Intro:
Truth
be told, I was not really a huge fan of Rhino. I admit, although he might be a
tough guy, and was featured prominently and frequent in the Spiderman series,
he was still just a simple thug.
I
do have a certain problem with Marvel, as they tend to portray a lot of their
Class 100 villains as simple minded thugs – the same could be said about
Juggernaut in the early beginnings. However, as these characters began to gain
popularities, their character depths were deepened.
Aleksei
Sytsevich – the man underneath that Rhino hide, is a Russian thug looking for
easy money. That soon lured him to become a test subject that transformed him
into a superhumanly strong being, and coupled with a themed durable armor, The
Rhino was born.
Initially,
I hadn’t planned on getting Rhino, but a few factors persuaded me to do so:
1)
Although Rhino was initially a
mere Class 70 character, the character was eventually written to be able to
lift up to a maximum 100 tons – that effectively made this character a Class
100.
2)
Apart from being a constant
thorn for Spiderman, Rhino is also a part of Hulk’s Rogues Gallery. Being a
sucker for any character Hulk-related, it was a natural choice.
3)
The size of the action figure
was deliciously huge, which I always have a soft spot for.
So, all things
considered, I finally made up my mind to get him.
The
Rhino is released under Series 5, #003.
Figure:
Rhino
is massive, plain and simple – thick and huge, just the way I like it.
To
some extent, it’s even bigger than the Hulk sculpt, and almost as massive as
Juggernaut.
The
sculpt is incredibly detailed and I really like how the actual profile of a
rhino’s hide is visible here.
The
horns are made from soft rubbers. The wonderful paint applications do enhance
the details of the figure, making him look rough and rugged – as any Rhino
figures should look like.
It
is a brand new mould, as far as I could tell, or if it was indeed an older
mould, then the designers made a heckuva job retooling it, and since this is a
new mould, I will be reviewing the new mould as a whole rather than just the figure
itself.
The
head is on a ball joint, but due to its designs and size, although its
movements kind of feel restricted. It doesn’t have the head mobility of, say, the
Hulk or World War Hulk and Colossus, who can actually gaze upwards. He can’t
even gaze too low because his chin is in the way.
The shoulders, elbows and wrists, while they are
still on standard Marvel Universe figures shoulder joints, the shoulders and
elbows are kind of ratcheting, so it’s pretty darn good.
 |
| Size Comparisons: Hulk, Juggernaut, Spiderman and Rhino |
The
abdomen crunch joint is there, and to me, it’s one of the main reasons why I like
this line so much. Unfortunately, just at with Juggernaut and Thanos before
him, the abdomen crunch came at the expense of the waist joint.
The
hips joints are where this mould distances itself from most of its predecessors.
The joints are of the same type that they used for the arms, ratchets included.
I could somewhat understand this since the shoulder joints are that darn good.
However,
while the hips do have all around motions, u may need some work trying to put
him in a leg upfront position, without the entire legs looking funny and
awkward.
Having
said that, it really is just a minor qualm and this new hip joints system just
needs some getting used to, that’s all. These joints however, as far as I could
see, are only used on larger figures such as Rhinos, while other figures Baron
Zemo etc are still utilizing the standard ball joints.
The
knees are no longer double-jointed, which is ashamed really, instead, it comes
with ratchet joints.
Ankle
joints are good, and are almost similar to the hips and shoulder joints.
The
overall ratcheting joints do enable you to put Rhino in various poses without
any fear of him toppling over, and I have to say that it’s a wonderful upgrade
from the previous molds.
It’s
quite fun to pose him in various fighting poses against other larger figures
such as Hulk or Juggernaut, and if you have Spiderman, it will be even great
because they are traditional enemies.
Summary:
The
Rhino would probably be a highly sought after figure, considering the fact that
he will be appearing in the second installment of the Amazing Spiderman alongside
Electro, it is said that the character will also be returning for the third
installment.
Overall,
it’s a good brand new mold. It may not be perfect, but the improvements are
noteworthy.
Definitely
a must have for Marvel Universe collectors and fans.
Highly
recommended.
Final
verdict, 9.5/10.
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