Storm

Series: X-Men; Giant Size X-Men Box Set
Availability: 1995
Comments: Giant Size X-Men #1 was a 1975 comic where Professor X had to throw together an All New! team of X-Men to save the original X-Men from a mutant island. In 1995 Toy Biz released a box set of figures to commemorate the 20th anniversary of this issue’s release. This Storm figure was included in this box set. Also included in this set are Nightcrawler, Banshee, Thunderbird, Colossus and Banshee.  The set as a whole is awesome, and provides an example of how good ToyBiz’s releases could be.

I cannot say enough good things about Storm.  This is one of my all-time favorite figures.  Her sculpt is fantastic.  The cape is fantastic.  The stability of the figure is fantastic…even in her heels.  The only small nit I have is that the “bracelets” where the cape connect to the wrists are awfully large, but really…in this scale that’s easily overlooked.  All in all, an A+ figure.

Cyclops

Series: Superhero Squad
Release Date: 2006
Comments: Stylized, kid friendly, figures of our favorite characters are nothing new.  No longer limited to just Star Wars figures, these cute little guys have spread to the Marvel Universe, DC Universe, GI Joe and show no signs of stopping.

Included in a 2-pack with Magneto, Cyclops was one of the early Superhero Squad releases.  However, this really isn’t apparent as the line hasn’t changed much.  Cyclops is fairly well sculpted, features nice bright paint apps, and the average level of articulation.  The picture really covers everything, if this is the sort of thing you like, then you may want to dig one up.

Cyclops

Series: X-Men vs. Street Fighter
Release Date: 1998
Comments:  In 1996 Capcom released the arcade version of ‘X-Men vs. Street Fighter’ taking characters from MARVEL’s merry band of mutants and pitting them against their own.  The game proved to be popular enough (though I preferred Marvel Super Heroes myself) to convince ToyBiz to release a series of X-Men vs. Street Fighter 2-packs, one character per universe for each pack.

Cyclops’ partner in the 2-pack was M. Bison, who was sold off about 2 weeks after getting the set.  This Cyclops figure was, hands down, the best ToyBiz Jim Lee Cyclops released.  My only criticism is that the soft-goods coat is a little bulky, but ToyBiz gets points for game accuracy for including the jacket.  An A+ figure!

Nightcrawler – Giant Size X-Men #1

Series: X-Men; Giant Size X-Men Box Set
Availability: 1995
Comments: Giant Size X-Men #1 was a 1975 comic where Professor X had to throw together an All New! team of X-Men to save the original X-Men from a mutant island. In 1995 Toy Biz released a box set of figures to commemorate the 20th anniversary of this issue’s release. This Nightcrawler figure was included in this box set. Also included in this set are Storm, Banshee, Thunderbird, Colossus and Banshee.  The set as a whole is awesome, and provides an example of how good ToyBiz’s releases could be. 

As a figure, Nightcrawler is pretty cool.  Not only does he have better than average articulation for his time, he also has a bendy tail.  There’s not much to critique really, the figure looks like Nightcrawler and has a bendy tail.  What more could someone want?