JOCASTA

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Jocasta’s superhuman force fields and electromagnetic beams make her a valuable ally of the Avengers.”

After creating his “son”, The Vision, Avengers foe Ultron set his sights on creating himself a bride.  Being the melodramatic and rather twisted so and so he is, he opted to use the mind of his “mother” Janet Van Dyne, aka The Wasp, for his robot mate.  He dubbed his creation “Jocasta” in reference to Oedipus, and the obvious Oedipal complex that Ultron possessed in reference to his creator Hank Pym.  Jan was able to keep her brain in her own body of course, leaving Jocasta a lifeless husk…at first.  Eight issues after her first appearance, however, she reactivated, with her own personality, one which, like Vision before her, led her to rebel against her creator.  She went on to play a supporting role in the Avengers books for the next couple of decades, tending to hover in the background of most stories.  Recently, she’s actually been getting a bit more focus, with a pretty central role in Dan Slott’s run on Iron Man in particular.  She’s been without a single action figure for the first 43 years of her existence, but, lucky her, that’s just changed!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Jocasta is the second figure in the Joe Fixit Series of Marvel Legends.  She’s another comics-based figure, of course, and is, as noted above, the very first Jocasta figure we’ve ever gotten (something Hasbro very proudly announced when they showed her off).  Jocasta’s look has been fairly consistent over the years, but this figure goes for the most classic aspects of the character.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and she has 29 points of articulation.  Jocasta is built on the Moonstone body, which is one of the oldest bases still in Hasbro’s parts library (only Bucky Cap and Hyperion are older).  Compared to more recent additions to the line, it’s a bit limited in terms of posability and range of motion, as well as having slightly wonkier proportions compared to newer stuff.  In terms of build, it’s not exactly a pitch perfect match for Jocasta, so why exactly it was chosen for this figure is kind of up in the air.  It’s not bad, but I’d personally have preferred to see the use something more recent.  I guess they don’t want too many figures in a short span of time being built on the Phoenix body, though.  To help liven things up, she gets a new head, torso, pelvis, and an add-on for the thigh “garter.”  The new parts are pretty decently handled, with the head in particular being a solid recreation of her classic comics design.  The torso’s an improvement on the standard Moonstone parts, but is somewhat hampered bu having to deal with the older arms and legs.  In terms of paint, Jocasta’s a lot of silver, which is accurate, of course.  They’ve at least actually given her a two-toned set up, which keeps things somewhat interesting.  The darker color’s molded, while the lighter is painted.  It works pretty well.  Jocasta is packed with two sets of hands, one in fists, and one in open gesture, as well as the torso of the Joe Fixit Build-A-Figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Jocasta and Machine Man are one of my favorite little obscure odd-ball pairings, and have been for some time.  Back in the Toy Biz Legends days, I assembled my own custom Machine Man (which I mentioned when I reviewed Hasbro’s take on him), and I had the parts picked out for a Jocasta, though I never did get around to finishing her.  Ever since getting Aaron in an official capacity, I’ve been hoping for a Jocasta to go along with him, and that’s only increased as her role in the comics has grown.  While the base body choice is still questionable, she’s certainly a serviceable figure, and at this point I’m just happy to have her in any sort of figure form at all!

Thanks to my sponsors at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure for review.  If you’re looking for Marvel Legends, or other toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.