Background
Upper Deck made their first SubCast figure – Spider-Man – available to the public on August 28th. That is, unless you had attended Comic Con, where they made a handful (100) of the overall run available for purchase.
The SubCasts line is a joint venture with Marvel as well as designer toy veteran miQ Willmott and TWEEQiM. Each figure is given a stylized look that makes the polyresin statue resemble an "urban vinyl" figure.
Packaging
Since the line is made of resin, Spider-Man is packaged within a layer of Styrofoam. The artwork on the outside of the glossy box is the concept art that TWEEQiM created for the figure. There is foil on Spider-Man’s eyes as well as the SubCasts logo.
The Figure
Each polyresin Spider-Man figure stands around 9" tall. Since
the figure is made of resin, it has some weight to it. It also makes
it more delicate than a rotocast vinyl piece. And of course, there are no points of articulation.
The total run is made consists of 2,000 pieces. Each figure is
individually hand-numbered on the bottom of the figure’s right foot. Even
though the line is stylized, the Spider-Man outfit is exactly how you
remembered it.
Our Opinion
When I first saw Upper Deck’s SubCasts line, I assumed that the figures
were made of rotocast vinyl. Since most releases in the designer toy
world are rotocast, and the line was a stylized line, why not assume
that? However, I think they made the correct choice in going with
resin statues.
The quality is obviously superior to some of the rotocast pieces out
there. And some of the sculpting work, such as the raised lines on Spider-Man's outfit, would have been difficult to create in vinyl. The line will appeal to more than just vinyl collectors,
which is what UD is going for. While Spider-Man is a rather
“well-known” superhero…it will be interesting to see what the designers
and sculptors create with some of the less mainstream characters.
You can pick one up at the following:
Upper Deck Store: $75
Spider-Man SubCasts Grades:
Quality: 9/10
Paint: 9/10
Durability: 6/10
Hype: 8/10
Fun Factor: 8/10
Value: 8/10
Overall: 9.1/10
