A Sweet Ride for Your Action Figures

The second Fantastic Four movie was released in the early summer 2007 season. Hasbro released a limited line of action figures, and this vehicle, the Fantasticar. The Fantasticar was featured in several scenes in the movie, particularly in the climatic battle with Dr. Doom. This toy has a fairly close likeness to the car in the movie.

This car is large, 17” long and 8” wide. As in the movie, it’s specifically designed to accommodate the members of the Fantastic four. The front seat is smaller but easily fits the Mr. Fantastic figure, which is included with this car. The middle two seats are “make out” seats, placed side by side so the Invisible Girl can get to know the Silver Surfer. The Thing has to park his fat butt in the back, the and the rear single seat is oversized to accommodate it. Sitting in the back is a good strategy, as The Thing can “let them rip” as much as he likes and no one is the wiser. 

The Fantasticar has an open cockpit design. I’ve seen some criticize the practicality of an open cockpit vehicle that would fly at supersonic speeds. However, in flight the Invisible Girl could place a force field around the craft so no one is disturbed by wind blast. In any case, if you have any action figures with big hair, such as a gang of Super Saiyans, this is a good ride for them.

An interesting feature is the Dodge “Ram” logo on the hood. It’s a not-so subtle product placement that was joked about in the movie. In 20 years this should really pay off for Dodge!

The Fantasticar has a break-away feature that was utilized in the movie to confound Dr. Doom. The craft can split into three independently-piloted vehicles. This is also an ingenious way to allow three children to play with the same toy.

Each of the three mini-cars has its own armament, and can roll along the ground on wheels. The front unit, normally piloted by Mr. Fantastic, has a spring-loaded cowling. Pressing a button on the control console releases the cowling to reveal twin turbo-fan engines.

Armament - The Fantasticar is armed with rockets and bombs. The front car unit has twin rocket launchers. These are revealed with the engine cover cowling is opened. Pushing a button on the control console fires both rockets at once. Range is about 18” and fairly accurate. The center car unit has twin bombs. These fit into small bomb bays under the car. The bombs are held in place by a unique magnetic system. Pressing a button on the control console apparently moves the magnet inside the car, releasing the bombs. The rear car unit has a detachable twin rocket launcher. This launcher was not shown in the movie, but can be removed.

The Fantastic car includes a Mr. Fantastic figure. He stands 5 ¾” tall, and features “stretchy arms. His leg and torso are well articulated. The figure has an excellent likeness to loan Gruffudd, the actor who played Reed Richards in the movie.

The Fantastic Four Fantasticar is available at Atamaii.com

The bad-guy, tragic-guy from the Marvel universe gets his first treatment in the Hasbro full-size action figure line. This figure is being released in the first wave of toys for the summer movie, “Fantastic Four Rise of the Silver Surfer”, the second Fantastic Four movie.

The bad-guy, tragic-guy from the Marvel universe gets his first treatment in the Hasbro full-size action figure line. This figure is being released in the first wave of toys for the summer movie, “Fantastic Four Rise of the Silver Surfer”, the second Fantastic Four movie. He is packed with Raging Thing, Battle Stretch Mr. Fantastic, Fire Blast Human Torch, and Lightning Attack Dr. Doom. A follow-on series will include the Invisible Girl and different versions of the Torch and the Thing.

From what I have seen from promotional images of the movie, this Silver Surfer carries a close likeness to the film character. He has an intense, furrowed brow, a piercing nose and a strong jaw. His upper body musculature is body-builder like, but the legs are long and a little lean. Since he is clothed only in a covering of silver, it’s a good thing he’s in shape! The figure and board are painted in an even coat of fairly flat silver. There are no highlights. Looking at the images, you can see finish detail is not especially clean. This is a mass-market toy.

This figure easily stands upright on its own, and can attach to pegs on the Cosmic Board. When new, the peg attachments are firm enough to allow the figure to lean significantly on the board. The figure and board can go “flying” and stay on the board, even inverted. Outside loops, however, are likely to cause separation of figure from the board.

This figure is on the high end of the articulation spectrum. Knees and elbows are double-jointed. The trunk will twist. I count 20 points of articulation. What he can’t do is bend at the waist, or bend forward at the hips. Because of this I cannot make the figure pose as in the promo pictures you see in the movie graphics, where the character is bend forward low on the board.

Fantastic Four Silver Surfer Toys