If you have no clue what the heck “MAFEX” is, I’ll forgive you. See, Medicom just launched the Japanese MAFEX (Miracle Action Figure EX) line of action figures in Spring 2013, and there have only been two releases in the line thus far (MAFEX #1 Amazing Spider-Man and MAFEX #2 Batman). MAFEX #3 is set to arrive a full year after its predecessors, and, well… it’s Spider-Man again. But as far as Amazing Spider-Man 2 action figures go, this MAFEX Amazing Spider-Man 2 figure is looking pretty decent… but maybe not decent enough for its price-tag…

Okay, good news/bad news scenario. The MAFEX Spider-Man 001 figure that was released less than a year ago is selling for an average of $250+ online. No, seriously–about seven times its original price. Good news: Medicom is readying an updated Spider-Man MAFEX 003 figure based on Spidey’s Amazing Spider-Man 2 movie appearance for shipment just three scant months from now.

Bad news: The Medicom Amazing Spider-Man 2 MAFEX 003 figure is still pretty expensive. The figure will retail for 3,990 yen (about $38.24 US) and stand 16 cm (~6.3″) tall. That doesn’t sound that much more expensive than buying a 6″ Hasbro Marvel Legends Amazing Spider-Man 2 figure, but you have to keep in mind that you’ll need to pay shipping–and many stores will also charge a slight markup for importing the figure. So basically, this is a $40-$50+ 6″ figure for most folks.

For me, that $50+ sounds like a bit too much. While the original MAFEX Amazing Spider-Man action figure was pretty good, I think the Figma Amazing Spider-Man figure was even better (and way cheaper to buy now).

And for Amazing Spider-Man 2, Hasbro’s Spider-Man Marvel Legends 6″ figure looks pretty comparable to the Medicom figure. While Medicom’s Amazing Spider-Man 2 MAFEX figure may have a teensy bit more articulation, some of the articulation points really stand out and ruin the aesthetic of the figure. Plus, I don’t like how “Tobey Maguire”-like their version of the Amazing Spider-Man 2 figure looks. So unless this Spider-Man gets outstanding reviews, I think I’m going to give this Spider-Man MAFEX #003 figure a pass.

The Medicom MAFEX Amazing Spider-Man 2 figure is now available for pre-order, and is scheduled to be released overseas in April 2014. It’ll probably take about a month before most domestic retailers get their imports of the Amazing Spider-Man 2 MAFEX action figure into stock, so expect these to show up in the United States and other countries around May 2014 (just in time for the Amazing Spider-Man 2 movie to reach box offices–serendipity!).

While it’s a cool toy and all, I’m not quite sold on the Medicom MAFEX Amazing Spider-Man 2 figure myself yet. What about you, Marvel collectors? Do you think this figure is worth your $40-$50 after tax and shipping?