Thanks to Dorkside Toys, I was able to score both of these lovely ladies, with “Binary Form” Captain Marvel on clearance for about 50% off.
I mean, it’s not like I haven’t made clear my love for both of these characters in the past, so getting action figures of each was kind of a foregone conclusion.
Let’s start with Captain Marvel, since this figure actually came out as a tie-in to the 2019 movie.
Binary Form Captain Marvel here is the same figure as the base Captain Marvel figure, but with translucent yellow plastic used on her hair and arm pieces. She also comes with fire-effect swirls that wrap around her arm, and two goofy looking fireballs that fit over her fists like boxing gloves. I really dislike how they look, so no photos of those.
I expected the eyes to be light-piped by making the entire head translucent yellow and just the flesh tone painted on, but no! The hair is a completely separate piece, and the head is molded in caucasian flesh with all the details of the face painted on. The glowing eye effects that Hasbro painted on are pretty great on both interchangeable heads!
I’m like 99% sure this figure was exclusive to either Wal-Mart or Target during its initial release, and I never saw it in stores. I’m glad to finally get the 4th version of this mold released.
Spider-Gwen aka Spider-Woman aka Ghost Spider
This is not the Gwen Stacy that once loved Peter Parker. Well, it is, but from Earth-95, not the standard Marvel Universe we know, Earth-616. In this alternate reality, it was Gwen Stacy who was bitten by the radioactive spider, and when her love interest Peter Parker died, she learned that With Great Power Must Also Come Great Responsibility™. Taking up the mantle of Spider-Woman, Gwen eventually travelled to Earth-616. Since there’s already a few other folks using the name Spider-Woman in the mainstream Marvel U, Gwen eventually picked up the name Ghost Spider. This toy is (obviously?) based on Gwen’s appearance in the Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse animated film from Christmas 2019… and the toy just came out now, in early 2021.
Gwendolyn is made on the standard female teenage body that Hasbro’s been using for a while, although with new lower legs and feet to accommodate Gwen’s ballerina shoes. She’s got interchangeable “thwip” and fist hands, and both the masked and Gwen Stacy heads. She comes with an alternate “dropped hood” accessory to put around her neck when you swap the heads, so you can give her a few different looks.
Long-time readers will remember that I picked up the citizen Gwen Stacy figure last September, so I decided to have a little fun with the alternate Universe Gwens.
Gwen also came with an accessory of Peter Porker, the Spectacular Spider-Ham, also based on his appearance in the film. He only moves at the neck.
How long until we get a Goose Rider figure?