[TheBlueMarvel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by VonPooten

Is Taskmaster using Stryfe's thighs minus the spikes? Was wondering whether his unique mold would pop up again!

Hasbro has thoroughly impressed me with the Absorbing Man and Onslaught waves. It seems like they are expanding past the repaint/new headsculpt that we have been seeing on most figures these past few years. Beetle has a new female hand sculpt and hip detail, Mockingbird has a new mid sculpt, forearm detail AND sculpted boots, and Venom, Cap and Gwen have alternate heads. Hopefully we'll get to see more emotive heads, as while you've pointed out BM that the villainous heads are looking brilliant, now we just need some angry/battle face variants for the heroes. Nothing says static more than a neutral expression!

Hasbro has been making leaps and bounds with their BAFs in the last two years, so let's hope they begin giving us more bang for our buck on the regular figures. Rogue and the two 2016 waves seem to be pointing in the right direction for sure.

I'm also very impressed by these two upcoming waves. Characters that I had no investment in previously (i.e. Beetle, Venom, and Scourge), are now figs I want to add to my collection due to improvements in sculpt/design. Hasbro, in my opinion, is making concerted efforts to improve the variety of their figs and I believe it has everything to do with fan feedback.

Specifically regarding your inquiry about shared parts between Stryfe and Taskmaster, they appear to be different. A fact that I find to be very exciting! Beyond the size difference between the two sets of legs, Stryfe's musculature is sculpted into his thigh armor whereas Taskmaster's leg armor is more realistic/modern/mech-inspired. Additionally, Taskmaster's knee-pads and shin sculpt also appear to be different with detailed rivets and seams. Finally, the ankles and boots function as the icing on the cake featuring a sturdy and functional looking base....I REALLY hope these parts (along with the arms and shoulder pauldrons) find their way onto a new Doom!

As far as the BAFs are concerned, again I agree with your take that Hasbro has been improving...comparisons with other versions aside, the Hulk Buster was a resounding success. That said, bigger doesn't always mean better. I have many ToyBiz and Hasbro BAF's, most notably Giantman and Apocalypse (the black version, which I actually found the components for in stores). I love them both. They're HUGE. However, they also have their faults; Apocalypse's hands are funky and Giantman is limited exclusively to retro line-ups. I'll trade massive BAF's for more detailed smaller versions with topical/more current renditions (i.e. Thanos, Odin, Rhino, and the pending Absorbing Man). I do agree with many fan criticisms of the small and average size BAF's such as Hit Monkey, Rocket Racoon, Puck, Jubilee, and Green Goblin. I love these figs also, but they could have been worked in as carded offerings.