Let’s start with the Marvel Collector Corps, which this month features Spider-Man: Homecoming at its theme.
To me, one of the most distinct images of the new movie version of Spider-Man, first seen in Marvel Captain America: Civil War, is his homemade costume. So I’m pleased to see that featured on the box. Plus, it makes it very clear that this box features the movie version, not just a comic version.
Upon opening the box, we see this month’s patch and pin.
The patch features the new version of the Vulture, masked and goggled. Having seen the movie recently, I was really impressed by Michael Keaton’s portrayal of the Vulture; very down to earth and believable. Much more interesting than the really old man version in the comics.
The pin is based on Spider-Man’s web-shooter hologram from the movies, which in turn evokes the spider-light from the comics.
Lifting the flap, we see the card announcing next month’s theme: First Appearance: Avengers. I’m not quite sure what that even means, so that’s exciting.
As usual, I’ll show the reverse of the card at the end of the unboxing, since it shows all the items in the box.
Beneath the card is this month’s exclusive comic. This time around, it’s the first issue of the new Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man, by Chip Zdarsky and Adam Kubert. I love Spider-Man, I love Chip Zdarsky, and I love Adam Kubert, but I haven’t read this comic yet. (This box arrived right in the middle of some particularly stressful events that affected our household pretty deeply recently, so I’ve been distracted.) The art looks great, and I’m sure the story is fun. As usual, the cover is an exclusive cover, featuring Pop!-ified versions of the characters.
(I should also mention that I was very happy to receive this box before the Wednesday that this comic was released, otherwise I probably would have bought a copy for myself. For once, good timing.)
This month comes with a T-shirt, which should make fans who never want to see anything besides T-shirts very happy. It’s the school shirt for the Midtown School of Science and Technology, Peter’s school. I wore it to the movie when we saw it.
(Fans will recognize the establishing date of the school, 1962, as the year Spider-Man first appeared.)
This month’s exclusive Pop! features Spider-Man with his underarm web wings. I had picked up some of the other Pops from the movie already, including Tony Stark wearing his kitten T-shirt and Peter in his homemade costume. I think this is the only Pop! I have with him wearing the sleeker costume from the movie.
The final items in the box were a pair of Mystery Minis. While there are a whole bunch of Spider-Man Mystery Minis available, the only way to get characters from this movie are in this box. Each box comes with two, but there were four different ones total, so even box subscribers won’t be able to get a complete set very easily. I received Spider-Man in his homemade costume—which I really like—and the new version of Shocker. The other two possibilities were the Vulture and Spidey in his high-tech suit. I’m not as big a fan of the Mystery Minis as I am the Pint-Size Heroes, but these are still nice.
And here is the card detailing the items in the box.
Moving on to DC Legion of Collectors—the second box we’ve received—this month’s theme is a longtime favorite of mine: Batman: The Animated Series.
The box features a nice, weathered-looking silhouette of the Penguin.
This month’s patch and pin feature two popular villains.
The patch is a nice portrait of the Joker. I’ve always been partial to this design for the character. I just wish I had a better way to display all the cool patches we’ve received, although my wife has some ideas.
The pin is of Catwoman. If I’m honest, I prefer the later design of her from the series, as opposed to this one. Still, this is a nice addition to my collection.
The inside of the box is really nicely designed this month as well.
Once we get past the flap with the pins, we see the card revealing next month’s theme. My box arrived really quickly this month, and for once I had no idea what the next them would be until I opened the box. It’s DC’s Most Wanted, so we’ll be getting lots of villain stuff in September’s box.
The comic is an oldie but a goodie: the first issue of the Batman Adventures, the comic adapting the style of the TV series by Kelley Puckett, Ty Templeton, and Rick Burchett. That series represents one of my favorite post-1980s runs of Batman comics, and I’ve been rereading them recently as DC reprints them in a nice series of comprehensive books. This one has an exclusive Pop! cover.
As soon as I saw what lay beneath the comic, I got excited. My wife was seated so she couldn’t see into the box, so I decided to slowly reveal the items to her, leading up to the one that had me the most excited.
First out of the box was this month’s T-shirt. Since the Marvel and Star Wars boxes come with shirts my size, we decided to subscribe to the DC and Disney boxes with her T-shirt size. This is the first box to come with a T-shirt for her, and it’s a beaut. It’s the Batman Animated Series logo head shot of Batman, only Pop!-ified.
This month’s exclusive Pop! is Mr. Freeze, apparently decided by a fan vote. That’s fine; Mr. Freeze, particularly the version in the animated series, is a really poignant and well-designed character. (If memory serves, this version was actually designed by Mike Mignola.) One area in which I fell this Pop! is particularly successful is in capturing the skin tone for the face.
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| Look at his widdle Bat-arang! |
The last item was something that I was hoping for, but was sure had probably already been produced: a Dorbz Ridez of Batman and the Batmobile from the series. I’m a huge fan of all the iterations of the Batmobile, particularly the one from the 1966 TV series. This one is a close second, and it looks great.
Overall, the stripped-down, deceptively simple design of the Batman animated characters is tailor-made for the Funko line. That show is one of my favorite versions of one of my favorite characters, and I’m glad that this month’s toys lived up to my expectations.
As usual when I do a Funko unboxing, picking a Pop! of the Month would be redundant, so that’s it for this week! See you next week!
