If you spend any time on the internet, you’ve undoubtedly seen the “Sad Wolverine” meme. In the 90’s Fox Kids’ X-Men the Animated Series, Wolverine pines after Jean Grey, who is in a relationship with Scott Summers. Someone took a couple of frames from the episode where Wolverine stares wistfully at a photo of Scott and Jean, Photoshopped a different picture into the picture frame, and thus an internet meme was born. If you Google “Sad Wolverine,” you’ll find dozens of variants on this meme; I’ve even created a GeekDad version as seen below.
Well, last year Austin-based Mondo went and did a thing, and announced they were making a San Diego Comic-Con exclusive sixth-scale figure immortalizing that meme. The figure soon sold out, but thankfully I was still able to get my hands on one. The retail price of the Wolverine 1/6 Scale Figure – Limited Edition SDCC Variant is $200, and features Wolverine in his blue and gold outfit as seen in the animated series. Mondo also produced a “Pryde of the X-Men” variant with Wolverine in his yellow and brown costume, priced identically at $200. Both editions have sold out, but you can enter your email on the respective webpages to get notified in case of a restock for both versions.
The Wolverine 1/6 Scale Figure – Limited Edition SDCC Variant was created by:
Concept Design: Mike Bonanno and Hector Arce
Sculptors: Tufan Sezer and Hector Arce
Packaging Illustration: Eric Anderson
Packaging Design: Mike Bonanno
Paint: Hector Arce
Art Direction: Mike Bonanno and Hector Arce
Packaging
I’ve said it before when reviewing figures from Mondo, and I’ll say it again: Mondo really knows how to package their collectibles. When the Wolverine figure arrived, I was surprised at just how big of a box it came in.
It turned out there was a good reason for the size. Opening up the box, I found copious foam packaging that surrounded another, smaller brown cardboard box. And inside of that box, protected with plastic corner protectors like the ones seen in my review of the Creature From the Black Lagoon sixth-scale figure, was the actual Wolverine box. Mondo definitely wants to insure that your collectible arrives in excellent condition!
Enclosing the packaging of the figure is a black and yellow illustrated cardstock sleeve, which shows keyframes from the opening credits of X-Men the Animated Series.
Sliding the sleeve off, you have a window box display of the figure:
And on the back of the box, you’ll find a reprint of the animation frame that led to the creation of the famous “Sad Wolverine” meme.
With packaging as fantastic as for this figure, you want to remove everything without damaging the figure or the display it comes packaged with. Be prepared for taking quite a bit of time figuring out how to safely remove the display from the box, and the figure from the display.
Not only are there twist ties to contend with, but flaps that are taped down. Careful use of a knife freed the flaps from the bottom of the packaging, and the sides. There are several small pads placed between the Wolverine figure and the plastic ties, to protect the figure.
It probably took me about 20 minutes to extricate Wolverine from his packaging. But in the end, I’d managed to prevent any damage to the figure itself, and to the cardboard bedroom Wolverine is displayed in.
The final step in extricating the figure is to remove the plastic holding the hands and picture frame together for shipping. The plastic is perforated, so once you can get purchase into the tab on it, you can peel it off.
Finally, you may be wondering if any accessories come with the figure beside that picture frame. And the answer is, yes! Lots! It turns out the packaging is like a small college dorm room, in that everything is stored away under the bed.
Wolverine 1/6 Scale Figure – Limited Edition SDCC Variant
All of the accessories come sealed away in plastic bags. Here’s everything you get, though I haven’t pictured the standard 1/6 Scale Figure Stand that you’ll also find underneath that bed.
Here are the contents:
- Limited Edition Sad Masked Head
- Neutral Masked Head
- Angry Masked Head
- Logan Unmasked Head
- Morph Head
- Picture Frame with Scott and Jean photo (swappable)
- Thanksgiving Turkey Leg
- Claw Energy with hands
- Interchangeable claws
- 7 interchangeable hands: 2 fists, 2 neutral hands, 1 c-grip, 1 c’mere hand, 1 picture frame hand
- Limited Edition Fabric Pillow
- Limited Edition Bedroom Box Diorama Packaging
- Figure Stand
Yes, that’s a real fabric pillow. And the picture of Scott and Jean in the picture frame is removable, in case you wanted to insert your own photo as you recreate the classic meme.
Here’s a look at the different heads you get. Mondo even included one of Morph, Wolverine’s shapeshifting friend.
While it was easy to swap hands on the figure, the heads were another story. The holes in the base of the heads are very tight, and will not pop onto the neck peg. I found I had to do a sixth-scale figure trick, and use a hairdryer on the inside of the heads to soften the plastic some, so that I could fit them onto the peg. Heating them for about 45-60 seconds did the trick, without causing any damage to the heads or their paint.
Here are a few pictures of Wolverine in action:
The Verdict
First, let’s talk about the figure itself. Like other Mondo releases, the joints have just enough stiffness in them to make holding poses easy. There isn’t quite the range of motion as some other sixth-scale figures, but that’s due to the accuracy of the oversized muscles and shoulder pads.
Speaking of accuracy, the cel-shaded style of paint recreates the 2-D animation of X-Men the Animated Series nicely. There’s a nice range of accessories, so not only can you recreate the “Sad Wolverine” meme, but also pose the figure in ways reminiscent of scenes from the 90’s series, as well as issues of the various Marvel Comics series. The claws can also each be removed and inserted into the other hands, so you could even have Wolverine flipping the bird to Cyclops as in the 2000 Bryan Singer X-Men movie(not pictured here because hey, this is a family website!)
If you’re a fan of Wolverine’s brown and yellow costume, the “Pryde of the X-Men” figure is almost the same, just missing the “sad” head, and of course, the bedroom window box packaging. But those two elements are what really elevate this figure from being a good figure to an amazing release. I almost didn’t want to take the figure out of its packaging originally, as it’s such a perfect recreation of the “Sad Wolverine” meme. Thankfully, if you take the same care in removing the figure and its accessories as I did, you can readily return Wolverine to the same pose on the bed.
When you look at the Wolverine 1/6 Scale Figure – Limited Edition SDCC Variant, does the above theme song immediately starts playing in your head? Then you’re the perfect audience for this collectible. Unfortunately, as I said before, both versions of the figure are currently sold out. But if you can find one at an affordable cost on the secondary market, I highly recommend it. It’s another great release from Mondo, and sure to bring a smile to your face like it did to mine. Snikt!
Note: Mondo sent me this figure to evaluate, but had no input into this review.
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