When the original release of the Hot Toys Tech Suit dropped in both regular and a deluxe version, no one could guess that it would sell out or rise in price so quickly in the aftermarket. The Spider-Man: Homecoming releases were exceptionally done, but if you skipped them or weren’t collecting at the time, the odds of grabbing one for a reasonable price were slim to none. Luckily, when the sequel, Spider-Man: Far From Home was released, Spider-Man wore his Tech Suit in several scenes. This allowed Hot Toys to re-release the figure (with some slight improvements) as a Sideshow Exclusive Movie Promo Edition. Sure, it doesn’t come with as many accessories, but the chance to grab this figure without paying out the nose makes it a worthwhile release in my eyes. Let’s take a more in-depth look.

Background

For the ten people out there interested in this figure but who have not watched any Marvel movies, the Tech Suit was created by Tony Stark, aka Iron Man. Having recruited Peter Parker in Captain America: Civil War, Tony Stark was unimpressed with the crimefighter’s Homemade Suit (which also got a Hot Toys release, by the way), and thus gave him a sort of non-armored Iron Man suit to wear. Spider-Man would go on to wear this Tech suit in his follow-up solo film, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Avengers: Infinity War, and his own sequel, Spider-Man: Far From Home. In the said sequel, Spidey would finally switch to an Upgraded Suit that remained largely the same in design, primarily swapping out the blue for black.

Packaging

As usual, Spidey comes in a shoebox rocking some shelf-worthy artwork. The glossy slipcover has the wall-crawler jumping at the “viewer” in a dynamic web-shooting pose with a red Spider-emblem in the background. Along with the Spider-Man: Far From Home movie logo, we have a simple logo identifying what figure and entry in the Movie Masterpieces Line this is (MMS 535). At the top, we have a Sideshow Exclusive sticker. One the sides, we have more of the Movie Promo Edition logos, along with some fun passport-style “stamps”. Finally, on the back, we have all of the boring stuff like warnings, barcodes, and blah blah blah. There’s a reason this stuff is on the back and that’s because no one cares.

The slipcover comes off easily, revealing the figure itself visible through a collector-friendly window in front. On the back, we have all of the creatives involved with this release listed. I always appreciate this touch.

Outfit

I don’t have the original Homecoming release of this figure, so you’ll, unfortunately, get no comparisons to that figure from me. Based on this release alone, I’m impressed with the Hot Toys recreation of the costume. The tailoring is excellent, and I couldn’t find any loose threads or spots where it was undone. The red, webbed areas are made with a somewhat “rougher” material than the pleather-y blue sections (forgive my ignorance of fabrics), making for some nice tactile contrast. The embossed black trim running around his arms and torso are cleanly applied, as are both spider emblems on his chest and back. There is an odd area close to his shoulders where the costume sits strangely, apparently due to the body underneath. It’s not a deal-breaker, but it is distracting.

The mask covering the head sculpt is also fabric, which I’ve always preferred to a sculpted piece. There’s just something to having the mask actually be a fabric mask that sells a figure like this for me. As is unfortunately always the case with fabric masks, though, the stitching at the forehead isn’t as clean as I wish it were. It can be easy to overlook, but once you see it, it is insanely hard to ignore.

Sculpting/Painting

Most of the figure is covered literally, head to toe in fabric, so there’s not much sculpting or paintwork to talk about without crossing over into the accessories. The soles of his “boots” are well done and blend into the outfit seamlessly. The reds and blacks are cleanly applied, not showing any sloppiness. The multiple interchangeable hands he comes with are great as well, though I don’t think they match as well with the fabric of the costume. They tried their best with the paintwork. While the weblines are perfectly done, the red coloring is just a tad off, but it’s enough to notice.

Articulation

When it comes to the articulation of a Spider-Man action figure, toy companies really have to bring their A-game. When the said figure is covered completely in fabric that can be challenging. You don’t want the figure’s outfit to be ill-fitting and loose, but you don’t want him to be as stiff as a statue either. Hot Toys have found a serviceable middle ground with this release. Spidey’s outfit allows for the solid range of movement you’d hope for with just enough limitations that you’d expect in a clothed figure.

Spider-Man has ratchet joints for the shoulders and hips. The hip joints allow for plenty of forward kick and even some backward motion. The shoulder joints can rise up and out just above ninety degrees, though the forward motion is more restricted by the outfit than backward. The figure’s elbows and knees are double-jointed, so no complaints there. The torso allows for plenty of lean, tilt and crunch. The ankles have tons of pivot, which is always to be celebrated, though you’ll want to be careful of pinching the fabric in the gap between leg and foot. The feet also have a toe-cut, which I found to be barely useable on the right foot but very flexible on the left. Go figure.

Spidey’s head has little down tilt, but pretty fair up and side-to-side motion. All in all, solid flexibility for this Spidey.

Accessories

In order to differentiate the Movie Promo Edition from the earlier Homecoming releases, Hot Toys made the decision to skimp on the accessories this time around. Hey, I get it. You want your collectors that were smart enough to pick up those earlier versions to feel like they have something unique and desirable in comparison to this re-release. Personally, I don’t have a problem with it, since I’m just happy I had the opportunity to grab this figure at all.

In comparison to the school blazers and unmasked Tom Holland head sculpts of those initial releases, we get… a bunch of hands, eyes, and web-lines. Okay, then, bare-bones it is. I won’t go into detail about these because they come with every figure, but I will say the eyes are insanely difficult to swap out.

Also included are Spidey’s web wings that he used to glide around the Washington Monument that one time and a dynamic display stand with the Far From Home logo and design. While I do wish they would have added “Tech Suit Spider-Man” on the name card instead of just plain old “Spider-Man”, I realize that’s a nitpick and I’ll find some way to move on with my life.

In The End

Personally, I think this is a great figure. It gives me a second chance to have this Tech Suit on the shelf beside my other Spideys while avoiding paying aftermarket prices. The outfit, articulation, and paintwork all come together to deliver a solid action figure with a large range of movement and some beautiful box art on the packaging. There are a few nits to pick like the odd-looking bumps in the shoulder area, but everything that is done right makes it easy to overlook things like that. In the end, if you were lucky enough to grab the earlier Spider-Man: Homecoming release, you should feel free to skip this. However, if you’re like me and missed those, then this Movie Promo Edition Spider-Man figure is highly recommended.

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