Monthly Archives: July 2023

#3411: Nebula

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , ,

NEBULA

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Since helping the Avengers defeat her adoptive father, Nebula has become a full-fledged member of the Guardians of the Galaxy who show her the true meaning of family.”

Of all the characters within the Guardians movies, Nebula gets perhaps the most compelling arc. She begins as a wholly antagonistic force towards the Guardians, an angry, violent, and jealous character, focused purely on getting what’s hers. By the final chapter, she’s faced down her genocidal maniac of a father, as well as confronting her former self (literally) and become a central member of the team, deeply concerned with the care of the rest of the group. She’s just a cuddly blue ball of cybernetics. And who doesn’t love that?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Nebula is figure 3 in the Cosmo Series of Marvel Legends. Like the rest of the team, Nebula is seen here in her full uniform set-up, which puts her into something other that sort of maroonish color for the first time. The figure stands about 6 inches tall and has 31 points of articulation. Nebula is built from a lot of the same bank of parts as Mantis, which was honestly kind of expected. It seems like the sculpt was slightly more tailored to Nebula and then also used for Mantis, as the height is more in line with the slightly taller Karen Gillan, who portrays Nebula. As Nebula has had some of her cybernetic implants removed since we last saw her, the figure gets a new head showing off her updated look, as well as a new left arm, which highlights her new nano-tech appendage. To my eyes, the head seems a touch too large for the body, but only slightly so. It does sport a respectable Gillan likeness, however, and makes the proper adjustments to the older head. The new arm looks the part of the one seen in the movie, and again is distinctly different from the previous version.  I like all of the smaller nanite details that they’ve worked into it.  The color work on Nebula is largely similar to Mantis, which make sense.  Same body, same uniform, same colors.  The application is pretty clean for the most part.  There’s a little bit of slop on the red, but otherwise the lines are clean.  The face gets the now standard printing, which is suitably lifelike…I mean, as lifelike as a blue alien cyborg lady is going to be.  Nebula is packed with a swap-out blade attachment for her cyborg arm, a blaster rifle (re-used from the Vol 2 Gamora), a pistol (re-used from the prior Nebula), and one of Cosmo’s left legs.  I was a little bit bummed that there’s not extra right hand with any sort of grip to it, as well as the fact that the rifle’s lost all of its accent paint.  Ultimately, those are both pretty minor.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Nebula’s a character that I’ve liked more and more with each of her MCU appearances, which is saying something, because I honestly really liked her a lot the first time around.  Vol 3 was a great close to her arc, and I really liked seeing her fully integrated into the team.  This may well be her best figure yet, honestly.  It’s not a lot of flash or flair, but it’s just a well-put-together figure of a well put together character.

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

#3410: Cyborg Spider-Woman

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

CYBORG SPIDER-WOMAN

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Cyborg Spider-Woman is part Spider-Woman, part machine. She doesn’t have regular powers like everyone else but with years of experience and a cannon for an arm, she’s seen it all and can fight with the best of them!”

Across the Spider-Verse sure did have a lot of Spider-people in it. And with that many, it’s hard to focus on all of them. Despite getting a noticeable marketing push, the big, hulking, Cyborg Spider-Woman is relegated to a blink and you’ll miss it sized role in the final product. But, hey, there’s still good toys to be had from the design, right? Right. Let’s look at one of those.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Cyborg Spider-Woman is a standalone deluxe Marvel Legends release, timed to tie-in with the main Across the Spider-Verse assortment. In fact, the nature of her construction and size points to the initial plan being to make this the Build-A-Figure for that assortment, before that was scrapped to keep the main figures a bit more standalone themselves. Nothing has been confirmed, but this figure notably pops apart at the neck, shoulders, and hips, much like a BaF would, and she lacks any re-used parts from prior BaFs to explain this. The figure stands about 8 inches tall and she has 25 points of articulation. Obviously, with the big cannon arm, she takes a slight hit on posability on that side, but given her size, she gets an okay range of motion. Some of the joints definitely needed to be worked in a bit on my copy, after which their range definitely improved. As touched on above, Spider-Woman gets an all-new sculpt, based on her very brief appearance in the movie, which is, in turn, very clearly inspired by the 616 Spidey’s brief cyborg appearance from Spider-Man #21, albeit supremely bulked up. Also gender-swapped, but that’s not as immediately apparent from the design proper.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve got a soft spot for the Cyborg Spidey look, so I got a kick out of it being referenced for this design in the new movie, especially when we got that first glimpse of the basic toyline figure. The Legend prices enough to win me over on buying her, even before the movie hit. Then the movie hit, and she’s not really in it, but I can’t be mad about getting a cool toy out of the whole thing. And maybe she’ll get a bigger part in the next one?

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

#3409: Monet St. Croix

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with ,

MONET ST. CROIX

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Monet St. Croix studies to become the next generation of X-Men at the Massachusetts Academy while unraveling her mysterious connection to some of the team’s greatest enemies.”

Boy, is that just the tip of the iceberg.  Monet St. Croix, sometimes codenamed “M”, is either the first of three sisters, or the combination of the two youngest of three sisters (while the eldest is off being trapped as Penance), or perhaps even a combination of the eldest and one of the two younger ones, or possibly even all three. Her powers are pretty much whatever the writers decide she can do at any given moment, which is both convenient and confusing. She is, however, notable for being a rare Muslim super hero, which was especially notable in the ’90s when she first appeared. And she’s also one of the few Generation X members that the writers cared about after their book ended. Good for her? Up to now, she’s not actually had any action figures, but that’s officially changed!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Monet St Croix is figure 3 in the Ch’od Series of Marvel Legends, and is the second member of Generation X in this set, following up on the Chamber figure.  She’s sporting her classic team suit, which is by far the most logical choice, especially if Hasbro’s looking to properly build up the team.  The figure stands about 6 1/4 inches tall and she has 29 points of articulation.  Monet is making use of a good chunk of parts from the Shriek mold, which is becoming a go-to starting point for any female figure in this post-pinned joints era of the line.  It’s a pretty decent sculpt all around.  She’s tall and slender, which seems about right for the character.  She gets a new head and upper torso, as well as add-on pieces for the gauntlets, belt, and boots.  The head definitely looks the part, even if that part may be just a tad non-distinct.  At the very least, she does look to be the correct ethnicity, which has classically been troublesome with depictions of Monet.  The suit details are definitely on the mark, and will surely see some re-use as Hasbro gets further into the rest of the team.  If nothing else, she’s a quick head swap away from just being a Husk figure, so she’s got that going for her.  The color work on Monet is decently handled.  She definitely gets the colors of the uniform down the way they were depicted in the comics.  Her skin tone was always all over the place, but I think they arrived at a good spot for her on this release, and the face printing is nice and sharp on this one.  The only thing I’m not crazy about is how lopsided the X is on the belt buckle.  That’s definitely something that should be more consistent.  Monet is packed with two sets of hands, one in fists, the other in open gesture, as well as Ch’od’s left leg.  She feels a bit light to me, especially given how “meh” the alternate hands wind up being.  Given the uniformed look, an alternate Husk head would have been cool, but if they didn’t want to do multiple characters at once, at least a different expression for Monet herself, or even one that could work as one of her sisters might have been cool.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I don’t have a ton of attachment to Monet as a character, thanks largely to her not getting a figure in the vintage run, and then not really appearing in much that I followed after that.  All that said, I can appreciate that she’s been in need of a figure for a while.  Since I was getting Chamber, and was therefore going down the Generation X rabbit hole already, she was a pretty easy sell.  She’s not a bad figure.  Not sure about the longevity of me sticking with the team, but hey, we’ll see.

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

Mutant X Re-Read #01: Fear Him. Fear For Him

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Mutant X Re-Read

IN THE END…AS IN THE BEGINNING

MUTANT X #1 (MARVEL COMICS)

Hello dear readers and welcome to a new thing that I’ve decided I’m apparently doing! I’ve been reviewing action figures for over a decade, but I’ve also been known to review the occasional non-figure thing. Never in a recurring capacity or anything, but hey, there’s a first time for everything. Action figures and comics have been connected for a good long while, so it’s not a crazy stretch to go from one to the other, so that’s a thing I’m gonna at the very least attempt. And why? Havok, that’s why. At the tail end of the ’90s, Havok was granted his own Havok-centric X-spin-off, Mutant X, which saw the main universe’s Alex Summers, in a near death state, shifted into the body of an alternate universe version of himself. And, aside from the general Havok focus, what’s that got to do with me? Well, I just came into a complete run of the whole of Mutant X, which I’d been looking to re-read. And if I’m doing a re-read, I thought I might just drag the rest of you along with me. So, let’s jump back 25 years, to the fall of 1998, and take a look at Mutant X #1, titled “In the end…as in the beginning!”

THE ISSUE ITSELF

Mutant X #1 is cover dated October 1998, and its story and art were handled by Howard Mackie, Tom Raney, and Andrew Pepoy.

Having seemingly died in the pages of X-Factor, Alex Summers floats in limbo. On another Earth, a different Alex leads The Six in a battle against a group of Sentinels. This Alex takes a blast to the chest and falls into the river, also seemingly dead. The mainstream Havok goes into to body of his alternate counterpart and is pulled from the waters by the Brute, thus universe’s version of Hank McCoy. A confused Alex, who believes this whole outing to be some sort of trick, becomes hostile towards the Six, and he’s knocked unconscious by The Fallen (Warren Worthington III). Alex awakens in Bannerman’s Castle, home of The Six, and is greeted by the Brute, who demonstrates his lack of McCoy’s usual intellect. Alex is claims memory loss from his injury and is introduced to Marvel Woman (Madelyn Pryor, Alex’s wife in the universe), The Fallen, Ice-Man (Bob Drake, who after a run0in with Loki is unable to fully control his powers and cannot touch others), and Bloodstorm (Orro Munro turned vampire).  Maddie also reveals to Alex the existence of their son, Scotty. When SHIELD, an anti-mutant terrorist organization in this universe, sets out to attack Liberty Island, The Six must intervene in order to save Scotty, who is visiting the island on a day trip. Alex is initially reluctant to help, but when an emotionally distressed Maddie shows signs of her Goblin Queen persona, Alex intervenes and assists the Six in taking down Nick Fury and his Mandroid-armored SHIELD agents. Back at Bannerman’s Castle, Alex goes to check on Scotty, who reveals that he knows that this Alex isn’t his father…

This issue has a lot of ground to cover, which is aided by the fact that it’s a whopping 56 pager. We get only the slightest bit of recap of what happened to main Alex before jumping into the whole alternate universe thing, at which point, Alex is essentially just there to walk the reader through this new universe. There’s quite a bit to exposit, but the story actually handles it alright, keeping most things from being too dry or clunky. There are a few spots where it’s a little choppy, with Scotty’s trip to Liberty Island in particular being a slightly awkward beat. The whole SHIELD change up is also a little off, with little explanation offered as to why Fury is just straight evil in this universe. Of the main team, Brute definitely gets the best showing in this first outing, actually getting his backstory worked into the story, as well as getting an immediately different characterization, and a more clearly defined deviation from his main universe counterpart. It’s also kind of refreshing to see an alternate universe take on Hank that doesn’t jump right to “evil scientist” the way so many Hank variants do. Maddie definitely shows a lot of potential for where they’re going to go with the character, but isn’t quite a full fledged character on her own just yet. Ice-Man has a fairly interesting change-up, even if it is just a slight recycle on Rogue’s usual schtick. Bloodstorm and Fallen, however, are both pretty slim on characterization at this point, both relying on being like the normal versions, but edgier. The smaller role for Scotty is also noticeable, especially with the mislead at the end where it looks like he’s distrustful of Alex.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I recall a lot of Mutant X‘s existence when it was new, and I picked up the odd issue here and there.  It was one of my go-tos when I just wanted to pick out a comic for myself, honestly.  This was one of the issues I had as a kid (though I believe I had a copy from a later print-run), and I remember re-reading it a lot at the time.  I honestly didn’t recall the whole SHIELD sub-plot, which probably speaks to how it’s the weaker portion of this inaugural story.  In general, though, I was pleasantly surprised by how well this first issue held up, and it’s made me very excited to read the rest of the run.

I snagged this whole run (and in fact my first copy of this issue as well) from my usual comics stop, Cosmic Comix, so I want to give them a shout out here, because it was a pretty great find.

#3408: Cassie Lang Series Wrap-Up

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , , , , , , ,

KANG THE CONQUEROR, EGGHEAD, CROSSFIRE, FUTURE ANT-MAN, & CASSIE LANG

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

Remember the big change-up in reviewing Legends from yesterday? Good, I don’t have to explain it a second time. Well, I’m doing it again, but with the Quantumania assortment. Hooray! Let’s look at the whole lot of the rest of them, shall we?

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Kang the Conqueror, Egghead, Crossfire, and Future Ant-Man are figures 2, 4, 5, and 6, respectively, in the Cassie Lang Series of Marvel Legends, and are the final four figures contributing to the Build-A-Figure for this assortment of the line, wrapping up the Quantumania tie-in. Cassie is the titular Build-A-Figure for the series, assembled by collecting the parts from 6 of the 7 figures in the set.

KANG THE CONQUEROR

“Kang, a fearsome warlord with a mysterious past, has conquered the Quantum Realm and rules over all citizens with a brutal totalitarian hand.”

After we got a preview of him at the end of Loki‘s first season, Kang showed up in full for Quantumania, sporting a look that’s honestly a pretty good adaptation of Kang’s original design. The figure stands a little over 6 1/4 inches tall and has 28 points of articulation.  The articulation on the shoulders is very restricted for this figure, and there is likewise little to no forward and back on hips.  Both of these are somewhat due to design cues from the movie, but I do feel like at this point Hasbro’s gotten better at such things, which makes this one a little frustrating. That said, I do like the waist movement, as the ball joint gets a very good range.  Kang has an all-new sculpt.  It’s not awful, and it certainly looks to be accurate to the film design, but it also just feels too small.  Like, just scaled down a bit too much entirely. I also rather dislike the lack of removable cape, as it further hurts the posing potential.  In terms of color work, Kang is decent enough. There’s a good bit of paint detailing, which works well enough. The only real issue is that the base purple lining is a little out of line. Kang is packed with two sets of hands, as well as both heads for the Cassie Build-A-Figure.

EGGHEAD

“An egg-slinging scientific genius, Dr. Elihas Starr began as a criminal underdog and rose to become a worthy adversary of Ant-Man and the Avengers.”

Man, who would have expected to see Egghead get a figure?  I mean, I guess at this point, most characters are fair game.  They are sort of running out of new characters to offer up, and this one in particular has some nice, direct ties to Ant-Man.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 29 points of articulation.  The figure is sort of restricted on movement, due to coat and design of head, but Egghead’s never been particularly active either.  Egghead is based on the Happy Hogan body, which is a good, stockier suit body, which fits well for the character.  He gets a new head sculpt, courtesy of Paul Harding, which is a pretty spot-on piece for classic Egghead.  His glasses are separate pieces, molded in transparent plastic, which is a cool idea, but unfortunately, they have mold lines through lenses, which ruins the effect a bit.  The figure’s color work is rather basic.  The paint is generally simple, but for the most part it works well. There’s a stray spot of black on the tie, but beyond that, it’s pretty clean.  Egghead is packed with the blaster pistol from Genis-Vell, as well as the torso to Cassie Lang.

CROSSFIRE

“Ex-CIA agent William Cross uses his espionage training and brainwashing technology to wreak havoc on superhumans with chaos as his goal.”

Crossfire is one of those villains that’s been passed all around the Marvel Universe.  He started in Marvel Two-in-One, facing off against The Thing and Moon Knight, and then sort of did the rounds.  He’s got a loose connection to Ant-Man, by virtue of his cousin Darren Cross, who has had several run-ins with Scott and Cassie Lang.  I guess that’s what gave him is spot here.  The figure is 6 1/2 inches tall with 32 points of articulation.  He’s built on Spider-UK body, un-modified, rather than using the upgraded version we saw on Strucker.  Largely, this means he still has the visible pins, which is a bit of a bummer.  He gets a new head and belt pieces, which suit the base body well.  In terms of coloring, he’s got a lot of red and white.  The white paint is definitely a little thin in some spots, to the point of the torso detailing almost looking pink.  His emblem is also quite sloppy, as are the edges of the red for his cowl.  I do really like the face detailing.  It’s very lifelike, and works well to sell the strengths of the sculpt.  Crossfire is packed with two sets of hands (fists and gripping), as well as the same sniper rifle included with Yelena, the removable strap, a blast effect, and a smoke effect.  He also includes Cassie’s left leg.

FUTURE ANT-MAN

“With a sleek new costume and honed capabilities, the new Ant-Man from the future carries on the heroic legacy of Hank Pym, Scott Lang, and Eric O’Grady.”

The Ant-Man of 2549, aka Zayn Asghar, is a very recent addition in the comics, having been introduced during Ant-Man’s 60th anniversary last year.  He’s not had a *ton* done with him, but he’s a good variant, right?  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches and he has 34 points of articulation.  This guy is using the ANAD 2099 body, which seems a pretty good fit for his build.  It’s still got visible pins, but oh well.  He gets a new head sculpt.  It’s pretty basic, in sort of that whole minimalism way that really is interwoven into everything about the character.  This figure has a slightly bent antenna, which seems like it’s probably gonna be a recurring problem.  He’s got a pretty striking color scheme, which the paint work does it’s best to replicate.  It’s also very basic, but application is pretty clean.  There’s a lot of black plastic.  Future Ant-Man has no accessories of his own, which is a bummer.  He does get the right arm for Cassie, though.

CASSIE LANG

Cassie began her career in both the comics and the movies as an innocent bystander.  In the comics, she was slowly aged up over time, and took up her own super hero mantle, Stature, during a stretch of time when her dad was dead.  In the movies, she survived the Snap, which meant that she got aged up five years, allowing her to be a more active participant in the adventures, even if she hasn’t quite gotten her codename yet.  The figure stands just over 10 inches tall and she has 30 points of articulation, 31 if you’ve got the unmasked head, which gets an extra point for the ponytail.  Cassie is using the most up-to-date of the articulation schemes, so she’s got double joints at elbows and knees, as well as the newer torso joint set-up, similar to Lightning Collection.  Due to her slightly larger size, she’s a touch clunkier in terms of movement, but she’s certainly an improvement on, say, the Civil War Giant-Man.  I particularly like the movement on the neck and the mid-section. Cassie’s sculpt is an all-new affair, and it’s a pretty solid one.  In Quantumania, Cassie is sporting a suit that merges aspects of her two Stature outfits, as well as her later Stinger design, while also bringing things n line with the established looks for Ant-Man and Wasp.  The sculpt captures the design of said suit pretty closely, which is always a plus with the Ant-Man suits.  The texturing is particularly good, and her unmasked head has a spot-on likeness of Kathryn Newton as Cassie.  The masked head’s a little clunkier for me; it’s definitely not my preferred, but I’m certainly glad to have it.  Cassie’s color work is generally pretty good.  All the major color break-ups are present, and what paint work is there is all pretty clean for the most part.  She’s missing a few details, such as the laces to the shoes, but most things are there.  The unmasked head gets the printed look, which looks really good; definitely works well with the sculpt.  Cassie gets two sets of hands, one in fists, the other in open gesture.  Honestly, those, coupled with the alternate head, the totally new sculpt, *and* the height, make her feel like one of the best values we’ve gotten on a Build-A-Figure in a good long while.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This series was actually the first one where I was looking to really take advantage of my new review set-up for Legends.  Cassie’s a character I really like, in both the comics and the movies, and I really wanted her, but I didn’t honestly want most of the rest of the set.  So, the opportunity to build her, and take a look at the whole series without all the up-front investment was definitely one I liked.

When I went into this set, I was only intending to keep two singles and the Build-A-Figure.  At the end of it, I kept three singles and the BAF, but I didn’t even keep both of the singles I was expecting to.  Ultron and Cassie were the two on my original list who remained on the final, and they’re also my two favorites in the set.  Yes, I know Ultron’s not really different.  So sue me.  Cassie’s all-new, though, and just really well put together.  I wasn’t intending to keep Ant-Man or Wasp, but they both wound up being a lot better than I’d anticipated, and they’re honestly the best MCU versions of the characters.  Future Ant-Man I’d already set-up with Max for before the set came in, so I was never attached to him anyway, though he’s a decent by the numbers figure.  Egghead and Crossfire are both better than I’d expected, even if I opted not to keep them.  The one that really broke things was Kang, who I expected to keep, but ultimately was just not wowed by in any sense, which is a bit of a bummer.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with these figures to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3407: Puff Adder Series Wrap-Up

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , , , , , , ,

EXTREMIS IRON MAN, BARON STRUCKER, YELENA BELOVA, ORB, & PUFF ADDER

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

Are you guys ready for a totally radical change-up?  I’m reviewing Marvel Legends!  Okay, that’s, like, not a change-up at all.  In fact, that’s about as status quo as status quo gets around these parts.  The totally radical change-up is *how* I’m reviewing Marvel Legends.  Since the site’s inception, I’ve been reviewing single release Legends each as their own single review.  For the last couple of weeks, I’ve been looking at each successive figure from the latest Avengers-themed assortment on Tuesdays.  Today, I’m wrapping up the remaining four figures, plus the Build-A-Figure, all in one fell swoop.  Won’t this be an adventure!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Extremis Iron Man, Baron Strucker, Yelena Belova, and Orb are the last four figures in the Puff Adder Series of Marvel Legends.  Iron is the one unnumbered figure in the set, while Strucker, Yelena, and Orb are figures 2, 3, and 5, respectively, in the line-up.  Puff Adder is, as you might guess, the Build-A-Figure for the series, assembled by buying six of the seven figures in the assortment.

EXTREMIS IRON MAN

“Tony Stark’s new Extremis Iron Man armor utilizes nanotechnology to allow direct interface between his brain and the armor”

This marks the second time that the Extremis armor has been done in Legends, following his release in the first Return of Marvel Legends assortment, which was good for the time, but also quite a while ago.  The figure stands 6 3/4 inches tall and he has 29 points of articulation, as well as rotating hip discs.  This new Extremis Iron Man is sporting a brand-new sculpt, and one of its major selling points is the new and improved articulation.  So, how does that work out?  It’s a mixed bag, honestly.  One of the major things is that the original Extremis sculpt is a really good one in its own right, and it was restricted, but workable.  This one is less restricted, and more workable…but it’s not quite the massive improvement that it was touted to be.  Of note, one of the big selling points was the “hero landing” pose, which got used a lot in artwork for this armor.  The figure’s even shown in this pose on the back of the box.  I’ve done my best to replicate this pose myself for the Wilson photo that accompanies this review, and in doing so, I got to discover just how much cheating Hasbro had to do to make the pose work with this figure.  Yeah, it’s doable, but it really only looks good from one very specific angle.  Anything else, and you’re looking at a horrible mash of body parts.  I’m also not a fan of how the shoulderpads work; they’re not jointed on their own, which greatly restricts the movement of the shoulders proper.  However, there are certainly areas where the articulation really shines, and the neck joint’s definitely one for me; he can actually look straight up, which you don’t see with a lot of Iron Men.  The actual sculpting work is also pretty strong.  There’s a lot of mechanical work, which is quite sharp, and he’s also properly scaled to look like there’s actually someone in the suit, which fixes the primary issue with the last figure.  Iron Man’s color work is pretty decent.  It’s a fair bit of molded plastic, but the colors work well, and he’s got that slightly metallic sheen.  The minor bit of paint is all pretty cleanly applied, and it should hold up alright over time.  Iron Man is packed with two sets of hands and a pair of repulsor blasts.

BARON STRUCKER

“Having served Hydra as far back as World War II, Baron Wolfgang Von Strucker stands as one of Captain America’s longest-living enemies. ‘Cut off one head and two will take its place.'”

In another life, with a slight change to his last name’s spelling, I bet this guy would have made some great jam.  Either way, he’s definitely celebrating the advancement of some very old people.  Strucker’s never gotten the Legends treatment before, but that’s not terribly surprising.  He’s really just a stand-in for Red Skull most of the time.  He’s seen here in his spandex garb, which seems odd for such an old guy, but when you’re an actual Nazi, I guess clothing choice is the least of anyone’s worries.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and has 32 points of articulation.  He’s built on the Spider-UK base body, which seems consistent with how he was depicted when wearing this outfit.  It’s been modified to remove visible pins on the arms and legs, which is pretty cool.  He’s got an overlay for his scarf, which is loose and free floating, and doesn’t feel especially secure.  The new gauntlet sculpt is clean and sharp, and I definitely dig it.  The new head sculpt is a very strong piece, and definitely the main selling point here.  I particularly dig how they handled his monocle.  In terms of coloring, he’s very green, that’s for sure.  The face paint is very effective, and that scarring looks impressive.  It’s unfortunately not all up to that quality, as the yellow paint for the accenting is very thin, showing the green below.  Additionally, the neck line is very sloppy, though it’s masked a bit by his scarf.  Strucker is packed with two energy effect pieces, as well as the right leg for Puff Adder.

YELENA BELOVA

“Trained by the spymasters of the infamous Red Room, Yelena Belova is the second operative to take on the role of Black Widow”

Yelena’s not new to Legends, but she’s also still had a lot less coverage than you might think, given how long she’s been around, and how easy a variant she is.  Her only comics version before this was back in the Toy Biz days, and it even put her in the wrong outfit at that.  This one places her in her “Dark Reign” era Thunderbolts gear.  The figure stands 6 inches tall and she has 27 points of articulation.  Or, you know, she would, if the neck joint on this one hadn’t busted between the first and second photos of the set here.  Not sure exactly what happened there, but her neck just tore clean through.  That’s a real bummer.  She’s based on the Riders Widow body, which hasn’t been used all that much, surprisingly.  It’s a good one, albeit one that’s a little older compared to others.  She gets a new head, upper torso, and belt overlay.  They’re pretty nice pieces, and I especially like the dynamic flow of her hair.  She’s rather light on paint, but it’s generally not too bad.  The red paint on her visor is a little off mark, so it doesn’t quite line-up, but other than that, she looks alright.  Yelena gets some of the best accessory work from the set, with two sets of hands, a pistol with and without silencer, a sniper rifle, a removable strap, two shooting effects, and two barrel flash effects.  She also features the torso of Puff Adder, which is his largest piece.

ORB

“Ridiculed for his appearance since his youth, the mercenary known as Orb holds the ironic distinction of being partially responsible for blinding Uatu the Watcher”

Orb’s certainly the set’s most obscure character choice.  He’s also an interesting selection, given he’s not *really* an Avengers foe, but I guess he’s close enough.  This is his very first figure, so that’s pretty cool.  The figure is just shy of 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  Orb is still using Bucky Cap body, a base that was once a very good offering, but is now really showing its age and wear to the mold.  There’s some noticeable gaps in the joints, and he feels a little floppy.  He gets a new head and collar, as well as using the pouched belt, flared gloves, and buccaneer boots for the body.  The new head’s not bad; it’s a sphere, but it’s a good one.  Orb’s color work is bold and bright, which is good.  The application of the paint is a bit touchy in some spots.  In particular, the blue paint is a little sloppy on torso and belt, and there’s a stray spot on one of the pouches of the belt.  On the flip side, the eye detailing turned out really well.  Orb is packed with his gun and the right arm of Puff Adder.

PUFF ADDER

Hey, look at that, it’s Puff Adder.  Now the Serpent Society is up to four.  Or five.  Or six?  Possibly seven?  It’s honestly kinda hard to account for it all.  It’s another member, that’s what I’m getting at.  This time, it’s the big guy, Gordon Fraley, aka Puff Adder.  Puff here is a late ’80s addition, and I honestly don’t know a ton about him.  The figure is about 8 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  Puff Adder is based on the same body as the Caliban BaF from 2019.  He gets a new head, but is otherwise just a rather basic, by the numbers figure.  It’s about what you’d expect for Puff Adder, though, so it works fine.  His color work is a lot of variations of green, which is again what you’d expect.  It generally works out okay, but without any actual sculpting or line-work, the two shades of lighter green rather blend together, which does muddy things just a touch.  Puff Adder includes two sets of hands, one in fists, one in relaxed poses.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

So, why this radical change-up here?  Let me ‘splain.  No, it’s too much.  Let me sum up.  For the last several years, I’ve been buying every figure in a given series of Marvel Legends for the purposes of getting a whole set to review.  However, I’ve been slowing down and even downsizing my personal collection of Legends a bit, so I’m not looking to actually purchase every single figure anymore.  Thankfully, my sponsors over at All Time Toys were kind enough to set me up with a deal where I get to take home and review a whole set of Legends, and then just pay for and keep the figures I actually want out of the set.  So, all of these guys, minus the Build-A-Figure, are the one’s I’ve elected not to keep from this particular assortment, for one reason or another.  And now you know my dirty secret.  Except it’s not a secret.  Or dirty.  So, I guess it’s just….a something?  Yeah, let’s go with that.

Though I didn’t opt to keep a lot of this set, it’s one that I can certainly get behind.  It’s got a good mix of heavy hitters, fan favorites in need of updates, and obscure oddballs, which actually mesh together a bit better than I’d expected.  Wonder Man is unquestionably my favorite, of course, but that Cap snuck up on me for just how cool he is.  Molecule Man’s cool for the novelty, so that’s neat.  Strucker is better than I’d expected, if not enough so for me to keep him.  Yelena *would* be in that category, if not for the breakage.  Orb unfortunately really showcases the need to finally retire the Bucky Cap.  Iron Man’s not bad, he’s just not quite what I was hoping for.  And then there’s Puff Adder, who is Puff Adder.

#3406: Mantis

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , ,

MANTIS

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“After fighting many battles with the Guardians of the Galaxy, the once quiet Mantis is ready to open up, embrace her powers, and settle into her new home on Knowhere.”

When first introduced in 1973, Mantis was an Earth-native femme fatale-style super heroine, who was added to the Avengers roster by her creator Steve Englehart to shake-up the team dynamic at the time.  She would ultimately become a central player during the “Celestial Madonna” story, taking her to a more cosmic level.  She remained in the background for a bit after that (and was actually carried across a few different publishers as Englehart jumped around, albeit never being explicitly identified as “Mantis”), and was eventually worked into Marvel’s cosmic side proper when she was worked into the Guardians of the Galaxy.  When she made her jump to the MCU in Guardians Vol. 2, she, like Drax before her, went from being a human who went out into space to being an alien outright.  She also got quite a personality overhaul, becoming far more quiet and timid.  Over the course of her subsequent appearances, she’s grown a fair bit, and by Vol. 3, she’s far more capable in her own right.  And now she also gets a proper single release figure, rather than being chopped up as a Build-A-Figure.  Yay!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Mantis is figure 2 in the Cosmo Series of Marvel Legends, which serves as the tie-in for Vol. 3.  Like the rest of the main team, she’s seen here in her proper uniformed design, which is a change of pace after she wore pretty much the same get-up for her prior five appearances.  The figure stands just over 6 inches tall and she has 31 points of articulation.  Where both Star-Lord and Drax relied heavily on parts re-use from older figures, Mantis is a lot more new parts…with the caveat that there’s a lot of sharing with another figure in the set, but we’ll get to that later.  She appears to be using the same head sculpt as the Build-A-Figure Mantis, which is reasonable enough; that was a good sculpt, with a respectable likeness of Pom Klementieff, so why not stick with it?  Everything from the neck down is new, and it’s generally pretty good, apart from one notable issue: she’s too tall.  I mean, not like, crazy too tall, but definitely too tall.  Beyond that, it’s a respectable offering, which details the design of the team suit nicely.  Some of the details are a little on the softer side, but otherwise it’s pretty good.  She’s also got the pinless construction for the elbows and knees, which keeps things pretty clean.  Mantis’s color work is alright.  It’s a lot of molded plastic colors, and in the case of the suit, I do feel it robs her of some of the sculpted details, since there’s not a ton of accenting going on.  Like the last two team suit figures, there’s definitely a bit of slop on the red sections, and in her case, her chest emblem is also a little bit offset.  Mantis’s face work is a little more detailed than her prior figure, and, as odd as it feels to say, I think I like the last one just a bit better.  There’s something about the eyes on this release that feels just a little off for me.  I’m not sure why, and it’s not bad in a vacuum, just odd compared to the other one.  Mantis doesn’t get any extras of her own; I’m not sure what there is to give her, but maybe some extra hands or something would have been nice.  As it stands, all she gets is one of Cosmo’s legs.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I really liked Mantis’s addition to the team in the second film, and I’ve enjoyed seeing her growth as a character over the films.  I wasn’t initially sure I needed another version, but we’re getting those team suits, and it’s so hard to say no to any of them at that point.  She’s got some smaller issues that definitely hold her back a bit, but the overall product is honestly pretty good.

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

#3405: The Blob

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

THE BLOB

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Fred J. Dukes has long used the massive bulk and near-impervious skin granted by his mutant powers to combat the X-Men alongside the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants proving time and again that nothing moves the Blob!”

The Blob is a shockingly early addition to the X-Men universe when you really delve into it.  He’s only their third antagonist as a team, beaten only by Magneto and the Vanisher.  He was also pretty quickly worked in as a recurring foe, working for both the alien Lucifer and Factor Three, before finally being added to the Brotherhood roster in an issue of Defenders of all things.  He’s surprisingly absent for the formative years of Claremont’s run on the book, before finally returning with the new and improved Brotherhood in “Days of Future Past.”  From that point forward, he stuck around in a more recurrent capacity, though he’s never really been at the forefront of the stories being told.  But hey, it does get him some decent action figure coverage, I guess.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Blob is a deluxe standalone Marvel Legends release, timed to hit during the 60th anniversary of the X-Men, with all of the associated tie-in stuff for that.  This is Blob’s second time getting the Legends treatment, following up on the Build-A-Figure version released in Hasbro’s second ever Legends assortment.  It’s been a long 16 years waiting for an update.  The figure stands about 8 inches tall and he has 26 points of articulation.  Blob’s articulation scheme works surprisingly well given his bulk.  I especially like the range on the neck joint; the ball-joint is very well placed there.  The range on the elbows is also pretty solid, but the slight offset to that is that they break the flow a bit when posed.  Not that it’s the end of the world, or anything.  Also, the weight distribution on this guy works out quite nicely, allowing for some really fun posing options, with running poses and the like.  Blob is sporting an all-new sculpt; the Build-A-Figure had a rather stylized look to him, angling for a more grotesque appearance, in line with some of the more monstrous additions from Toy Biz’s tenure (which makes sense, since Toy Biz’s team actually sculpted the original Blob).  This one’s a bit more all-purpose, going for a more classic comics styling.  It downplays things like the excessive fat rolls, and I think it’s ultimately for the better, especially when it comes to him fitting in with the rest of the Brotherhood.  There are two different heads included; one calm, and one screaming.  The two heads also have slightly differing hairstyles, with the screaming version getting a look that’s all on the top, versus the visible sides on the calmer head.  I appreciate the options, though I definitely lean a bit more towards the screaming one myself.  The paint work on this guy is sort of a mixed bag, with some of the base work being rather sloppy, especially for the yellows.  On mine, there’s a lot of slop on the edges, and the application’s also kind of thin, so there’s a change of color visible where applications overlap.  Also, despite the prototype shots not showing it, he’s got the same spotting on the arms and legs that the BaF had.  I can only guess it’s got something to do with making the large swathes of unpainted plastic look less plasticky. Blob is packed with two sets of hands, one in fists, and the other in open gesture, which makes for some nice variety in posing.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I had the Build-A-Figure back in the day, but I was never really that enamored with him.  Admittedly, I’m a bit hot and cold with the Blob in general, so I wasn’t dying for an update, or anything.  That said, with so many of the Brotherhood accounted for recently, he was a notable omission.  I wasn’t sure what to expect from this one, but I was actually pleasantly surprised by him, especially when it comes to posing.  Also, while we’re still a Destiny figure shy of the full DoFP Brotherhood, this guy does at least let me wrap up my “Pryde of the X-Men” Brotherhood of Mutant Terrorists line-up, so my X-Men have someone to face off against.  And that makes me very happy.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’d like to see a video of this guy in action, I helped out with one for their YouTube channel, so check that out.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3404: Chamber

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , , ,

CHAMBER

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“At the Massachusetts Academy and as a member of Generation X, Chamber learns to manage his biokinetic flame which covers his chest and face”

Okay, but you know that the flame doesn’t *cover* his chest and face, right? It’s important to me that you know it doesn’t *cover* his chest and face. Because, like, his powers actually blew away is jaw and the upper portion of his torso when they manifested. Like, they’re just gone. Anyway, let’s talk about Generation X. Generation X is the generation between the baby boomers and the millennials. No, that’s not right. Generation X is an English rock band fronted by Billy Idol. No, still not it. Generation X is an X-Men spin-off, launched out of “The Phalanx Covenant” crossover in 1994. While most of the initial team was formed from the group of young mutants gathered by the Phalanx during the event, one of their most distinctive members didn’t join until their series proper launched later that year. But join he did, and no one can deny that Chamber was worry the wait.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Chamber is figure 6 in the Ch’od Series of Marvel Legends. He’s one of the two debut Generation X figures in the line-up, and he’s also Chamber’s first figure since his old Toy Biz figure.  While he would eventually get a variation on the team uniform look, during his initial run, Chamber had his own look, which was really just civilian garb.  That’s what this one goes with.  The figure stands about 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 30 points of articulation.  Chamber’s mobility is a little more on the restricted, partially due to design (it’s hard to get good neck movement with this look), and partially due to the parts he’s re-using.  He’s making use of the lower-half of the Coulson body, which isn’t the most charming selection of parts.  The movement is very limited, especially on the hips and ankles, and the sculpt is also broken up quite a bit by posing the figure, which isn’t very fun.  It also means that he’s wearing dress shoes, which seems a bit off for Chamber.  Thankfully, the rest of him looks to be all-new.  The head’s the real star piece here.  It’s the work of sculptor Paul Harding, who seems to be Hasbro’s go-to for cool fire sculpts right now.  It’s very dynamic, which is truly the best way to handle Chamber’s appearance.  It’s largely meant to be viewed from the front, but it still works from other angles as well.  Chamber also gets a new torso and arms, which aren’t as flashy as the head sculpt, but still pretty solid pieces.  I’m particularly impressed by the texturing on the sweater, because that’s where I am with my life, I guess.  The figure’s color work is largely black, which is expected.  The variation on the head keeps with the dynamic nature of the sculpt, which I certainly enjoy.  Chamber is packed with two sets of hands, as well as the left arm for the Ch’od Build-A-Figure.  Since the head is on a ball-joint, I would have liked to see an alternate head with his collar pulled up over his energy, like he did a lot in the comics.  But, I guess that’s a lot to ask.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Chamber’s another one of those characters that I just have this sort of attachment to.  I don’t know exactly why.  He’s just really cool looking, I guess.  I really liked the ’90s figure back in the day, and I’ve been waiting for an update.  This one was very high on my list in a wave that has other very high on my list figures.  I’m not super thrilled about the leg re-use; it seems rather limiting and backwards, honestly.  Beyond that, though, I do really like him, and he’s certainly a step-up from the original figure.

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

#3403: Ultron

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

ULTRON

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Robot. Maniacal genius. Science experiment gone wrong. Ultron is the supreme weapon of mass destruction and a mortal threat to his creator Hank Pym, the Avengers, and all humankind.”

Wait….why do I feel like I’ve been here before? Could it be that I’ve already reviewed this figure? I mean, I’ve had it happen. That bio sure is familiar. But wait, there’s a very specific mention of Hank Pym in that bio now. What is this, some sort of very specific Ant-Man tie-in. Well, uh, yeah, it actually is. How about that?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Ultron is figure 3 in the Cassie Lang Series of Marvel Legends, which is specifically an Ant-Man tie-in wave. Ultron’s obviously from the comics portion of that, though interestingly enough, movie Ultron was the Build-A-Figure for the very first movie Ant-Man tie-in assortment. The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation. By and large, this guy’s really just a slight tweak on the Ursa Major Ultron. That was really the definitive classic comics Ultron, so, you know decent starting point. What does this one do? New head. The last one was classic. This one is also classic. Just, like, a different classic? There are a collection of necessary details for a classic Ultron head, but there exact relative proportions are always a bit up in the air, making both takes equally valid. I honestly find this one just a touch more my speed than the last, but I like them both. While the last Ultron was painted silver, this one goes back to a molded plastic. I’m not so much on the molded plastic silver, but I do like the slightly darker shade. Since the head on this one has a larger, flatter mouth, we’re back to the painted crackle effect as well, which I still really dig. Ultron gets the same five hands and crackle effect piece as we got on the last release. Amusingly, the new head isn’t compatible with the crackle effect (hence the painted detail instead), so all he can do his hold it in his hand. I guess it’s nice that they didn’t cut it, though, right? It’s also a different pattern than the other one, so you get extra options there. Ultron is also packed with the left arm of Cassie Lang.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

On the outside, this guy does seem like the easiest figure in this set to skip for me. Which makes the fact that he’s honestly the single figure I was most excited for all the more baffling, right? What can I say; I’m a sucker for a classic Ultron. Even one that’s just minorly different. The new head really makes this one for me. Something about it just really resonates. Of course, I’m not swapping out the old one. It just means this guy gets the be the Ultron-12/Mark for my Legends collection.

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