Marvel Legends Maximum Spider-man
Bitten by a radioactive spider, high school science wiz Peter Parker gains the ability to climb walls as well as have super strength and reflexes. Concocting a unique sticky formula that can be used as “webbing” when fired through high pressure nozzles in his wrist gauntlets, Peter names himself “Spider-man”, eventually becoming one of New York City’s greatest heroes in the Marvel Universe.
While the figure does share some parts from the more recent Spider-man figures, this one is probably going to be the most poseable thanks to the new mid-torso joint and improved butterfly shoulder joints.
The head is most definitely a throwback to the 1990s look for Spidey, then drawn by famous comic book artist Todd McFarlane.
The set comes with an alternate head with thicker eye lens rims. You can hardly tell the difference when not put together side by side.
The figure features articulated toes.
Meant to be the “maximum” version of Spider-man, the set comes with alternate “unmasked” Peter Parker head, as well as alternate gloveless forearms.
I can’t say I’m particularly fond of this headsculpt. I think the eyes are way too cartoony? Although I guess the idea was to match how Peter looked like back when Todd drew him.
The gloveless arms do not feature wrist articulation, so the right hand is going to be always posed in this angle like so.
The set introduces a “Spider-sense” effects part. Finally!! After 20+ years we finally get this accessory! About time!
As a form of precognition, Spider-man uses his spider-sense to warn him of incoming danger and how to avoid it. In more modern times, this ability is better explained as an increased sense of perception to his surroundings thanks to the spider bite, coupled with Peter’s enhanced reflexes.
Spidey also comes with a web shield accessory.
The shield clips onto his forearm the way Captain America’s shield does.
Alternate web-shooting hands, now with bits of webs sculpted on.
Web projectile parts.
Sadly, there’s only one display base for the projectile parts, so Spidey can’t be firing both at the same time.
Lastly, Hasbro gave Spider-man some improved web lines to go with this “maximum” set. They even added new gripping hands for holding these thinner webs. Nice job, design team!
Of course, Spidey wouldn’t be the same without Todd McFarlane’s unique style of posing the wall-crawler in wild poses when he’s swinging, which became a great hit with the fans, setting up how Spider-man would look while doing his web swings even into present day.
Overall, a pretty cool set! I love all the new accessories and effects parts! It’s about time we get this much in a Marvel Legends figure. Unfortunately, this also all translates into a much higher SRP for the figure. I’m not sure if all these new pieces are enough to justify the price increase, particularly when the base body is mostly a reuse of existing parts. Plus, Spider-man’s costume still does not feature sculpted web lines, which is a bit of a disappointment.
Still, I love how we finally got a McFarlane-inspired Spider-man with almost all the bells and whistles. It’s about time.
Gold
