Originally posted at slangards.i.ph on Sept 28, 2009
Piotr Nikolaievitch Rasputin is what a comic book superhero should be. Period. All you Superman, Spider-Man, Batman, Wolverine lovers can eat my shorts. All of them suck. Colossus is what a hero is supposed to be. Idealistic, noble, self-sacrificing; a rock that his teammates can lean against and a shield that protects them from harm. I literally cried after reading Uncanny X-Men #390. Granted the pseudo-science was worse than an episode of Fringe (just discovered cure to Stryfe’s Legacy virus requires a catalyst to start the process; the life of a mutant), the issue left a lasting impression with me and I haven’t enjoyed the X-men the same way since.
In hindsight, having divorced myself from comics for the past few years, I can see why Lobdell and company would choose this route. Although Colossus was a mainstay of the team in Claremont’s day, writers during the late 90’s didn’t really know what to do with him. Despite a great role in “Age of Apocalypse” (his entire team is decimated AND he steps on Kitty), his arcs were pretty lame. After the whole death of his parents, Illyana, his brother, they kind of went, “who’s left to kill?”. Of course the answer was, “Piotr”.
Of course, this being comics, they decided to bring him back a few years later in an even more preposterous sequence of events. Something about an alien stealing his body shortly after his death and leaving a double for the X-Men to cremate so that he could secretly use Piotr’s blood as a basis for a mutant “cure” that would eradicate the species from the face of the Earth.
You read that right.
Idiotic ret-cons aside, I am still elated when another Colossus figure arrives on the shelf. Unlike some of his teammates, Colossus isn’t one of those characters that get a lot of plastic love from the toy companies. He’s a big guy, which requires a lot of material and non-standard packaging, and he’s silver, which requires paint. If you pick up say a Daredevil Icon and Colossus, you can feel the difference in weight. However, the size and heft of this guy is about all that’s in the plus column. I expected a lot from this figure, based on all the hype around the Icons line and the premium collectors were willing to shell out for toys in this scale, I thought it would be a very good figure to add to my meager Silver Slavic Stud collection.
I was dead wrong. Like the last time I ventured into toys this height (see my Masterpiece Ultra Magnus review), I found that size doesn’t always matter.
First off, what you’ll see on the shelf. The Hasbro Icons line has some really nice packaging, which sucker that I am, is one of the things that sold me. It’s sort of a card encased in a plastic box, which means the “box” is one big window. You can easily see the figure you’re getting through the plastic. If this guy was easily available, that might be a plus since his paint applications aren’t the greatest. As it is, you’ll be lucky if you find him in a specialty shop, let alone retail. The box is relatively easy to open and you can place the figure back for storage which makes Mint-On-Card/Mint-In-Box collectors happy.
Once he’s out of the box, then the problems with him become more apparent. First off is his paint. Hasbro is notorious for it’s lack of paint washes in the collecting community, and while I understand the need to cut costs at the mass produced 6″ and 3.75″ lines, the Icons line is supposed to be more of a collector friendly line, hence a higher standard is expected. We don’t get that here. Colossus; torso is cast in yellow plastic, and then painted a flat silver or red as required, while his arms are red plastic with a silver coat. His thighs are gray in silver and his boots are cast red. Though the overall silver coat gives him an even shade, it’s very one-dimensional. There is also a lot of paint slop over the lines of his costume which is obvious once you can get closer. I find myself wanting to paint him so bad.
Sculpt is ok, but a little to much on the realistic side for me. His feet for example, seem tiny. It also severely limits his range of motion. Unlike his Marvel Legend sized counterparts, he can’t do much of anything. His forearms will only move about 15 degrees which is good to get it from the straight, locked arm, to a relaxed state. There won’t be any flexing of biceps for this strongman. Similarly, he can’t bend down or crouch if his life depend on it. His ball and post hips are limited by his briefs and the tiny feet don’t offer enough support for his mass. I regularly find him on the floor in the morning after he’s fallen from my desk.
So yes, you have a great big Colossus figure at a relatively good price (p1,600.00 retail), but you can’t do much of anything with him besides this:
If you’re planning on getting into the Icons line or 1/6th scale figures, I’d suggest you start with the Daredevil/Nightcrawler figure, or shell out for a Hot Toys piece. The Icons Colossus really is a waste of money to anyone looking for anything but a display piece. Here’s hoping that once Hot Toys has churned out a few Wolverines and Hulks, they’ll give us a version of Colossus worthy of the name.
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