Intro:
It
doesn’t matter what you collect, there has to be a centerpiece – that certain
item that represent your entire collection.
Your
Holy Grail.
My Transformers
collection, for example; I’d consider Fortress Maximus as the centerpiece of my
Transformers collection.
Since I started
collecting Marvel Universe action figure, I have managed to hunt down some of
my most favorite character in the whole of Marvel Comics, but there is only one
character in the entire Marvel Universe line to date, that I would consider as
the ultimate Holy Grail for me (unless they decide to release a Living Tribunal
or One-Above-All *gulp* figures) – the Devourer of Worlds, Galactus.
Galactus has
proven to be one of the most difficult to get figures in the Malaysian market.
Prices have ranged between RM 280 in flea markets, all the way to well-over
RM1000 over on eBay. But in recent months, the prices on the secondhand market
have steadied themselves at minimum of RM 400.
Why such a craze
over this character? Well, duh, he’s Galactus, that’s why. Before the
introduction of the numerous far-more powerful Marvel cosmic characters such as
One-Above-All, The Living Tribunal, Eternity, Infinity etc, Galactus was the God-like figurehead in Marvel Comics.
He was the character everybody was
afraid of. When the character was conceived, he was the Master of the Power
Cosmic, and he is able to distribute a small portion of that power to his
heralds, i.e. Silver Surfer, Firelord, Nova, Terrax, Fallen One etc – all of
whom are insanely powerful! So you can only imagine how power HE is.
Plus, the guy
literally munches on planets for lunch! Maybe there have been many more cosmic
characters introduced since the days, but there’s no doubt that Galactus is
still probably the most well-known and the most recognizable of them all.
Galactus
is the oldest living being in the entire Marvel Universe, and in fact, he is
older than the universe itself! According to his backstory, he originated from
a universe that predates our own. Prior to the collapse of that universe, he
flew into what was called the Big Crunch, and everything was destroyed except
for him. Bonded with the Sentience of the Universe, the Big Bang occurred and
he was flung outwards in suspended animation, until he was awaken and began
feeding on world.
I
have been hunting for this figure for a long time, and I was glad to finally be
able to get him during the recently-held Comics and Toy Fair Kuala Lumpur
(CTFKL), and I got him at a really good bargain, if I might add.
There
have at least 3 different variants of this mold, i.e. the SDCC variant (which
is packaged in the normal Marvel Universe bubble-box, albeit a big one, and
without Silver Surfer); this particular variant that we will be reviewing in a
short while (which comes with Silver Surfer); and also a darker variant of this
one.
As
mentioned before, Galactus is released under the Marvel Universe, Marvel
Masterworks subline, Series 001.
Package:
I
don’t normally review packages, but this is one of those exceptions. The box
itself is huge – measuring at 12”x 21”and about 4” thick. Yes, there are larger
boxes out there from other toy lines, but as far as Marvel Universe goes, this
IS huge!
Apart
from the size, the artwork is wonderful too! Basically it’s a drawing of
Galactus, who’s about to blast somebody (or something) with his opened palm,
and Silver Surfer surfing right in front of him. The same artwork is on both
sides of the open-able flap. Oh yeah, talk about the flaps, the flap can be
swung open to reveal the figures inside – both Galactus and his most famous
herald.
To
me, however, it’s the photo at the back of the box that enticed me the most. It
basically features Galactus going up against every single Marvel Universe
figures ever released, up to that point when Galactus was released. Of course,
they are not really to scale with one another – they somewhat increase the size
of the Galactus to make him more threatening I guess. That photo kind of
reminded me that there are a whole lot more figures for me to look out for too –
not a good idea if you’re on budget tightening.
 |
| Potential poisons... |
Anyways,
Galactus’s character bios is so darn long too. I guess, that’s not really
surprising, given the stature of the character.
Overall,
it’s a wonderfully-done packaging.
Silver
Surfer:
It’s
hard to not to tell a story about Galactus without mentioning the most famous
of his heralds – the Silver Surfer. The Silver Surfer was once known as Norrin
Radd from the Planet Zenn-La, who agreed to serve Galactus as his herald in
order to save his homeworld. He was endowed with a portion of the Power Cosmic
by Galactus, thus becoming one of the most powerful entities in the known
Universe.
 |
| Expressionless... |
The
Silver Surfer figure that’s packed with Galactus looks amazing. The shiny
silver really works well. The expressionless expression is almost a trademark
for the silver sentinel, and is depicted well here.
For
such a slender figure, Silver Surfer is incredibly buff. His muscles are so
obvious. His surf board also utilizes the same color scheme, as well as the
same material.
 |
| Groovy baby... |
As
good as the figure might look, it’s far from perfect. For one, the joints are
incredibly loose. Maybe it’s just an isolated case. This subsequently makes it
very difficult to pose him on his surf board, with him tends to topple
backwards.
 |
| With his single-pack counterpart... |
Articulation-wise,
he has most of the standard points of articulation that is common with most of
the Marvel Universe figures, except for a waist-joint. I would have liked it
more if they could have added in that particular joint, as I think it would
have made a huge difference for this figure.
Still,
the figure does look good. For your information, this particular mold would
subsequently be reused 2 years later in 2011, when Hasbro actually release a single-pack
Silver Surfer figure. In comparison, the single-pack Silver Surfer has way
tighter joints and does pose better on his surf board, but unfortunately, in
terms of look, the single-pack Surfer pales in comparison – to the point that I
think he should just take away the word Silver from his name altogether, since
he looks more grey than silver.
Galactus:
 |
| Galactus and his herald... |
Now
this is the real deal! Because of his
size and weight, taking him out of his box can be quite a hassle, but once you
manage to do so, you will simple be in awe of this huge figure!
Standing
at a good 19.5-inches tall (18.5-inches measured to his head), he is by far,
the largest Marvel Universe figure ever made. In fact, he is even larger than
his Transformers counterpart – Unicron.
 |
| Unicron vs Galactus |
I haven’t gotten myself the Marvel Masterworks
Series 002 Sentinel as of the time of this writing yet, so I can’t really make
a comparison just yet to see who is bigger, but photos from the web seems to
depict that Sentinel is by far the smaller figure.
The
overall look of Galactus – his color scheme and designs are really comic-accurate.
The head sculpt is tremendously good. The blue light piping works very well. The
helmet and the various gas-mask-ish contraptions on his face looks good. The horns
of the helmet, if you will, are made from soft rubbery plastic to avoid
unnecessary handling injuries. Oh by the way, Galactus does look angry/ pissed
off – probably cuz he’s hungry?
The
figure itself, judging from his heft and just by holding him, it feels like for
the most part of it, he is made from solid plastic, not some hollow plastic. In
fact, he actually feels like your normal solid Marvel Universe figures, albeit
way bigger.
 |
| Thanos vs Galactus |
 |
| You ain't got no Infinity Gauntlet, do ya? |
Articulation-wise,
he possesses similar articulations with most Marvel Universe figures. His head
is on ball joints. The movement angles of his head is pretty darn good – he can
look up pretty good, as well as looking down menacingly to the world below.
 |
| What do you puny insects want? (feat. Ant-Man and Wasp) |
His
shoulders are on universal joints; the arms rotate slightly below the
shoulders; the elbows bend; the lower arm rotate at the glove line and the palm
pieces are on a separate ball joints, adding more dynamics to the arms.
 |
| Galactus vs The Agents of S.M.A.S.H. |
The
waist rotates; the hips are on universal joints; the upper legs rotate slightly
below the hips; the knees bend; the lower legs rotate above the boots; and
finally the feet tilt up and downwards.
 |
| You can't see me... (WWE fans would understand) |
In
short, theoretically, very good articulation. Why theoretically you might ask? Well,
the movements on his hips are severely hindered by his err… skirts, or kilts,
or whatever you wanna call it. I kinda wish that the skirt was made from softer
and more stretchable rubber, that would have been way, way cooler. Thus, as
such, you can mostly have Galactus standing menacingly and imposingly straight
up. Then again, Galactus being Galactus, he always stands proudly, doesn’t he?
 |
| Who dares defy Galactus?! |
All
of his joints are incredibly tight, especially the shoulders, to the point that
it can get quite scary sometimes, fearing that I might accidentally break him
in the process.
Another
thing that I would have wish for, is to have extra fists for Galactus. Not that
I don’t like the open palms that he has, but would it have come with
interchangeable fists, it would have provided us with more posing options.
 |
| Galactus and Silver Surfer feat. ToyBiz Hulk and Sentry |
Playability
of this figure would be further enhanced if you have other 3 ¾” Marvel Universe
figures, where you can recreate some of the scenes from the comics, or just to
recreate the scene from the back of the box!
But
that’s not all, we’re not done with this figure just yet…
Gimmicks:
Galactus
comes with light and sound gimmicks as well. This is operated by a
well-concealed button on his chest, covered by his vest, powered by three AAA
batteries – too much battery usage, I would say.
There
are basically 11 different recordings available, each are activated by the
button on his chest, and with it, the light piping on his eyes and helmet would
glow orange. The recordings are as follows:
1)
To me… my herald!
2)
You serve me now!
3)
Who is so ignorant as to
confront Galactus?
4)
You will witness the end, for I
am Power Incarnate! (followed by some blasting sound effect)
5)
Behold! The world-eating
machine!
6)
I hunger…
7)
Know me, mortal… Know me, and
know fear.
8)
So speaks Galactus!
9)
Who dares defy Galactus?!
10) I am the Devourer of Worlds.
11) Tremble at the might of the Power Cosmic! (followed by some blasting
sound effect)
I got no
complaints, and basically I think it’s kinda good. It’s the light effects that I
don’t quite like. I just wish that it could’ve been a little bit brighter.
Accessories:
A
figure this big and imposing has to come with some accessories, doesn’t it? As mentioned
before, this set comes with the Silver Surfer figure.
Apart
from that, he also comes with his Top Secret files. His H.A.M.M.E.R. Superhuman
Registration card and letter is equally huge!
 |
| This is exactly how huge the cards are. |
The
accompanying letter is written by Quasimodo to Director Norman Osborne.
Summary:
It
doesn’t matter what you toylines you collect, there has to be a Holy Grail or a
centerpiece figure on that particular line. While each and every one of us,
though we may be collecting the same toylines, have different definitions of
what that centerpiece figure or Holy Grail figure may be, the fact, each of us
will have at least one for our collections.
For
most Marvel Universe collections, it will be difficult to look past this
particular figure as a centerpiece. It is definitely a centerpiece in mine.
 |
| My Marvel Family |
I
spent a long time looking for this particular figure, and to finally be able to
get him at such a good deal, it was worth the effort. I would definitely recommend
this figure to any Marvel collectors out there.
Now that they
have released Galactus, I am hoping for another character to be released, and I’m
sure that I’m not the only fan that is asking for it. To any of the Hasbro/
Marvel designers that is reading this right now, how about the The Living
Tribunal eh? That would be a heckuva dream come true.
Please, Marvel/
Hasbro, make it happen.
Highly
Recommended.
Final
verdict, 9.5/10.
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