HYPERION & DOCTOR SPECTRUM

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Hyperion convinces Doctor Spectrum and the Squadron Supreme to use their vast superpowers to solve Other-Earth’s problems by remaking it into a utopia by any means necessary”

I’ve spoken a few times before about the Squadron Supreme, Marvel’s in-house stand-in for the Justice League.  They’ve managed to have a surprisingly enduring popularity over the years, but admittedly, not a ton of merchandising, since they exist just outside the mainstream.  We’ve gotten a few Hyperions, and a few Nighthawks, but it’s rare we get past those two.  Hasbro’s decided to give a proper line-up an actual go, it would seem, and are kicking things off, unsurprisingly, with another Hyperion, but also resident Green Lantern stand-in Doctor Spectrum!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Hyperion and Doctor Spectrum are a Fan Channel-exclusive Marvel Legends two-pack, the first of a set based on the Squadron.  Later sets indicate that this line-up is meant to be based on the “Squadron Supreme of America” version of the team from Jason Aaron and Ed McGuinness’s Avengers run, but in the case of these two particular figures, that means they also double as classic versions of the characters.  This set hit right around the same time as yesterday’s Franklin and Valeria pack, right at the end of June/beginning of July.

HYPERION

Hyperion has had one Legend before, way back in the Hit Monkey Series.  While that’s *technically* within the modern Legends classification, he was a weak figure even when he was new, and the base body that he introduced to the line is more or less retired, so a new version’s certainly not un-called for.  The figure stands 6 3/4 inches tall and he has 31 points of articulation.  He’s largely working with a fairly basic articulation set-up, but he does get a ball-jointed mid-torso set-up, which is quite nice for posing and aesthetics.  Hyperion is built from absolutely no parts from the Hyperion mold, if you can believe it.  He’s got the arms and legs of two different Hercules figures, plus a new head, torso, and cape.  The head, handle by sculptor Paul Harding, is based on Hyperion’s earliest appearances, when he was still sporting the short hair and the domino mask.  I appreciate how it’s got just a touch of a Superman vibe, without being just straight up Superman.  He’s still his own character.  The color work on this figure is very bright and eye catching. There’s a slight mismatch on the exact shades of red, which seems to happen a lot, but otherwise things work out okay.  His actual paint is all pretty clean, and I like how the hair gets the darker accenting to help bring out the sculpted details.  Hyperion is packed with an extra pair of gripping hands.  Not really sure why, but I guess he might want to hold some stuff occasionally?

DOCTOR SPECTRUM

Doctor Spectrum’s only prior figure is a Minimate, which wasn’t a super plentiful one at that.  Despite being one of the team’s higher profile members, he’s just never gotten the spotlight.  But hey, here he is now.  Yay!  The figure stands about 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  Spectrum is based on the supposedly retired Bucky Cap base body, which just sort of keeps showing back up.  It’s like a Baby Boomer that just won’t stay home, or something.  This time around, it’s got a new set of arms, with pinless construction on the elbows.  They don’t quite sit flesh with the body, which is a touch awkward.  Why they didn’t just use the newly developed Vulcan body is anybody’s guess.  I assume there’s some sort of logic behind it, and I’m not gonna try to figure it out.  He also re-uses the Blizzard head, which honestly is pretty hard to go wrong with.  It’s a basic full face mask.  Not like there’s a lot of different ways to do that, right?  Doctor Spectrum’s distinctive color scheme is largely handled via molded colors, but there’s a fair bit of actual painting on the torso.  Some of the edges are a touch sloppy, but they’re not awful.  The only thing I’m really not big on is way the blue continues around the shoulders; it just doesn’t look right when posing.  The Doc is packed with two sets of hands, one open gesture, the other gripping, two effects pieces, and his Power Prism.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The Squadron Supreme are a fun concept, and it feels like all we ever get are Hyperion figures.  Well, and Nighthawk too, I suppose, but his are usually his Defenders costume, so it doesn’t really count.  I have a particular affinity for Doctor Spectrum, what with him being the GL equivalent and all, so I’ve long wanted some proper toy version of him.  This one’s admittedly a little phoned in.  But, at the same time, it’s not a *bad* figure, and certainly preferable to no Doctor Spectrum at all.  Hyperion, despite being yet another Hyperion, is actually a pretty cool figure, so I can get behind that, I guess.

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.