Holy! A Monster Venom BAF? as if I needed anymore Venom action figures! #Hasbro provides us with another Venom piece that is a #BAF! I was a little hesitant with this piece at first, but did that change after collecting all the pieces and having him in hand? Let's find out!
I'm not entirely sure which Venom Hasbro was going for. While it's easy to say that he is the Eddie Brock Venom through the face, the logo says otherwise and it's very similar to the Mac Gargan Venom. But the one thing about the Scorpion-Venom was that he had red pupils--a distinct trait that separated him from Brock (at some point, he also had scorpion tail with the symbiote, which makes sense). Obviously this figure doesn't have the eyes nor the tail, but he definitely has that emblem. He's also not the Lee Price Venom since he also had a VERY distinct look. Truth to be told, I believe Hasbro was going for the Mac Gargan Venom but missed the mark on the eyes. Regardless of that minor but very obvious mishap (if this is indeed Mac Gargan), This new Venom BAF is a beast! He is massive and not in height but in size. That definitely makes him more than worthy to be a BAF.
I am not sure if this is a new body mold; might have been used before. I know the feet and the hands look awfully familiar (Goblin BAF?) but it's pretty obvious there are new sculpt like the tendrils and DUH, the monstrous Venom head that I will go over more in detail later. Overall the body does look good and definitely looks imposing. Recycled or not, if they were going for a behemoth Venom, they nailed it with this choice of body.
Through my years of being a fan of Venom I have seen three major colors on him: black, blue, and the metallic/shiny purple that this monster has. Obviously my favorite one is the simple black with the white symbol but the blue and purple adds some depth to his monochromic color scheme. The metallic purple, however, lends itself with its own paint variation depending on the light that shines on it. Monster Venom sometimes looks shiny or at times very dark, which is a cool little feature. And the emblem itself is cleanly placed, no smears or lack of white paint. Then the face/head is also something to admire. Yes, there isn't much in terms of paint variation but what we get is pretty good.
There's nothing new to really say about his articulation. In general, he has the range of movements we would want form our Marvel Legends and for a big guy, he is pretty able with different range of pose-ability. For the pictures I wanted, I got what I was aiming for. But the one thing I think something like Venom needs is an articulated jaw akin to The BAF Lizard earlier this year. I don't know how Hasbro can miss this mark since Venom's exaggerated jaw is definitely part of his iconic look--for the sake of aesthetics, I can see why they didn't add it in but I still feel as if it would have been something that would have greatly benefited the figure. As always, some interchangeable hands would have been nice; and if I was being completely greedy for the price I paid for this set, I would say a scorpion tail would have done this figure justice and an accurate Mac Gargan Venom head swap out.
The mass for this Venom does give him justification for any articulated movement. But again, he is pretty standard so in this department, Monster Venom managed to deliver.
Compared to an average 6 inch action figure like Bucky Cap, he isn't that much bigger in terms of height. Though Venom does have that mass that make him surprisingly huge.
Here is Monster Venom next to another colossal Venom from back in the day. Sure he is dwarfed right next to the classic Toy Biz Venom ICONS, but he has some good bearings to a small degree. For an action figure lacking the details and the height like the one from Toybiz, he is still pretty impressive.
It's pretty obvious that I like this BAF. He's not perfect and he is still suffering from a lot of flaws that Hasbro has in terms of their Marvel Legends. Though that is a gripe that I continue to expect action figures such as this to have. All in all, as an action figure, I highly recommend him for anyone who is a fan of Venom. He may fall into an identity crisis in terms of being a Brock or a Scorpion Venom, but that can be easily looked over in my opinion as long as he is just judged as an action figure.
So what about the wave as a whole? Well, there are definitely some misses as well as some hits. Overall I think it's an okay wave. Hasbro has a lot of rethinking to do as to who they can put in a Symbiote based wave. Spider-Man waves with street level characters can be excused but this wave? I don't know. There isn't a lot of characters here so it's a bit cheaper than the other BAF waves this year. I can't say I truly like this wave as a whole but again, there are some pros with some of the figures as an individual. So let's judge these action figures!
Consisting of: Spider-Ham/Porkgrind, Poison, Scream, Venom/Brock Carnage, and Typhoid Mary
Lowest(ONE) being my least, Highest(SEVEN) being my favorite.
Spider-Ham/Porkgrind -The idea that one can get an extra action figure with the 'accessory' is a neat idea, however it's not enough to save this would have been mediocre character. Small figure, atrocious articulation, missing some paint detail, AND he's not really a symbiote action figure.... yeah, this one is not a highlight of this wave.
Poison -While he belongs in a symbiote wave, he doesn't really offer much. No accessories kills this figure and the fact that other characters deserves a slot rather than this VERY short lived and obscure character.
Venom/Eddie Brock -This body ended up being a supplement for the Porkgrind head from Spider-Ham. New alternate head is too big and the symbiote effect isn't enough to save this action figure.
Typhoid Mary -I would say that this femme fatale does not belong in this wave and she doesn't, but she is higher on the list because she gives accessories, well made, and I can always use more villainess.
Monster Venom -The biggest flaw is his inaccurate design that really doesn't define WHICH Venom this is. No accessories also hurts him but all in all, one of the better BAFs from this year.
Scream -I've always wanted a new Scream action figure and where we are. I would have put her on my best figure on this wave if she came with accessories.
Carnage/Cletus Kassady -He is a recycled action figure but given much more depths with alternate hands and a new head. I had fun with him and he is a testament that Hasbro can reissue older action figures and make them better. Definitely the highlight of this wave.
That's about all I can say about this wave! The last one for the year for me... possibly!
Until Next Time!
