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.