So, I don’t really do “Figure of the Year” stuff, but if I did, Mafex Gwenpool would very likely be my “Figure of the Year”. I can’t express how worried I was about this figure leading up tot he release. All of the previous Mafex figures I have picked up had some sort of issue, most often, arms or heads that don’t stay attached well. The sculpts on the figures are all great, but the quality is a little dodgy. I’ve mentioned before that as much as I like Mafex being cheaper than say, Figuarts, I wish they would accept a bump in cost if it meant they had better quality control. It seems like this is starting to be the case across the board, because I’ve noticed a bump in the price on their figures, but I have also noticed that the join tolerance issues are pretty much going away.
So onto Gwenpool. Some brief background on the character, who isn’t a Deadpool spin off or a really even a Gwen Stacy/Spiderverse character. Recently, Spider-Gwen has become a popular new character in Marvel comics. She’s essentially an alternate universe iteration of Spider-Man, where Gwen Stacy was bit by the spider instead of Peter Parker. At one point, Marvel did a series of parody covers as sort of a riff on Spider-Gwen, with Gwen Stacy as other heroes, like Thor, or the Avengers, or, Deadpool. The Deadpool version ended up being popular enough that it was made into it’s own parody comic, though Gwenpool is not Gwen Stacy as Deadpool, she is Gwendolyn Poole, a new character.
Confused yet?
So, anyway, Gwenpool, is supposed to be a normal comic fan person from “the real world” that was sucked into the Marvel Comics universe. She has no actual super powers aside from an encyclopedic knowledge of Marvel characters, all of their super powers, weaknesses, secret identities, etc. She uses this “ability” to sort of extort her way into becoming a mercenary in the Marvel Universe after getting some training from Captain America punching bag, Batroc the Leaper.
I mean, I already said it’s “Figure of the Year”, I’m not sure how much more praise I can give it than that. The previous Marvel Legends is… not great. It’s an ok toy, but the likeness is so off it’s may as well be a different character. The Marvel Legends went for a sort of realistic look that just comes across as being some sort of weird midlife crisis old woman or something, the Mafex absolutely captures the essence of the stylized Gwenpool look.
She includes a bunch of fun accessories. She has a pair of Katanas, two masked and one unmasked head with separate “hood down” part, a cell phone, and a couple of animal themed backpacks. She also has a bunch of alternative hand options. The handles on the Katanas in the back are also removable, which I mostly want to mention because mine were in very tight and I wasn’t sure they were. One more minor complaint,t he only “holding” hangs she has are made for her Katanas, so she can’t really hold any other weapons (guns) from other figures very well. She does tent to use other weapons at times. You can sort of balance other things in her open palm hands, but the effect isn’t real super great.
The poseability is very good as well. Between the joints and the alternative hands and heads, there is such a great range of action and emotion that can be expressed by this figure, which is great. It’s just a very fun design which translates over to a very fun figure.
I have some other minor complaints. The worst offense is that she really needed a second unmasked head (there is one coming with the upcoming Evil Gwenpool figure). Basically just the smiling mouth on the unmasked head. The unmasked head also had some iffy paint app choices, mostly on the mouth, though I’ve seen some light touch ups done by folks that really improved it. I also kind of hate that she can’t wear the animal backpacks and the sword backpack at the same time. Not a huge issue, but it would have been a nice addition.
I don’t have a lot to say about this figure, but it’s really a great figure. The only real problem with it is that there are some who really dislike Gwenpool as a character. Which is understandable, she is, by design, a little obnoxious. Her whole shtick isn’t really meant to be a serious world shattering story like other heroes. It’s pulling up F list nobodies like Batroc the Leaper and doing goofy stories with them.
(PS, Scooter not included, I just got it for her to use in the same order).
