Spider-Tracer: Flip n Trap Action Figures

Sorry for the delay, Spidey fans! I sure hope you guys are having a better month than I am. After some hard drive issues and the need for a new laptop, we’re back at it with another Spider-Tracer article! I got to wondering what we should talk about this month and then I recalled the recent “Madame Web” trailer hitting (I’m already trying to forget it, honestly)… With that in mind, I thought it would be cool to look back at the Spider-Man: Flip n Trap wave from ToyBiz, which featured Madame Web’s very first action figure! Let’s take a look…

 

As with any 90’s Spider-Man toyline, every figure came with a gimmick, and the theme with this wave was that every figure came with these weird little jumping spiders and a way to catch them. This wave was also chock full of 4 Spider-Man figures, two of which were variants, something ToyBiz would become even more known for by the time they were producing Marvel Legends (this was 1998, a full three to four years before the first Marvel Legends wave). As this was before Marvel Legends, these figures didn’t sport a lot of articulation. First up, let’s check out…

 

Spider-Man (with Web Trap Catcher)

 

 

Does this costume look familiar to you? Until recently, I didn’t realize that this suit was Spider-Man’s “Electro Proof” costume from Tom DeFalco’s “Amazing Spider-Man” run in the 90’s, though the mask is classic, and inaccurate as a result. This was the first and last time that this outfit received an action figure, but I’d gladly pick up an update should Hasbro decide to make a Marvel Legend of this costume. The figure had two webs attached to a hanging web-net and the prerequisite spiders for him to capture. All in all, this was a cool figure, even if Electro didn’t appear in this wave (he did appear in another wave around this time, however).

 

Sandman

 

 

Before this, ToyBiz only made a Sandman figure in their “Maximum Clonage” boxset, which, as you’ll recall from last month’s Spider-Tracer article, was a poor Hydro-Man repaint. As a result, this was a very welcomed update! His sculpt is quite possibly the best in the entire wave, though his choice in footwear was the only thing that looked odd to me, as I’m always used to him having brown shoes. Speaking of the shoes, I also wasn’t much of a fan of his one shoe having sand sculpted to the bottom, but I guess they really wanted to go all out and display his powers. With that being said, it was very cool that they gave him a big sand fist and mallet for hands. His method of catching the little spiders was the best, as he came with extra big open sand hands that attached to his back. I wouldn’t say that the open hands were the best at catching the little buggers, but they were certainly the best looking and nicest way to integrate the play feature into this figure. Plus, you could just leave the extra hands on to menace Spidey and his allies! How awesome was that?

 

Web Catcher Spidey (Blue)

 

 

This Spider-Man carried a flat web-net to catch his spiders, but the sculpt on this figure was the real standout here, which included sculpted weblines! The pre-posed arms were a little weird, but certainly didn’t detract too much from how great the figure itself was. While I didn’t have this exact figure, I did have a rerelease of this figure in another wave from ToyBiz, and it also had the blue coloring. I didn’t know until sometime later that this figure had two different color variants!

 

Web Catcher Spidey (Black Variant)

 

 

With this figure, ToyBiz swapped the blue out for black, which harkens back to some of the earliest Spidey comics and even a few issues during Erik Larsen’s run in “Amazing Spider-Man”. The red and black looks cool on this figure, though I admit I’m personally partial to the red and blue. Which do you prefer? Let me know in the comments section below!

 

Web Catcher Spidey (Negative Zone Variant)

 

 

This striking combo of black and white was from the then-recent issue of “Peter Parker: Spider-Man” #90 where Spider-Man went into the Negative Zone and had his costume’s colors changed as a result! I have to say, this was a very cool variant, though I’ve never seen this figure in person. I believe it’s the rarest figure in the wave, though I’ve never seen the black variant either. Did you find either variant at retail? Do you own either of these variants? Let me know in the usual place!

 

Red Skull

 

 

With Captain America getting a figure in another Spider-Man wave (along with the aforementioned Electro), it made sense to insert Cap’s number one foe in another Spidey wave. Cap and the Red Skull were also both featured towards the end of the 90’s Spider-Man cartoon, which added an extra nice level of synergy; it’s how I knew who he was, and why I had to have him. ToyBiz opted to give Red Skull military fatigues vs his 90’s business suit or earlier jumpsuit, but with that pure evil head sculpt, he looks incredible, and is a real stand out! The Nazi war criminal used a giant… red skull to catch his spiders (Mr. Schmidt obviously really loves himself).

 

Madame Web

 

 

And finally, we get to Cassandra Webb herself! Madame Web’s first action figure has a very interesting background story. John Semper, Jr. was brought on as showrunner of the 90’s Spider-Man cartoon after production had already begun and the previous showrunner had left. Avi Arad, ToyBiz CEO, was a heavy influence on this show, and it’s his influence that caused the Hobgoblin to debut before the Green Goblin on the animated series. Semper wanted to change things that had already been set in motion and use the Green Goblin first, just like in the comics. However, Hobgoblin toys were already in production for the holiday season, and Semper was forced to proceed as originally planned, which is why the Green Goblin didn’t show up until season three. With that in mind, the story goes that Arad told Semper that he didn’t want Madame Web on the cartoon, as he didn’t find her very toyetic. However, this time, Semper proceeded to do what he wanted, and used the character anyway, giving her a very prominent role in the animated series, including its series finale! As a result, Arad begrudgingly produced a figure of her! You can find more detailed accounts of this story on the web (ha!). Could this experience have led Arad to decide that Madame Web was popular enough to warrant her own movie? I… sure hope not…

 

Madame Web comes with her chair, and the web tech behind her chair was designed to snap shut and catch her included spiders (think Venus fly trap). The web tech was rather flimsy and didn’t hold together very well (I think mine stayed together for a day or two). While Madame Web wasn’t very articulated, her sculpt was very accurate to the cartoon (which you can tell from her hair style and glasses, vs her comic counterpart using a blindfold). And, just in case you didn’t already know, Madame Web was voiced by Joan Lee, wife of Stan!

 

And with that, we conclude our look back at the Flip n Trap Spider-Man wave from ToyBiz! Take care, have a happy Thanksgiving, and I’ll see you next month, Spidey-Fans!