Marvel Universe Wolverine (Team X uniform)

Assembled and run by the CIA, Team X executed deniable operations around the world during the 1960's. When something was too well-protected or too sensitive to just attack, Wolverine and the other members of Team X were sent in. Quick, quiet, and committed, the team took out targets both hard and soft with brutal efficiency.

OK, Team X wasn't even officially called Team X until the crossover event with Team 7. Back in X-Men 5 (their first appearance) they were just the shadowy CIA black ops team Wolvie was part of along with Maverick and Sabretooth. Mystique and Mastodon didn't show up until later. Wolvie didn't even use his claws back then. In that issue, team X was shown in flashbacks. Jim Lee (along with Art Thibert) did the art for that story arc and I believe it was also Lee who designed the costumes. The flashbacks were colored in a black and yellow (as opposed to black and white) pallette to resemble something like sepia of old photos. This continued until about a year later, in Wolverine 65-68 with art by Mark Texiera. The thing is, during subsequent appearances of Team X, they still had yellow straps because, well, nobody really knew what color they were supposed to be.

The figure itself is actually from the Wolverine Origins toyline. Originally, that figure was in a dark blue bodysuit and had black straps (customized figure shown in my photos). That figure had the full helmet and goggles as seen in the early X-Men and Wolverine appearances. This Marvel Universe figure, however, has the goggles and bare head as seen in the Team X/Team 7 crossover with art by Steve Epting. The new head looks weird to me. It seems too compressed laterally (squished from the sides) when compared to the recently revealed (SDCC just last weekend) prototype and also the packaging photo at the back of the card. The skin on my figure also has some unwiped paint wipes (did that make sense?) which just make the whole thing worse.

This Marvel Universe figure comes with the same M9 Beretta that the original had plus the ubiquitous M16/M203 that originally came with Duke.

This is my favorite Wolverine figure next to unmasked yellow costume Wolvie (Origins, not the boxed MU one) because, for one thing, X-Men 5-7 are my favortie issues and now I can finally have Wolverine versions that I can use alongside my Joes!

























- JM