Panels of the Week - October 28, 2014

A whole new batch of comics will be release tomorrow, but before we get to the all new adventures of our favorite characters, let's take a look back at some of the best comic panels from last week's releases.

Read More

Panels of the Week - October 21, 2014

A whole new batch of comics will be release tomorrow, but before we get to the all new adventures of our favorite characters, let's take a look back at some of the best comic panels from last week's releases.

Today's panels almost all come from Marvel and DC comic books, but in future posts we will be sure to include selections from other companies as well.

SPOILER WARNING: Important plot points to different comics will be revealed in these panels.

Read More

Deadpoool Movie Test Footage:Update Highres version!

A possible Deadpoool movie has been in the works for a while but it was shelved.  I'm not going to say much else besides make this movie!

Also here's some more screen grabs!

If you're having trouble seeing the video, please click here.

Read More

X-Mini: X-Men Illustrations by Marcio Hum

Brazilian artist, Marcio Hum, has been making wonderful illustrations of some of his favorite characters for years. Marvel Comics superheroes are some of his most common subjects, specifically the X-Men. His style typically looks like the X-Babies versions of the characters, or as he calls them the X-Mini. One of his best and most complete series involves showing the X-Men comic characters side by side with their movie counterparts.

Read More

Vin Diesel Loves Guardians Of The Galaxy

Last night on his Facebook profile, Vin Diesel gave his thoughts on Guardians of the Galaxy after seeing the first screening of it. He really seems to like it.

Even though all who were invited to the screening were under a strict embargo not to say anything about the movie, Mr. Diesel felt compelled to write about it anyway.  Here is what he had to say:

OMG!!!

I have to share this... My youngest who is 3 yrs old, has never been to a movie theater before in his life. Today, I was invited by Disney and Marvel to see the latest cut of Guardians of the Galaxy and I was able to take the angels. WOW!!!!!

To Marvel, Disney, the incredible cast and team and especially James Gunn... Thank you for making a GREAT MOVIE! It was amazing and will always be special, for it was the first film I was able to take my family to see and oh how they loved it. 

I AM GROOT!!!

I, for one, really hope he's right and this movie turns out to be excellent.

Read More

Pulp-Era Avengers by Chris Schweizer

Indie comic creator of the Crogan Adventures series, Chris Schweizer, has lent his unique style to one of the industry's biggest franchises, the Avengers. Of course he couldn't just do some plain-old illustrations of Marvel's greatest heroes, he did his own interesting spin on the characters. Schweizer re-envisioned each member as Pulp-Era heroes. The results are simply fantastic.

Read More

Six New Big Hero 6 Posters Make One Giant Image

Six new posters debuted this weekend for the Marvel/Disney movie Big Hero 6. In them, we get some clear views of the main heroes of the movie. When combined, the posters make one giant image.

This marks Marvel's first animated movie through Disney Studioes.

Check them out below.

Read More

In Comic Book Stores the Week of June 25, 2014

Here are all the comics and related merchandise available the week of June 25, 2014. Check your local comic store for availability.

Read More

Marvel Select Amazing Spider-Man 2 Action Figure Review

So The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was far from a perfect movie. Everyone has there own opinions as to what they did and didn't like about the movie. Personally, I liked just about everything about Spider-Man/Peter Parker himself, I just wasn't to thrilled with the villains or the direction of the story. I think one thing people can agree on is that the movie delivered the most faithful adaption of the comic book costume to date.

Product Description

A Diamond Select Toys release! The Amazing Spider-Man is back in an all-new big-screen adventure and he's also back in the hit Marvel Select line! This 7-inch-scale figure depicts Spidey in his brand-new costume and features 16 points of articulation. Comes packaged in display-ready Select packaging with spine reference artwork. Designed and sculpted by Gentle Giant!

Today's review is of Marvel Select: The Amazing Spider-Man 2 action figure by Diamond Select Toys. This figure is available in comic book and specialty stores for a suggested retail price of $24.99USD.

Package:  This figure comes in the same type of packaging that Marvel Select has been using since the line's begin.  I can't really think of any other line that has maintained that same style package for so long.  I'm sure for those that keep the figures mint on card and like consistency, this is a great thing.

The box is very big, and it does a good job of displaying what you're getting. There is a nice image of movie Spider-Man on the side that looks good when the box is displayed spine out on a shelf like a book. The back of the box has another shot of Spidey, this time full body and there is also a description of the Amazing Spider-Man 2 movie and of this figure:

For Peter Parker, life is busy - between taking out the bad guys as Spider-Man and spending time with the girl he loves, Gwen Stacy, high school graduation can't come quickly enough. Peter hasn't forgotten about the promise he made to Gwen's father to protect her by staying away - but that's a promise he just can't keep. Things will change for Peter when a new villain named Electro emerges, his ld friend Harry Osborn returns, and Peter uncovers new clues about his past. This 7-inch-scale action figure of Spider-Man is based on his appearance in the film The Amazing Spider-Man 2, features 16 points of articulation and is compatible with other Marvel Select action figures. Collect them all!

As I said, the box is big so if you do take the figure out of the package, you end up with a lot of waste. At least twice the amount of packaging that the average figure this size comes with and there is no real hope of saving and reusing the package to reseal the figure. So the package is neither environmentally nor collector friendly.

Verdict: 5/10

Sculpt:  I really like the sculpt on this Spider-Man quite a bit. The raised webbing and spiders along with the textures throughout the blue areas of the costume are really well done. The proportions throughout are almost perfect. I say almost, because I find the neck to be a little too short.  At first I thought the head might be too large,  but I think it's only because it sits too low.  Typically I think they make Spider-Man's head too small on action figures, so I think the fact that I'm use to seeing it smaller was also throwing me off.

I think I might like this figure better than the Marvel Legends version of the ASM2 Spidey, only because the sculpt and the articulation are integrated a better. The figure does a really good job of looking like it stepped right out of the movie.

Verdict: 9/10

Scale:  The scale for this figure comes out to be 7"(1:10) scale. The figure is just around 6.75" which means he fits in well with most Marvel Select figures.  He is shorter than some of the other movie characters, but I never considered him to be as tall as Captain America or Thor, so he seems to be just right along side the Avengers. He's also shorter than Wolverine, but movie Wolverine is played by a 6'2" Hugh Jackman and Spider-Man is played by a 5'10" Andrew Garfield so, again, the scale seems to be good.

The scale of this figure is definitely not going to work along side Marvel Legends figures, but fits great with many of the NECA or Mezco 7 inch figures. If you're looking to have Kick-Ass or Hellboy face-off against Spidey, this is the figure to use.

Verdict: 10/10

Paint:  Unfortunately I had a glaring paint issue with this figure that I wish I had noticed before I opened the box. Right on his chest just to the bottom right of his chest spider emblem, there is an area that should be blue, but went unpainted.  The store I bought him from had two of this figure and I past on the other one because there was some black splatter on the white part of one of his eyes.  Right there you have two strikes against the paint work for these figures, which is just too bad, because the rest of the paint is fairly well done.

The black lines on the web aren't perfect, but they are much better than I've seen on just about any other Spider-Man figure.  The black in general is very crisp and so is the white of the eyes.  The blue on the suit has a light paint wash that may have been unnecessary, but it doesn't look bad.

Verdict: 7/10

Articulation:  While not quite as articulated as the Marvel Legends Spider-Man, this figure has a wonderful amount of useful joints. As I said before, the articulation in incorporated in a way that maintains the realistic look of the sculpt, yet still allows you to get some really dynamic poses. I do however wish the head had a little more range of movement.  I think if the neck had been made a little longer, it may have alleviated that issue.

The follow are the points of articulation this figure has:

• Ball-jointed neck
• Hinge and swivel shoulders
• Hinge and swivel elbows
• Hinge and swivel wrists
• Ball-jointed torso
• Double swivel and hinge hips
• Double hinged knees
• Hinge and swivel ankles

Verdict: 9/10

Accessories:  There is no shortage of accessories that come with this figure. It is really a pleasure to get a figure like this that has so many options for display.  Here's what you get:

• a set set of hands with fingers out wide
• a set of griping hands
• a set of hands in fists
• a set of hands in fists with thumbs out
• a set of hands shooting webs
• 2 webs
• a fire hose nozzle
• a firefight helmet/hat

It's nice to not be stuck with yet another Spider-Man that has one hand in a fist and the other in a web-shooting position. You can still have that set-up if you want, but there are also so many other combinations.  The only set of hands I question are the ones that are in a fist with the thumbs out but not up.  I guess it's for holding the brim the the hat. Speaking of which, the firefighter items are unnecessary but very cool scene-specific props to have.  It's a shame the hose nozzle doesn't come with  a little bit of hose or at least have a coupling so you can add your own.

This toy should easily have a 10 out of 10 for this category if it wasn't for that fact that this is the "regular" version. It turns out there are three versions of this toy, this one, a Disney Store exclusive that comes with a Peter Parker head, and another version that will also include a display base.  Because I got the version that comes with the least amount of accessories, I had to at least take off half a point. I could have easily gotten the Disney Store version, the store near me always has tons of the exclusives, but I wasn't too keen on the head sculpt from the photos I saw.  The version with the base didn't interest me because display bases tend to end up in a box unless they are really interesting.  For those reasons, plus the fact that my local comic store was having a 25% off sale, I was fine with the version that I got.

Verdict: 9.5/10

Quality Control:  Other than the paint issue, I didn't have any problems with this figure what so ever.

Verdict: 8/10

Overall:  At this scale, this is by far may favorite Spider-Man toy.  I love that he works as both a movie and comic book accurate figure.  The paint issue annoys me, and I wish that specialty toy lines like Marvel Select and DC Collectibles didn't have so many paint problems lately, but it doesn't take away too much form my enjoyment of this figure.  I definitely recommend checking this figure out.  If you find one with better paint, it's easily a 9.  If not...

Verdict: 8.5/10

Click Here for a review of Warrior Claw Wolverine.

Click Here for a review of the DC Collectibles Batman action figure.

Click Here for a review of the DC Collectibles Nightwing action figure.

Click Here for a review of Talon and other action figures.

Click Here for a review of the DC Collectibles Bizarro action figure.

Click Here for a review of the DC Multiverse '89 Batman action figure.

Click Here for a review of Link from Legend of Zelda.

The opinions expressed by the HiddenLevel Bloggers and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not reflect the opinions of HiddenLevel.org or anyone involved in the running of this site. HiddenLevel is not responsible for the accuracy of any of the information supplied by the Bloggers of this site.

The HiddenLevel Blog was founded as site for contributors to be able to express their opinions and share news about the interest they enjoy.  The main purpose is to have fun.

Other sites are welcome to use the information found on this sit as long as credit and a link are provided.  For and questions you may have or for further information about the site, please contact hiddenlevel.team@gmail.com

Read More

Press Release: How to Get Marvel Legends Agent Venom Exclusive Figure

The rumors have been going around for over a week now, but Hasbro has final sent out a press release with information on where to get the Marvel Legends Agent Venom action figure.  

Press Release: We are excited to confirm that Hasbro's Marvel Spider-Man Legends Infinite 6" Agent Venom Action Figure, previously revealed at Comic-Con International in San Diego last Summer, will be made available this Fall, exclusively at Walgreens in the U.S. 

 

This figure will be available for pre-order next month at SDCC. Fans should visit Hasbro's display booth during the show for more information.

Here are the official images of the figure in and out of package:

Read More

Exclusive Savage Hulk Marvel Select Action Figure

It looks like the Disney Store and shop.marvel.com have yet another Marvel Select exclusive.  This time it's the Savage Hulk which is based on his early Jack Kirby drawn appearances.  This figures looks massive, probably about as big as The Marvel Select Juggernaut.  The Hulk has 16 points of articulation and comes with a display base.

The idea behind this figure is really cool, but the execution is a little...um..ugly.  I'll probably have to see this in person to really judge, but this doesn't really seem to have any of the charm that past action figures based on Kirby's work have had.

See listing HERE. 

Read More

Jump the Gun: Guardians of the Galaxy

Jump the Gun is a semi-weekly article where two or more HiddenLevel contributors voice their gut reactions to upcoming movies. Their opinions are based solely on what trailers, press releases, and information is available around the internet, oh, and of course their own personal bias towards the source material. None of the opinions are based on actually having watched the movie. Each reviewer retains the right to change their view after having watched the movie, if they ever bother to do so. After all, who wants to waste their money on a movie that looks like it’s going to suck? Unless you’re into that kind of thing.

Read More

Star Wars (Guardians of the Galaxy Style) Trailer

This Star Wars trailer, done in the style of the recent Guardians of the Galaxy trailer, is simply fantastic. It does an excellent job of highlighting the humor and fun of the original Star War Trilogy. The Usual Suspects have done an excellent job putting this together.

Sound is a must on this video. Enjoy!

Read More

Warrior Claw Wolverine Action Figure Review

The last few X-Men movies haven't had a whole lot of support in the toy aisles. For First Class, Days of Future Past, and The Wolverine, if you wanted any figures based on a character from one of those movies  your only real option was a few sets of different sets of Minimates. I have nothing against Minimates, in fact I'm a fan and collector of them, it's just that they have a bit of a limited audience.  If you're a collector of Marvel's 4" or 6" lines, you're almost totally out of luck.  Of the three movies I named, The Wolverine seemed to get at least a little toy support.  Unfortunately the toys where based on the comics, not the movies, and they weren't very good.

Read More

New Guardians of the Galaxy International Trailer

Here's the new international trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy with lots more Rocket:

Read More

New Rocket Raccoon & Groot Poster for Guardians of the Galaxy

 

A blood-thirsty raccoon
and
a walking tree.

How can the idea of seeing these two on the big screen not excite you?

Read More

Say Wah!? Spider-Man Statue with Boner

Via lockerdome.com

This is just so weird and creepy:

Lotte Shopping Center in Busan, South Korea has been home to a Spider-Man sculpture by an artist Eunsuk Yoo for over a year. What makes this even more unusual is that this was "erected" over a children's play area. Nice work, Eunsuk! It's a rather unusual, somewhat amusing sculpture of Spider-Man with a raging boner. 

The artist was quoted as saying, " My reason for making this piece was to apply the natural and physical phenomenon to a Superhero and depict it natural in the morning without lies and being superficial in a comical way". 

He then went on to say, " There have been some comments on various community sites and Facebook pages that this is lewd and a disgrace to the source material. Lotte Shopping Center has received many complaints this morning from a certain organization and after their meeting it was decided I have to modify the statue. Instead of modifying it I think I am going to take it down."

Read More

Hot Toys: The Amazing Spider-Man 2 - Electro Figure

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was far from perfect and the main villain, Electro, was a bit more of a caricature than a character, but he was at least very cool looking.  His electrified appearance seems like it would be very difficult to translate into an action figure form, but yet again, Hot Toys was able to capture the look of an onscreen character perfectly.  These pictures of Electro look like they could have come right out of the movie.

http://www.hottoys.com.hk for more information

Read More

In Comic Book Stores the Week of June 04, 2014

Here is a list of all the comic books and related merchandise coming out, June 04, 2014.Check your local comic book store for availability.

Read More

Disney Infinity 2.0 Marvel Superheros coming Autumn 2014

I can't say I've played any game of the Infinity toy line.  You know the ones I mean, the ones that you usually pass by in the video game section of your favorite store, that have a bunch of different Disney figures and when you place them on a special playmat, they do something cool on the screen.  Now that they're doing a Marvel storyline for their Infinity figures featureing the Avengers team, Spiderman, and the upcoming Gaurdians of the Galaxy.  Maybe I'll be grabbing some to try out. For science.  You can check out more info, as I did, about Disney Infinity here. Happy Gaming! - Kevshiro

If the video doesn't show below, please click here. 

You can watch more videos on their youtube channel here.

Read More