MARVEL’S POLARIS

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Magnetic, electric, and gravitic fields are no match for Polaris, a super being with the ability to control and manipulate magnetism.”

Remember how much of a “finally” figure Sunfire was?  Yeah, he’s about to be topped.  Today’s focus is Lorna Dane, aka Polaris, who may or may not be the daughter of Magneto (they’ve gone back and forth on that a few times).  She’s had only three figures in the past and two of those three were nothing more than Rogue repaints.  And, on top of that, she’s never had a Marvel Legends figure, which has been rather frustrating to me, since she and Havok are two of my favorite X-Men.  But here she is!  Let’s get this figure reviewed!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Polaris—sorry, *Marvel’s* Polaris—is figure 4 in the Warlock Series of Marvel Legends.  Polaris has had a number of rather different looks over the years.  Like Dazzler, there are some dueling opinions about which look deserved to get a figure first.  Hasbro’s opted to go with a more classic incarnation of the character, specifically the more modern take on her original design, from the period when she and Havok were galavanting around in space with the Star Jammers.  It’s a decent choice, since it can work in both modern and classic set-ups pretty well.  I do wish we had a Havok that matched up with her (I’ve become increasingly bummed that the Juggernaut Series Havok didn’t at least include an extra headband-wearing head), but she doesn’t look horribly out of place with the last one.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and she has 27 points of articulation.  Polaris is built on the Phoenix body (albeit with a slightly modified upper torso to add a peg hole for the cape), which is a pretty good starting point.  She’s got a brand new head…I think.  A few people have claimed she shares her face with Scarlet Witch.  The facial structure on the two is certainly similar, but I’m not sure it’s identical.  At the very least, the head would have needed some sizable retooling, as the two hairpieces affix differently.  Regardless, the head sculpt is pretty decently handled.  It’s not my go-to look for Polaris, but she matches up pretty well with the depictions of her when she had this costume.  Lorna also gets add-on pieces for her cape and wrist bands.  The cape looks to be new.  I’m not super crazy about how it sits on the shoulders, but it’s a decent piece overall. Certainly one of Hasbro’s better capes. The bands are taken from the ‘90s Jean Grey from the Rocket Raccoon Series, and while they aren’t a 100% match for the comics design, they’re close enough to work.  As far as paint goes, Polaris is about what we’ve come to expect from the recent Legends figures.  The work is all nice and clean, and the colors are pretty vibrant.  my figure’s got a small spot of green in the middle of her left hand, which is slightly annoying, but the placement is such that it’s not super noticeable.  On the plus side, the face in particular is a lot cleaner than some of the prior Legends, and I like the accent work on the hair.  I do wish the hair was a bit brighter, just to stand out a bit more, but the shade of Lorna’s hair has shifted a lot in the comics, and this one is certainly still an accurate choice.  Polaris is packed with a pair of energy effects pieces.  These are the same ones used for both Havok and Wonder Man, and they’re starting to get a little worn, if I’m honest.  I mean, they work alright for Lorna’s power set, and the green is cool, but they feel slightly redundant here.  Maybe if the same pieces weren’t used for Havok, a character she’s pretty much guaranteed to spend all of her time with on the shelf, I’d be slightly more forgiving.  Isolated from the re-use, they’re still pretty cool, so I guess it’s fair.  Lorna also includes the right leg of the Build-A-Figure Warlock.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Technically, this is the second of this figure that I got.  When the Warlock Series first started hitting stores, I enlisted the help of my parents to try and track them down.  They ended up finding Polaris and Colossus for me at a Target nearer to them.  Of course, they live about 10 hours away, which means any figure they get for me has to be shipped down, so there was a bit of a wait involved.  In the mean time, I was looking for the other figures and came across a second Polaris, and since she was the one figure in the set that my Dad also wanted, I picked up the second and let him keep the one he grabbed for me.  Yay?  Anyway, I’m glad to have this figure.  I like Lorna a lot, and getting a Legends version of her, especially in essentially her classic costume, is really great.  Of course, I wouldn’t say no to X-Factor versions of her and Havok, if Hasbro’s feeling generous…

*Want a Polaris figure of your own?  She’s currently in-stock with our sponsors over at All Time Toys!  Click here to check her out!