



The Ultimate Riders figures have a pretty interesting history. They've been made since the Toybiz days, and were recently revamped by Hasbro, usually offering retooled figures in addition to the vehicles. By "retooled" I mean that they've almost all been characters we've had before, like Logan and Black Widow. These though, are extra special, since they're making their action figure debut AS Riders! Today, we'll look at the brand spanking new Cosmic Ghost Rider and Squirrel Girl, as the two new Ultimate Riders offerings.





Packaging:





The boxes are now standard Riders fare, and they're BIG. They also have great shots of the figure on the back, and a brief bio.





Both of them also have a great collage of the accessories, which is a great way to highlight the contents, including all the bells and whistles on the bikes.





Sculpting:





Cosmic Ghost Rider is a very new addition to the Marvel universe, an alternate version of Frank Castle who patrols deep space and tries to kill Thanos. He also has one of the best designs of any new character recently released, and that's gotta be a major reason why he got a figure so soon.





Sculpt wise, Cosmic shares the legs and forearms of Udon Taskmaster, which lends him a sleek, armored look that matches the art excellently. Plenty of him is new, like the wrist discs, scary torso face, and of course his astronaut helmet.





That's not to mention his hyper exaggerated shoulder spikes, and the fact that the helmet is removable, which allows the head to swivel.His entire look is so over the top, that it swings right back around to being awesome.





In general, this figure is an excellent translation of comic art to plastic, and does an amazing job of combining the looks of Ghost Rider, Punisher, and a death metal space feel. I know very little about this guy, but he blew me away, both from his look and how well this figure is put together.









Squirrel Girl is another interesting case. She's been around way longer than some characters, but this is her very first Legend, after years of fan demand and customs.

A decent amount of her build is shared with Jubilee , mainly from the waist down. Yet, most of it looks new, like the fir trim on the shorts and boots, the jacket, and of course her big bushy tail.





Speaking of the tail, it looks great, the fur especially is detailed wonderfully and there's no doubt that this is a squirrel tail. That said, it's also pretty heavy, and it can make it tricky to balance her, though not impossible.





One of my favorite things Hasbro included is her acorn earrings. It's a very small aspect, but the attention to detail always impresses, and they're a great addition.

Squirrel Girl isn't perfect, but I'm still pretty glad to finally have her on the shelf, as one of the biggest heavy hitters in the Marvel Universe.





Articulation:





Cosmic Ghost Rider (Or CGR as the cool kids say) has a great amount pose-ability, all that's needed to be a bike riding space bounty hunter. CGR has: A cut neck, ball shoulders, cut biceps, double pin elbows, cut/pin wrists, a ball torso, ball hips, thigh cuts, double knees, and rocker ankles. The wreath of unholy flames around his head, though comic accurate, prohibited him from having a ball joint. All of his joints flow together nicely and he's almost too fun to pose.









Squirrel Girl is also nicely articulated, although sadly not as much as an acrobat like her should be. She's got: a ball joint head, ball shoulders, pin/swivel elbows, pin wrists, ball midsection, ball hips, cut thighs, double pin knees, boot cuts, and rocker ankles. Everything works, but everything came out pretty stiff. She's certainly not a statue, but could've been done much better.





Accessories:





CGR comes with 7 accessories! The first is a cool flame chain. It's reused from the previous Ghost Rider bike set, but it's always welcome to have here, and it fits the character.





Frank Castle just isn't complete without some firepower, and this one comes with two brand new space guns! The sculpt is brand new, they look amazing, and the designs for them are actually different! Excellent work.









Speaking of firepower, the guns come with two different flame effects that fit over the barrels. They do fall off pretty easily, but the effect is still incredibly awesome, so I don't mind much.









Now the piece de resistance, the bike! To fit in the box, the globe comes disassembled, but the put together is pretty simple.





Impressively, the lightning effect inside the globe is sculpted, and can be removed!





Even more impressive, the set comes with a translucent stand for the hover bike, like Demogoblin ! The peg fits in the bottom of the bike, and goes in easily. It's also textured nicely, and really compliments the figure.





Once it's all together, it's fantastic. The deep space feel comes across brilliantly, and there's tons of excellent sculpting.





I'm especially fond of the tail pipes and the flame. They help to remind us that it this isn't just a space vehicle, but a space MOTORCYCLE.









He fits on the bike perfectly, and CGR looks incredibly cool once he's on.





The sides of the cycle even have holsters to hold the guns! That's a fantastic touch, and one that I almost missed.





I'm really having trouble finding the words to describe how great he and the bike look. In short, everything came out nearly perfectly, and they knocked this guy straight outta the park.









As her name promises, Squirrel Girl come with three squirrels! One of them is easily identified, as Tippy-Toe wears a pink bow. The other, eating an acorn, is a mysterious, unknown squirrel. A squirrel of mystery, if you will.





The same anonymity applies to the third squirrel, sculpted in a climbing pose. All three are sculpted nicely, and the paint work is great. I'm also pretty sure the sculpts are all new, unless Hasbro reused them from a little known Squirrel Transformers series or something.









The scooter has the mirrors and horn as detached pieces, also taken from Deadpool, albeit recolored.

Her vehicle is a robin's egg blue scooter, complete with basket. I think most of it is reused from Deadpool's scooter, although the basket is new.





The sitting squirrels can fit in the basket nicely, and all three can technically be wedged inside. They look better with just two, but it can be done with all three.









Now, unfortunately, due to the way Squirrel Girl is sculpted, she can't lead forward far enough to actually reach the handlebars. Granted, due to her jazz hands, she couldn't even grip them if she could reach. That means that the scooter, her main accessory as an Ultimate Rider, is pretty useless.





Pretty much all she can do is a "look ma, no hands!" pose, which does look decent, but it's really annoying that the scooter is essentially a big hunk of useless plastic.





Paint:





CGR has a phenomenal paint job, to go with everything else. There are even specks of pink and blue Kirby Krackle, a classic staple of Cosmic Marvel. Even besides that, everything looks amazing.The metallic silver, the glossy reds, and the matte black are all clean and well defined. Absolutely no complaints here.









Squirrel Girl can't really compete with CGR when it comes to paint, but it's still clean and very well done. There's little to no slop or paint bleed, and I appreciate that her tail is a different shade than her outfit. The strongest work is on her head, especially her eyes and smile. Essentially, the paint work on her is super impressive, just not as much as Ghost Rider's is.





Overall:

If it wasn't evident yet, Cosmic Ghost Rider is an amazing figure, and his bike is a fantastic piece. His sculpting, accessories, and articulation are all top notch, and I whole heartedly suggest picking him up if you're tempted to.





Squirrel Girl is a more mixed experience. Her articulation and paint are up to the Legends standard, and her squirrels make great accessories, but the tail makes her hard to balance. More damning, she can't be properly posed on the scooter. I'm glad to finally have her on the shelf, but I'm sure Hasbro can take another crack at this girl later on and fix some of the issues.





Gallery:



























































