Toys / Comics to Toys / Marvel Legends

Spider-man Classic Morbius

By Hervé St-Louis
July 7, 2003 - 16:50

The Spider-man Classic Morbius figure is a cool looking vampire suitable for both collectors and kids. At first sight, my question is why wasn't this figure released in the regular Marvel Legends line up? It is a six-inch action figure with a very good sculpt and details. Perhaps it's because the character has faded from the spotlight in recent years.

Morbius gained abilities similar to a vampire after experimenting a cure for a blood degenerative disease he was suffering from. However, he had none of the disadvantages related to vampires, such as a weakness in sun light, garlic and religious artifacts. He appeared several times in Spider-man comic books, although he had his own series several times.

Likeness

The figure looks a lot like the comic book character. He comes in a black leather suit and a torn cape and long hair and fangs. The figure is perhaps a bit too muscular compared with the skinny look of the character in several comics.

Sculpt

The sculpt is cool. The character is posed for an attack. Because of the way his thighs and buttocks are, Morbius permanently leans forward. Since his back is arched, his head leans forward even more. With his fangs, the figure looks very nasty and dangerous.

Paint

At first, I thought the paint job was crappy because the exposed chest of the character looks poor. But when looking at it closer, one finds that's it's the decomposed skin on the character's chest that's painted this way. He's meant to look like that. Although wearing a black suit. There are several blue grey highlights on the character's suit. The inside of Morbius' cape is nice. It's a mix of uneven red and brown shades.

Scale

The character fits well with recent Marvel Legends figures. Being crouched, he could easily fit a seven-inch action figure collection, like Marvel Legends. His head big. Morbius looks larger than other recent Spider-man figures, such as The Hobgoblin. Still, the characters are so off the wall that they fit with each other nonetheless.

Standing Upright

Because Morbius is permanently crouched, standing him up may be difficult. Fortunately, he comes with peg holes in each foot. Another problem I had with the figure, was his loose knees' articulations. Although you can pose the figure up, the weak knees make it fragile. Any push on your desk, and he falls.

Articulation

The articulation on this figure is good, and better masked than many Marvel legends figure. There are 16. This is much less than most Toy Biz super hero figures, but better several companies in related markets, such as DC Direct. Perhaps the major gripes, is the lack of neck articulation, in favour of a mouth articulation that a pulley on the character's back activates. Moreover, most articulations are loose.

Plastic

Morbius consists of solid plastics that will last very long with kids. However, his head contains soft rubber, so the mouth articulation can function. For an adult collector, this is not a problem. Yet for a kid, it is definitely not enough. Since Toy Biz actively pushes the Classic Spider-man line to kids, this may be a problem when rough play is involved. Morbius' hair and glued on cape, are also made of soft rubber.

Props

Morbius comes with two small bats that one can attach to his wrists. I prefer the bat available in the Spider-man cartoon Morbius instead. It was better sculpted and bigger. However, these two bats, are great for people who want to create dioramas for the Batman's Batcave. The two bats are the same.

Packaging

The packaging is simple. It comes in a bubble with descriptions of figures from the line in the back. There's also instructions on how to use the mouth articulation feature. The cover art for the figure is an airbrush like Spider-man illustration that seems geared for kids. Nowhere on the card does it name Morbius per se, except in the bubble. It's as if kids were buying nothing but a Spider-man toy.

Cost

The cost of this figure is reasonable, although it packs less stuff than other figures from the line, or other Marvel Legends. I don't know if it's because of the special articulation gizmo in the character's back.

Availability

This figure is easy to get in retail stores, although Toy Biz did not distribute it directly by Diamond. So many comic shops may not carry it. You may have to hunt it down in retail stores who've been visited by expert scalpers. For several kids, this figure won't be high on their list. Morbius was not featured extensively in recent Spider-man television features. He is neither a major Spider-man character.

He had a big storyline in the series from the mid 1990s, and a matching figure. I think Toy Biz put Morbius on the Spider-man bandwagon to insure it would sell. It could easily have fitted a Marvel Legends wave, although the sculpt is more proportionate and there is less articulation. I'd recommend this figure to fans of the characters or people looking for a cool vampire action figure for their desk. Read reviews of related figures such as:

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12