Welcome back to another Dan's ToyBox action figure review. This time around we are looking at the Bandai/Tamashii Nations SHFiguarts "No Way Home" Iron Spider Action Figure. I jumped on this as soon as it went up for pre-order and am really happy to have him in hand now! This is, by far, the best-looking Iron Spider. I used to have the Marvel Legends Infinity War Iron Spider figure but gave it to my son. When I realized the only other version I have is the SHF Infinity War Iron Spider, I knew it was time to add a new one to the collection.
After defeating Mysterio in London, Peter Parker returns to New York, thinking that life has finally improved. He and MJ are a couple and Spider-Man is loved as a hero for his role in the Avengers battle with Thanos. This is... until his secret identity is revealed thanks to one last dirty trick up Mysterio's sleeve. With his life thrown into chaos now, Peter appeals to Dr. Strange to cast a spell, causing everyone to forget that he is Spider-Man. Unfortunately, due to repeated interruptions on Peter's part, the spell is cast incorrectly, opening up portals in the multi-verse and allowing Spider-Man's greatest villains, Doctor Octopus, Sandman, Electro, The Lizard, and the Green Goblin access to Peter's reality! Donning the Iron Spider Costume, Peter battles Dr. Octopus, managing to take control of Ock's arms due to the nanotech powered suit. Initially, Peter tries to help cure the villains and return them to their homes, but power-hungry greed once again takes over as the villains, led by The Green Goblin attack the webslinger. Overwhelmed and alone, Peter soon finds unlikely allies as his best friend Ned successfully opens portals to the other multiverses and brings Peter's older counterparts from two other realities. Together, the three Spider-Men successfully combat the threats posed and return everyone to their proper universes. Of course, as is often the case with the "old Parker luck" Dr. Strange's subsequent spell causes everyone to forget Peter himself... but that is a tale for another time.
As promised on Saturday 10/8 during our live unboxing and "Insta-Review" we're going to take a deeper dive into this figure here. We'll discuss the four categories: Accessories, Appearance, Articulation, and Affordability and then give the SHF NWH Iron Spider an overall toybox rating on the scale of zero to five.
Images © Dan's ToyBox 2022
ACCESSORIES
The SHFiguarts No Way Home Iron Spider figure is loaded with several great accessories and multiple hands for exceptional posing and action shots. He comes with five pairs of hands: one pair of fists, one pair of wall crawling, one pair of thwipping, one pair of "hang loose", one pair of web-gripping and one new design... clasped hands for web-swinging. These hands are molded as one unit and can plug into both arms for web-swinging poses. The Iron Spider also comes with four shooting webs: two long and two short. One "swinging" web and one web with a removable web "anchor" attachment at the end. He also comes with four different sets of eyes, three blue: narrow, medium, and wide open and one pair of red "Instant Kill Mode" eye inserts. The figure has an extra neck accessory for an unmasked Peter Parker head, which I'm guessing is the one packed with the SHF black and gold costume Spider-Man figure. Lastly, he comes with a back plug for porting onto stands, the eye removal tool and the nanotech spider legs or "Waldos" as they're lovingly referred to by fans. For me, the extra hands are really amazing. They are held on by friction to the pegs but remain very stable and don't come off easily. I really like the new "clasped" swinging hands a lot as well and got some great pix of them in action! I've always said that one of the biggest advantages import figures have over domestic is the number of accessories they come with. This still holds true and as such, earns the SHF No Way Home Iron Spider an A for Accessories!
Images © Dan's ToyBox 2022
APPEARANCE
Bandai/Tamashii Nations absolutely CRUSHES it with this figure. One of the best comments I received on the livestream was a question as to whether or not this figure was actually metal. The answer is no but, man oh man, does SHF go out of their way to convince us otherwise. The metallic paint applications on this figure are outstanding! When I started posing him around, I had some fear of scratching the paint, even when removing the back piece to plug the waldos in... needless to say, my fears were groundless. I've successfully posed this guy without any issues and the paint is as clean as it was coming out of the package. This is a huge improvement over the first Infinity War version. (Yes, I know SHF has put out other Iron Spider figures, but this is the only other one I have.)
The sculpting on this figure is outstanding and when coupled with the metallic lustre really gives this figure a very lifelike appearance. The different eye pieces look incredible when plugged in to the mask as well and the fact that we get variations on how "wide open" the lenses are makes them even better.
Images © Dan's ToyBox 2022
I also really enjoy the more translucent look to the webbing that SHF has been including with the Spider-Man figures. I think, my only real issue with the look of the figure is that his head seems to be a bit larger than it should for the body and it tends to sit up high on the neck. Aside from that though, the lines all meet as they ought to and the applications are so clean. I was really impressed with the detailed sculpting and just the overall tightness of the figure design. This is one of the best-looking figures I've added to my collection in terms of likeness. Certainly, the engineering design for the articulation causes some challenges to the "flow" of the figure but overall, dang, this is a sweet looking piece! I am completely good with giving it an A for Appearance!
Images © Dan's ToyBox 2022
ARTICULATION
Though we know that SHF articulation is pretty standard, I admit that I'm always very pleased with the amount of posing we can get from these figures. That being said, I do have a few complaints with this particular figure, so let's get to them. I've mentioned previously that I like the neck peg/head mount set up on SHF and while that is the case with this figure, I was disappointed in how limited the head movement is. The neck is bulky and even though you get great tilt forward, looking down for the head itself is limited as is tilting the head upward. The neck seems to be very long and again, due to the shape doesn't really allow for much upward tilt either. This really limits wall crawling poses in terms of Spidey being able to look ahead of himself. As you can see in the pictures above, his head is more angled down than forward, which is a bit frustrating. Aside from that, the head does turn easily side to side and can get some nice tilt, coupled with the movement at the next. The shoulders are also a bit of a disappointment as I am unable to extend mine to a decent T pose. The arms will raise out to just below 90 degrees. There are some tricks to moving the shoulders, but even with those... he can't reach out as much as I'd like. The butterfly joints are decent and allow for a good cross body punch but they seem tight as well and rotating them back takes some work. The actual shoulder joint itself does rotate 360 degrees which is good though. There is a great bicep swivel, which helps the cross body punches and the two handed swinging poses. The elbows have a great joint and bend in deeply and the hands will pivot and hinge, though the web shooters do limit hinging a bit. On the plus side, when the thwip webs are ported on to his wrists, the design of the web shooters helps hide the webbing loop, creating an even better illusion of him shooting webs. The upper diaphragm joint works nicely, with good forward crunch and a decent back bend as well. He can also twist and tilt at this torso joint, just be careful in case of paint scraping. When coupled with the lower ab joint, this figure can get some great crunch poses, very Spider-Man-esque for pictures and action poses! His legs will split beautifully and with the help of the rotating "butt flaps" kick forward very nicely! The upper thigh cut was a bit stiff on my figure's left leg, but I was able to get it worked out and both legs rotate with ease now. The knees have a nice double joint and will bend in quite deeply, which looks great for leaping poses. Lastly, the ankles hinge up and down and rotate and the toe articulation is firm, allowing him to "perch" on his toes, provided you can balance him just right. The head and shoulder issues drop Spidey to an A- though for Articulation.
Images © Dan's ToyBox 2022
AFFORDABILITY
Just how expensive is this figure? Well, as with any import, the price is going to be up there. I shelled out $95 for the Bandai/Tamashii Nations SHFiguarts No Way Home Iron Spider action figure. Considering everything it comes with, how amazing a job they did on the sculpt and appearance, especially considering previous iterations, and the posing power, I'm perfectly content with the price point. I've seen other figures with fewer positives that cost much more. If you're a fan of import figures in general and Spider-Man in particular, this is worth the money! I'll give it an A for Affordability.
Overall, I'm very happy with this figure. The few articulation issues are acceptable, but do bring the rating down just a bit, but not much. Even with the dreaded and mostly hated "butt flaps" I don't mind the odd look. This is a fun figure and I've had a good time posing it around and setting it up with other Spider-Man figures. That is why I'm happy to give the Bandai/Tamashii Nations SHFiguarts No Way Home Iron Spider Action Figure an overall grade of:
4.5 TOYBOXES OUT OF 5
This is a really fun figure and it looks great! Thank you, as always for your continued support of Dan's ToyBox and until next time... GEEK OUT!!!