Disney Toybox Wolverine review

The Disney Toybox figure line, sold exclusively through Disney stores,  don't get enough love in my opinion. They're quite underrated as action figures go and only cost £10, so let's change all that, because it can't be all high-end, adult collectibles or else I'd go broke. The Toybox line breaks down into three main categories- Disney /Pixar characters, Star Wars, and Marvel. Now that Disney owns Fox, that means the X-Men are ripe for exploitation which results in the line getting it's first mutant, the old canknuckle head, Wolverine.

If the design looks familiar it could be  you're getting flashbacks to the "toys-to-life" (Skylanders clone) game, "Disney Infinity". We're talking cartoonish proportions (not entirely unlike the clone wars cartoon) and simplified details. Interestingly, this Wolverine is wearing is "Astonishing x-men" outfit, not his classic yellow and black get up, or the original yellow and brown. Merely an observation, could this be how Wolverine will look in future media? The design can be hit and miss with this line. It just doesn't suit some characters, but I'm happy to say the look works for him. The  broad shoulders and heavily muscled arms invoke the stocky build you often see in the comics.  However, the shoulder pad does have an odd gap near the torso, leaving an unsightly flesh tone gap on the shoulder. And you can't review a Wolverine toy without getting straight to the claws. Personally, I think the claws are a major factor in the quality of a Wolverine figure. You don't want overly soft plastic, leaving the figure with  warped claws, all bent out of shape, or equally as bad, the claws fused together like a giant comb. Surprisingly neither apply here. For a toyline aimed at children (Three years and over) the claws are really well made. Molded in a gunmetal colour with clean edges and points, they protrude nearly three quarters of an inch (the middle claw coming out a little further) by default- because this is where things get a bit confusing- and a shade over one inch once fully extended. Yes, fully extended even though the claws are already coming out of the hands. On the inside of each forearm is a slide switch that gives you that extra quarter of an inch claw extension, for some reason. So the claws are always out. Wouldn't this gimmick be better if the claws were stowed inside the forearms as standard and the slide made them come out of his knuckle implants? Granted, most people like to display their Wolverine with the claws out but it does look weird with him holding a weapon with the claws out. I feel that would of made the  the claws perfect, because they look great, but because of the gimmick there's no wrist articulation, which I would rather keep instead of having slightly longer claws when I felt like it.

Yeah, he's dangerous, but he makes great chips! 

The head sculpt is spot on with some nicely pronounced fins on his mask, narrowed eyes, square chin and a sneering top lip, which gives the face a good sense of  character- depending on how you position the head he could be angry, sarcastic, or even sniffing the air. The paint is mostly good, with only a little bit of overspill.
The detail on the rest of the body are of a decent quality but inconsistent- the yellow bands on the gloves and tiger striping on the torso are painted on, whereas the black accents on the boots are part of the sculpt, and there's a sculpted-in seemline down the legs for good measure. Also, thankfully, sculpted is the belt. It's nothing out of the ordinary, just a plain black belt, two gunmetal clasps and the classic X-logo buckle, but it's nice to see this not be a simple paint app, which makes the main body look samey and bland. That being said, check all the figures on the peg because the belt on mine  was glued on off-center because no one wants an emotionally damaged anti-hero with an unkempt uniform. Also, it should be noted the yellows are not very consistent. It doesn't look so much on my camera (feel free to buy me a DLSR) but the yellow of the legs and torso are paler shade than on the crotch piece is a mustard yellow.

Size comparison with Toybox Baymax

Size comparison with Toybox Poe Dameron

Size comparison with an old Burger King toy

If you've bought Toybox figures before, then you'll notice Wolverine's articulation is a slight departure. Instead of the usual swivel and pivot joint you normally get, the head is attached on a ball joint, allowing full rotation, it tilts up and down, and  to the side slightly. The arms rotate 360 degrees at the shoulder and can pivot out 90 degrees, as they do at the elbows. Due to the claw gimmick the usual wrist pivot is missing. The waist rotates a complete 360 degrees. The legs pivot 90 degrees forwards and outwards at the hip- these can sometimes be a little loose, but thankfully, they're quite tight and ratchet outwards. This can sometimes make trying to get the legs set just so a problem but with a figure that's top heavy you want solid hips. Both knees bend 90 degrees and can completely rotate where it's inserted into the upper leg. Both ankles rotate completely and can pivot slightly forward and back at the ankle. Not great foot movement but the big flat feet give the figure a solid base. Speaking of the joints, it should be noted that within the first day the paint on the shoulder, elbow and most notably the ankle joints started rubbing off. Something I haven't seen happen on a Toybox figure before so I don't know if this is an aberration or this Wolverine has to be treated with care, or keep some model paint on standby.

Toybox figures tend to be pretty good when it comes to accessories. But this is figure has raised to bar. You get a katana sword with its own sheath that can be worn across the chest. The sword itself is all well and good. It's painted silver (although mine had a slight black smudge on it) with extra silver detail along the handle and sheath, which is molded in  brown. I was expecting the strap to be a rubbery plastic, and it sort of is, but it's not like a rubber band. Rather so it's pre-shaped to fit diagonally across the chest in a specific way. It slips on easier if you remove the head. In theory this seems like a good idea, but because it is a tight fit and made to fit on the chest just so, I found the slightest bit of handling would cause the strap to dislodge. The sword fits into either hand just fine, but it's a tight fit. So far I haven't seen any paint wear but it's likely to happen if you keep inserting and removing it from the hand.

Also included is what may be a first for the Toybox line, hence the ball joint in the neck, is an alternate, unmasked head. It's great that this was included seeing as Wolverine is often seen with his mask off in the comics, and it's ok for what it is. I don't expect huge detail or movie star likenesses from a ten pound action figure, but it just doesn't look that good. Obvious nitpick out of the way, I like Wolverine's eye blue. I know that's a dumb criticism but that's my opinion on the matter. The actual face sculpt is no better or worse than any other I've seen in the line but the features are rather too young for my liking. I don't mean it should have painted-on stubble, but the way the hair and side burns have been sculpted, with little detail, just doesn't work. Plus it doesn't help that the face has almost no forehead. It's almost like he's wearing that no-quite-a-mask thing Gambit wears over his head but exposes his face. It's not terrible, but I felt it could of been done better as I've seen Toybox figures do better hair sculpts than this.

If you had hair like that, you'd be making that face too

Is it hair? Or a novelty bike helmet?

Finally you get a cowboy hat that sits on top of the unmasked head. It's almost like the designers knew the hair looked rubbish and threw this in as a last minute save, because it certainly does improve the unmasked head, making it more recognisable as an off-duty Logan. And the brim holds in the hand so do a "howdy ma'am" pose or have him taking his hat off before he beats up a sentinel (please make that, Disney). I would advise to always have the hat on if you want to display your Wolverine unmasked. It just looks so much better.

Now that face looks better

"Afternoon, Miss Jean"

I'm a bit of a fan of the Toybox line. They're easy to buy, they don't cost a lot (average price is £10), and they usually come with a cool accessory, and this Wolverine fulfils the above criteria. Paint wear aside, it's a fun little figure and pretty posable for something that costs 99 pence less than a Funko pop. And you can get some great poses if you have an action stand like the one I've used (tamashii stage act mechanics from Bandai). As a child's toy, my only concern is this figure probably wont take the rigours of being played with by a child younger than seven or eight- though officially it's ok for anyone over three years. And as a collectible- and this seems to be just with the marvel characters- is sometimes a marvel character gets made in their comic design, then the next one will come out based on their movie appearance so there's a lack of continuity if you're hoping to collect all the marvel figures. And, of course there's the extraneous claw gimmick which stops a good Wolverine figure becoming a great one. But I've seen worse Wolverines go for more. If you like the Toybox aesthetic, and don't mind the potential mish-mash of comic and movie designs then you have an easy to afford figure line. And if you have kids, you have a nifty alternative to the pricier Marvel legends figures with plenty of play value.

DRILLCLAW!

Coming soon: Marvel universe extreme darts league

Company: Disney
Price paid: £10
Bought from: Disney Store 
Age: 3+