Tag Archives: Black Widow

#3514: Black Widow

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

BLACK WIDOW

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Working alongside Captain America, Super Spy Black Widow makes a discovery that hints at a sinister worldwide conspiracy — and must do whatever it takes to counteract it.”

Back in May of 2014, when I reviewed the original Winter Soldier Black Widow, Scarlet Johannson’s live action take on the character was still quite a rarity in the toy world.  She was notably the only member of the original Avengers left out of the initial 6-inch line-up, and even her Winter Soldier figure was a short pack (since it was the days before the more even pack-outs on Legends).  In the almost decade since, that’s certainly changed.  It’s still not quite on par with her male counterparts, but she’s gotten a lot more headway.  And now, they’re even doubling back to that very first look to get the proper Legends treatment.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Black Widow was released the 2023 assortment of the Infinity Saga sub-line of Marvel Legends.  She joins the previously released Cap to make up this assortment’s Winter Soldier portion, and the two of them jointly help the Flashback Winter Soldier in giving us updates to all three of the original Legends tie-ins for the movie.  The figure stands just under 6 inches tall and she has 29 points of articulation.  She remains too tall to truly be a Johannson Widow, but that’s been a consistent issue across the board.  Her articulation scheme has changed compared to the original, as she’s now got double jointed elbows (with swanky pinless construction), and her neck joint is a double ball joint, rather than a single.  These changes are due to the fact that Widow actually gets some new parts, in contrast to Cap’s total re-use.  Her upper torso and arms are new, while the lower torso and legs remain the same.  The new parts are quite nice, and fix some slight issues with proportions and suit detailing on the last mold, as well as improving her movement quite a bit.  Apart from the slight issues with standing, the fact that she’s still got visible pins on the knees, and those dreaded holsters with the permanently molded guns, the re-used parts do at least still look pretty good.  Near as I can tell, the head is also re-used, but its worth noting that the likeness looks *a lot* better this time around.  Widow’s paint work on her original figure was based on concept coloring, while this one is based on what she’s actually wearing in the movie.  In Winter Soldier, she’s notably wearing actual black for most of her gear, and that’s reflected here.  It results in a number of areas actually getting a lot less paint than the last time, but it looks better.  It also helps that the areas that *do* get paint are a lot cleaner this time around.  The face paint in particular is night and day, and it does really look like a different sculpt.  I also really like that they’ve done proper accenting for her hair.  Widow is packed with two sets of hands (fists and gripping), a pair of guns, a pair of widow’s sting effects, and the alternate Avengers-style head like the original had.  The guns aren’t real firearms, or accurate to the movie, but I’m glad she at least gets *something* this time around, rather than the complete lack from last time.  The alt head gets the same paint improvement as the main, which is very nice to see as well.  Of course, we don’t really have the rest of the core Avengers in a style that matches, but that’s hardly this figure’s fault.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Despite my issues with the original release of this costume, I maintained that it was still a pretty good figure, and didn’t really feel the same need for an update that I did with Cap.  I certainly wasn’t opposed to the idea, though, when her name popped up on the list.  I didn’t think that much of her when I got her, and I was prepared to be a bit let-down after Cap…but I really wasn’t.  There are a few small things that I’m still not 100% sold on, but in general, she’s just a solid improvement on the original figure, in ways that I hadn’t even really thought of.  I’m glad she got the new parts, and the extras, and she actually feels like she was worth the price of the upgrade.  Just a good 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.

#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.

#3020: Black Widow

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

BLACK WIDOW

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Extensive training in the Red Room made Natasha Romanoff into a warrior with few peers.”

Okay, so, I gotta be honest, putting that specific bio on this specific version of Black Widow is, admittedly, a little bit humorous.  I mean, yeah, she has trouble making friends, and it’s relevant to the movie that was being released around the time of this figure’s release, but, umm, the figure’s sort of in her specifically Avengers-branded attire.  From when she was with the Avengers.  Long enough to have specifically branded attire.  Which would make them…her peers?  I don’t mean to keep throwing wrenches into the Hasbro bios here, but, you know, I’m just throwing that out there.  Okay, enough bio-reviewing, onto the figure reviewing.  Would you guess I’m looking at a Black Widow figure today?  I know, pretty crazy!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Black Widow was a Walmart-exclusive Marvel Legends release, initially showing up in the summer of 2020 to coincide with the original planned release date for Black Widow.  As with most Walmart-exclusives, it was not super easy to find, and this wasn’t aided by the whole pandemic thing.  Ultimately, she would up being offered up again through Entertainment Earth, and by extension through a good number of Fan Channel locations.  This version of Widow is sporting her grey jumpsuit and Avengers-branded bomber jacket from the early ’90s.  Notably, this same design was also the one used by her very first action figure, back during the Toy Biz 5-inch days, and it also showed up once prior as the variant color scheme for the Widow from the Legends two-packs in 2010.  The figure stands just over 6 inches tall and she has 27 points of articulation.  Her sculpt is a mix of old and new.  The bulk of the body is the Phoenix mold, with the upper arms and jacket overlay from Rogue.  She gets a new head, upper torso (which was subsequently re-used on Firestar), and add-ons for her bracelets and belt.  It’s a good mix of parts, which does a pretty spot-on job of capturing this particular version of Widow.  In particular, I really like how the head sculpt turned out.  The hair really captures the look and feel really well, right down to the one lock in front of her right eye.  It’s honestly one of Hasbro’s nicest female heads, and certainly my favorite of the Widow sculpts they’ve done.  The paint work on this figure is pretty decent.  The bulk of the color work is via molded plastic colors, but the work on the two spiders is sharp, and the face and hair are particularly dynamic and lively looking.  She’s even got the Avengers insignia on both shoulders of the jacket, which is super cool.  Black Widow is packed with two sets of hands (fists and open gesture), three different sets of bracelets (standard, blast effect, and smoke), a jetpack piece, and two rocket effects for the jetpack.  It’s a really great selection of extras.  About the only other thing I could think of to really seal the deal might be an alternate set of unjacketed arms, but that’s really a minor complaint, given the other awesome stuff included.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve got a nostalgic spot for this design, what with the old Toy Biz figure and all, so I was very excited when this figure was shown off, and immediately less so when it was confirmed as a Walmart exclusive.  I then had no luck locating one at retail, and kind of figured that was it.  Thankfully she got the second release, and I got a second chance at getting her.  I’m glad I did, because she’s a fantastic figure, and honestly my favorite Widow figure from Hasbro.  Just a really strong release all around, and I’m glad it’s getting a wider distribution.

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.

#2894: Melina Vostokoff & Red Guardian

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

MELINA VOSTOKOFF & RED GUARDIAN

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“After decades of service, Melina Vostokoff distanced herself from the Red Room. But when Natasha Romanoff returns, Melina and Red Guardian must decide where their allegiance lies.”

After a year of delays, Black Widow finally got its release this past July.  It’s still not been entirely smooth sailing, but it did at least clear the slate to let the other movies get released.  The tie-in component for the movie was, unfortunately, too far along when the pandemic hit in 2020 to hold it back, so they shipped to stores more than a year before release, resulting in them being essentially gone by the time the movie actually hit.  Hasbro did at least hold off one piece of merch until after the film’s release, a two-pack of Melina Vostokoff and Alexei Shostakov (aka the Red Guardian), Natasha’s surrogate parents from the film.  I’m taking a look at that pack today.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Melina and Red Guardian are a standalone two-pack Marvel Legends release, designed to tie-in with the movie.  If prior offerings are anything to go by, they were probably meant to be the home media tie-in, hitting some time last fall, but they were able to be pushed back.  Whatever the case, they started hitting retail within the last month or so, and seem to be generally sticking to the specialty channels at the moment.

MELINA VOSTOKOFF

Known in the comics as Iron Maiden, Melina Vostokoff is actually an antagonist of Natasha, and, much like Red Guardian, classically more of a contemporary in terms of age and experience.  For the film, she is given a maternal role, and refitted into a far less antagonistic character, which generally works out pretty well.  Melina was the one major character absent from the tie-in wave of figures last year, so her inclusion here is somewhat expected and very much justified.  In terms of design, she’s been given her all-white suit from the film’s climax, which allows her to match up with the rest of the crew, certainly making it a good choice.  The figure stands 5 3/4 inches tall and she has 27 points of articulation.  Melina shares most of her parts with the two Widow figures from last year.  Given that she’s explicitly wearing the same gear as Natasha in the final sequence, as well as the fact that the builds between the actresses aren’t too far removed, it’s a sensible choice of re-use.  It’s aided by the fact that the body was a solid piece the first time around, and the second time around, so the third time makes sense too.  She gets an all-new head sculpt, which sports a rather solid likeness of Rachel Weisz, and meshes well with the pre-existing parts.  The torso is also modified slightly, as sort of a merging of the two prior pieces.  She keeps the basic detailing of the deluxe Widow, but gets the back pack from the single release.  Lastly, she ditches the Widow stingers, in the name of screen accuracy, since Melina doesn’t have them.  Her paint work is overall fairly decent.  The head uses the face printing, which turned out well.  The rest of the body relies fairly heavily on molded colors, but it works well.  There are some slight change-ups from the deluxe Widow’s color scheme.  Generally, it seems to make her more accurate, though I do miss the extra painted detail on the belt buckle.  Melina is packed with three sets of hands (in fists, loose grip, and tight grip), dual Markovs, two batons, and a grappling hook.  The hands and guns are shared with deluxe Widow, and the batons come from the single release (albeit with better paint this time), while the grappling hook appears to be an all-new piece.  Not a bad set-up, all things considered.

RED GUARDIAN

Red Guardian was included in the standard tie-in line-up last year, but his figure was notably not as screen accurate as the others, making a second go at him a worthy venture.  He’s seen here in his fully kitted out gear from the movie (something he didn’t have all of the last time around).  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and has 31 points of articulation.  He’s still a little bit on the small side, but at this point, I can be a little more forgiving, since I already dealt with that last year.  From the neck down, he’s the same as the Red Guardian from the main assortment.  The body was the best part of the earlier release, and wasn’t too terribly out of whack, so it’s re-use makes sense here.  To top it off, he gets an all-new head sculpt, this time sporting the helmet that was so notably absent from the first figure.  It’s a very nice piece, and works well with the body.  It designed to work like the more recent MCU Caps, where the helmet and face are separate parts, to aid in giving it proper depth.  Guardian’s new head also gives him the proper, fuller beard that he had in the movie, further aiding in the likeness’s effectiveness.  Red Guardian’s paint work has also been tweaked a bit from the prior version.  He’s got more silver this time around, as well as some extra detailing in a few spots on the costume.  Additionally, the light grey is now closer to white, which is more in line with how it looks in the movie.  In general, it does feel like a sharper appearance, and one that matches the movie just a bit better.  Red Guardian is packed with an alternate unmasked head, which, like the masked one, has a better likeness of Alexi’s disheveled appearance.  He also gets a set of alternate hands without the gloves, plus a miniature Red Guardian action figure like the one used in the movie’s prison break scene, and the same shield as last time, albeit in a darker color scheme this time around.  It’s not a bad selection, and I’m really glad the alternate head is there.  The shield’s kind of extraneous, since he doesn’t actually have it in the movie, and now we have two of them, but far be it from me to complain about extra stuff, especially when it doesn’t feel like anything important got cut.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was glad to finally get to see Black Widow after such a long wait, and I enjoyed it as a fairly by the numbers action film.  It didn’t break any molds, it didn’t change the world, but it was a good time.  Natasha’s family were definitely my favorite part of the movie, so I was eager to get the full line-up.  Melina makes a good addition to the team we already have, and Red Guardian fixes the figure we already got in such a way that prior version is kind of unneeded at this point, I guess.  Definitely a very fun two-pack.

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

#2827: Black Widow & James Rhodes in Mark II Armor

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

BLACK WIDOW & JAMES RHODES IN MARK II ARMOR

MARVEL MINIMATES

In light of Black Widow finally getting her long overdue solo film over this weekend, it’s always kind of interesting to look back at her beginnings, at least in terms of the MCU.In addition to introducing Widow, Iron Man 2 helped to set the stage for the larger MCU as a whole.  As such it was a film rather jam-packed with characters, each with a number of distinct looks.  The corresponding Minimates were quite all-encompassing, with the specialty and TRU assortments each pulling their weight to get as many of the primary players out there as possible.  It was through this venture that Widow got her first MCU-based ‘mate, alongside a variant of Rhodey.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Black Widow and James Rhodes in Mark II Armor were part of the first TRU assortment of IM2 tie-ins for Marvel Minimates, which hit just before the film’s release in the spring of 2010.Both figures included here were totally exclusive to this pack-out, and would remain that way going forward.

BLACK WIDOW

Though her role in the finished product ended up a little smaller than some were anticipating, Widow is still one of the most important things to come out of Iron Man 2.  She had a pair of movie-based Minimates to come out of it.  This one is the first, and the one based on her actual, proper “Black Widow” design. The figure is built on the standard ‘mate body, so she’s about 2 1/4 inches tall and she has 14 points of articulation, Widow is markedly less sculpted than her pack-mate, but she still makes use of a handful of sculpted add-ons for her hair, widow’s stingers, and belt/holster. The hair piece was shared with the other Widow variant, and is a very well-detailed, exceptionally crafted recreation of Widow’s longer locks from the film.  The widow’s stingers are the same ones used on the Champions boxed set Widow.  They were good there and they’re just as good here.  The combined belt/holster piece is the only truly unique piece on this figure.  It accurately recreates what she was wearing in the film, but its design means it restricts the hip movement on the left leg, which is a little annoying.  That said, it’s far less obtrusive than earlier holster designs, which is a plus.  The paintwork on Widow is pretty decent stuff.  The face has a passable likeness of Scarlet Johansson.  Not the best DST’s done on the MCU Widow’s but certainly a good start.  The expression’s a little bland, though it’s hardly the end of the world. The detailing on her uniform is pretty solid stuff, with linework for all the piping.  She’s even got the SHIELD insignias on her shoulders; the proper classic ones from IM2, as opposed to the more Ultimate inspired one from later films.  Widow’s only accessory is a small handgun, which was in common usage around that time.  It’s a fine piece, but she does feel a little light.

JAMES RHODES IN MARK II ARMOR

There were no shortage of Rhodey figures in the IM2 assortments.  He got quite a bit of focus in the movie, and his three main looks were each represented.  His time in the unmodified Mark II armor is short-lived, but it is during one of the film’s best sequences, so its place in this assortment is certainly earned. The IM2 armored figures represent DST’s learning curve with sculpting on ‘mates.  These guys lost a lot of the connection to the base body, which makes them feel sort of alien amongst the other ‘mates.  Structurally, this figure is identical to Series 35’s Iron Man Mark IV.  Same helmet, torso, upper arms, gloves, and legs.  In turn, this means he shares his gloves and legs with the Marks II and III from Series 21.  This figure was *supposed* to also share his torso piece with those two, but due to a mix-up he ended up with the Mark IV piece, which is inaccurate to the film.  It’s not a huge difference, but it’s enough to be frustrating.  Paint on the Mark II is all rather basic.  He’s mostly just a straight silver, with detailing on the eyes and arc reactor, as well as a fully detailed James Rhodes face under the helmet (the same one on both the standard War Machine and the Uniformed Rhodes) and a look into the inner workings of the suit on the underlying torso block.  It’s pretty decent work overall, but it’s unfortunate that he doesn’t have the same rivets detailing that was present on the first Mark II Minimate. The Mark II is packed with a spare helmet with the face-plate flipped up.  It’s the same piece used for the other armors in this same assortment, and it’s a really cool idea.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I snagged this set from TRU when it first hit. I was quite determined to get it, because I really wanted this Black Widow. Fortunately, it didn’t prove to hard for me to get, so that was nice. Widow was undoubtedly the star attraction of this particular set.  While she’s been outpaced by more recent variants, there’s still a lot to like about this figure. Rhodey in the Mark II armor is a variant that would have been pretty cool if the execution had been there.  Unfortunately, it really wasn’t, and as such, the figure ends up rather underwhelming.  Fortunately, he’s got his pack-mate to carry him.

#2422: Yelena Belova

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

YELENA BELOVA

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“A product of the Red Room’s ruthless training program, Yelena Belova is a fiery assassin.”

Though initially a name purely associated with Natasha Romanov, in 1999 it was revealed that “Black Widow” was actually a title used by Russia’s top assassin, who, following Natasha’s defection to the US, was Yelena Belova.  Yelena made her debut as an antagonist to Natasha, and has gone back and forth over the years.  For her MCU debut, she appears to be coming in on more friendly terms.  Of course, we won’t really know for sure until October now, so I guess we’ll just have to wait on that.  Well, might as well review the figure, I guess.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Yelena Belova is figure 2 in the Crimson Dynamo Series of Marvel Legends, and the second of the MCU-based figures from the set.  It’s also our first Legends Yelena under Hasbro’s tenure, though we did get one previously waaaaay back in the Toy Biz days.  To say there have been advances since then is a bit of an understatement.  Yelena is sporting what appears to be her primary design from the film, an all-white suit similar to the one we’ve seen Natasha in, topped by a vest that looks suspiciously like the one Natasha had during Infinity War.  The figure stands 6 inches tall and has 27 points of articulation.  The height seems a bit much, because while Florence Pugh is taller than Scarlet Johannsen, it’s only by an inch, and given that this figure has flats, while Natasha is wearing heels, the height difference shouldn’t quite work out the way it does.  In terms of articulation, she tries out a slightly different articulation scheme, at least for the neck, which is a little more similar to how Black Series has been doing it recently.  I didn’t find the joint on mine to be quite as useful, however, and the neck ends up looking a bit longer than it should because of it.  Points for effort, though.  The sculpt on Yelena is a pretty solid one.  The likeness is respectably close to Pugh; perhaps a little thinner than in real life, but not by much.  The body sculpt is fairly realistically proportioned.  Interestingly, they’ve opted to sculpt the vest right onto the torso, instead of a removable one like on IW Widow, but I think the end result looks a little bit better.  Her paintwork is all pretty respectable.  She’s got the face printing, which looks better here than on Natasha.  The inclusion of the vest also helps break up her coloring a bit better than the all-white Natasha, making for a slightly more aesthetically pleasing figure to my eyes.  Yelena is packed with two sets of hands (fists and gripping), plus two more Markovs (though only one can be holstered this time; the other side has permanently sheathed knives instead), and the torso and shoulder pads to Crimson Dynamo.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Classically, I’ve never had much attachment to Yelena as a character, so I didn’t really have much of an opinion about her introduction to the films (I was honestly fine with IW Widow serving as a nod and leaving it at that), but I did like the look of the figure.  In-hand, she’s quite nice, and a good match for Natasha.

Yelena was purchased from my friends at All Time Toys.  If you’re looking for Marvel Legends, or other toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#2421: Black Widow

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

BLACK WIDOW

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Natasha Romanoff reunites with a group of spies from her past to stop a lethal force.”

Hey, remember when I reviewed that one stray Black Widow figure last week?  Good, because if I’m honest, I only barely do.  It’s been like three weeks my time, so it’s but a distant memory.  Black Widow?  Now there’s a name I haven’t heard in quite some time.  Despite the film’s delay to October, all of the toys were set to arrive just before everything went nuts, meaning they’re all out there and ready to go for a movie that’s now six months out. Hey, who am I to knock new toys, though?  I’m kicking these reviews off with another figure of the title character herself, the Black Widow!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Black Widow is figure 1 in the Crimson Dynamo Series of Marvel Legends, which is the dedicated Black Widow-tie-in assortment.  She’s the first of the four movie-based figures in the main line-up (there’s also the previously reviewed deluxe Widow, which is its own stand alone release).  The deluxe release gave us Natasha in her all-white number from a lot of the promotional material, while this one gives us her in her more standard color scheme.  I’m actually quite a fan of this particular design, as it’s really the closest that the MCU Widow has gotten to her classic ’70s costume from the comics.  The figure stands 5 3/4 inches tall and she has 27 points of articulation.  A lot of what’s here is shared with the deluxe release, as I assumed would be the case when I reviewed that figure.  It’s sensible, as it looks like the two designs are rather similar.  This figure gets a new upper torso piece, which changes out the webgear she’s sporting on her shoulders.  Now there’s a spot for her to stow her batons on her back, something I was happy to see after said feature was absent from her Infinity War release.  Beyond that, it’s the same sculpt I looked at before, which is fine by me, because it was a really good sculpt.  The paintwork on this release is overall an improvement on the deluxe’s.  The color scheme of the costume allows for more of the sculpted details to be properly accented, and is just generally a slightly more engaging design.  The only slight down turn is on the face, which doesn’t quite have the same lifelike quality to it that the deluxe release did.  I’m probably going to end up swapping those two heads for my display.  Though not packing quite the same impressive haul as the deluxe figure, this release of Widow still includes two sets of hands (fists and gripping), her dual Markovs, batons, and the left leg to the Crimson Dynamo Build-A-Figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

With things starting to head back into the beginnings of the path to normality, the floodgates have kind of opened up on toy distribution again, so I didn’t have quite as much of a wait for the full assortment of Widow figures as I’d thought I might.  Having quite liked the deluxe release, I was more invested in this one.  Though the face paint was a slight let-down, the figure is otherwise really solid, and definitely the best MCU Widow to date.  Even with the film pushed back, this figure is definitely worth getting a hold of.

Widow was purchased from my friends at All Time Toys.  If you’re looking for Marvel Legends, or other toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#2411: Black Widow

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

BLACK WIDOW

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Natasha Romanoff reunites with a group of spies from her past to stop a lethal force.”

Oh boy, a second new thing!  …Yeah, okay, I mentioned it yesterday, so I guess you guys kind of new this was coming.  So, after years of waiting, we’re finally getting a Black Widow solo film…you know, six months after we were supposed to.  To be fair, that feels about right for the track record of getting the solo film out so far.  A smooth journey never really was part of the process.  There are some things that you can’t really put a stop to, even if you move a movie’s release date.  In Widow‘s case, it’s all the tie-ins.  While the movie won’t be out for another six months, all the toys are starting to show up now anyway.  Oh darn, new toys.  What am I gonna do?  Write some reviews, probably.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

While there is a specific Black Widow-themed assortment of Marvel Legends that is hitting some places right now, this particular version of Widow is a solo-offering hitting alongside them, and is set up at the deluxe range price point like Archangel and the reissues of the Build-A-Figures.  While the standard release will be giving us Natasha in her more typical black attire, this release is based on the all-white number we’ve seen her in for a lot of the promotional material.  The figure stands 5 3/4 inches tall and she has 27 points of articulation.  Widow is an all-new sculpt (albeit one that has a large overlap with the standard release in terms of pieces), not relying on prior figures.  That’s good, because much like Cap’s Winter Solider figure got milked just a bit too much, so did Nat’s.  And, while the Infinity War version was a nice figure, the differences in costume design definitely warranted an all-new approach.  It’s the best MCU Natasha sculpt we’ve gotten, and I say this as someone who was quite a fan of both of the prior sculpts.  Something about this particular figure really seems to get down Scarlet Johansen’s build in a way that previous releases didn’t.  In particular, the last two figures were both a little bit skinny for Johansen, at least for any of the movies past IM2.  This slightly more solid build feels like a much better match, and makes for a sturdier figure as well.  The head also has our best Johansen likeness from Hasbro to date.  They’ve been steadily improving with each Widow they’ve done, and it seems to have really paid off here.  The paint work on this figure is fairly basic.  The head’s got the face printing, so that’s quite lifelike, but the body feels a little more devoid of anything.  I feel like a little more accenting would have gone a long way; the all-white nature of the body means that a lot of the really nice sculpted details are a little more easily lost.  Perhaps the standard release will be better in this regard.  As it stands, this version is certainly passable.  What sets this figure apart from the standard release even more than just the color of her suit is her accessory selection, which helps to justify that deluxe price-point.  Widow is packed with three sets of hands (in fists, gripping, and trigger finger), two Markovs (thanks again to Tim for the gun ID), a pair of hooked weapons, seven different effects pieces covering all manner of explosions, gunfire, and her widow’s stingers, and a dynamic display stand.  It’s an impressive selection, and a far cry from the days when Widow couldn’t even get a single pistol of her own.  Now she’s got stuff to spare, and I can definitely see this set being picked up by a lot of people just for the accessories.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The story of how I got Widow here is pretty much the same as yesterday’s Probe Droid: All Time got her in right as I was hitting the peak of my “I haven’t bought anything new to review in a while” phase.  I was definitely planning to get this figure, but didn’t know what to expect.  She’s a lot of fun, both just as a figure, and as an excuse to get a lot of cool accessories.  I’m actually kind of glad I got her divorced from the standard release, because it lets me look at the two Widows on their own merits a bit more.  I think the core figure to this one might have gotten the short end of the stick otherwise.

As noted above, Widow was purchased from my friends at All Time Toys.  If you’re looking for Marvel Legends, or other toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#2056: Hawkeye & Black Widow

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

HAWKEYE & BLACK WIDOW

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“From the ranks of SHIELD to the growing team of Avengers, Black Widow and Hawkeye put their expert training to use as they suit up to defend their world and universe from intergalactic threats.”

There sure was a lot of pre-movie hype built around the Avengers’ Quantum Suits in Endgame, and then…well, let’s just say they aren’t overly present for much of the film.  But, I suppose they did get that grand entrance, and they were certainly an intriguing new design.  They’re also a decent way of getting out a fair number of the main characters out with as much shared tooling as possible.  I’ve looked at one Legends offering of the Quantum Suit (worn by Captain America), and now I’m following it up with fellow founding Avengers Hawkeye and Black Widow!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Hawkeye and Widow are a Target-exclusive two-pack of Marvel Legends, and started arriving at shelves right around the film’s release date.

HAWKEYE

After quite an absence from the toy realm, Clint Barton has been pretty well-served by the initial Endgame product, with a whole two Legends figures, right out of the gate.  No body else got that!  Well, okay, Cap’s almost getting that, since the Walmart-exclusive is already hitting, just over a month after the first figure, but let’s not sully Hawkeye’s good fortune.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and has 32 points of articulation.  This guy is mostly made up of re-used parts, being identical to the Quantum Suit Cap from the neck down.  It’s really not a surprise, especially given the slightly more averaged proportions of the body.  It’s also supposed to be the same suit on everybody, so I guess it’s a sensible choice.  Hawkeye gets a brand-new head sculpt, sporting Clint’s radical new hair, or at least an approximation of it.  It’s also got probably the best Renner likeness we’ve seen from Hasbro (although Super Awesome Fiancee says he does have enough of a “dad” look to really be Hawkeye), and is generally a nice offering.  It has the added benefit of looking pretty nice on the Ronin body, should you want his look from most of the movie.  The paint on Hawkeye is about what you’d expect.  The head sports the face-printing tech, which looks nice and lifelike, and the body is an exact match for the paint on the Cap figure.  Hawkeye is packed with his bow, re-used from his first Avengers figure.  Befitting the “lots of characters from the same shared tooling”, he also includes two alternate heads, for Iron Man and Ant-Man.  They’re re-used from the IW Thanos and the Cull Obsidian series figures respectively.  Not at all accurate, but hey, that hasn’t stopped these figures before.

BLACK WIDOW

Widow was represented in the Infinity War toys, but thus far has had a much sparser selection for Endgame, with this being her only planned figure from Hasbro, at least so far.  I wouldn’t be shocked if that changes going forward, though.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and has 29 points of articulation.  Widow’s sporting an all-new sculpt.  It’s a solid match for the male version of the suit, and it’s in fact a little better, at least from a proportions stand-point.  The head is sporting a very nice likeness of Scarlet Johansen, which, again, I’d say is the best version of her likeness we’ve gotten from Hasbro.  It’s also sized well to fit on the Infinity War Widow body, if you want her non-Quantum-Suited.  The paint on Widow matches pretty decently with Hawkeye’s, so it’s another very strong offering.  I especially like that they got that little bit of blonde at the end of her ponytail.  Widow is packed with her twin batons (re-used from the Infinity War release), as well as an extra head and pistol so she can be used as Nebula (both re-used from the Mantis Series figure).

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This set was a little scarce around the movie’s release, what with the hype and whatnot.  I was searching for a little while without much luck, and kind of gave up, honestly.  Then the power went out a few weeks ago, and we had to run out for dinner and some supplies, and I just happened to wander past the toy aisle and, boom, there they were.  While having the quantum suits doesn’t mean as much to me, I’m definitely glad to have the new heads for Nat and Clint.

#1754: The Champions

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

ANGEL, GHOST RIDER, BLACK WIDOW, & HERCULES

MARVEL MINIMATES

In wake of the success of the Avengers and the Defenders, in the ’70s, Marvel was looking for another big team-up book to push.  In 1975, Tony Isabella and Don Heck introduced the Champions, a collection of two X-Men, two fan favorite solo acts, and a former Avenger.  The team wasn’t really a smash success, running only 17 issues, before the team disbanded and the members were absorbed into other projects.  They remained a favorite amongst die-hard fans, though, as well as having a pretty strong line-up, which led to them getting an Action Figure Express-exclusive boxed set in 2009.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These four were released via AFX at SDCC 2009.  They cover four of the five founding members.  Sadly, we’ve never gotten a proper Iceman to match the other four, but there are a few stand-ins…anyway, onto the four we actually got!

ANGEL

We’d had two Archangels prior to this figure’s release, but this was the first proper Angel ‘mate.  Angel notably had two distinct looks over the course of the series.  This figure is based on the second, less dated of the two, which was a variant of his blue and white costume from the ‘60s.  This is one of the character’s longest-lived looks, so it was definitely a well-deserved variant.  The figure is built on the basic ‘mate body, so he’s 2 1/4 inches tall and has 14 points of articulation.  He gets an extra two points via the ball-joints for the wings, which brings his count up to 16.  Angel had four sculpted add-on pieces, for his hair/cowl, harness, and wings.  The hair is a new piece (which would see re-use later down the line for two other Angel variants), and, aside from the cowl being a little bulky at the sides, it’s a good match for Angel’s style of the time. The harness is the same one first used on Archangel, with a new set of feathery wings attached to it.  The new wings are a marked improvement over the DCD Hawkman wings, with greater size, greater posablity, and a far more durable point of connection.   Angel’s paint is privy to its ups and its downs.  The detail lines are all nice and sharp, and the face does a pretty great job of capturing Angel’s pretty-boy persona.  The colors are all very bright, and match up with the comics in that regard.  The big problem is with the application of the paint.  The changes from red to white are particularly sloppy, and the yellow for the gloves and boots is too thin to fully cover the reds in some areas.  It makes for a somewhat sloppy figure.  Angel included no accessories, but with the wings, it’s not too much of a loss.  I suppose an extra hair piece might have been nice.

GHOST RIDER

The fourth Ghost Rider, and technically the second Johnny Blaze, this figure marks the first, and to date only, ‘mate of the classic incarnation of the character.  Ghost Rider makes use of sculpted add-ons for his hair, collar, glove cuffs, and belt.  His hair and cuffs are re-used, with the hair coming from the Series 8 Human Torch, and the cuffs being the rolled-up sleeves from the Spirit two-pack.  At first glance, the collar looks to be the same one from the DCD Star Sapphire, but it’s not quite the same.  The belt is likewise a new piece for this set.  The collar sits a little high on the torso, and hides his neck, which looks a little off.  Otherwise, the parts make for a pretty solid recreation of Ghost Rider.  Ghost Rider’s paint is a marked improvement on Angel.  Perhaps it’s the variations of blue helping matters, but application seems to be cleaner and sharper than it was on Angel.  The new head also does a tremendous job of handling GR’s flaming skull, doing it in a much more pleasing way than prior variants had handled it.  Accessories are pretty much going to be the failing point of any Ghost Rider Minimate ever, since contractually he can’t have the Hellcycle that actually makes him a “rider.” As the classic version of the character, this one’s even lighter than other variations of the character, since he didn’t yet have the usual chain whip.  This one instead just gets a flame effect piece, which is certainly better than nothing.

BLACK WIDOW

This set marked Black Widow’s Minimate debut, and she served as a prominent selling point for a lot of people.  Like the others, she’s seen here in her classic ‘70s garb.  Not quite as timeless as some of the others in the pack, but a very good choice nevertheless. Widow has four sculpted add-on pieces; one for the hair, two for the widow’s stingers, and one for the belt.  Apart from the belt, which is shared with the Ghost Rider from this set (and let’s be honest, was really designed for her and re-used on him), all of her pieces were new.  Sharp detailing, and good recreation of her look from the comics. Widow’s paint is by far the best in the set.  The shiny black for the body suit looks really spiffy, and the detailing on the torso is an amazing feat in adding dimension to a flat torso block.  The face could perhaps stand to be a little more emotive, but it still feels true to the character.  There are no accessories for Widow in this set, which is a bit of shame, but not totally surprising, since Widow’s primary means of attack at the time was her widow’s stingers.

HERCULES

Like Black Widow, Hercules made his Minimate debut in this set, though unlike her he’s yet to get a follow-up. There are a number of options when it comes to Herc’s design.  This one is the one he was sporting for the entirety of his time with the Champions, and it had just gotten a revival right around the time of this figure’s release, courtesy of Herc’s role during World War Hulk and its subsequent fall-out.  Hercules has five add-on pieces, for his hair, his chest cap, his wrist bands, and his skirt. The hair piece is new to Herc, and it’s a really goof piece.  The detailing on the hair is quite sharp, and the flow to his hair is quite realistic.  The rest of the parts are re-use, with the torso coming from the Wave 22 Hulk, the wrist bands coming from the DCD Ocean Master, and the skirt coming from the Star Trek line.  It’s an okay combination of parts, but not one that’s held up the best.  The chest cap in particular was always rather flawed design, with the shoulders in particular giving the whole thing a rather strange appearance.  As one of those sort of in-between characters size-wise, DST was undeniably in a tough as to how to handle him.  Herc’s paintwork is fairly decent work.  The face captures Herc’s likeness well (though I might have liked something a bit more intense or angry, following after the cover to The Champions #1), and has a lot of detailing in the brow and beard in particular.  The rest of the details are pretty well defined, but the orange and green sections of the skirt could probably have stood to get an outline, if nothing more than to match the strap on his torso.  Hercules was packed with his club, which was a newly sculpted piece.  It follows the comics design well.  It can be stowed on his back, which is a cool touch.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve never been to SDCC, so it follows that I wasn’t there in-person to get this in 2009.  Fortunately, AFX was good about getting their exclusives up online, so I was able to secure myself a set without much trouble.  I was happy to get this set, because I’ve always really liked the Champions, and I’m excited for any recognition they get.  Apart from the lack of accessories, I think Widow is this set’s strongest offering, and still holds up as one of the best variants of the character.  Angel is a very good ‘mate held back only by some issues with paint application.  Had the paint been a little better, he would have been darn near perfect.  As is, he’s just close to it.  Ghost Rider is yet another version of the character that’s missing his cycle, but at least this is a solid ‘mate in his own right.  Herc’s not the strongest figure in the set, and is somewhat compromised by some of the pieces used for him.  Still, he’s far from a bad offering, and rounds out the set quite nicely.