Wait! Porkgrind? A Symbiote version of Spider-Ham? And what is Spider-Ham doing in this wave anyways? These are what kept swirling in my head as I saw promo pictures for the wave. Regardless, here we are with a Marvel Legends of Spider-Ham so let's just jump right into the review.
Spider-Ham was made known to me through Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions but his real introduction was on the Spiderverse event where he had a more prominent role. I like a lot of the Spider-Men/Women characters if only for the sake of seeing variety and as far as Spider-Ham goes, he also falls into that 'for the sake of variety' category. He didn't entice me like Spider-Gwen, didn't have a catchy idea like Sp//dr, doesn't look cool like Aaron Aikman, nor does have the nostalgia like Spidey and Leopardon. He is simply just there. A Porky Pig and Spider-Man amalgamation with a pretty catchy name both in alias and his secret identity. I was never really looking forward to him as an action figure and to see him in a Venom wave is definitely something I wasn't catching on to. But the addition of Porkgrind gives a bit more logic. Still, I'm not going to be jumping for joy and as we get on with the review, it's going to be pretty obvious.
Really does NOT belong in this wave without the idea of Porkgrind. Even with Porkgrind, it's still a far fetch idea.
Not at all taken by surprise when the biggest part of the Monster Venom #BAF is placed with an action figure like Spider-Ham. The smallest figure will not even take a respectable portion of the package so give him the biggest piece. At least they gave us the option of having Porkgrind. He needs alternate hands, honestly.
We've had smaller Marvel Legends before in the past and they were not well received. I am not 100% opposed to small figures as long as they are not the BAF. Hasbro has gotten a lot of heat for pulling stuff like that and they might have listened and they complied in their own way. They started giving us smaller Marvel Legends within a wave and packing them with larger pieces of the BAF. Spider-Ham is the recent advocate of that notion and while I have no qualms with that idea (it actually makes sense, honestly; just wish they would give smaller figures like this more things), it's the figure itself that will be judged. So with Peter Porker, obviously he's a brand new mold. Just from first glance it's really easy to say that it's a good representation of Spider-Ham. The exaggerated proportions, the big pig head definitely fits the bill. Aesthetically, it's not that far off.
My only real complaint with Spider-Ham is the fact that his web lines on his costume are not painted black. They're sculpted but not painted.... which is weird. If Hasbro only did that, then the aesthetics part of Spider-Ham would be close to immaculate.
Porkgrind's head can be plugged in to a Venom Marvel Legends (Hasbro, of course). I decided to use the Venom body from this wave to give me a second character. I think that was part of Hasbro's plan, honestly.
I can forgive the mishap of the missed paint on Spider-Ham's costume. It would have made him look that much better, but it is forgivable. What isn't though is Mr. Porker's articulation. We've had issues with small action figure's pose-ability but I would think by now Hasbro has learned. The upper body isn't so bad; in fact, it's workable. It's in the bottom half that we start having problems. The ONLY articulation we get with the legs are with the boots cut off from the reset of the lower half. For a character that is Spider-Man related, that will just not do. The one thing is that if an articulated lower half cannot be done because of the nature of the size, then why not have swap outs? Something. Spider-Ham has a cult following so to do this character injustice with his FIRST Marvel Legends appearance will leave a sour taste for fans and collectors alike.
Here's an idea of just how small this action figure is. I mean, he isn't tiny as some of the small BAFs in the past. Spider-Ham has some mass to him. But one can see why he is so off putting. Full retail price for a smaller and less poseable figure.
Good looking Marvel Legends figure. Hasbro did a fantastic job capturing MOST of Spider-Ham's features. But I can't honestly say that I am pleased with how this figure turned out. A full price Marvel Legend with some lackluster articulation and no accessories? Sure, Porkgrind head was a good addition, but at the end of the day, that head piece still requires a person to own a Venom body from this wave or from the previous release; it's not something I can say saves this figure. To complete the wave, he is obviously a must. To complete the Spiderverse shelf, he is a must. Will I recommend him to casual collectors? No. And that's sad.
Until Next Time!
