HEIMDALL

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Guardian of the Bifrost Bridge, Heimdall uses his all-seeing eyes to protect Asgard at all costs.”

Since the announcement of his casting caused some waves before 2011’s Thor, Idris Elba’s Heimdall has spent some time in the spotlight.  While his roles in Thor and The Dark World both were admittedly minor, and his parts in two of the three Avengers sequels were just cameos, he nevertheless got his due in Ragnarok, where he was finally promoted to a principle supporting player, and it finally felt like they made appropriate use of Idris Elba in the role…just before killing him off moments into Infinity War.  Hey, at least he finally got a Legends release.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Heimdall is another figure from the “Thor” Series of Marvel Legends.  Though this assortment is officially tying into Endgame, Heimdall is one of two figures in the assortment not to appear in the film (though Heimdall was in an early draft of the script, which would have seen his Dark World-era incarnation facing off against a stealth armored Iron Man who had been sent to retrieve the Aether), so his packaging is emblazoned with the Infinity War logo instead.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 29 points of articulation.  After two films sporting some rather intensive golden armor, Heimdall ditched the armored look while on the run in Ragnarok, and kept that dressed down appearance into Infinity War.  That’s what this figure goes for, a sensible choice given that a) Ragnarok was Heimdall’s largest role, and b) Ragnarok is the Thor movie with the most action figure coverage.  The figure is sporting an all-new sculpt based on the look, and it’s rather impressive one at that.  The likeness on the head is a very solid Elba likeness, definitely one of the best ones in the line.  The hair is again a separate piece, and while it doesn’t mesh perfectly with the head, it looks alright.  The body is largely hidden right out of the box by a rather expansive plastic cape.  The cape’s a cool looking piece, with plenty of texturing, and even a  cleverly hidden spot to store the sword beneath the hood, but it’s a little restrictive when it comes to posing.  His entire right side is pretty much rendered motionless with it on, and his left shoulder is quite restricted as well.  Once it’s removed (which will require popping off the head), you find a very impressively detailed and quite articulated figure.  Unlike last year’s Skurge, he doesn’t appear to have been a held-over sculpt, because he doesn’t have some of the slight proportional oddities of the other Ragnarok figures.  Additionally, he’s got two very small details, a cut on his arm and one on his abdomen, which are specific to the opening scenes of Infinity War.  With the cape on, they’re both easily missed, but it’s a cool tiny little touch, and I really dig it.  Heimdall’s paint work is pretty much all browns.  Not the most exciting color scheme, but it’s accurate.  I wish his eyes were a little brighter, but otherwise the paint’s pretty solid.  He’s packed with his sword, which we’ve bafflingly gotten two times prior despite this being our first 6 inch Heimdall figure.  At least he finally gets to use it.  He also comes with one of the legs of Thor.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Heimdall’s one of those characters I’ve always wanted a figure of, even when he was more minor in the films.  Not getting him for Ragnarok was a definite bummer.  I’m glad that Hasbro’s been so committed to going back and filling in old casts, especially for that film.  Heimdall’s a very strong figure, and probably my second favorite in this assortment.

Heimdall came from my sponsors at All Time Toys.  If you’re looking for Marvel Legends, or other toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.