Spiderman 3.75" Stretch Strike Venom

Hello, True Believers!

It's been a while since I reviewed a Marvel Universe figure.  I was planning a big one (Literally.  You'll see. ;P) for the next review I was gonna do from that line when Bam!--I spot this guy and a couple of his buddies sitting on the pegs at a local TRU (Vivocity, for the locals!)

At first I was a bit "meh" about it until the Rangerlord pointed out that the sculpt and paint looked pretty darn cool.  Moreover, the price was really ideal, even at S$11.90 retail.  So several "oohs" and "ahs" later, both the Rangerlord and I had bought one each.

If this figure was anything like the Rhino from a previous wave, we were in for a treat, especially since Venom looked to have knee and head articulation where Rhino didn't.

I have to admit though, I bought this figure because of the awesome looking accessory, which kinda reminded me of an old toy my brother and I used to play with when we were kids...

A word of warning: this post contains some rather mature (or immature, depending on how you look at it) content that requires to highlight over if you wanna read it.  I'll leave them in blocks of green. ;P)

Like: The fantastic sculpt!  Just look at all the tendrils of the evil black suit on the back and arms just dripping and writhing and dying to engulf anything that comes near it! Those areas and the thighs also looked amply veiny and just alien-like enough to creep you out.

The head is a three-piece affair, with the jaw glued onto the top portion of the head and the tongue glued into those two pieces.  The teeth, tongue (brilliant) and suit's "eyes" are also well sculpted.  I have to say I really like the double eye effect on this figure!

Like: The paint on the head.  Sure, it's not perfect, with some overlapping at the edges of the larger "eyes" but the red rims and whites on the smaller pair, as well as the teeth and metallic purple highlight on the top of Venom's head are very well done.  There's very little else painted on his body except the white spider, which is also crisp and neat.

Dislike: But the purple on the rest of the body is a little overdone is most areas and missing in others, methinks.  Venom would look a lot better with a less heavy-handed spray or better yet: no spray-on highlights at all.  As you an see from the back of his packaging, a jet black application looks a lot better.

Dislike: The lack of wrist and ankle articulation.  But I guess thems the pitfalls for a cheaper figure with less movable parts probably produced at a much cheaper cost.

Like: The wonderful dildo-like "Stretch Strike" accessory.  The nearer half is made of stiffer plastic and attaches to the right hand securely around the forearm and hand, with a couple of clips for the wrist.  It can go on the left hand as well but it's not as good a fit.

The further half of the stretch-thingie is made of a soft rubber which is bendable, like the soft parts of DCUC Clayface for those of you who have him.

Funnily enough, the soft part of Venom's appendage is the exact same colour and material as a this soft rubber penis my uncle bought for us from Thailand.  (Yes, go figure.)  It was the the exact size and shape of male genitalia but made of this black rubber.  It was also super soft and sticky.  How did it work?  Well, you know some of those tiny sticky rubber lizards/insects that you'd throw on glass and would fall end over end to the floor?  Yeah, the black rubber penis was exactly like that.  Except it worked on any smooth-surfaced wall. At first, it did its trick very well.  My brother and I had lots of laughs trying to surprise each other in the face with it and ducking out of the way for it to hit the walls.  But then it started to leave black trails on the white-painted surfaces.  It also started to smell funny.  Then one day, it just lost it's stickiness altogether.  That was the end of that.

The appendage is molded really well to look like black goo with the trademark Venom face at the end.  Despite the soft rubber there the face is very detailed, with teeth and a bump of a tongue.  A pity that it isn't painted.  But I suspect that they had no real way for the paint to stick for a sort of extended period of play so they left it be.

RATINGS

Aesthetics: 8.5/10 - Great texture and detail on the sculpt and a good paint job for the face.  The purple highlights on the body take away from this though, otherwise Venom would easily be a 9.

Poseability: 7/10 - Despite having only 13 points of articulation, Venom does have it where it counts.  His shoulders, elbows and knees are all relatively unhindered with the elbow hinges able to give him more than 90 degrees in bend.

Swivel/Hinge + Thigh Swivel = Nice and tight joints

The head is mounted on a ball-joint that points forward from his neck rather than up.  So while he tilts fine, looking left and right requires more of a tilt of the head sideways rather than a turn.

Nice lengthy elbow hinge. :)

Also, a lack of a torso hinge gives him a permanent hunched-over look and lacking that, a waist swivel would have done Venom a world of good.

Fun: 7.5/10 - It's hard not to have fun with a Spidey villain as big a Venom (pun intended).  The chunkier figures are always great to play with and have great stability, while the popularity of the character makes him exciting to have alongside Spidey, whether it's in your playbox or in the display cabinet.

And how fun is that accessory?  Lol.  Other than the nostalgia for me, the play/pose value is really great too!

Okay, so I couldn;t green this out...

Value: 8/10 - Undeniably great at the S$11.90 price point.  Specially sculpted parts, great paint, and a unique accessory make Stretch Strike Venom value for money.

Overall: 7.75/10 - A good figure all-round with some minor flaws.  I snagged this guy because there isn't yet a Venom in the Marvel Universe line.  Just like Rhino, Hasbro seem to be saving some of the best Spidey villains for their Spiderman line.

Until I had them side-by-side, I didn't know Rhino was larger!

Hopefully they'll release a Venom in the future some time soon.  And if they do, it'll be hard to beat the sculpt this guy has.  Should they achieve that and give him at least standard MU articulation, that would be the Venom to get.  But until then, Stretch Strike Venom and his strikingly stretchy appendage will do more than just fine!  Excelsior!