I mentioned earlier this week that I had gotten a lot of new figures over the weekend and it would take some time to review them all. However I am going to do my best to get through the lot of them so today I review my first Wolverine Origins figure, Iceman!

The Wolverine Origins line is interesting because it's a Marvel Universe 3.75 inch scale compatible line, but done by a different set of designers and engineers over at the Hasbro team. What does this mean exactly? It means that sculpting, articulation and character selection between the two lines is different, but yet interchangeable.

Since the Marvel Universe line is dealing with a wide range of the Marvel brand, the Wolverine Origins line has stuck mostly to figures from the X-Men movies and comics. This figure is from the "comic series" of the Wolverine Origins, as opposed to the movie series with more movie inspired likenesses. I have to applaud Hasbro for finding a interesting way to get two similar lines on the shelves and to fool us collectors into buying multiple versions of characters.

Packaging:
The Wolverine Origins packaging far less impressive than it's Marvel Universe counterparts. With a realistic cartoon picture of Hugh Jackman as Wolverine on the front and a rather generic bubble. Interestingly though on the inside there are no twist ties or rubber bands holding the figure in.



On the back is a brief bio including a few pictures of other figures in the series. The words "COMIC SERIES" are clearly printed on the front so you know where this guy comes from. Inside is a little paper foldout telling of other Wolverine toys. I approve of this as it reminds me of the old Kenner product catalogs.



Overall though the packaging isn't nearly as sharp, interesting or eye catching as the Marvel Universe line.

Articulation:
The articulation on these figures is a bit different with a ball joint on the legs instead of a t-bar crotch. I'm not sure which I prefer but this is a little more like miniature Marvel Legends whereas Marvel Universe is more in line with GI Joe.



Iceman has a ball jointed neck (That can't look up!), ball jointed shoulders, ball jointed elbows, torso swivel/mini ab crunch, ball jointed legs, double knee joints and ball jointed ankles. It's interesting to see one line use more traditional cuts and joints and the other to use so many ball joints.



Iceman still ends up with a lot of movement, but some swivels on the arms as well as a more useable head joint would make all the difference in the world. Somewhere in between MU and WO is the perfect amount of articulation.

Sculpt:
This figure is naked. Iceman is just a big hunk of ice. It's hard to really say what's sculpted specifically for him and what's not. This could just be a translucent blue buck body. That said, it works REALLY well. The translucency has a slight sparkle speckle effect on it and it's probably the most "ice like" that an Iceman figure has ever been.


Marvel Superheroes, Dancing with the Stars!

Iceman is quite short, coming in just under the height of most MUs, but he still fits in well. I guess he's a short man? Maybe he melted an inch or two. Credit should be given as many times Iceman is relegated to being a blue Silver Surfer figure, but he borrows not a single part from his silver MU friend.



Paint wise he has two white dots for eyes. They look quite nice. Probably the easiest figure they've ever painted over in Communist China.

Accessories:
Mr. Ice gets a ice sled of sorts. See the character Iceman creates ice in front of him that he then skates over. The ice here looks quite good and has two pegs for his feet. Some have complained that the ice sled is too small, but Iceman isn't actually riding a board like Silver Surfer, he's just gliding across a small pathway, so I think it's the proper size. He's not building a sidewalk out of ice, he's just making rails.



Other then that he has nothing. He doesn't even get the filecards and other paper accessories that the Marvel Universe figures do.

Additional Notes:
This guy reminds me so much of the old Crystar figure. With a little paint and some customization you could have yourself a brand new fully articulated Crystar. How awesome would that be?! When you make one, please send it to me!



Value:
Just like Marvel Universe, these guys are right at $8. That's too much. Especially when you consider that the Wolverine Origins figures don't have the paper accessories. HOWEVER, many of the Wolvering Origins figures actually feature more weapons than their Marvel Universe counterparts. Sadly Iceman is not one of them.


Ice glow!

Score Recap:
Packaging - 6
Sculpting - 8
Articulation - 7
Accessories - Ice "sled"
Value - 6
Overall - 7.5 out of 10



Iceman is a really fun figure. He's in my view, probably the best Iceman figure ever produced. He's not a retread of previous figures and he looks really well. He's easy to get into fun poses and he makes a nice addition to the X-Men team. The price hurts and the head could move better, but he's still a lot of fun. Several Iceman figures are coming along in the Marvel Universe line so it should be interesting to see how they stack up to this Bobby Drake toy.