Hasbro Amazing Spider-Man Walmart Exclusive Lizard

You can’t have a figure of the one hero from one of the summer’s biggest movies without also having the one villain figure for him to fight. Today we look at Hasbro’s version of the Lizard from their Walmart exclusive 6-inch line. How does he compare to other versions? 


This version of the Lizard, as portrayed by Rhys Ifans, was pretty controversial with fans, due to his design departure from the classic comic book version of the fan favorite villain. Namely, he lacked a snout and a lab coat. The lab coat actually had a brief cameo in the movie, but I wasn’t too bothered by these changes to the character. I actually though it was a great realistic interpretation of the character. And despite my initial distaste for this figure, I’m finding that I like it just as much as Ifan’s portrayal of the scaly green monster.

The packaging is mostly the same as the other figures in this line, except for one interesting difference. The top of the card includes a lizard in the design, which changes the silhouette of the card and makes it easier to pick out on the pegs when stuffed behind the plethora of Spideys. I thought that was kinda cool. But the figure itself doesn’t look that great in the package, being posed in an awkward position to make the best use of space in the bubble. I can forgive Hasbro for that, since they’re not using extra plastic just for the sake of posing the figure, and also because I don’t care about keeping figures mint on card.

The figure, as I mentioned, didn’t originally impress me. I think it was mostly the really awkward looking neck articulation, with the whole neck and traps swiveling back and forth over the torso. This seems like a really odd design choice. And Hasbro’s posing of the figure at SDCC and in the package certainly didn’t help this perception. But having the figure in-hand and posing the neck myself in a forward position, giving the Lizard his hunched forward appearance, I actually think it looks ok. You’ve got the option of letting him look “up” by posing the neck back, but if you leave him hunched forward, he doesn’t look bad. The sculpt on this figure is actually pretty good, with lots of detailed scaly texture all over.

In addition to the goofy neck, the rest of the articulation is pretty good as well. We’ve got a ball jointed head, torso and tail, ball hinged shoulders, elbows, hips, knees, and ankles, and swivels at the wrists. This figure is more articulated than the Marvel Select version, and thus can be put into many more Lizard-y poses.

Speaking of the Marvel Select version, this one doesn’t have quite as nice of a paint job as that one. The figure is molded entirely in dark green plastic with some tan paint in places to give texture. There just isn’t a lot of detail in the deco. It’s not bad, but it’s not great.  The most peculiar issue is the abrupt transition from the hips to the thighs, and the shoulders to the biceps.  I would've liked better blending here, and a wash/dry-brushing (like on the Select) would've done a great job of better highlighting the details of the sculpt.

Unlike the Select, though, this guy includes accessories. We’ve got a connect-y stand, which Hasbro seems to be including with all Marvel Legends-scale figures these days, and three different lizards that I don’t know what to make of. They don’t do anything, they’re too big to be in scale with the figures, they don’t resemble the lizards in the movie, but they’re still pretty cool. Maybe that’s just because I’m a guy and I like lizards. And some accessories, no matter how useless, is still better than no accessories.

So over all, this figure is pretty good. The sculpt and the paint on the Select version are obviously better, but this guy is better scaled for the Hasbro Spidey figures, and his articulation and accessories are superior. Buy him if you’re going to buy a Hasbro movie Spidey, but skip him if you’re going with a Select Spidey instead. This figure can be easily found at most Walmart stores and on Walmart.com.

The Amazing Spider-Man Walmart Exclusive 6 Inch Movie Figure

So, these finally started hitting Walmart a couple weeks ago. This one is coming a little late because, honestly, after a 3.75" Hasbro figure and a 7" Marvel Select figure, combined with the fact that this figure wasn't released until the movie was well out of theaters and out of mind, I had stopped even looking forward to this figure.  Was it worth the purchase?  Click to find out.

 The packaging for this Walmart exclusive line is basically a scaled up version of the card backs used for the 3.75" main line.  As is the case with most Marvel movie lines, it's nothing remarkable.  There's artwork from the movie, a label to let you know it's "movie series", and an "only at Walmart" sticker.  Definitely not the collector-friendly packaging of the Marvel Select figures.  But figures are meant to be played with, so do yourself a favor and rip it out of the bubble.

  The figure is basically like a bigger version of the Ultra Poseable Spider-Man, but isn't an exact copy scaled up.  It's a unique sculpt, and features quite a bit of detail.  Even more than the 3.75" version, and on par with the Marvel Select versions.  The entire figure is very nicely textured, matching the design of the movie costume, complete with web lines throughout the red parts and a scale-y, honeycomb sort of structure on the blue parts.  The web lines are etched into the body rather than sculpted on, like the Select version, so that's a minus, but the overall size of the figure and design of the costume are a little more accurate than the Select version, so it's a trade off.

There are no swapable parts like the Select version, but the sculpt includes the important things, like the web-shooters, and a thwippy hand, which was something Hasbro's smaller version lacked.  The spider logos on the front and back of the torso stand out as nice details, but one thing that I find a little odd, and it actually bugs me more the more I stare at the figure, is the head sculpt.  The eyes sit just a little too high on the face.  It makes the figure look like he has no forehead and a very long face.  That's unfortunate, because it ruins the look of an otherwise great figure.

The articulation is pretty comparable to the Select version, trading a few POA's for other's that the 7" version lacks.  This Spidey features a ball jointed head and torso, ball hinged shoulders, wrists, hips and ankles, ankle rockers, swivels at the upper thigh and bicep, and double hinged knees and elbows (the Select features all of that except for single hinged elbows, but adds calf swivels).  This figure is definitely super articulated, as this character deserves to be, and because of his svelte frame, range of motion in all of those joints is great.

The paint job leaves a little to be desired, especially compared to the premium Disney store exclusive metallic version of the Select Spidey.  There's nothing wrong with this paintjob, there's just not much detail to it.  Red paint over blue plastic, with a little bit of black, silver on the feet and gold in the eye lenses.  No wash or dry brushing to bring out any details.  Not a failure, but not exactly amazing, either.

The accessories included with this figure are a little more impressive.  We get the same connecty-stands used with the Avengers 6-inch figures as well as the current wave of Marvel Legends, as well as not one, but three strands of webbing.  The stand is cool because it functions and makes posing the figure easier.  The webbing is cool because it's a new sculpt, is long, easily held by the figure, and best of all, it can also be used with the 3.75" figures that are sorely lacking good web accessories.  As if anticipating this, Hasbro included the one strand seen when the figure is in its package, and two more packed below hidden beneath the cardboard insert.  All three are identical, so you get extras that can be used with other figures.  Nice touch there, H.

Over all, if you already own any of the other Amazing Spider-Man versions, this figure may not be a "must buy", but it is a decent figure.  It fits in nicely with other 6" scale movie figures, and even looks good with the ginormous Marvel Select Lizard.  If this version had come out sooner, and had a slightly more detailed paint job, I probably would have skipped the Select versions altogether (especially knowing that Hasbro has their own unmasked version coming soon).  As it stands though, Hasbro missed the boat with timing on this, and the dissipated interest with the movie now in the rear view mirror will hurt sales.  As such, this figure shouldn't be hard to find, provided you live close to a Walmart that actually stocks this line.  Good luck with that part.