Let's Discuss: Medicom Mafex #241 Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Action Figure

Welcome to another Dan's ToyBox Action Figure review. Medicom has released their version of the Spider-Man "No Way Home" Tobey Maguire, Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man action figure. Many of my readers know that I'm a fan of Mafex figures, so naturally the question arises, is this another solid Mafex offering? There are some very good things about this figure and some questionable issues. Let's get on with it!

In 2002, Spider-Man made his debut on the big screen. Although a TV version existed in the late '70s, legal issues and property rights delayed the web-slinger's full Hollywood debut. Tobey Maguire was chosen to portray the iconic role, and his interpretation of Peter Parker and Spider-Man quickly gained a fan following. He continued with two sequels, with Spider-Man 2 widely acclaimed as one of the best superhero films and sequels ever. In 2012, Spider-Man was rebooted with Andrew Garfield as the lead. While the first film was successful, its sequel didn't receive as much praise. Spider-Man took a break from cinemas until 2016, when a major deal between Sony and Marvel Studios brought him back in Captain America: Civil War. Tom Holland appeared as a high school-aged Peter Parker and Tony Stark's protege. Holland's first solo film, Spider-Man: Homecoming, was well-received and led to two sequels, the latest of which thrilled fans. In 2021, Spider-Man: No Way Home premiered, leaving a lasting impact on the MCU. Following the events of Far From Home, Peter's identity is exposed. He turns to Dr. Strange to cast a spell to make people forget his secret, but Peter's meddling disrupts the spell, introducing the multiverse to the MCU. Fans were ecstatic as Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield returned as older Spider-Men to assist Holland in resolving the chaos. Personally, I enjoyed Garfield's films, but seeing Tobey back was the ultimate highlight.

ACCESSORIES 9/10

Mafex did an excellent job of including not only the basics, but film-relevant accessories. The FNSM is packed with:

• Three interchangeable heads

  • One Masked (with fully costumed neckpiece)

  • One Unmasked Serious Face (with partial costume neckpiece)

  • One Smiling Face

• Nine Pair of Hands

  • Fists

  • Wall Crawling

  • Magnetic Wall Crawling

  • Web Holding

  • Web Thwipping

  • Mask Holding

  • Device Holding

  • Saluting

  • Finger-Pointing

• Two Pair of Feet

  • Magnetic and Plain

• One Loose Mask

• One Device (For curing Sandman)

• Webbing

  • One Pair Swinging Webs

  • One Pair Short Thwipping Webs

  • One Pair Long Thwipping Webs

• One Magic Portal

• Flight Stand with Extra Display Pieces

I did get him to hang upside down under my desk but the magnets on his feet are really not that great. I got the picture and caught him just in time. I'm pretty impressed, especially with the attention to detail on the Sandman Device and on the loose mask. I'll get more into appearance shortly, for now though, the number of accessories packed with this figure is remarkable.

APPEARANCE 6.5/10

At first look, right out of the package, this is a great looking figure but there's something slightly off. I don't usually have an issue with the shoulders and butterfly joints on Mafex figures, but on this one, the shoulders are too bulbous. I don't know if it's because of the suit design, the size of the butterfly inserts, or what... but it just doesn't look right. I put this figure next to my other movie style Spider-Man Mafex figures and they all looked correctly proportioned, compared to this one. I look at Spidey's upper body and just see a bunch of round shapes. I've fiddled with adjusting them for neutral poses and it still doesn't help. He's likely going to stay in an action pose in the display so the awkwardness of the shoulders is hidden. Speaking of proportion... I get that Tobey Maguire isn't a particularly big guy, but the feet on this figure feel exceptionally small. I held them up in comparison to other figures (Daredevil, Spidey-2099, and the Tom Holland FFH Spidey) and though they were comparable in size, they just look really little on this figure. I've also had issues getting him to stand decently. I'm constantly making adjustments to get him balanced. While the thigh gap isn't as bad as on some Marvel Legends figures, this one is definitely worse than other Mafex offerings. Aside from that, my only other real issues stand with the paint. I question the overly shiny nature of the gunmetal on the webbing and spider emblem. I've heard several reviewers point out the problem with the eyes and I get it... the lenses are very dark, almost the same shade as the webbing and eyepiece frames. To make things worse, the paint doesn't even cover the ridges around the eyepieces, which means it blends in with the red of the mask. I actually prefer the color scheme SHF used as it mutes the weblines so they aren't distracting. Instead, they look more natural on the suit. I've also found several areas where the paint wasn't fully applied, leading to some unfortunate breaks in the pattern. Thankfully, they are mostly along the seam lines between the red and blue parts of his suit, so they're kind of hidden. The partially bare neck also has some paint application issues, which you can easily see in the top photo of the review. It looks like they missed half of the neck! I get that this is a really intricately detailed figure, but the shiny gunmetal draws the eye to the defects and that's an issue. Probably the best parts of this figure are the two unmasked heads and the texture on the costume. The paint on the faces is done very well and the expression on the smiling face is nowhere near as goofy as on the SHF version. The texture pattern synonymous with this suit shows up very nicely on both the red and blue sections. Add to that the deeper hues of red and blue and the design really stands out.

ARTICULATION: 8.5/10

While Mafex always features solid articulation, there are some issues with this Spidey. I'm hoping that it's just mine and not a widespread problem. Let's start up top:

The masked head has good range and can turn independently of the neck, look up and down without issues and thanks to the neck joint has increased range for looking up and down, along with great side to side tilt.

The bulbous shoulders have a full 360 rotation and can raise the arms to a T pose without the butterfly rotation and to a Y with the butterfly joint. The butterfly joints do have good forward and back range and the peg into the shoulder can allow you to "shift" the arms up and down. The awkward look of the design does help with the movement, so there's that. The bicep swivels work fine, and the elbows bend in fully. All of the hands are on pegs which hinge and rotate.

The upper torso has surprisingly nice range for crunches, back bends, side tilt, and rotation. I was a bit leery at first, in fear of paint scrape, but had none of those issues. Coupled with the great range at the lower waist joint, Spidey can get into some nice crunch poses, and agile looking dodging poses.

The main issue I had on mine are at the legs. While the drop-downs work, I get movement on both legs when I'm trying to only move one. Plus, though they increase the range of his forward kick I can only get his leg to about 90 degrees before having to slightly rotate it for a higher kick. BE CAREFUL!!! I've seen reviewers with scratches on the legs from doing this. I'll likely not pose him that dynamically, so as to not damage the leg, but it's a frustration when you have to be more worried about your figure than having fun with it. His splits are decent but I still have yet to own a Spider-Man figure that can hit a full split. The thigh rotation is hidden and works well enough. The knees have exceptional range and none of that clunky look you get with extending joints. Lastly, the ankles work fine. The forward pin allows for pivot and the hinge does raise the foot farther than it will point down. The toe articulation is ok, a bit loose on mine though. As I mentioned in appearance, the deceptively small looking feet do make it somewhat difficult to get him to balance at first, but the more you play around with posing him, the easier it becomes to find his center of balance.

AFFORDABILITY: 6/10

I was able to snag this for $104.99 on BBTS. Since then, it has increased to $119.99 but is sold out. It is available on Amazon for $129.99 and on ebay for a lot more. However, I'm not entirely certain it's worth paying that much for. Don't get me wrong on a personal note, I do like the figure. However, for the first time in a long time, I don't feel it's up to Mafex usual standards. Even with the mystic portal accessory, I'm hard pressed to say this is even worth the $105.

Overall, I must confess to having been disappointed with this figure. I had higher hopes for the Mafex version and I'm kind of feeling let down. While it is nice to have on the display, I expected more from Mafex and don't think I got it. The accessories and articulation carry the figure, but the appearance and pricing take a big hit for me.

Therefore, I'm feeling like the Medicom Mafex #241 Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man earns a slightly above average:

7 out of 10 ToyBoxes

This figure has just enough good to justify a seven rating, but for me it's just not good enough to go any higher. Thanks for checking out Dan's ToyBox and until next time... GEEK OUT!!!