Friday 21 June 2013

Marvel Vs Capcom Character Collecting

x-default
Hmm, so my recent Legends Adventures have inspired me to find a few more characters in my (generally) futile attempt to gather the cast of various Vs. Capcom games.  Slowly but surely I am getting a few characters together and now I am pleased to say that I have gathered the daddy of all awesomeness that shows up in the Vs. Capcom games.

You may have guessed, it’s The unstoppable Juggernaut.

Ever since I got my grubby little hands on X-Men: Children of the Atom (COTA) game for my Saturn (and subsequently got addicted to Street Fighter style games…) I have been impressed and scared of Juggernaut.  He was an absolute prick in COTA and would kick the crap out of me all the time.  He was HUGE! 

Now I have the Diamond Marvel Select toy of him.  Oh YEAH!

This game was my first meeting with old Juggy.  He looked like this when you got to fight him.

Juggame2juggame

As you can see, Juggernaut is frigging HUGE!  That’s how I want my Juggy to be compared to my other toys.  Can it be done?

Yes. Yes it can.  OH YEAH!

Diamond Select JuggernautDiamond Select JuggernautDiamond Select Juggernaut

This is a big package.  Like stupidly huge.  It’s so awesome!  It’s very heavy.  It has a peg hook, but to be completely honest, I think if you hung this on a peg, it would rip soon enough.  It has a little bio bit on the back, as well as an ‘other toys’ bit.  On the side is some pretty nice looking artwork.  I will say that I was not so impressed with the posing of the toys in the other figures section.  They are just standing around…  Looks a bit half arsed if you ask me.

When I pulled him out of the box, I was shocked at how heavy this guy was.  So I ran down to some scales I have nearby and weighed him!

Diamond Select Juggernautjuggernaut (2)

1.3 Kilograms!  HAWT DAMN!  That’s 3 pounds for our Imperial friends.

X-Force WolverineDiamond Select Juggernaut
That is a package shot next to my recently acquired Legends Wolverine.

Diamond Select JuggernautDiamond Select JuggernautDiamond Select JuggernautDiamond Select JuggernautDiamond Select Juggernaut
There is an alternate head version of this guy without his helmet as you can see in between boring costume Cyclops and rigid legs Deadpool.  I must admit the pose for Juggy on the back of his box isn’t all that impressive either.  Or the one of him in the package.  Anyway, let’s get a proper look at this sexy chunky hunky plastic.

juggernaut (12)juggernaut (14)Diamond Select Juggernaut

Holy Flapjacks.  That is one MASSIVE figure.  Veeery impressive.

The sculpt is sensational, so much detail on both the costume and his bands over his arms.  It looks like his costume is made of leather and some bronze metal.  The helmet is beautiful and even the skin details on his arms is pretty fine indeed.  The boots look great as well.  The smooth leather of the boots is cool as well.


The helmet looks great!  He appears to have a bit of frowning on the helmet.  I love the bolts on it and they have a bit of gold on the edges of each one.  The paint work is gorgeous and it totally looks like a massive big CHUNK of metal on his head!  Added to that is his face is actually sculpted UNDER the helmet as well and the detail is pretty impressive!  AND he has an articulated neck the allows him to look left and right!
Diamond Select JuggernautDiamond Select JuggernautDiamond Select Juggernautjuggernaut (45)Diamond Select JuggernautDiamond Select JuggernautDiamond Select Juggernaut
Eyes painted clearly, teeth, black gums, he truly looks like a horrible person underneath that helmet.  The helmet doesn’t come off though, which I am fine with.  I think that is why the un-helmeted version is less liked.  Juggernaut needs his helmet.  Incredible. 

More pics of the sculpt below.  While it is magnificent, the articulation is, understandably not as good as smaller figures.
Diamond Select JuggernautDiamond Select JuggernautDiamond Select JuggernautDiamond Select JuggernautDiamond Select JuggernautDiamond Select Juggernautjuggernaut (28)Diamond Select Juggernaut

He has lots of articulated joints.
  • Neck, bicep and thigh swivel.
  • Single jointed elbows and knees.
  • hinged ball joints at the shoulders and hips.
  • Diaphragm joint that could have been a forwards/backwards, but is hindered by the stomach sculpting.  It can twist though.  No waist.
  • He has the same joints in his ankles as he does for the shoulders', but they are almost ‘sideways.’  Allowing them to twist and pivot ide to side, but he is unable to point the toes up or down.

The articulation is a mixed bag.  It’s better than I expected, yet he is not as poseable as one would think.  That kind of stems from being such a large and heavy figure.  I can see why the feet are done the way they are, despite pointed toes being an important thing for a running figure.  Plus the hip joints are restricted a lot by the fat thighs, with the joint hidden within the hips and thighs in a way, it can be really hard to get the joint around to the area you need.  For example, you have to twist the ball piece around to allow forward movement, but the thigh then connects to his groin, blocking any lifting.

But then, with legs as heavy as his, it’s hard to get them to stay in place anyway as the figure is so heavy which is always going be a problem with figures this size.  The elbows are hindered by the muscles, but that is often the case with muscly toys.  You still get a good range of motion on the arms, but I would have really loved a wrist swivel and maybe something in the shoulders so you could angle his arms across his chest a bit so he could smash his fists together.
Diamond Select Juggernautjuggernaut (47)
The curious ankle joints that have a l-R pivot, but no up/down angling.  He doesn’t have any boot cuts either.  No biggy though, but a boot cut would have helped with the positioning of the foot.  In an odd sort of result, it is remarkably hard to get Juggernaut into a convincing charging pose.  This is not helped by his diaphragm cut that only allows twisting, not bending.

Apparently this toy was released on 26th January 2011.  Australia day no less!  I thought for some reason it was older than that, but oh well.  I think it might have been improved by using some soft plastic for his groin but even with his problems, it’s by no mean relegated to ‘statue’ status. 

Diamond Select JuggernautDiamond Select JuggernautDiamond Select Juggernautjuggernaut (33)

I have to admit, I love the trad on his boots, it just adds to the thug like nature of the character so much!

I keep going on and on about the sculpt, but it is truly amazing!  Just have a looks the bands around his arms and hands, they have scratched bits and it is painted just as well as the helmet.
juggernaut (30)Diamond Select JuggernautDiamond Select JuggernautDiamond Select JuggernautDiamond Select JuggernautDiamond Select Juggernaut

He also comes with a diorama piece as an added extra although it’s a little strange.  I can see why it isn’t something more spectacular, when taking into account the costs of making this guy, I suspect due to the amount of plastic in him, it all went into the figure, leaving little aside for fluffy extra pieces.  To be honest though, I would have been fine with it being left out.

Diamond Select JuggernautDiamond Select Juggernaut

It’s just a small bit of printed cardboard with a different image on either side.  It’s tiny when compared to Juggernaut (much like everything else).  At first I thought it might be small so it seems that this massive amount of devastation is what has been left in his wake, but on the right picture, at the bottom is a picture of a raven and it’s huge, so it must be close by.  I do like the texture on the plastic stand though.  I might have to use this piece for my Megablok X-Men rather than Juggy though.

Even though the diorama is a bit plain, he actually looks pretty damn good against the Legends X-men and Deluxe Transformers.

X-Force WolverineDiamond Select JuggernautX-Force WolverineX-Force WolverineDiamond Select Juggernaut

As you may have noticed I like this guy.  He is very photogenic.  A little big of camera angle change and he looks even bigger!


Diamond Select JuggernautDiamond Select JuggernautDiamond Select JuggernautDiamond Select Juggernaut

So to summarise this all up.  Juggernaut from Diamond toys in the Marvel Select range is not the most prefect of toys, but the lack of articulation in areas where you’d expect some (waist, wrists for example), making it just an averagely articulated figure is by no means a killer.  The size of the toy and the sculpting are the real winners and the articulation that is there is enough.  I am glad they included a bicep swivel, as that would have really brought it down if it wasn’t there and I can understand the challenges that the designers faced with the sheer bulk and load bearing areas.  The fact that you can get him standing on one foot and that his shoulders are strong enough to hold his massive arms out front alone is an impressive feat. 

Let’s face it, most people who get this toy are unlikely to ‘play’ with it.  He is most likely going to sit on a shelf behind Magneto looking menacing and believe me, he will do that well.  On that point though, if this was to be played with, I think that it would do the trick nicely.  When I was a kid, I played with worse toys than this that’s for sure and he is tough enough to be played with quite a bit as it is incredibly solid.  Just be aware that any disputes during play that result in one member being hit on the head with this toy will result in tears.  As an adult, I know I certainly wouldn’t want anyone smacking this thing anywhere on me, for a kid it would be quite painful.

It’s like a big, sexy, muscly rock!

So, in other words, if you like your Marvel toys, and want a big pretty much to scale Juggernaut, this is the one.  At only $20 it’s a steal!  (remember, normal Legends figures are $30 to me)  Just a shame I haven’t seen this locally anywhere really, but I believe comic shops often have the select range.  I rarely go to comic shops now, so I can’t really confirm…

On a bonus note, I did discover a sweet filter for images that makes them all dotty, like old comic books pages!  I used it for the title image and suspect I will certainly use it again!

Diamond Select Juggernautx-default

No comments:

Post a Comment

Comments under moderation until I find around this spam thing.