MALCOLM REYNOLDS

FIREFLY LEGACY COLLECTION

If you had to pick a face of Firefly, I think it’s pretty safe to say it’s Malcolm Reynolds.  Despite the definite ensemble bent of the show, he was the captain, and he was front and center for pretty much everything.  As the “face,” Mal has been privy to by far the most action figures of any cast member, with a good seven of them under his belt.  As one of only two characters to get a figure (well, two, actually) from the criminally short-lived Serenity line back in 2005, he was already covered in the 6-inch scale, but Funko probably didn’t want to do Legacy without him (and I’m sure a good number of people never got the Serenity figures), so he found his way into that line too.  I’ll be looking at that figure today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Mal was figure #1 in the first series of Funko’s Firefly Legacy Collection.  That makes sense, what with him being the captain and all.  The figure stands a little over 6 inches tall and he has 26 points of articulation.  Or he would had my figure not broken.  Yep, after fairing alright with my Rocketeer, all of my GoT figures, and Wash and Zoe, Mal was my first official break from the Legacy line.  It was just a manner of time, I suppose.  While taking this guy out of the box, I apparently handled his right hand a little too roughly, and it fell off.  I can’t say I’m surprised, though, since his wrist pegs are thin, hollow, and made of clear plastic (the weakest plastic out there).  I’m not sure how this figure wouldn’t break.  That’s just very poor design.  Like most of the other figures in this set, Mal is sporting his look from the promotional images.  It’s a pretty straightforward look for Mal, what with the suspenders, red shirt, and signature brown coat.  Mal’s sculpt is…well, it’s something.  It’s definitely not as good as Wash or Zoe, or even any of the GoT figures.  I wouldn’t call it bad per se, but I can’t say I’d call it particularly good either.  He’s long and lanky, which isn’t necessarily wrong for Mal, but it’s handled in an odd sort of “this person wouldn’t be able to live” sort of way.  I’m not sure what’s going on with the hips, but it looks sort of like he broke one of them and is trying to hide the body cast in his pants.  His shoulders are quite narrow, which is emphasized by the slightly bow-legged stance of the figure and his inability to put his arms down all the way.  Then there’s the jacket, which I can’t tell if it’s too short or his legs are just too long, but something’s off about it.  It also sits rather clumsily on his shoulders, as if it was taken from another figure entirely.  The head is probably the figure’s strongest point, though even it’s a little strange.  From some angles, it’s a spot-on Fillion likeness, but from others he looks kinda like Michael J Fox.   The paint work on the figure is decent, I suppose.  The best work is probably the body, though it feels kind of murky and slapdash compared to the others.  The head has some okay work, but something about the eyes is just deeply disturbing.  Mal includes his usual revolver, as well as a larger rifle (different from the one included with Zoe).

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Seeing as I already had the Serenity Mal, and I was hemming and hawing over Wash and Zoe to begin with, I was definitely not planning on getting this guy.  But then Movie Stop was going out of business, and this was one of the very last figures they had, and he was like $4.  And for that price, I figured he was worth a shot.  Between the strange sculpt, the iffy paint, and the fact that he broke right out of the box, I’m definitely glad I didn’t pay full or even half price for this guy.  I’d like to write this guy off as being an example of Funko’s inexperience in the field of action figures, but the other Legacy figures show they can make a very good figure when they want to.  I guess everyone needs a worst.  Man, this one was kind of a bummer…