out. It still has the hunched back/neck and the non-removable scabbards on his back, but as action figures go, this one’s pretty kick-ass.
Sculpt is great. The figure has hands that are designed at an angle in order to hold his swords pointing out from his body (instead of straight up, perpendicular to his forearm). There are also seams running along his costume. At 1/18th scale that’s damned impressive. He's more of a 90's Liefeld Deadpool than the modern one though.
Observe:
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| Art from Wolverine: The Road To Hell #1 |
The new version lacks the huge teleporter button on his chest and the crazy 90's straps and pockets. He's also got two sidearms in holsters strapped to his legs and his swords are crossed behind his back. And the "X"s. He's got two of them. Just in case he forgets that he's in X-Force.
Anyway, the design is much closer to the Comic Pack Deadpool and Hasbro really should have used that figure in this set. He's still a good figure, but the fact that the potential for something better exists just drives me nuts.
If you have none of these figures, the set might be worth the Php 1,350.00 it costs at retail, but I don't really think it rates if you have any one of the original versions. Even if you're a fan of Wolverine's hit squad, I'd hold out for the single version of Warpath, look for a Wolverine and Deadpool to customize yourself, and wait for the Psylocke and X-23 figures coming up in the main Marvel Universe line.
You'll also want to track down the X-Force Archangel figure from 2011's San Diego Comic Con, but good luck finding that at a good price.
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