Welcome to another Dan's ToyBox review. Hasbro keeps putting forth figures on old body molds and has the audacity to up the pricing. I had somewhat high hopes for this figure, but unfortunately those were quickly dashed. I don't want to become one of those guys that relentlessly blasts Hasbro, but when they keep turning out half-assed efforts like this, I'm not left with much choice.
Ben's trust in Beyond was subsequently shattered after Doctor Octopus targeted the company for their use of his technology. After being defeated by Ben on behalf of Beyond, Octavius entrusted him with a hard drive containing the company's secrets, as well as the revelation that Ben's employers had picked him because they saw him as psychologically compromised and easy to manipulate. When Maxine discovered that Reilly had learned Beyond's secrets, she forced him into a device to scrub his mind, which unwittingly erased most of the formative memories that Ben had inherited from Peter.
Ben quickly became aware of the missing pieces of his mind and went on the run from Beyond. By this time, Peter had already recovered from his major injuries, and suited up after Beyond unleashed a new villainess named the Queen Goblin. He helped Ben break into Beyond's Staten Island super villain facility, but with Reilly's moral compass compromised, he set free a monster called Creature Z to cause a distraction while he went after Maxine Danger. Once Reilly stormed Beyond Tower, Maxine enticed him into trying to use the memory-extracting device on Peter to take back his memories from their original source. When Peter caught up with Ben, they fought viciously as the building became flooded with a quantum-shifting polymer intended to cover Beyond's tracks. After Peter destroyed the device, Ben let himself become submerged in this substance in defeat, and the building exploded. Reilly was left for dead, but Janine returned for him and discovered he had become mutated by the polymer. Tormented by his missing memories, Ben fled from Janine, taking on the alias of Chasm.
Once again, thanks to Benjamin Reilly (Earth-616) | Marvel Database | Fandom for the backstory on the Chasm character.
This will be an even shorter review than Tarantula, unfortunately.
Accessories: 1/10
Chasm comes with two translucent green power effects. We've seen these multiple times before, notably with the Scarlet Witch figures, in red or pink. There are no alternate hands.
Appearance: 7/10
As I've admitted, I've never read this story. However, my understanding was that he was in the Spider-Man costume when he fell into this radioactive polymer goo, which mutated him. How is this design remotely related to the other costume? That's a question for the comic books, I suppose. As far as the figure goes, I'm actually pleasantly surprised with the color applications. the lines are crisp and the design on both his abdomen and back reaches upwards as the upper torso is moved. I was even more surprised to see that the logo also is extended into the shoulder/butterfly joints. I do like the green and black look of his web shooters and even the design of the eyes and logo. I was wondering if the line work would be sketchy, but all of them are very clean. The figure itself is actually very decent looking and from pictures I've seen, does a great job of capturing the look of the character.
Articulation: 6/10
Chasm is on the same body mold as Tarantula. Truth be told, I'm merely going to copy that segment from that review because we've talked about the Sunfire Body Mold so much that the articulation is almost not worth going over. This is the basic Legends articulation we've had for years and about the only redeeming quality is that the butterfly joints actually work halfway decent on this figure. You can get the arms swept back to a much greater degree, thanks to the shorter shoulder pin. Aside from that, the same basic articulation applies... good range on head movement, full shoulder rotation, bicep swivel, double jointed elbows that bend in fully, wrists that pivot and hinge. This buck has the old diaphragm hinge that bends forward reasonably well and, backwards to a degree. The waist swivel is here, with the terrible landing platform hips. Leg splits will go to a bit past 45 degrees. The upper thigh cut works fine, knees are double jointed and bend in deeply. There is a boot cut, which works fine, and the ankles hinge and pivot as expected. There really is nothing to be excited about with this articulation and the only reason I bumped it to just above average was the good range of the butterfly joints.
Affordability: 2/10
Is $25.99 through Hasbro Pulse a price worth paying for this? The figure is essentially Tarantula with wrist effects and a better paint job. I think the truly sad thing here is that what was once a strength for Hasbro... putting out a huge selection of Marvel characters, has become a gimmick to increase sales.
Overall, rather than working on improving their engineering, Hasbro simply slaps a new paint job on an old body and introduces a character that collectors are excited to finally have. I admit I was intrigued by the photos of this figure, Tarantula, and the Ben Reilly Spider-Man that is part of this wave. I will also admit that I regret buying them. I have three more reviews of Marvel Legends figures coming up over the next week and after those are done, I'm really leaning heavily on being highly selective on what few Legends I'll purchase and, instead, begin focusing more on imports and G.I. Joe Classified. I just can't justify paying these prices for substandard figures any longer. Chasm gets a meager:
3 out of 10 ToyBoxes
Unless you really care about the character, don't waste your cash. There are better figures out there. Until next time... GEEK OUT!!!
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