The Gamerverse is going beyond Marvel Legends and making its presence in S.H.Figuarts! If you're already a fan of the Marvel Legends multipacks as well as the larger-scale Juggernaut and Gargantos, then you should be interested in their lineup of characters (or at least the ones Hasbro didn't get to yet). I already own the X-Men 97 version of Cyclops and have no need for the Tamashii version, but I can't say no to a new Spider-Man with a specific place in my collection. Perhaps this time, I could replace Renew Your Vows as my definitive comic Spidey, right? That said, the timeline it took for this review to be made was even more interesting than the figure itself. Originally pre-ordered, then canceled near the end of 2025, and later regaining interest after looking through some reviews and coming to my own conclusion with the good and the bad, the day came when I won an eBay auction with this and Mess Toys' Black Suit Neighbor for around a reasonable price for both of them. IIRC, it was around $135, so I basically paid about what it'd cost for both figures for their normal MSRPs, or I paid for two figures of equal value if the price was cut in half per Spider-Man. I'll get into the history behind Mess Toys, but it's almost close to a Revoltech if you're interested in seeing why I would make a versus review. Let's see if the battle within decides which figure beats the other: the newest Figuart of this great character versus a high-quality bootleg that turned out to be a genuine surprise.
Here we have Spider-Man in-hand, and while the Cyclops figure made before him was a bit generic in terms of design, this at least matches the sprites used for the Capcom-collab games, albeit to a fault. Some people talked about the differences between what they should or shouldn't look like when we compare sprites to promo art, and it's a case where one doesn't match the other or how bright the colors are (on top of the web lines not being black but instead a slightly darker red), and while I am grateful he isn't colored to be pixelated, I still would like to see a happier medium between what the sprites look like and the promo art where the darker colors and web lines are present. As for the mold itself, it looks mostly good. I love the bulkier proportions as well as the reasonable level of musculature (even if it's a bit soft like on the McFarlane COIE body used on Superman). He doesn't have a slim torso, nor is his head of average size like on a cosplayer. The waist area as well as the upper thighs and hips, however, have been a bit of contention for many; if you remember the Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man they made, it had a broken-up waist area where there were some panels near the crotch to allow the hips to move better while trying to preserve the sculpt despite the visual compromise. I think this move worked better for FNSM because of the darker colors combined with the textured sculpt. In fact, while I like the recessed web lines and appreciate they tried to make a sense of flow between the hip plates and the ends of the thighs, the lighter blue as well as the softer musculature don't exactly help with the waist area from standing out badly. To sum it up, I like the figure for the most part; it's not as awful as people make it out to be, yet I wish there would have been tweaks in either the aesthetics or having the colors work better. At least they didn't forget to sculpt the ass in different areas.
As for Black Suit Neighbor, this is a either a copy of one of the Revoltech Amazing Yamaguchi molds or a modified version of the body to appear less anime-esque or look more "normal" with a smoother surface instead of having the texturing of symbiotic goo moving around him. One positive about him is that he has a matte finish, which works better for him, whereas someone like Venom could be with or without one and still look fine. As for the proportions, while still not overly exaggerated like the AY, this is still more muscular than the average Hasbro Legends figure. Of note, the figure has a mix of gaps for certain joints as well as discrepancies that don't normally fit for the costume, like the ridges on the boots that would make sense mostly for the commonly bootlegged Parker Industries suit. Also, the torso looks more broken up because the pecs can now "flex" while the figure hinges the arms in front or behind the torso rather than using the butterfly joints found on most action figures. Once again, this would normally make sense for a suit of armor versus living alien goo pretending to be a spandex suit, but at least being predominantly black helps hide this discrepancy. And hey, it solves a problem most Hasbro Legends suffer from where the pecs appear smaller due to the integration of butterfly joints! Honestly, apart from the shoulders, upper torso, and boots appearing weird, this is still able to mimic the comic aesthetics perfectly fine and thankfully has little to no paint blemishes, which would be more forgiving on an unofficial figure priced around $30 than a Hasbro item. And while he may appear more broken up than the MvC figure, it thankfully has no issues with the waist area.
The head sculpts for each figure are good for what they are each aiming to match, with Gamerverse, of course, matching the Capcom era of arcade games featuring a handful of Marvel superheroes with the Street Fighter cast and then some of Capcom's other characters (Mega Man, Morrigan, etc), though he still has that McFarlane influence. Black Suit Neighbor, on the other hand, is more of a standard shape associated with when the costume first appeared in Secret Wars. We'll get into the options momentarily, but let me say this about the masks: I'm happy that both of them at least are shaped with the mindset of a human head underneath them thanks to the subtle tip of the nose, because it could have been easy to make them look balloonish or basic.
The accessories for each of them are a mostly good spread, though Black Suit Neighbor could be a bit better at the total than Gamerverse. On the left, we get an alternate head with slightly larger lenses, four pairs of hands, an adaptor for the spider-sense effect piece, a spatula for the back piece to pry out, a single web line, an L-shape clear peg, and a web shield. On the right, we also have an alternate head, a pair of alternate hands, an extra pair of alternate hands (5 vs 4), two web lines, a pair of web blasts, a flight stand, and a bendy crane with a clamp. Surprised they would go as far as using the logo for the stand, considering how protective Disney is with their IPs. Then again, they would go after a man who just wanted to put a character they never made on a kid's grave yet say nothing on the Lightning McGroomer saga.
For Figuarts, the articulation consists of a double ball jointed neck, shoulder rotation, outward arm movements, butterfly joints that blend in better than the average Hasbro Marvel Legends figure yet have mediocre range (or at least one of them does), bicep rotation, double jointed elbows, wrist joints that are on two pegs with a hinge in the middle for universal range, a diaphragm joint that is very fluid in contrast to a lower torso joint that barely hinges forward thanks to a terrible design flaw where the joint is at an angle, requiring that the socket is also at a similar position while filling in the lower back with a panel that could have easily been scrapped if the lower torso was designed like a normal action figure. They make the hip area much more logical in comparison, because at least there, they move normally on the swivel pieces while the outward leg movement goes even higher than normal Hasbro Legends. Just keep in mind that there is a risk of the waist splitting, so be careful with that (even then, they should fix this before releasing the figure to an already skeptical group of consumers). Thighs swivel, knees bend at two points, and the feet can swivel, hinge, and pivot with a cap system that keeps the joint from breaking up the sculpt and proportions, all while keeping the range generally good. He even has toe articulation placed where it should be. For anyone wondering, you can do the idle pose generally close enough, but balancing the figure or using a flight stand is recommended given there are no peg holes on the feet. In addition to the thwip hands complementing the pose, I like the web shield in terms of sculptwork and size, though it should use some paint.
There is also the Spider-Sense display piece that looks pretty weak, let's be honest. It's only yellow on one side and white on the other, and you have to adjust it at the peg whenever the head is facing a specific direction, as I failed to do in this pic. Also, to access that, you need the trusty spatula to pry the middle part of the back logo off. I wish that could have been used for a peg with a flight stand, especially considering how often we see this figure marketed in jumping poses at times.
And while not as plentiful in length options, the web line is at least great for him to use if you want him to go with either a swing or throw, though we have no option for a web ball pose or for him to be posed shooting the web. I think they went with the swing and throw because those are some of the more common ways he would attack other opponents in the games, though once again, a flight stand is greatly needed.
Finally, you get a pair of cardboard backdrops if you want to recreate the Hyper Combo Finish, but keep in mind that it's not that particularly great looking for most toy photography angles, and it would have been more effective if it was either a giant web piece or had it on a clear plastic piece so it wouldn't be stuck on a black background. My copies are thankfully not bent, but these are still less effective than the backdrops in Studio Series when they were a thing.
As for the Black Suit Neighbor, his articulation is wilder than on Gamerverse. Once again, we have a double ball-jointed neck, but we have an extra joint within the base of the neck. The shoulders have even higher range at the cost of an ugly crevice for the shoulders. That said, you can move the arms front and back, with the butterfly joints providing even better range than the average butterfly range, even the Gamerverse Figuarts. Biceps rotate, though the joints are at an angle; the elbows bend deeply at the revolver joint, slight rotation at the forearms, and the wrists are on ball hinges. The torso uses two ball pegs, meaning you get much better range than Gamerverse. The hips have worse range moving to the sides, and the offset swivel has you working its way into making a straight kick thanks to the revolver joints and thigh swivels. The knees bend at a single joint, though some odd knee pads look like random spikes. The boots can rotate and hinge, while the ankles have just about as much range as Gamerverse (but with a small lump for the toe joints). All this means you can get better posing potential than with any other import figure, and especially Marvel Legends.
I prefer having double the pairs of web lines, which is at least better than one, in spite of there still being no deco or bendy wires. The alternate head he comes with has narrower eyes sometimes associated with this suit.
The figure needs no thwip hands considering he does his own style of hand gestures while shooting web. I would like to see more figures do a similar trick since half of the time, we get the same web-thwipping hands on other Spider-Man 1:12 releases. I know sometimes he does the same hand gestures, but not as often in Earth-616, at least to my knowledge.
To identify what hand should be used, remember that a small hole near the middle of the white area is what lets you do the web-thwipping. Also, a bonus alternate head not originally included with the set is a more McFarlane-style lens design courtesy of PVC Bakeshop. Honestly, the fact that I got this head with the two figures for nearly $140 makes it feel like a surprisingly good deal (since I believe the custom head went for $75). Considering how McFarlane/Bagley the MvC style looks, I would love to go with this option.
For a size comparison, here we have the two unofficial figures with their Legends counterparts, with Gamerverse sandwiched between Amazing Fantasy 15 and Renew Your Vows. Meanwhile, Black Suit Neighbor stands next to the Secret Wars figure. While figure scales are all over the place depending on who you ask, I don't mind that the Gamerverse version is between the heights of AF15 and RYV, with the latter said to go slightly over the normal scale. I'm not sure if there is supposed to be a consistent scale between SHF and Mess Toys, but at least it won't be as bad as reusing the RYV mold for a Spider-Man in the middle of being enveloped by the symbiote, which means he scales poorly with the full black suit figure from a year ago. I would like to see Gamerverse Spider-Man with black web lines and the same shades of red and blue we have with RYV; pretty sure we had that as an alternate skin for the old games as well as the promo art.
Overall, much like Peter Parker in Spider-Man 3, I have a bit of a battle within, so to speak; to sum it up in a few words. Black Suit Neighbor is better than I thought, while Gamerverse Spider-Man is so close to perfection. Let's go into slightly more detail on each figure: Gamerverse has the overall suit aesthetics and proportions I want for a more adult Spider-Man, and while the lenses are specifically for the game, they are still pretty close to the McFarlane/Bagley style. That said, I am mixed on the execution of some accessories in addition to the hybridization of the sprites and promo art (whereas having him match the promo art would help him appear less "cheap" at first glance). Most have complained about the broken-up hip area, yet I have more issues with the lower torso joint having less range than I would appreciate. The accessories range from good to executed at a less than ideal rate. Mess Toys are a third party company, so standards will vary depending on how much they want to do better or worse than the official brands. That said, unlike MAFEX bootlegs, they have no issues to speak of when it comes to using the Revoltech line as a basis as well as modifying the sculpt rather than directly copy it (at least for Black Suit Neighbor). Not only that, but the quality for Black Suit Neighbor far exceeds MAFEX bootlegs, and it may also do better than Gamerverse in terms of value for money and possibly even quality. So while I would recommend you get Gamerverse Spidey at a lower price, Black Suit Neighbor is one I recommend even more.
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
⭐⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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