Stan Lee begat the Marvel Universe which begat the Fantastic Four which begat the Silver Surfer which begat
a movie sequel which begat this re-release of the Series 5 Toybiz Surfer.  He is a Wal-Mart exclusive so stop tearing apart your local Target looking for one.

PACKAGING: 
The packaging is quite good as far as mass market items
go.  The window shows off the figure well.  It seems a
little too big considering the size of the figure.  But
the graphics and overall look definitely will attract
people to pick him up.   SCORE: 4 out of 5

EASE OF ESCAPE:
Now I am not by any means a "keep it in the package" guy.  But the design is very collector friendly.  The box opens
easily and the tray slides out.  The best thing is there is not
a twist tie to be seen.  The guy can be easily popped out
of the form fitted plastic cradle.  I am glad that there is
a big push in the industry for this.  It not only allows a collector to play with a figure a bit and place him back
in the box, but it helps guys like me who just want the
darn thing free of its cardboard and blister pack cage. 
SCORE: 5 out of 5

SCULPT:
This is not a definite re-release of the Series 5 Surfer. The shins and feet are from the SMC Daredevil.  As such the figure is a touch taller.  Is that why they did this?  Nope, it was because they did away with the magnetic board.  We are left with the old standby of pegs in the board and giant holes in the feet.  Still the sculpt wasn't bad in the first place.  Kind of hard to mess up a character with no real detail to him.  The only problem is that the face still is so alien looking.  Sure this might match how he looked in his first appearance, but in this day and age he just looks like a naked silver guy in an alien mask.
SCORE: 4 out of 5

ARTICULATION:  
The area that most all Marvel Legend figures shine
is their ability to strike all those crazy poses we
see characters make in the comics.  As you can
see in the diagram on the left, he has your standard 30 plus level of articulation we have come to expect in the least from Marvel Legends.  Double knees
and elbows that for some reason DC figure makers are scared of replicating.  Ball jointed shoulders
and hips (also feared by DC character designers) These joints are the reason behind the success of Marvel Legends, not only as fun to play with toys
but as effective custom fodder.  Here's hoping
that Hasbro will keep looking into Toybiz's
past to help with the line's future. 
  SCORE: 4.5 out of 5

PAINT:
Again a simple figure where the hardest thing for the paint apps was to get an even coat and to paint his eyes white.  Thankfully paint was added which I was concerned for as Hasbro has seemed to skip painting their figures and just cast the plastic in the color they wanted.  The silver effect is nice and he is quite shiny, much better than the series 5 original issue which was burdened with an odd blue wash. 

However all is not rosy in the garden of his 
streaking silveriness.  For one most of the ball joints have paint flaking issues.  The underlaying plastic
is a close grey so you'll only notice if you are really
one of those close eye to details kind of person.  Unfortunately, I am.  The Silver Anniversary
Wolverine did a much better job with an all silver paint.  He is shinier by far and there is no paint
rub issues.  Close but no cosmic cigar. 
SCORE: 4 out of 5 

SCALE:
So how does he match up next to other characters.  Not surprisingly, great.  He is right about the size he should be.  Not too bulky, not too tall.  This isn't really a problem with Marvel Legends figures so I'm not surprised.  Especially since he is a re-release and not an entirely new sculpt.  He'll fit in with everybody on your shelves, except Galactus.  But who expects anybody to construct an 8 foot tall Galactus figure like he would need to be to fit in the basic 1:12th scale. 

CUSTOMING OPTIONS:
This guy was the go to fodder body back in the day.  And not much has really changed.  He has nothing to sand off and no crazy details to worry about.  Heck he even is all one color so no need to prime him when repainting. 

When this guy hits the clearance aisle definitely stock up. 

POSING:
The original Series 5 guy had a horrible time with weak joints that didn't hold poses well.  This time around the plastic is sturdy, the joints hold well.  The biggest problem is getting him to stand well on his board now that he has to balance with at least one perfectly flat foot. 

FINAL THOUGHTS:

Definitely an improvement over the original figure.  The only major gripe many will have is the loss of the magnetic feet.  But with better paint and sturdier joints I'm betting many will be willing to update their surfer. 

Those of you who never got a chance to grab the original should definately get him.  He's not only cheaper and has a better package, but he doesn't come packaged with Howard the Duck. 

Kids will have fun with this guy, he was definitely the scene stealer of the FF2 movie.  Collectors will like the friendly packaging and giant viewing window.  Fans will be happy to have a better looking Surfer to pose next to their Fantastic Four characters.  Customizers will love his "no-fuss" fodder options as there is nothing to dremel away. 

FINAL SCORE
(not an average)

4 out of 5

July 3, 2007