Here we have Giant-Man in-hand. This figure reuses the Sunfire body, albeit with pinless joints. It helps with synergy sake with Ant-Man, but everything on him other than the belt is all tampographs. The points in the gloves are to be expected, but whereas I'm normally fine with the black detailing on Ant-Man to be deco, it sucks that no new sculptwork could be added onto the torso to convey that the straps are layered onto the costume rather than merely painted on. There was a similar method done with the Marvel Legends Cyclops mold, and it would have worked fine even with the requirement of butterfly joints being retained. And the paint apps aren't even applied that greatly, with rough transfers onto the space as well as wonkiness comparable to some people's QC experiences with the Lightning Collection when it comes to gloves.
Contrast this with Wasp, who at least has new tooling made specifically for this costume. The torso is the biggest change amongst other lady Legends, with a Silver Age-appropriate design that gives her shoulder pads and a black middle section that is molded separately from the red portions of the costume. Even the W is crisply applied. The gloves also appear to be new and thankfully don't come off while swapping hands. The legs are the same as before but Hasbro has to.use their budget restraints of course.
If they have one thing in common, it's well made head sculpts. Giant-Man's appears to be based on the CAD file for the HasLab, while Wasp has adjustable antennae and mic to boot. That being said, head sculpts shouldn't just be the only thing that makes a figure look good, because that is a concern I have with current Hasbro where the noggins look hot but the rest of the figures are not. And then there's overall trash like Tarantula.
Their articulation is standard affairs for Legends. With how common it is at this point for both, I decided to share an old review I made in 2023 featuring the Retro-Carded versions featuring both characters in different costumes and bucks/tooling. The Ant-Man in that review uses the Pizza Spidey buck while the Wasp is in a blue costume. The former's articulation differences revolve around the lack of boot rotation, something this Giant-Man does have. Also, the straps on Giant-Man being painted means that the butterfly joints look weird when posed back.
Likely the best way to hide how lackluster the details are in Giant-Man, he has a lab cost that is all cloth good quality, with a right amount of stitching that makes me feel fine without it being wired. The flasks can be held in the trigger hand, though the left hand could somewhat balance the rounded one on top. A computer device of sorts is also included, which is helpful for better showcasing the scientific mind of these two heroes.
To give fans who didn't buy Giant-Man a sliver of a chance to sort of recreate his larger height, he comes with a tiny Quinjet that is decently sculpted and painted. His height does vary depending on how much of it he wants to use, but it does make me wish he had tiny figures of the original Avengers to tower over. I have a tiny Thor figure with some chipping towards it from possible age, and he would have been an example of displaying him as taller with the aid of some micro figures. Hell, where is the tiny Wasp that could have easily clipped onto an adaptor with a peg to go on his back?!?!
For a comparison with some other costumes, we have classic Ant-Man and the 2002 blue Wasp costume I mentioned. This Ant-Man is not the one from review I mentioned, but I think it's cool to have both versions of the character in 6 inch scale. That being said, for how plain AM was, at least his tampographs work better than on Giant-Man. I do hope we get a 2.0 version of black and gold Wasp.
The heads can be swapped with the other figures not covered, though the vintage hairstyle on Janet may clash with the may clash with the modern costume as much as the skin tones do. Also, try to be careful with the helmet on Ant-Man since his antennae, flexible as they may be, scare me with durability concerns.
And here they are with the other Avengers. They all share one common color, and it is red. Anyways, while it's great to fill up the Avengers cast in classic comic form, that doesn't mean I am happy with how lackluster one half of the set is over the other. The missed opportunities in sculpting the straps on Giant-Man's costume as well as applying any crisp paint apps AND a tiny Wasp figurine hurt the reputation of the set overall if you remember Wasp is actually pretty good. Not mindblowing 100% since the boots are painted on, but it's almost like the new tooling was made specifically for a tier associated with the HasLab Giant-Man before fan backlash changed Hasbro's minds. I can't confirm that 100%, but it feels like that from how everything turned out. With the set sold out, be ready to pay for more than twice the amount of this mid 2-pack!
Final ranking: ⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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