Who and what the heck is "Lady Crimson"? Well I'm going to speculate that that the reason why Toys-Era couldn't use Spider-Woman was for legality issues. Regardless of the issue, Toys-Era's Lady Crimson is the closest thing I'm going to get for a classic look of Spider-Woman that is somewhat on par with Hot Toys. Okay, they're nowhere NEAR it, but it's the (distant)closest thing. Known about THIS FIGURE for a while now! So let's just jump right into the review, shall we?
The box has a Hot Toy feel to it. It's not as high quality, nor does it have the protection, but again, it is actually a pretty good box with its own quirks and character themed designs. Red and black colored, web designs, and it has Spi--Lady Crimson's triangle emblem; all of this plays with the theme of the character it is encasing. What would have been better if it had Lady Crimson's eyes. You know what, I'm just going to call her Spider-Woman from here on out! I'm sure no one has any qualms with that since this action figure does a fine job replicating Jessica Drew's classic costume design. The obvious statement is that this was meant to be Spider-Woman from Marvel's creation. Alright, with that out of the way, let's move on!
Oh, speaking of the eyes! Here we are! The back has the logo that is associated with Jessica Drew: the eyes on her mask and the triangle on her forehead. There are some writing there in different languages as well.
And that is the top of the box. Lady Crimson with a spider on it. It's the wundagore spider so be careful! It'll give you complicated back story and forces you to go on hiatus for a few years!
The box is, more or less, like a shoe box. Pull off the top and you'll get this nice cover art as a last shield for the action figure. It has a nice few comic book artwork used for decoration underneath the dangling Spider-Woman art (she doesn't use webs, this is actually a fanart from Deviantart by SHKViVI). Nice little cover sheet if I do say so myself. Oh and there is one thing that completely caught my eyes:
Toys-Era tried to pull from both the old and the new Spider-Woman (said 'new' isn't varied nor is it even Jessica Drew herself). The funny thing is that they picked a DiD scene for Spider-Woman? Yes, this action figure is completely meant to be mine!
Pulling out the nicely decorate cover will reveal the figure inside with some styrofoam protection. Aside from the figure stand, this is pretty much all the accessories you get with Spider-Woman: three pair of alternate hands. Again, not Hot Toy quality and/or quantity.
They included a stand for Spider-Woman. It's generic and it will work but I'm not fond of it. It says "Lady Crimson" on it so I don't think I will be using this stand at all. Still a good thought to have it!
Right off the get go I'm going to say that there are a few things about the anatomy that is really off. From the front she seems fine but turning her side ways, the joints on the hips bulge a bit too much on the front than I would like. It's not horrible and definitely can be hidden from angling and photography tricks, but it is there. Her body, while curvaceous and still qualifies for a super heroine, isn't as expressed and/or exaggerated as I am used to (at least when she was wearing this outfit; nowadays she's a bit more 'grounded' when she's in her new costume). The last thing that really bothers me is the hair. It's definitely not as pose-able as I would like but that's just me having my first experience with none plastic hair. Also, I don't touch dolls very often (the ones I do are Elsa ones, surprise, surprise) so I'm not used to having hair that is like this. I definitely do not like this and if I ever buy a Hot Toy that is female, I will stay away if the hair is not plastic. Also worth mentioning that the hair falls off and I'm afraid constantly trying to pose it or 'bother it' might cause too much to fall off. Can't have that.
Now as far as the suit goes, I'm not sure what it is entirely. It's called 'spandex' in the description in giantoy.com. It stretches and cooperates (for the most part) with the joints and it does look nice. I dare not keep her in any dynamic poses just in case that it strains the material of her suit. The decal for her upper body isn't bad either. Again I try not to strain it with the joints. Her 'wings' are a bit underwhelming but it's a better to have it than not. As far as her gloves and boots, nothing to special about them but they good enough and they match her decal well enough.
Colors aren't that bad actually. As I mentioned, the decal matches with the gloves and boots. The mask doesn't quite match with the spandex body suit but it's not glaringly off; it's passable. The black hair, while I'm not a fan of, does have a nice addition to the color. It has a shine to it so it's not always going to have the same light effect. The spandex is also done nice. It's not just plain red and if one looks at it closely, it tries to replicate those small detailed lining with cinematic Spideys in the past. It gives it depth. I'm impressed.
Now for those who are articulation freaks, this is where Toys Era's Spider-Woman fails miserably. Not only is she made lacking some essential points of articulation (ankle pivot, toe articulation, foot articulation, wrist swivel, etc), her body suit also GREATLY hinders full range of motions with her joints. It feels too fragile and forcing it will cause some unfortunate rips. I've already talked about the hair... free as it can be, it's definitely not cooperative. I gave it some disheveled look with the pic on the right but it's still not convincing enough for me. And with the limited accessories, it's hard to get some poses out of her. At the very least some energy effects would have been nice (I see that they can do it judging from their gallery). Adding one on Spider-Woman would have definitely given them a few points up. But I was able to get a few shots that are pretty good for me. Nothing too dynamic but some flight poses or some 'venom blasts' implying poses are good.
Just to show her scale, here she is next to your average 6 inch Marvel Legends figure. She's got some height and perhaps she could scale with some Hot Toys. I dare not put her next to one though because this action figure does not fit with the quality of those legendary collectors' toys; sorry to say that.
And here she is next to some of my Spider-Woman action figures/statues (Marvel Legends, Marvel Universe 3.75, Bishoujo Exclusive, and Diamond Select). Great addition if i do say so myself despite everything.
So what can I say? It has a handful of flaws, it lacks some accessories, and it definitely has a price point enough to shy some fans of Spider-Woman (1/3 of a common price for a Hot Toy). I cannot recommend this to anyone who isn't a die-hard Spider-Woman fan, but for those looking for another Spider-Woman in your collection, she's not that bad at all if you take out the idea of articulation. She resembles Jessica Drew's classic costume, she looks 'pretty', and she poses well enough for very basic poses. Toys Era's "Lady Crimson", aka Spider-Woman, is not for everybody but she definitely is good enough for me. She will not win toy of the year or anything but she will have a deserving spot on my Spider-Woman shelf. Well, that's about it.
Until Next Time!