Several years ago I posted a great vintage advert for the first wave of 5-inch X-Men action figures produced by Toy Biz, which appeared in issue #1 from the October 1991 relaunch of the comic book starring the mutant superhero team as simply "X-Men" (rather than "Uncanny X-Men").
I finally got around to tracking down a few of these enduringly popular figures recently and will be posting them here, starting today with what seems to be everybody's favourite figure from the line – Wolverine!
Wolverine - Snap-Out Claws!
From its clumsy early efforts to emulate Kenner's Super Powers figures, upstart company Toy Biz, as Marvel Toys was known back in the 1980s, soon learned from its mistakes and came to dominate the market with their Marvel Superheroes toy line in the early 1990s, with spin-off subsets such as the X-Men series (which continued to use the “Uncanny X-Men” moniker on packaging cards), and Spider-man, quickly added to their portfolio. Whilst there may have been dozens of X-Men action figures issued since that initial nine figure Toy Biz line, which saw Wolverine accompanied by Storm, Archangel, Nightcrawler, Cyclops, Colossus, Juggernaut, Magneto and Apocalypse, these chunky, accessory-packed vintage figures have stood the test of time, and are still highly collectible today.
Grrrrr! Unmasked Wolverine / Logan
The articulation on this Wolverine figure is pretty limited of course, with only seven points at the neck, shoulders, hips and knees, but the added action feature of retractable “Snap-Out Claws” that can be made to nestle into a “J slot” and flipped out with ease – Snikt! - transforms this figure from the merely good into the utterly cool! And kudos to Toy Biz, this figure was really built to last - his claw mechanism still works perfectly!
The removable mask allowing us to see Wolverine's Logan face too, is another plus – am delighted that my loose vintage Wolverine still has his mask intact, although his Samurai sword accessory is missing. The original packaging suggested that kids might like to wear the mask as a ring – a nice idea, but only for tiny hands! Adult collectors should probably avoid doing this...
All in all this is a must-have Wolverine collectible! Collect all the X-Men...you KNOW you want to!
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 Toy Biz Marvel X Men X Force Toy Action Figure Lot 15 Wolverine Thor Cyclops $49.99 Time Remaining: 19h 38m Buy It Now for only: $49.99 Buy It Now |
 Marvels X Men Wolverine Figure Toy Biz 1991 LOOSE $3.00 Time Remaining: 1d 18h 32m Buy It Now for only: $3.00 Buy It Now |
 X Men Toy Biz Lot Wolverine Cyclops 1991 $9.99 Time Remaining: 2d 6h 13m Buy It Now for only: $29.99 Buy It Now | Bid now |
 1991 Marvel Toy Biz Wolverine Brown Costume Figure $9.00 Time Remaining: 2d 7h 11m Buy It Now for only: $9.00 Buy It Now |
 X Men Series Wolverine Talking Backpack Action Figure Marvel Toy Biz 1991 $9.95 Time Remaining: 4d 8h 48m Buy It Now for only: $9.95 Buy It Now |
 MARVEL X MEN WOLVERINE ACTION FIGURE 1991 TOY BIZ $6.95 Time Remaining: 4d 9h 57m Buy It Now for only: $6.95 Buy It Now |
 Toy Biz Marvel X Men Electronic Talking Talks Wolverine Action Figure 1991 $14.90 Time Remaining: 4d 11h 19m Buy It Now for only: $14.90 Buy It Now |
 Marvel Toy Biz Electronic Talking WOLVERINE Talks Action Figure 1991 MOC $12.99 Time Remaining: 4d 12h 27m Buy It Now for only: $12.99 Buy It Now |
 1991 Marvel Toy Biz Wolverine Figure $9.50 Time Remaining: 5d 8h 42m Buy It Now for only: $9.50 Buy It Now |
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I had this figure, and at the time, my fingers were still small enough that I was able to wear his mask like a ring. I think that was actually my first Wolverine figure. It was a cool one.
I need to pick up some 90′s Toy Biz figures.