Around the 15th of every month brings with it a new look at something old. Let us celebrate an all new Vintage Toy of the Month! Back in the 90’s, nothing could really hold a candle to the success of Toy Biz. They dominated toy shelves with their cool sculpts (for the times) of everyone’s favorite Marvel super heroes. I thought it would be fun to take a look back at some of the figures they made of some of my favorite female super heroes from the X-Men. Now this will be a bare bones look at just the figures themselves, but I can assure you, there will be plenty to look at! So let’s start!

Storm

Though I am missing the original Storm that Toy Biz released in the early 90’s, she was the first female member of the X-Men to be made into a figure. After her initial release, there were quite a few versions of Storm that Toy Biz would issue. These are my favorites. The one on the left was a part of a Water Wars series from 1997 and it featured a much cleaner sculpt from her original costume. Articulation was of course limited, but compared to her original figure, this was a perfect Storm. The next Storm came from the Robot Fighters series from 1996. I adored this version of Storm as it really kept an up to date appearance of her comic look at that time.

Up close both sculpts look fantastic. Storm has her white eyes and is ready for danger! I loved the hair from the Robot Fighters series. Those long stems were just amazing. The hair reminded me of T-Boz’s hair from TLC. I just love that whole look.

Flipped around the figures have basic sculpts. I love the looks of these figures as they came out later in the decade. Toy Biz had begun to really perfect the look of their releases.

Domino

Released as a part of the X-Force line of the X-Men toys, Domino was a very surprising figure. I remember being more aware of the X-Men characters, but I do remember the tales of Cable and his team from the 90’s. It was an interesting set of characters, in particular Domino. She just looked cool. This figure also has that 90’s look in spades!

Look at that face! My goodness, that mullet is everything. Just everything.

I also love the back of her body sculpt too, the colors just look nice. These old Toy Biz figures are something else. I remember having the hardest time finding Domino in stores and had to pay a pretty penny for her at a comic store, and now they cost practically nothing on the secondary market.

White Queen

When this figure was released as part of the Generation X line of figures in 1996, I went nuts. I loved the character of the White Queen. Emma Frost was just so cool and sublime. When this figure was released I was simply shocked, never in a million years would I have ever expected to see her released. She featured an all new sculpt and she looked very similar to her comics version.

Even the face had a nice cool factor going on. This looked like Emma Frost and in many ways heralded a new approach by Toy Biz to really release as many interesting characters as possible.

Here is a picture of her flipped around. It is so strange to think that Generation X had a moment back then. I remember there was a pilot episode on television and there was truly a push to bring forward new characters to the toy world.

Jubilee

I loved Jubilee. Fans usually fell into two camps, those who hated her and those who loved her. How could anyone not like her though? Through her story arc with Wolverine and just her love for the mall, that was all I needed to find her to be awesome. I also think that the X-Men cartoon really helped make her a cool character. These figures helped even more. The one on the left was from the same Generation X line while the one on the right came from the Robot Fighters just like Storm.

There was so much surprise regarding the release of this figure. I had long waited and hoped for her to be made and was so glad when she finally made it into figure form! The other Jubilee was a nice variant, though I do prefer the yellow coat.

It’s pretty nice that Toy Biz released two versions of Jubilee. I know in more recent releases, Hasbro made a smaller Jubilee to the Marvel Universe line while I do believe they are also making a larger scale Jubilee for Marvel Legends. I am excited for that. There needs to be more Jubilee releases.

Rogue

After the first versions of Storm, the next X-Lady to be made was Rogue. The Rogue on the left was the first one made in 1994. The one to the right came out in the later 90’s and each one has that signature look, but I love the one to the right.

Rogue has always been one of my favorites and this is the quintessential look that gets released each go around. I don’t mind, the green and yellow suit with the brown jacket is such an iconic look for me.

The back of the figures are pretty standard. The sculpt of hair on the right side looks better as Toy Biz really began making strides with the look of these figures.

Though her iconic look is pretty awesome, I do like the other looks of Rogue. This version of the southern belle featured a reuse of the White Queen sculpt to sport an Age of Apocalypse look. This Rogue came with a special lovers set with Gambit.

I love that Toy Biz did this. They actually released a few sets of famous Marvel loves. Her hair is very severe, but I love the colors and overall look of this figure. She was a nice spin on the original look.

Though this was a reuse of the White Queen sculpt, it is important to note that the jacket piece was removed. It really helps, because though the whole sculpt is a repaint, it has been done in a way so as to make the figure look new and different.

Polaris

Another favorite of mine, and often one that does not get that much love, Polaris was another fun treat to find on the toy aisle. With the reuse of parts, Polaris was a repaint of Rogue and was released in the mid 90’s. I was slightly annoyed that they didn’t give her a new sculpt at the time.

However, it is not as if there have been a large amount of Polaris figures made. I have never really understood why toy companies shy away from making her. She is such a fun and important character in the X-Universe.

The back side featured the same detailing of the Rogue sculpt, and both figures had a punching mechanism with the press of the button.

Marrow

Here is a case of an action figure not really looking all that much like the comic counterpart. Released in the Generation X line, Marrow was one gross looking figure. To be fair, she was pretty gross in the comics, what with all those bones jutting out of her body, but Toy Biz gave fans a really twisted send up of this fan favorite.

Her face looks like a cross between a Venom character from Spider Man and an old woman. The detailing is very nice though, she does work as a figure. Just a very creepy one.

Her skin is very wrinkly but she is wearing fringe boots. So there is that. Unfortunately I don’t believe there have been any other Marrow figures made. That is a shame, because Marrow was a unique character in the 90’s. It was Marrow and Maggot, remember? They were some of the newer characters at that time and they really caught on for awhile, until fading away.

Psylocke

1996 was a good year for female figures. At least I think it was. Toy Biz really pulled out all the stops to give fans the chance to own their favorite female super heroes. Psylocke was another one of those releases that I never thought they’d make, though it makes perfect sense that they did. After all, she’s a ninja and has really fabulous hair.

I love this face sculpt. For such a simple looking figure, Toy Biz really captured the look of this awesome character. They also gave her numerous points of articulation, another step into the new direction that Toy Biz would be taking Marvel heroes.

Flipped around I notice a few things. Her sash looks cool, and can be removed. Also, her hair reminds me of the shape of her psychic knife, doesn’t it?

Jean Grey

There is something very interesting about this character. It took Toy Biz awhile to release Jean Grey into their various lines, but once they did, they ended up making a few versions of her. This one was from the Onslaught line. Remember that epic comic event? This Jean Grey certainly had the Jim Lee look, but the sculpting was pretty bad. She is posed in a very uncomfortable position.

I remember wanting this figure badly though, if only because this has been such an iconic look for me. I do like how far toy sculpting has come though. That hair with the red and black streaks, oh goodness!

Due to the sculpting on this figure, posing her is often tricky. Her long legs do not help matters. However, she is a nice representation of a version of Jean Grey that was very popular.

There’s more Jean Grey though! This Age of Apocalypse version of Jean came from an X-Men Secret Weapon Force line towards the end of the 90’s run of figures (1997.) This was a stunning version of Jean and was from a reuse of parts from a Mystique that was released earlier in the year.

Here is a closer shot at her face sculpt. She looks really pretty. I like that the face was molded in her skin tone as opposed to her skin being painted on. I am not usually a fan of skin tones being painted on, it chips.

The back of the sculpt looks as if this Jean would have a hard time standing on her own, but she is actually quite sturdy, which is a good thing, because we all know that Jean isn’t always the most sturdy out of the group.

Toy Biz really made dreams come true when they released both the Phoenix and Dark Phoenix figures. These were so hard to find when they first came out, but I knew I had to have them at all costs. The whole long winded Phoenix Saga was just pure gold for me. I loved it, and though there have been better Phoenix figures made, these two versions were pretty epic when they first came out.

 

Their eyes and hair lit up with a fiery look with just a quick button press on their back. I also love the open palm on their hands, very nice figures.

When turned around, the one thing that bothered me the most was the tiny peg for a button on the back. Usually Toy Biz would have a nice lever or thicker button for their special features, but the Phoenix figures ended up having a smaller button that you had to press rather hard to get it to work. It is the one complaint I have for those two.

Other than that, I have very fond memories about some of the early X-Men figures by Toy Biz. It was a very exciting time for toy collecting. I never knew what would be coming out next, but I was always thrilled to hunt down my next favorite.

That’s about it for this month’s Vintage Toy of the Month! Be sure to head back next month around the 15th for the next trip down toy memory lane! Take care everyone.

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