It's been more than three years since the last female Titan Hero Series figure (Shuri from Black Panther). I was excited at the prospect of a Yelena figure from Thunderbolts, but I'm guessing now those images circulating the internet were fake. I have a feeling with the dawn of AI there are going to be a lot more fake figure rumors I will be gullibly falling for. An updated Spider-Gwen for 2026 was not something I expected. I was pretty happy with the original release (from 2018's Into the Spider-Verse movie), but she wasn't a perfect figure. She has a very thin body and limited articulation. I didn't realize all the improvements in this 2026 version until I got her in-hand. She has added articulation in her knees and elbows, her whites are brighter and her pinks are bolder, and most importantly she now has a more realistic torso. The narrow chest on the older figures always looked a little off. I hope this is the start of a whole new era of Titan Hero Series. I'm hoping for many more. Let's check out Ghost-Spider below!
UNITING ALL WOMEN OF PLASTIC
Showing posts with label Spider-Man. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Spider-Man. Show all posts
Saturday, January 31, 2026
Titan Hero Series - GHOST-SPIDER!
Friday, January 30, 2026
ActionVerse - GHOST-SPIDER!
It was quite a surprise to see solicitations in late 2025 advertising a new Hasbro Basic Series from Hasbro called ActionVerse. The details were scant, and I assumed (along with most everyone else) that these figures were just an upgraded Epic Hero Series with added articulation and more accessories. But when I found them at Target a few weeks later in early January, I was shocked to see these were at a noticeably larger scale (more in the 4.5"-5" range) and had a completely different feel than the 3.75" Epic figures. They've already released Star Wars and Avengers ActionVerse figures so I think we can assume this is the new Hasbro evergreen format for the foreseeable future. I'm expecting that we'll see a Black Widow and an Ahsoka Tano before too long. They just seem like the obvious female choices for the Stars Wars and Avengers lines. I just hope they still release the occasional Epic Hero Series figures because I really dig that scale as well. Let's check out the ActionVerse Ghost-Spider below!
Wednesday, December 31, 2025
Be@rbricks - SPIDER-WOMEN!
Be@rbricks are a 2001 spin-off of Medicom Toy's popular Kubrick line. The standard Be@rbrick figures are 7cm tall and feature a generic anthropomorphic bear sculpt with a potbelly and ears in a block-figure style. I find the combination of this default sculpt overlayed with recognizable character designs to be fun and quirky. The concept has been duplicated often, notably with Disney's 2008 Vinylmation line, but I find the original Be@rbricks to be the most appealing. Twenty-five years into the line, and the character selection is predictably daunting. Luckily I always narrow my focus my to superheroes which makes the hunt a lot more reasonable. Recently I discovered that a Spider-Man wave was released in 2022 with a variety of Spider-Ladies. They were pretty easy and inexpensive to pick up on eBay, but now I'm inspired to pick up others like DC and MCU. I suspect I will have a large assortment of these odd little bears by this time next year. But in the meantime, let's check out the Spider-Ladies below!
Wednesday, October 1, 2025
POP Funko - HALLOW'S EVE!
I'm a spineless weakling. I broke my Funko Pop collecting parameters by picking up a modern character. I typically try to limit all my Pops to nostalgic Comic, Movie, and TV characters from my 1980's youth. But I have a strong fondness for Halloween and this time two years ago I fell head over heels for the new Spider-Man villain, Hallow's Eve. So when I saw this Pop in Gamestop last week, I couldn't resist. Hallow's Eve is a longtime civilian character in the Spider-Man universe. Janine Godbe was simply Ben Reilly's love interest for nearly 30 years of comics before she was swept up in a storyline involving Limbo and the Goblin Queen, and emerged as Hallow's Eve. I would describe her as a sympathetic villain and a great lead character. She has a bag of cursed masks that imbue her with the traits of that mask character, often with corruptive effects. Her stories are a lot of fun and I can't wait to start re-reading her TPB tonight, it's my annual October tradition. Let's check out Hallow's Eve below!
Tuesday, March 18, 2025
Epic Hero Series - GHOST-SPIDER!
With all the popularity Gwen Stacy has garnered in comics, television, and film in the past ten years, it's surprising that this is the first 3.75 figure she's received. She's been around for the Marvel Universe (2009-2015), Marvel Legends 3.75" (2016-2017), and Marvel Legends Retro (2021-2023) lines. But it took until the current Epic Hero Series (2023-Present) to finally get a figure of her in this classic scale. Considering my Spider-Gwen shelf now dwarfs all the other Spider-Ladies combined, this is very unexpected. I first saw unpainted prototypes of this figure last month when she showed up in eBay searches. I was excited and expected her to show up in some big multipack next Christmas season. But to my amazement, I picked her up at my (worst) Walmart last week in a single pack for $7.84. I love a quick turnaround, especially with a character I love. Now I secretly hope she gets a million zany variants like the rest of the Epic line characters. Let's check out Ghost-Spider below!
Sunday, January 19, 2025
Spidey and His Amazing Friends - GHOSTASAURUS!
In the August 2024 episode of Spidey and His Amazing Friends titled "Go Dino-Webs Go!", the main three heroes, Spidey (Peter), Ghost-Spider (Gwen), and Spin (Miles) are given Dino-Web suits by their new shape-changing friend, Reptil. These suits each have green crystal spider logos on the chest, and when the heroes press that crystal they can transform into a dinosaur. Spidey becomes a T-Rex, Spin becomes a Stegosaurus, and Ghost-Spider becomes this awesome Pterodactyl. This is all done to combat the Green Goblin who is terrorizing the countryside in a giant mechanical Tyrannosaurus Rex. I really dig anthropomorphic dino characters in general, but when I saw this Ghostasaurus figure, she reminded me of the female Archaeopteryx Teryx from Dino-Saucers with her color scheme and wings (a sentiment I also had for Gormiti's Jessica). But this toy is very cool in its own right. Spider-Gwen's costume design would look awesome on anything though. Let's check out Ghostasaurus below!
Saturday, November 16, 2024
POP Funko - SPINNERET!
I've been collecting toys for a long time and sometimes I get cocky thinking I can predict release and distribution patterns. But I'm often wrong. When this Spinneret Funko Pop was announced last year, I knew I had to get her. I've slowed down my Pop purchases a lot, but Bat-Family and Spider-Family females will always have a place on my shelf. The problem was that this was an online exclusive, and I am very picky about paint, especially with Spider-characters where web patterns tend to get sloppy (I had to order eight Spider-Woman Pops back in 2018 before I got a good one). But Spinneret was exclusive to Entertainment Earth, which I've noticed has a relationship with both FYE and Go! Calendars and Games, where you can almost always find EE exclusives (in limited quantities) in person. So I waited. And waited. Eventually she sold out on the EE website and eBay images were annoyingly all solicit renders. I thought I was screwed. But luckily I found a ton of her from vendors at NY Comic Con 2024.
Friday, November 1, 2024
POP Funko - SCREAM!
Ever since the first Venom movie came out in 2018, I have been hoping for Scream to hit the silver screen. There was a cameo tease of a yellow symbiote specimen, but it seems like it just wasn't meant to be. However, 2023 saw the release of Spider-Man 2 by Insomniac Games for Playstation which featured Scream in a pretty prominent role. This wasn't her first appearance in a video game (in fact, I believe it's the sixth), but this was the first significant boss fight appearance. significant enough to inspire merchandise. This design of Scream is slightly altered from her traditional Donna Diego look. Most notably, her face and hair are now a deep ruddy color (as opposed to the black face with bold streaks of yellow in her hair). At first, I didn't like the change, but it quickly grew on me. And I like that the symbiote looks different when bonded with different hosts (the video game features a new host for Scream). I'm hoping her newfound fame inspires a new Legends figure. But in the meantime, check out her Funko Pop below!
Monday, May 6, 2024
Marvel Legends 3.75" Retro - SPIDER-WOMAN!
I've been delaying making a post about this figure because I find it so depressing that this was the final release in the amazing Marvel Legends Retro line. It was a short-lived line from 2021-2023 but managed to give up nine awesome female figures, all in a nostalgic "Secret-Wars-esque" style with costume and character choices specific to the late-70s-to-early-80s era. In my mind, Dazzler, She-Hulk, and Mystique would have been among the obvious next releases. But even if we would be destined to only get repaints, Julia Carpenter, White Elektra, and Mary Jane Watson (from Black Widow?) would have been welcome additions. I just saw so much potential in this line and was so sad to see it unceremoniously come to an early end (or "pause"). But luckily the final two figures, Firestar and this Jessica Drew Spider-Woman, were my most wanted figures, and they are pretty perfect. Few characters embody the Marvel gender revolution of this era like Spider-Woman. Let's check out Jessica below!
Tuesday, March 12, 2024
Spidey and His Amazing Friends - GHOST-SPIDER!
I've had this figure for years, photographed and everything, but am only getting around to posting her now. Back in 2021/2022 the new Spidey and his Amazing Friends show on Disney+ was a hit and merchandise was everywhere. A big trend in preschool toys at the time was jumbo figures of the most popular lines. Imaginext XL, Marvel Superhero Adventures, Power Rangers, and XL P.J. Masks figures could be found sporadically popping up in the toy aisles (the distribution was never consistent). And in the mix were these 9" Spidey super-sized figures. Getting Gwen was a no-brainer for me, but once I got her home and photographed her, I was already on the hunt for the 2.5" mini-figure (which I thought I would find any day) and I wanted to post them all together - and only two short years later my plans finally came together. Coincidentally these figures are showing up in stores again recently, re-issued with new packaging. But seemingly without Gwen. So the timing of this post of actually pretty perfect.
Monday, March 11, 2024
Spidey and His Amazing Friends - GHOST-SPIDER!
Back in 2022 I was going crazy checking all my discount store chains for a few important toys. The Transformers Authentics Arcee and the G.I.Joe Basic Series Baroness were being found at stores like Family Dollar and Dollar General and I was on the hunt. I remember spending one rainy day on vacation driving up the coast and hitting close to a dozen of these stores obsessively looking for these elusive toys. (Spoiler: I eventually found them months later at FiveBelow). But in the process of hunting I discovered this discount line from Spidey and his Amazing Friends (the popular new preschool show on Disney+) featuring mini figures of the two main male heroes paired with a motorcycle. I eventually googled them and saw a Gwen figure in the mix, but only on Australian websites. Finding her became an obsession. She's rather unimpressive. She's unarticulated and sloppily painted, but I stayed vigilant and finally found her two years later in one of those same Dollar Generals. Let's check out Gwen below!
Friday, March 8, 2024
Disney Power Icons - GHOST-SPIDER!
I've been waiting for a female character in the Marvel Power Icons since they first started showing up in Disney Stores years ago. I know Marvel is inundated with A-List male characters so I usually don't get my hopes up too high for a female character early in the line. But that patience paid off because Ghost-Spider was finally released this past Fall and she's pretty great. The Power Icons line features well-articulated figures in a 9-10" scale with electronic features. Ghost-Spider has light-up eyes and a talking feature. And while not officially branded for the Spider-Verse movies, Gwen comes with a small unarticulated animation-style Spider-Ham attached to her (removable) backpack. Since Disney Stores are few and far between these days, the ShopDisney webstore is your best bet to get her (currently clearanced). The line seems to have slowed down significantly, but I would hope to see a Black Widow and Captain Marvel before the end. Fingers Crossed! Let's check out Ghost-Spider below!
Sunday, February 25, 2024
Spidey and His Amazing Friends - BLACK CAT!
I'm very happy to see that Spidey and His Amazing Friends is still going strong since its Disney+ debut in 2021. The Spider-Man universe is fun and colorful with a diverse roster of characters that lends itself nicely to preschool programming. It's no surprise that the young audiences have embraced the show. As a collector, I've always been a fan of preschool toy properties. Action figures geared towards young kids existed in my youth, but they were scarce and nothing like we see today. My excitement over Imaginext (and the lack of collector-level content online) was a major inspiration for this webpage. Marvel has made several attempts to tap into the preschool market over the years (Marvel Superhero Squad and Marvel Superhero Adventures notably), but this Spidey line seems to have more momentum. This Black Cat is already the 6th female figure in the line, which is a rarity in a genre still plagued by the single-token-female trope). Plus I suspect there will be more. Let's check out Black Cat below!
Sunday, November 26, 2023
Marvel Legends - MANIA!
I always wanted a female version of Venom, but I never loved the 90s Bride of Venom figure. When I became aware of Mania in Venom #40 (2013), I thought she was perfect. The Mania symbiote was introduced nine years earlier as a clone made from a piece of Venom's tongue. By 2013 she had found her newest host, Andrea (Andi) Benton, and became a very buzzworthy character. Andi as Mania was young, punky, had a cool look, and best of all she was based in my city of Philadelphia. Besides an amusing interlude of Cyclops eating a cheesesteak a few years ago, this Venom storyline and modern Shazam books are the only mainstream superhero comics I know that is based here. In 2014 when the Anya Corazon Spider-Girl figure came out, I bought a second with intentions to modify her into Mania. Those plans never materialized, but she's always been on my wishlist. It's exciting to finally see her in plastic all these years later. And the execution of this character is perfect. Let's check out Mania below!
Saturday, August 19, 2023
Marvel Legends Vintage - SPIDER-WOMAN!
In the 2013-2015 timeframe, Hasbro's Marvel Legends line made some major advancements in the quality of their female figures. Prior to this, the females were all rather unfortunate-looking. They had spindly limbs and waists, with oversized heads and hands, and had an overall spider-like appearance. But then the Moonstone (2013) figure unveiled a new female sculpt and the awkward phase was over. One of the best early uses of the buck was a classic Jessica Drew Spider-Woman. So flash forward 8 years and I'm excited to see this modern redeco of the same wonderful sculpt and it brings back lots of great memories. Jessica Drew began wearing this costume in the 2020 reboot of Spider-Woman (technically volume 7), and wore it for about ten issues before reverting to her classic red. It was a brief blip in the grand scheme of things, but is easily my favorite Jessica variation and was definitely deserving of a figure (and a fun chance to see this sculpt again). Let's check out Spider-Woman below!
Thursday, August 10, 2023
Marvel Legends - SPIDER-WOMAN!
When we got the first modern Julia Carpenter Spider-Woman Marvel Legends figure back in 2019, I was very happy. I thought it was the best Spider-Lady figure in the line so far. But at the same time I had a hunch we would see another release of her before too long. My prediction was only partially right because I assumed we would see a purple repaint from the 1994 Iron Man animated series. But I should have guessed that a "first appearance" design was an even more likely option. The Julia Carpenter version of Spider-Woman first appeared in Secret Wars #7 (1984) wearing stark black and white spider outfit that was instantly iconic (and soon plagiarized by Peter Parker himself). By the early 90s she had joined The West Coast Avengers and become a staple character. Her popularity may boom next year due to her role in the upcoming Madame Web (2024) film played by Sydney Sweeney, so I guess an updated Julia figure was inevitable. She looks great. Lets check out Spider-Woman below!
Tuesday, July 18, 2023
Spidey and His Amazing Friends - ELECTRO!
With SDCC 2023 starting to roll out toy news in just a few hours, I thought I would do a quick review of a fun little figure I learned about at last year's show, the Spidey and His Amazing Friends Electro from Disney Jr and Hasbro. I still haven't really watched this show, but they toys seem really fun and they've had a pretty prominent place in the toy aisles of Target and Wal-Mart for nearly two years now. This is the type of toy line that I expect to last for a while and continually release slightly tweaked versions of the main characters. But whenever there is a recipe like that, there is usually the occasional new villain or supporting character added to the mix. In last year's case, that was Francine Frye as Electro. I always thought the female versions of the Sinister Six characters were very cool, but never got their chance to shine, so I'm glad Francine is being introduced to the younger generations early. I hope we get a peek at some new characters soon (Black Cat and Wasp please!). Let's check out Electro below!
Thursday, June 15, 2023
Marvel Legends - JESSICA DREW!
I saw a Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse on its final day of IMAX last Wednesday. This movie season has been tight with a new blockbuster every week keeping the IMAX schedule short. Anyway, a friend offered me a last minute ticket and I jumped at the chance. I liked everything about it, but one of my favorite things was the reimagining of Jessica Drew. I'm a bit of a purist when it comes to my female super-heroes, so I'm surprised I liked her so much. Not much is different from the 2015-2016 comic Jessica Drew aside from her race and personality. That version of Jessica was pregnant, wore a utilitarian suit with yellow googles, and rode a motorcycle. So the distinguishing characteristic in the movie version was mainly her race. I may be the only person with this idea, but my first thought was that she was a subtle nod to Valerie from the Electric Company Super Spidey Stories. Of course my second thought was that I would never think that if there was more diversity in the Spider world.
Wednesday, November 30, 2022
Marvel Legends - AGONY!
Yet again (and in a very short timeframe) Hasbro has given me another of my most-wanted Marvel Legends figures. There has always been something special about Marvel's symbiote mythos. The dialogue between alien and host is a dynamic and original storytelling technique that only works in comic form. In 1993, in the pages of Venom: Lethal Protector, there were five new symbiotes introduced as experimental super-soldiers from the dubious Life Foundation - they were all spawns of Venom and in an unexpected twist for the time, two of the five were female: Scream and Agony. But for some reason all the merchandising ignored Agony. Scream got a ToyBiz figure in 1996, a Mini-Mate, a Heroclix, a Funko Pop, a Nano Metal, and even a Legends figure in 2018. I truly never thought there would be an Agony action figure in my collection, but I couldn't be happier with the results. I'm also happy that this Amazon exclusive three-pack came with Riot and a great new Venom. Let's check out Agony below!
Sunday, September 11, 2022
Marvel Legends - SILK!
When I think about all the characters that haven't been included in the Marvel Legends line yet, I get baffled over a relatively new character getting a third figure in six short years. I love Cindy Moon. She is a great addition to the Spider-Verse that I wholeheartedly support. But when I saw this two-pack shown in a Hasbro livestream earlier this year, I quickly judged her inclusion as a waste of a slot. I have a wishlist of spider-ladies a mile long, and I already have two perfect Silk figures. Of course I pre-ordered her anyway. And in the time since, I've really come to enjoy the modern Silk comic series and also appreciate her new haircut. So I slowly came around to the idea getting a third figure representing her (slightly) updated appearance. What I wasn't expecting was the most gorgeous headsculpt I have ever seen. And that's saying a lot. She has an amazing smirk, a subtly dynamic hairsculpt, and captivating eyes. I would really be kicking myself if I hadn't purchased this one. Let's check out Silk below!
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