Back Road Brawls 3.75" style

Well, after finally getting past the fun of the (cardboard) forest from the Toys 'R' Us Back Road Brawl Wolverine and Sabertooth 3.75 inch 2-pack, I managed to snap some photos of the figures!

I guess what really appeals to me about this line is the size of the figures and how easy it is to take them all out and pose 'em together in a mass brawl or in single combat. Usually what works best is if you have one or 2 big guys like Hulk or a tight-jointed Thing that can be the dude everyone is beating up on (or trying to) so that all the other little guys can balance on/hang on to/be held up by him/her. And a big figure is always good for breaking up the uniform-ness of figs being the same size.

Well, Back Road Brawl give you not one but two of these figures!

You get a tall, comic book costume Sabertooth and a short Logan of correct height when side by side with other figures from this line.

Now I don't own any other Wolvies (except brown and orange comic costume Logan) so I can't speak from first hand experience, but I hear that some of the Wolverine figures from the movie line are too tall. Could be an error on Hasbro's part, or it could just be that they wanted to make a movie accurate and hence Hugh Jackman height Wolverine (Mr H. Jackman is of course over 6' tall). And as any Wolvie fan would know, Logan in the comics towers over hobbits, gnomes, and other such woodland folk at over 5 feet and a bit or thereabouts.

Anyhow, this Marlboro Man Wolverine and the one I already own are (fortunately for me) of the same height and in proportion with the rest of our little heroes and villains!

His hat makes him a little taller as you can see here and unfortunately, it can't be removed. Also his hair and chops are cool, but they restrict him to looking down mostly, though he's ok looking side to side.

I would've also preferred if he had metal claws instead of bone ones. But that'll be easily remedied with some mithril silver paint. His jacket is removeable, but his armes have the sleeves molded on, so he looks quite silly with it off: black sleeves, wife-beater singlet, and jeans. Oh yeah and his jeans are nice, but the hems prevent him from pivoting his feet.

Sabertooth, while tall, is nicely proportionate to large figures like Hulk. And while he's bigger than the likes of any other 3.75" guys, is not overly bulky.















What I really love about him is the slightly shiny paint they used on this guy--makes his costume a little more unique and breaks the flat colours of most of the other figures. And just how awesome is his mane and face? Check out the detailed the washing of his hair and chops as well!












Oh, and there's also one other item they come with--the X-Cycle/X-Bike/X-cessory vehicle! Wolvie would be none too pleased if I didn't feature him posing with his prized steal from Cyclops in X-Men 3.


(Yes, more Marlboro Man imagery)

The bike does have some manoeuverability in the front wheels and handle bars that 3.75" figures can hold onto nicely. It also has a stand, which is really important when you need to stand it up wihout a rider (Duh, what else would it be for. Lol). It's also got a really nicely detailed engine and a great silvery paint job.

The down side is the X-men logos that are painted on it. Not so much the tiny ones on the rear, but rather the large one on the body that thakfully is hard to see from any angle but the top, and that mostly when there's no rider.










Well then, let's rate Back Road Sabby and Wolvie!

Aesthetics: Sabertooth is too darn pretty! Well, if you get by the snarl-iness and ferocity of his evil predatory grin. The paint on him is also simply excellent and Hasbro could've painted and washed his hair the same shade but they didn't! And just look at those eyes and teeth! All the better to eat you with. ;P -- 9.8 for Sabby!




I'm less impressed with Wolverine. His body, legs, and feet are the same as the singlet and jeans movie version of him. But he's got a nicely molded new head, with brilliantly painted eyes, and arms with rolled up jacket sleeves. The removeable jacket/vest is nice and the gaps at the armpits/shoulders are not too obvious. -- 9 for Wolvie.




Poseability: Sabbycat has a ball-jointed head, ball-jointed chest, ball-swivel shoulders, elbows, wrists; ball-hinge legs/hips, double-joint knees, and pin-swivel ankles.

That's 22 points of ariculation in all. I always like greater articulation in the legs because they're vital to a figure looking action packed or stiif as board. Sabby is awesome in this department. -- 9.8.

Wolvie's got the same number of POAs, but he can't look up. His ankles too are such a waste considering how flexible the rest of his leg is. -- Still, a solid 9.


Fun: Boy are these guys fun when they come together! They've got a nice bike to toss around and a lush, tranquil background to pose/play against.

Too bad Logan's hat isn't removeable and they didn't throw in acouple of logs. Hey, they gave single packed Sabertooh not one but 2, yes TWO logs! :P -- 9.5

Value: Right now, a big, fat 10! At S$12 a pop at TRU you can't go wrong. That works out to S$6 a figure AND you get a large X-cessory in the X-Cycle, AND you get lush, green forest (smells not included)!!! 10/10! I can't say it enough: 10!!!!!!!!!!

Overall: Sabbytooth Kitty -- 9.78, Wolfie-reen -- 9.38. Get it now while you can! TRUs here in Singapore may be overstocked with them, but there's no telling when the scalpers might come along and buy em out, only to sell 'em at China Square Central for a boosted price.