Because I have a feeling the "Kenner" line might not be long for this world, I didn't skip Amazing Fantasy Spider-Man. I have a small collection of Peter Parker toys, but I felt I was pretty good with 3 3/4-inch scale ones - but hey, whatever, what's one more right?
The figure uses pretty much the same buck we've been getting with retooled arms and new deco. On the packaging, it's gorgeous. As a toy, it's OK - but I'd steer you to get the regular Spider-Man [FOTD #2,342] if you want the best play experience.
This version of Spidey has one "web-slinging" hand with the fingers extended, and one standard "gripping" hand. What's amusing is each one has webs molded to the bottom of the forearm - the white and black web pieces rotate with the hands! That's pretty nifty and weird, but it's also impractical. I assume whoever designed this decided to make the best-looking carded figure they could - and they succeeded! - at the expense of toy functionality. These webs were designed to look good when the hands are in one specific position, while the arms are down. If you swing the arms up or rotate the hands, it looks funny. If you were a kid, odds are you'd take a knife to them and trim them off.
The Kennery figure has a specific default pose, and generally looks like a champ. I love the black body suit, the light blue logo on the back was a fun surprise, and the black webbing is crisp and printed cleanly. It looks almost too good to be a real toy - and arguably, that's because it's a really good collectible. I can't imagine anyone is going to have fun with those weird web flaps, but I have to admit it's a clever way to get another squeeze out of the plain Spider-Man tooling in a line that is something like 75% reused body parts by volume. I have to respect it.
He stands and sits like a champ, he can fit in most properly scaled vehicles, and hey - it's Spider-Man. He's going to sell well. I'd only seen him in stores once so far, and I assume Hasbro would have sold just as many of a reissue of the regular Spider-Man because demand does not seem to have been met yet.
I think this is a marvelous figure for carded collectors, Spider-Man completists, and people who just want something cool to stand on their desk. Anyone who plays with their toys will want - and probably already own - one of the non-webbed versions. I think it's extremely charming with its slightly-off look, but I doubt it'll be your favorite figure in this admittedly fascinating line of action figures. It's just not as fun as regular Spidey, or Iceman, or Wolverine, or the rest. But I have to give them points for finding a way to do the web armpits at this size that wasn't a total disaster.
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