DARKHAWK — MASTERS OF MIND

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“With incredible powers of both body and mind, these heroes prepare for any intergalactic mission.”

Yes, today, we’re looking at yet another Marvel Legends figure.  Like I said last week, I picked up three whole series of these guys last month, and I have to fit them in somewhere!

Today’s figure is Darkhawk.  Who is Darkhawk?  Well, uh….with incredible powers of both body and mind, he prepares for any intergalactic mission, I can tell you that much!  Okay, so I don’t really know a whole lot about Darkhawk.  I know he was popular in the ‘90s, and he was a member of the New Warriors, and that his main gimmick was that he was a kid who could transplant his mind into a space warrior…thing. I know he also looks cool, which is always a good thing in the action figure world.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Darkhawk is figure 5 in the Titus Series of Marvel Legends, which is the first of the two GotG-themed assortments this year.  He’s officially titled “Masters of Mind,” a name he shares with the previously-reviewed Vance Astro figure. This is Darkhawk’s first time as a Legend.  However, he was actually taken to the control art stage by Toy Biz back before the license passed to Hasbro, so he’s been a long time coming.  Darkhawk is based on his modern, more streamlined appearance.  This was a point of contention for some fans, who wanted a more classic look.  As someone who’s not super familiar with the character, I kind of prefer this look, myself, but I understand the frustration.  The figure stands about 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation (counting his articulated shoulder pads).  This guy is based on the Bucky Cap body, but you’d be forgiven for not noticing.  He has a new head, torso, pelvis, arms, and feet (as well as a belt that he stole from Daredevil).  That all adds up to a figure that might as well be a completely unique sculpt.  I appreciate how modular the Bucky Cap body has become.  The new pieces fit really well with the existing stuff, and in also improve upon some of the minor issues I have with the Bucky Cap base.  The head is a really cool, angular design, which looks good and sharp.  The torso and feet actually do a lot to bring this body in line with the 2099 and Spider-UK bodies, which is much appreciated, and easy to overlook.  The arms are my only area of complaint on this guy.  The actual arms themselves are fine, it’s more the extra bits that are the issue.  For one thing, the claw on his right arm looks and feels nice like wires sticking out of his gauntlet than an actual claw set up.  More pressing, however, are the wings.  They’re split between the upper and lower arms, in a similar fashion to the Toy Biz Falcon figure.  It worked okay there, but it isn’t exactly the most ideal here.  Ultimately, the way they’re sculpted, they don’t really look natural in any pose.   I mean, it’s not terrible, but it’s also not great.  On the plus side, the paintwork on Darkhawk is pretty top notch.  He’s got that cool metallic blue thing going on, which looks pretty nifty, as does the nicely contrasting  silver and flat red/orange.  The application is all pretty clean too, which is a definite plus.  Darkhawk includes no character-specific extras, but he does include the head of Titus.  Tiger head!

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I didn’t initially plan on getting this guy.  After picking up the other four, I was pretty well done with this series.  I saw him once or twice in person, and he looked cool, but I don’t know the character.  Of course, then Super Awesome Girlfriend came in.  We were out picking up a printer, and while carrying said printer (which, it should be noted, was the second largest printer the store sold, putting it just under the size at which it qualifies for them to carry it out to the car for you…), I walked knee first into one of those cement pillars they have outside of most retail establishments.  Ouch, right?  Super Awesome Girlfriend felt bad, so she bought me this guy from Walmart.  He’s pretty cool, truth be told.  I may not know him all that well, but he sure does make for a cool toy!