MORPH

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

The character of Morph was created for X-Men: The Animated Series by re-working an obscure X-Men foe “Changeling” essentially for the sole purpose of having a team member to kill off in the pilot, to show the seriousness of the situation.  Morph, however, proved to be a lot more popular than the show runners had expected, so the character’s death was reversed at the end of the first season, and they returned as an antagonist in the second, before eventually turning on Mr. Sinister (who had kept them alive, but brainwashed them), and returning to the team as a reserve member.  For the show’s continuation, X-Men ’97, Morph is once more a full-fledged member of the team, and that’s finally paid off in figure form, too!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Morph is part of the third X-Men ’97 tie-in assortment of Marvel Legends.  Due to delays with the show and a lack of knowledge of the exact demand for product, the third round had a pretty significant delay from the first and second, with over a year’s worth of space between them.  This is the animated Morph’s second time in Legends form, following up on their first release in the VHS line.  Obviously, that one was based on Morph’s original animated design, which was really just Changeling in a standard X-uniform.  Morph’s success in the show led to the character’s reintroduction during “Age of Apocalypse,” which saw a rather radical redesign.  For ’97, Morph is sporting a design that mixes the two notable looks together, with the presumption that this is Morph’s default state, and the more “human” look seen during the original run (which makes a brief re-appearance in the first episode of ’97) is an affected look used to fit in better.  The figure stands just under 6 1/4 inches tall and they have 32 points of articulation.  Morph is sporting an all-new sculpt.  The articulation scheme is a bit stiff and old-fashioned, apart from the pinless construction, but it does what it needs to.  They end up feeling a bit like the What If…? figures in terms of movement.  The actual sculpt is a good match for the animation model.  The last Morph sort of fit them into the more general Legends style, and was likewise a bit more bulked up than their in-show appearance.  This figure sticks much closer to Morph’s more svelte design, giving them a more unique feel, overall.  Morph’s color work is largely molded colors, which is always pretty clean.  There’s a bit of accenting on their face, to keep it from being *too* blank, which works pretty well.  Morph is packed with two sets of hands (in fists and open), an alternate original series styled head, and an alternate Gyrich head.  Alternate heads are a classic bit for Morph, and I do generally dig them (especially taking the opportunity to offer Gyrich, since he’s a rather noteworthy character who’s never gotten a figure), but unfortunately the molded color on the neck is a match for the standard head, meaning they’ll always have an off-white neck.  Since the neck’s a separate piece, it’s too bad they couldn’t include an alternate part to swap in.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Morph’s certainly a favorite of mine, especially in regards to the original series, and all of the figures included.  I’ve always had a soft spot for them, and I was thrilled to hear they were being promoted to full-fledged team member for the revival.  I was a bit bummed by no Morph figures at launch, but I’m glad they were amongst the first of the post-show product.  Definitely a fun little figure.

Shoutout to my friends at All Time Toys, from whom I purchased this figure for review!  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.