Marvel Universe Ultimate Gift Set

The Marvel Universe toy line has been discontinued. Locally, stores (and some collectors/scalpers) are disposing their stock of MU's. It's just funny how some collector/scalpers try to do this.

Here is a screenshot of local eBay showing the prices for the Marvel Universe Ultimate Gift Set, first by local sellers then followed by international sellers. It's like a big joke out there.

These are not rare items. In a toy store, there are at least 5 of these displayed, more in others. They don't exactly get good reviews, just check this one for example. Based on that review, stores have been trying to dispose of this items since 2012 by slashing the price (from approximately PhP2,100 to PhP1,300 based on the prices posted on the review using current ForEx conversion).

I saw these a few weeks ago being sold at PhP1,000 and I still thought it wasn't worth it. Now, they are being sold at PhP700! That is even cheaper than the new figures from the same company being sold at PhP750 locally. At PhP750 you get a figure with an accessory if you're lucky. For this gift set, you get 5 figures plus an accessory for each one. Fair enough, so I got one.

I already have a couple of Iron Man, Spider-Man, Wolverine and Thor figures. What I don't have is a Captain America with a good-enough articulation. I was planning to get the current Avengers Infinite Series Capt America (being sold locally for PhP750) when they are marked down to at least PhP400. That is my upper limit for a character I don't love. Sure, I saw all the Captain America movies but it's the Black Widow I love!

The 1st CapAm figure (right) doesn't have enough articulation. The new one from the set has a small head. It looks like a head transplant will happen soon plus a repaint as they have different shades of blue. Having two type of shields is nice, too.

I don't have an orange Wolverine. All I have is two of the yellow one, one from the X-Men set and the other from the Sentinel, which are basically the same figures. It is interesting to see that the orange Wolvie is taller. Has Logan been taking some growth hormone? I kinda like Wolvie to be shorter. The gift set included a sword for Wolvie like his claws are not enough. Like Cap, I don't love Wolvie. I can relate more to Jean Grey or Emma Frost.

I'm really happy with the web accessories for Spidey. I kinda like Spidey so it's okay to have different versions of him but the one from the set is going to be used as parts for customizing.

Thor looks like his dorky old self back in the days which was the intention for this figure. Although I don't like it, I may be able to use it as base for another character. I like the middle figure more. I like it when Thor looks dumb. The movie version is just so puny.

I hated the Iron Man figure the most from this set. I didn't even bother taking a picture.

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01Dec2014 Update: The gift set is now being sold locally for PhP500. That's a little over US$10. I got another set to give as a gift to my nephew.