My first BAF of 2018, the BAF Wave Lizard! Lizard may not be my favorite Spider-Man villain, but I have to say that he has been a long standing villain/ally of Spider-Man. He has the 'Incredible Hulk' syndrome where stress releases the demon(lizard) in him and from there, he goes berserk. Over the years, his appearances varied, but for the most part, he wears a lab coat, pants, shirt, and he has a undeniable hunger to beat Spider-Man into a pulp! So how does his action figure attest to his decades of comic book presence? Let's find out!
From first glance, the figure is rather impressive aesthetically. He looks menacing, and by all rights, he should. He has a bulky figure, but still has this gangly arms with the massive claws. He has reptilian/dinosaur like feet, and his posture definitely makes him look like a monster; of course the fact that he is scaly green with a reptilian face (more dinosaur-like rather than lizard) should give out the clue that he is a person you don't want to mess with. In general, the sculpt of this guy is pretty good. He has the details that he needs to give him the characteristics of the infamous Spidey villain. The tongue may be a bit more on the Venom side, but that's alright.
If there was one thing that can be pointed out with this figure (and a general complaint) is that its tail. I am not sure what Hasbro was thinking... yes it has articulation but seriously! That tail really takes away from the well done work on his upper body aesthetics. It's inorganic and it's not even a solid enough base to help him stand; and believe me, due to the way this figure is made, he needs to have a 'third leg' so to speak.
But the paint application is done well. No sloppiness, no lines go over, no smudges, and the transition from one color to the next is smooth; a good example is the 'clean' lab coat to the dirty area. I am also particularly fond of the dark green shifting over to the lighter tone. It's all done so well that it all seems natural. This is definitely the highlight of the figure, hands down.
As far as his articulation goes, Lizard has some strengths that allows for some pretty awesome dynamic shots. From waist up, there are no major issues when it comes to how his upper body works; one thing to note that I didn't mention is that they didn't paint the neck inside his jaw, which makes a full open mouth articulation look a bit weird.
Now his main flaw is his lower half. And no, I'm not just referring to the awful tail that looks broken and unposeable; I'm talking about his legs and how weird the engineering is with this figure. First, the knees are stuck in a ninety degree angle; basically there are no knee movements. The feet, which are meant to be reptilian might work if the rest of his legs work in unison, but it definitely does not allow for the ankle pivot to have the full advantage. I can make him stand and pose, just a matter of angles or what not, but it doesn't change the fact that he's not properly engineered. Action figure reviewers who are adept at handling the camera can work around it, but we shouldn't have to; at least not at this rate.
In conclusion, Lizard has a few redeeming qualities against a handful of flaws that might not be easy to gloss over. A weird lower half with leg joints that don't work and an odd tail definitely detracts from the rest of what makes this figure look good. He's definitely a good idea to bring into plastic form and part of something that adds to the Spider-Man lore, but with the issues he comes packed with, I can't say that he is the definitive Lizard figure of the moment. One thing that saves him is that they spent time on his details, the paint job is clean, and the size of him is more than adequate. He definitely looks menacing and ready to tear Spider-Man apart. Just don't expect to recreate a lot of those scenes without expecting a few potholes along the way.
Consisting of: Prowler, Spider-Woman, Spider-Man Noir, Spider-Punk, Mysterio, & Gwenpool
So the BAF piece itself isn't as impressive as I would hope, but how does the rest of the wave fare? Honestly, it has a few ups and too many downs for me. So here is my ranking system! ShartimusPrime definitely influenced me with this, but it's definitely worth putting in for the sake of ranking my figures:
Lowest(ONE) number being my least, highest(SEVEN) being my favorite:
Prowler - No accessories. Not my favorite character.
Lizard - Was never excited for a Lizard figure or the character in general. Has some serious design issues as a figure.
Spider-Man Noir - Leather jacket not good. Lackluster weapons. Part of the Spiderverse so he is a good addition.
Spider-Punk - Not a bad figure. The only thing holding this figure back is that I'm not a big fan of this version of Spidey. But as a Spiderverse character, he is a good addition.
Mysterio - Nice scheme. Love the new accessories and the concept of the skull under his fishbowl head. Hasbro really thought out of the box for this one.
Spider-Woman -Quality issues! Lack of accessories. The only reason why this figure is not lower on the list is because I love Spider-Woman. This figure had way too many issues, so this is definitely a personal preference.
Gwenpool - A figure I wasn't entirely too fond of but ended up loving. The photoshoot was fun, she came with a great amount of accessories that are well thought out. Even her pose in the box was well thought out. Hasbro's effort on this one paid off.
With that said, will be waiting for the next wave to hit my door!
Until Next Time!
