BISHOP

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“On the advice of his grandmother, Alpha-mutant Bishop seeks out the X-Men and uses energy conversion and concussive blasts to join the ranks of his heroes of legend.”

There was this recurring trend amongst the newly introduced X-characters of the ‘90s, where they’d take the powerset of a previous character from the franchise, slap a nonsensical name on them, and add “carries a large gun” to their description and bam, new character.  Don’t believe me?  Let’s look at today’s focus, Bishop.  Power set similar to ‘80s X-baddie Sebastian Shaw, but channeled largely through having a gun, and his name is a common place word that has nothing to do with anything about him.  Oh, and he was also from the future, just to throw more fuel on that ‘90s fire.  Of course, he does at the very least predate some of the ‘90s worst X-characters, so that means a good chunk of people out there are still pretty nostalgic about the guy, so hey, toys!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Bishop is figure 6 in the Sauron Series of Marvel Legends, a series that is supposedly Deadpool-themed.  Bishop’s really stretching that connection, and largely gets his spot here thanks to his connection to Cable, rather than Deadpool himself.  But who am I to complain about that?  This is Bishop’s second time as a Legend; the last was during the Toy Biz days.  I think it’s been long enough for a re-do.  Like that figure, Bishop is seen here in his garb from the ‘90s.  Sure, it’s dated as heck, and he’s had other, more reserved looks, but honestly, if you’re gonna do Bishop, you might as well do him right.  The figure stands 6 3/4 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  Bishop is built on the Hyperion body.  It’s not a terrible choice for him; Bishop’s frequently depicted as around the same size as Cable, who was also on this body.  He’s also got that swanky neckerchief piece, which covers up the slightly odd shape of the upper torso, thereby removing my only real issue with this base.  In addition to the neckerchief, he also gets a brand new head, shoulder harness, belt, rolled up sleeves, and glove cuffs.  The head is definitely my favorite piece.  It’s spot-on for the character, horribly dated ‘90s hair and all.  The face is definitely giving me a Terry Crews vibe, which makes me a little sad he ended up playing Bedlam instead.  Of course, this could all be stemming from the Brooklyn 99 binge-watch I’m currently going through, so who knows.  The various add-on pieces make Bishop suitably different from the rest of the figures built on this body.  I will say, I’m really starting to wish Hasbro would actually glue some of these add-ons down.  His sleeves in particular pop out of place constantly.  It’s ultimately a minor complaint, though.  Bishop’s paintwork is bright, colorful, and clean, which are all my favorite things in a Legends paint job.  He definitely has some presence on the shelf.  Bishop is packed with a large shotgun and the right arm of the Build-A-Figure Sauron.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Bishop’s a character I run hot and cold with.  The character was a prominent feature in some of my least favorite episodes of The Animated Series, so I have sort of this lingering dislike of him in that respect.  That being said, he’s also in some episodes I didn’t hate, and I’ve got this whole ‘90s X-Men display going, so I didn’t really want to miss him, especially after getting that awesome Cable from the last series.  Once in-hand shots started appearing, I knew I’d be tracking him down.  He’s quite a good figure, and I think he’s a marked improvement over the old Toy Biz one.  There’s definitely a nice polish to this guy, and he looks fantastic alongside the rest of the team.

Bishop was purchased from my friends at All Time Toys.  If you’re interested in purchasing other Legends figures, or are looking for other cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay Store.