There's an interesting trope when it comes to superhero team building in bronze and modern age comics. You typically see a big looming muscle guy in the background, a token female, some sort of "alpha male" leader, and there is almost always an animalistic growling character squatting on the side. I loved the rare occasions when the wild character was female. To me, the most famous example of this is Feral, the runaway Morlock who joined up with Cable and the remains of the New Mutants just as X-Force was forming. I always found her very appealing, even if she could be chalked up to a simple Wolfsbane stand-in. Her backstory is very gritty in a typical 90's style with abuse, death, and drug addiction taking center stage. But I mostly found her design and aggression fascinating. Also, her antagonistic-but-protective relationship with her visually-similar mutant sister, Thornn, was amazing. This Toybiz exclusive figure is an awkward mash-up of the Deathbird head paired with the Tigra body.
Collectibles magazines in the 90's often had mail-away exclusives. You would cut out the order form and mail it with a money order for $9.99 and in a few months you'd have a new toy. Or, and this was almost always my experience, your money order would be returned because they were out of stock. (The days before regulated internet commerce were wild). This figure was the exclusive in a 1997 issue of White's Guide to Collecting Figures (a toy spinoff of Tuff Stuff sports magazine). There is a lot of misinformation about this being an exclusive for ToyFare Magazine. But if it was released there as well, I can find no proof of it. The upcoming Marvel Legends Feral figure inspired me to finally review this older figure. Let's check her out below!
Shown above is the ad from a 1997-98 issue of White's Guide to Collecting Figures (it's really difficult to determine which issue, but I believe it was between issues #30 and #39). Also shown is the plain white box she arrived in.
Feral is a kitbash of the Deathbird (1997) head and the body used on Black Cat (1996) and Tigra (1997).
(Moreso from the Tigra figure because of the added tail).
This body has a very annoying Left arm that is permanently raised and can only swivel at the shoulder.
The 90's were full of characters with fanned-out triangular hair.
I never questioned it at the time, but it's pretty bizarre.
I don't recall reading this (although I definitely did),
but Feral and Wolfsbane famously battled in the X-Cutioner's Song (1992-1993) storyline.
Feral's sister, Thornn was a cool character I almost forgot about until I started brushing up for this review.
All the pink parts of Feral's outfit are removable (except for her painted gloves/hands).
The soft-goods accessories attach with bulky velcro fasteners and are composed of (what seems like) a threaded linen backing with a thin pink rubbery leather-like coating on top. This material definitely does not stand the test of time. It has degraded and developed a sticky quality and is prone to curling, cracking, and flaking.
Here is Feral with her soft goods pieces removed.
Time for a Comparison Pic!
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