Tag Archives: Hasbro

#0647: Marvel’s Klaw

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

MARVEL’s KLAW

RETURN OF MARVEL LEGENDS

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Hasbro’s really been making some great strides with Marvel Legends lately. When they took over the license several years back, they certainly had a rough time managing the line, leading to the whole scale being scrapped for a little while. Then they came back and they came back strong. Now, I’ll admit, I was a hard sell on Marvel Legends after the hiatus. I was happy with my Marvel Universe figures, and Hasbro’s early Return offerings still had some issues to work out. But, they gradually got better, almost sneakily so, and now that they’ve moved onto the Infinite Series, I’ve become thoroughly hooked. So, now I’m playing the catch-up game with some of those Return figures, such as today’s figure of Klaw, major foe of the Black Panther, and a supporting player in this summer’s Avengers: Age of Ultron.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Klaw2Klaw was released as part of the Terrax Series of the Return of Marvel Legends, which was the first series of Marvel Legends following the hiatus. The figure is just over 6 inches tall and sports 30 points of articulation. This figure represents Klaw post soundwave-based transformation. Not really much of a shock there, since a pre-transformation Klaw wouldn’t exactly be the most exciting thing, and he’s spent 99.9% of his career as a red sound guy. Klaw is built on the body first used for Hasbro’s take on Silver Surfer. It was one of Hasbro’s earliest attempts at a base body, and it’s definitely before they had quite gotten the hang of designing these things. It’s not terrible, and certainly not as bad as some of ToyBiz’s worst sculpts, but it’s definitely got some issues. For one thing, it’s really scrawny. Klaw’s not the hugest guy ever, but he’s usually shown with a fair bit of heft to him. Also, the muscles are really, really defined, as if he’s flexing really hard, which looks rather uncomfortable. Throw in articulation that can best be described as clunky and obtrusive, and you’ve got a body that holds poor Klaw back. To Hasbro’s credit, the new pieces (the head and his sound converter) are both very well handled. The head does a great job of capturing Klaw’s very Kirby-styled head and is appropriately menacing, and the “claw” is full of fun little details (though it’s been warped a bit by the packaging, which is annoying). The paintwork on Klaw is pretty decent. It’s rather straightforward, but that works well for a character like Klaw. There’s a little bleed over here and there, but it’s all relatively minor. The biggest issue for me is that the reds of the arms and legs don’t match with the torso. It’s really noticeable on such a simple figure. Klaw’s only accessory was the left leg of the series’ B-A-F Terrax. I don’t have any of the other figures from this series and I doubt I’ll be getting them anytime soon, so all I’ve got’s a leg. Huzzah.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I didn’t purchase Klaw when he was new. Nor did I buy him any of the many times I saw him on clearance at Target. I really can’t say why. I like Klaw, I really do. I guess I was just cold on Legends as a whole. Anyway, I ended up finding this guy at Yesterday’s Fun while on vacation this year. He was less than I would have paid at retail, so I really can’t complain. Ultimately, the figure’s fatal flaw is the unfortunate choice of body. I’d be curious to see how the head and claw might look on the Bucky Cap or Grim Reaper body, as it might make for a nice improvement. As is, he’s passable, which isn’t the worst thing.

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#0642: Beetle -Deadliest Foes

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

BEETLE – DEADLIEST FOES

MARVEL LEGENDS INFINITE SERIES

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There are very few lines of which I would consider myself a “completist.” Off the top of my head, I believe the only two I’ve really stuck with are NECA’s Aliens and SMC’s Weaponeers of Monkaa. There was a time, back during ToyBiz’s run on Marvel Legends that I gave owning every figure in the line some thought, but I ultimately decided against it, due mostly to the unevenness of figure quality. When Hasbro took over, I backed down even more, and almost quit the line entirely. When they re-launched under the Infinite Series handle, I went back to cherry-picking, but the quality of the figures has been rapidly increasing, leading to me getting figures I normally wouldn’t. Take, for instance, Beetle, the subject of today’s review. Now, I generally like Beetle as a character, so it’s odd for me to say that he wasn’t a figure I’d normally buy. I’ll get to the why of that in a bit.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Beetle2Beetle was part of the first series of Amazing Spider-Man 2 Marvel Legends Infinite Series. Officially, he’s not actually called Beetle, he’s called Deadliest Foes, a name he shares with Boomerang, who was his swap figure in this line. While they are swap figures, they don’t actually share anything but the Build-A-Figure piece. Beetle is roughly 6 ½ inches tall and has 30 points of articulation. Beetle’s had a few looks over the years, of varying styles. This figure is based on his Ultimate universe design, which is my least favorite of all the Beetle designs. It’s the one used in the Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon show, so I guess it makes a little sense, but it definitely turned me off the figure. Beetle features a sculpt that is unique to him (though a fair bit of it will be re-used for a comic-style Ultron later this year). It’s a well detailed sculpt, and it does a nice job of replicating Mark Bagley’s design of the character from the comic. While there are lots of details and bits, the sculpt still maintains certain sleekness, which is definitely cool. The wings and backpack are a separate piece, which clips into place and stays there nicely. The paintwork on the figure is okay, but, for me, it’s flawed from the start. See, the Ultimate Beetle is silver and red, in contrast to the green and purple scheme of EVERY OTHER BEETLE DESIGN EVER. So, yeah, I don’t really care for the color scheme. Aside from that, the paint is decent enough. There’s a bit of slop here and there, but it’s generally pretty clean. Beetle’s only accessory is the leg to the series Build-A-Figure Ultimate Green Goblin. So, now I’ve got two of those. Cool?

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Beetle was yet another contribution to my collection courtesy of my Super Awesome Girlfriend. Apparently, she was walking through Walgreens and saw this guy and thought I’d like him. Amazingly enough, I hadn’t actually broken down and gotten him yet! While I’m not the biggest fan of the design he’s based on, the figure is actually a lot of fun. I’m really glad I got him!

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#0641: Vision (w/ Sub-Ultron 011)

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

VISION (W/ SUB-ULTRON 011)

AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON

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With the last few Marvel movie tie-in toy lines, Hasbro’s been trying out a variety of different scales and styles, just to see what sticks, I guess. Guardians of the Galaxy skipped the company’s signature 3 ¾ inch scale in favor of the slightly smaller 2 ½ inch scale. Age of Ultron has delivered the best of both worlds (sort of) by giving us both scales. I’ve looked at a few of the 3 ¾ inch figures with…mixed results. Yesterday’s Scarlet Witch review was my first look at the smaller line, and, aside from the weird Sub-Ultron pack-in, I quite liked her. Now, Scarlet witch was one of my favorite additions to the team in Age of Ultron, but, for me, the absolute top was today’s focus, The Vision. That dude rocked super hard. Currently, his only movie-based figure (not counting the Pop! bobble-head) is in the 2 ½ inch line.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

VisionAoU2Vision (and his pack-mate Sub-Ultron 011) was released in the second assortment of 2 ½ inch Avengers: Age of Ultron figures. Given the scale, it’s no surprise that the figure stands 2 ½ inches tall. This is a slight point of annoyance for me because he’s just a smidge shorter than the Scarlet Witch figure, which isn’t accurate. Vision is played by the 6’3” Paul Bettany, while Elizabeth Olsen, who plays Scarlet Witch, is only 5’6”. Scale’s a bit harder when they’re this small, so it’s sort of forgivable, but still annoying. But what about the figure outside of comparative heights? Well, obviously, he’s based on Vision as portrayed by Bettany in the movie. That being said, he appears to have been based on an earlier design for Vision. He’s not incredibly different, but the headpiece is a little bulkier and more rounded that it was in the final film. Aside from that, he’s got a pretty decent sculpt. The proportions are all nicely balanced, and his “uniform” VisionAoU3has the appropriate texturing. The cape is a little bulky at the top, but not horribly so, and it does a very nice job of capturing the intricate design from the movie. The paintwork is another area where the people at Hasbro were clearly working from a less than finalized design. In general, his palate is far more washed out than it was on screen; the greens are grey and the reds are more of a magenta. The yellow’s about the same, but the cape is missing all of the accent work of the one seen in the film, which puts the very nice sculpt somewhat to waste. Also, his headgear is just straight silver instead of green, and he’s lacking pupils. If Wanda can get pupils, so can he! Vision has no accessories of his own, but he does get packed with yet another Sub-Ultron. This one continues the wheeled theme, though we get a set of treads this time around. I think this particular Sub-Ultron is new to this pack, though the upper torso(s) did show up on a few other Sub-Ultrons in the first assortment. I like 011 more than 008, but the dual upper torso thing does confuse me a bit. Which one of them drives?

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

My parents went to Hawaii and all I got was this Vision action figure. Okay, not really. I mean, yes, my parents buy him for me while they were in Hawaii, but it’s not like it’s all I got. Plus, it’s the Vision. As I stated above, he rocks super hard. I think he’s on par with Hawaii. I will admit, Vision’s not quite as good as the Scarlet Witch in this scale, but he’s pretty decent, overall. Add in the fact that I like this Sub-Ultron more than the last, and you’ve got a pretty winning set. I do hope Hasbro does Vision in one of the larger scales, though. He’s too cool to be contained in a 2 ½ inch figure.

#0640: Scarlet Witch (w/ Sub-Ultron 008)

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

SCARLET WITCH (W/ SUB-ULTRON 008)

AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTON

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Well, Age of Ultron has come and gone. As of last week, it’s officially no longer the hot new Marvel movie. That said, some of the tie-in product is still making its way into stores, or, in most cases, sales on more desired stuff have slowed enough that the average consumer can actually find them. That’s where I come in! Yay! Scarlet Witch was definitely one of the film’s breakout characters, so her (admittedly under-packed ) figures have been difficult to find for some time. But I got one!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

ScarWitSubUlt2Scarlet Witch (along with Sub-Ultron 008) was released as part of the second round of Avengers: Age of Ultron Avengers Vs. Sub-Ultron sets. The figure stands 2 ½ inches tall and has 5 points of articulation. She’s based on the character’s appearance in the big, climactic battle from the film. Seeing as this is when she actually joins up with the Avengers, it’s a sensible choice, and it’s the look we’ve seen on all of the merchandise so far. Scarlet Witch features a unique sculpt, which is pretty good, especially given the scale. There are a few minor issues; the neck is a little too long, and the hips feel a little detached from the torso. However, the head bears more than a passing resemblance to Elizabeth Olsen and the clothes are quite well detailed. It’s also nice to see the hands in a position other than the overly large, generic gripping pose that all of the GOTG figures had. The paintwork is simple and straightforward, but it’s cleanly handled and looks good overall. Scarlet Witch is packed with a pair of hex attachments. They’re a different mold from the ones used for the recent Marvel Legends and 3 ¾ scale figures; I guess that mold was too big. The solid red isn’t as nice as the translucent color of prior figures, but it’s serviceable. What’s that? Does she come with something else? Oh, right, that Sub-Ultron thing. Yeah, she’s packed with that. It has to be an accessory, because I really can’t count it as its own figure. There’s one of these things with every figure in this set. This one’s motorcycle-based; it first showed up, molded in blue instead of red, packed with Hulk. It’s okay, I guess. The Ultron portion is on the boxy side. The arms look to be cannons, and they sort of move at the shoulders. The cycle bit is just a solid hunk of plastic; the wheels are totally stationary.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

No exciting story here. I ended up finding this while at my nearest Walmart. There it is. There’s a clear focus for this set, and it’s Scarlet Witch. She’s a cool figure, and is definitely worth a purchase. The Sub-Ultron…ehhh. It’s not like it’s bad, but it doesn’t really offer a whole lot of fun.

#0637: Ultron

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

ULTRON

MARVEL LEGENDS INFINITE SERIES

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Well, it’s a little late, but here’s my Ultron Build-A-Figure review!  I actually had most of this review ready to go a few days ago, but, as I mention in my Orion and Onigumo review, computer issues left me without access to the lovely photos I’d shot for this.  So, I had to shelf it for just a little bit and work with figures of which I did have pictures.  Fortunately, I was able to get my computer issues mostly sorted out, so we’re back in business!  Yay!  So, he’s my review of yet another Ultron.  I know, it’s a real change of pace.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

UltronBAF2Ultron is the Build-A-Figure for the Ant-Man Marvel Legends Infinite Series.  At face value, that might seem a little odd.  I mean, this is the movie version of Ultron, who’s in no way related to Ant-Man.  Wouldn’t he have made more sense as the BAF for the last series of Avengers Marvel Legends?  Well, yeah, he would, but I can kinda see why Hasbro went the way they did.  First of all, it gave them more time to get the details on Ultron accurate to what was seen on screen.  It also gave the Ant-Man series, which had to be something of a hard sell to retailers, more of a hook.  And, seeing as Hank Pym, the original Ant-Man, created Ultron in the comics, there’s at least a little bit of a link.  So, as I noted above, this is the movie version of Ultron; specifically, it’s his Ultron Prime look, which was his main body for the majority of the film.  It’s kind of an important look.  The figure is 8 inches tall and has 30 points of articulation.  This is the first of the Ultron figures from the movie not to feel horribly undersized next to his fellow figures, and that’s actually a pretty big deal.  Ultron also gets a sculpt all his own, though, to be totally upfront, it’s not quite as good as it could be.  A lot of that has to do with how the articulation has been worked in, which is to say very clumsily.  It’s forgivable on the arms and legs, but the fact that the ab-joint doesn’t follow the sculpted detail lines feels inexcusable. Also, the  hands are kinda weirdly posed, which is annoying.  In fact, the hands in general feel less detailed than the rest of the figure, almost as if their unfinished.  He’s got webbed fingers for crying out loud!  However, complaints aside, there’s more than a few things to like about this sculpt.  The head is very well detailed and captures Ultron’s distinctive movie look very well.  They’ve chosen a more pondering expression, which some people don’t like, but I think it works for the character.  Ultron’s sculpt is also a fair bit closer to the on screen design than prior attempts, and manages to get pretty darn close.  Like the sculpt, paintwork is something of a mixed bag here.  Not in the usual sloppy Hasbro paint apps way, either.  No, everything’s clean here, it’s just…inconsistent?  I don’t know how to put it.  The figure is molded in a dark-ish grey, with silver painted over it.  The thing is, the silver is rather heavy in some areas and completely absent in others, with no real area between.  It’s jarring to say the least.  Also, many of the red sections feel like they were tacked on at the last minute, and don’t line up with the sculpt at all.  As an accessory himself, Ultron includes no pack-ins.  I can’t really think of anything to give him, so I guess that’s fair.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

If you’ve been following the Ant-Man Legends reviews, you can probably figure out where this guy came from.  I picked up all but Giant-Man from my local TRU, and then ordered Giant-Man online, thereby getting myself an Ultron.  How about that?  This is the movie Ultron I was most looking forward to, and it’s not wrong to say he’s the best we’ve gotten.  That said, he still has more than a few flaws, which prevent him from being quite as cool as he could have been, which is certainly a letdown.

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#0633: Giant-Man

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

GIANT-MAN

MARVEL LEGENDS INFINTE SERIES

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So, the Ant-man movie has finally found its way to its US release today. By the time you read this, I’ll have already seen it, and hopefully have enjoyed it. Now, Scott Lang, aka the second Ant-Man, takes the lead role in the film, but in both the comics and the movie, things are kicked off by Hank Pym. Pym actually moved out of the Ant-Man identity relatively quickly in the comics, becoming the slightly more useful (though also less fun) Giant-Man!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

GiantMan2Giant-Man is the sixth figure in Hasbro’s Ant-Man Marvel Legends Infinite Series. The figure is just over 6 inches tall and features 32 points of articulation. Yes, you read that right: Giant-Man is normal sized. This has caused a little bit of contention within the collecting community. Ultimately, though, Giant-Man can change his size, and we’ve never gotten him at normal size, so I’m pretty happy about it. Giant-Man is based on his most recent design, which he first started wearing following his return to the identity after being the Wasp for a little while, right when he began teaching at Avengers Academy. It’s modern, but also not far from his original costume. I miss the blue, but it’s actually a pretty nice design. For the most part, the figure is just the Bucky Cap body, with a new head thrown in for good measure. The body is still a good one, and it’s well chosen for a normal sized Hank Pym. The head is fairly straightforward, but it’s still pretty good. The antennae were a little bit warped straight out of the package, but they go GiantMan3back to their proper shape pretty easily. The face has some of the trademarks of the post-ROML male faces, which aren’t my favorite sculpts, but the angles are softer here, so it’s not horrible. Giant-Man is a Hasbro figure, which almost always means questionable paintwork. This figure isn’t an exception. The general application is alright, and the base red plastic is nice and bright, but some of the edges are fuzzy and a few of the black sections don’t line up quite right. Also, the red on the tops of the boots doesn’t match the rest of the figure. However, as a whole, the figure doesn’t look atrocious. Giant-Man included no accessories of his own, but he did come with the right leg of Ultron.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Giant-Man was the only figure absent from the ones I found at my local TRU. As the figure I was most anticipating from this set, that bummed me out a bit, but I was able to get one courtesy of their online store. Ultimately, some of the issues with his paint, coupled with my unexpected enjoyment of Bulldozer, has resulted in him not being quite as exciting as I’d hoped. Still, he’s not a bad figure, and he does look pretty good when posed with the smaller scale Marvel Universe figures.

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#0632: Grim Reaper

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

GRIM REAPER

MARVEL LEGENDS INFINITE SERIES

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Avengers villains have long had a difficult time of getting any form of respect, especially when it comes to the action figure world. Of course, your main foes having a couple of successful movies under their belts does a lot to turn things around. One of my favorite Avenging villains is Grim Reaper, the brother of Avengers member Wonder Man. He went quite some time with not a single action figure, but he’s gotten two in just the last year. He just found his way into the Marvel Legends scale and style, so let’s look at that one.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

GrimReaper2Grim Reaper is the fifth figure in Hasbro’s Ant-Man Marvel Legends Infinite Series. His connection to Ant-Man is definitely a stretch, but he’s the brother of Wonder Man Wonder Man served as the basis for Vision’s brain patterns, Vision was the “son” of Ultron, and Ultron was created by Hank Pym, aka the original Ant-Man. So their sorta related; demented and sad, but sorta related. The figure is just shy of 6 ½ inches tall and has 29 points of articulation. Good ‘ol Reaper has the notoriety of being the first character to use Hasbro’s new base body. The body is meant to be a midway point between the Bucky Cap and Hyperion bodies in terms of build. I think it’s their best base body yet, with softer angles and more realistic proportions. It moves away from the more exaggerated comic book styling, a move I wasn’t 100% sold on at first. However, in person, it looks pretty good, and it’s not so far removed that it looks out of place with other figures in the line. In addition to premiering the new body, he also has unique pieces for his head and Techno-Scythe, and is also the first figure to use the new cape add-on piece. The head is easily my favorite thing about GrimReaper3the figure. The Avengers Infinite version had an okay sculpt, but not anything that really stood out. That’s not the case here. Reaper has in intense, crazy smile that’s perfect for the character, and really makes him stand out from other figures in the line. It’s also correctly sized for the body, which was not true with the last Reaper. The Techno-Scythe is fine, but it suffers from being cast in rather soft plastic, making it a bit…droopy. It’s also based on a more recent design for the scythe, which I don’t find to be as visually interesting. The cape is this biggest letdown here. First off, it lacks the proper, built up collar that Reaper’s always had. Also, the peg has been sculpted with an extra bit to keep the cape from sitting flush with the figure’s back, so it sticks out and falls off a lot. Grim Reaper ended up with a pretty decent paint job, overall. The colors are all well-chosen, and things tend to stay where they’re supposed to. There are some weird choices, such as the red lines around the eyes, but things generally look pretty good. Grim Reaper’s only pack-in is the Build-A-Figure piece, which is the left leg of Ultron.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Grim Reaper is the last figure from this series that I was able to find at my local Toys R Us. I was pretty excited for this guy, though maybe not quite as excited as I would have been had the Avengers Infinite version not just been released. The figure turned out really well, and he offers not just a great interpretation of Grim Reaper (though I wouldn’t mind getting his undead look from the 80s) but also a great first look at Hasbro’s newest base body, which turned out better than expected.

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#0631: Tiger Shark

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

TIGER SHARK

MARVEL LEGENDS INFINITE SERIES

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Remember about a week ago when I was talking about the more obscure villains? Well, Tiger Shark is definitely one of those. When one of the most notable things about you is that you fought the Sub Mariner, you aren’t at the top of anyone’s list. But, those types of characters seem to be Hasbro’s specialty as of late, and I certainly won’t be complaining about it!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Tigershark2Tiger Shark is figure number four in the new Ant-Man Marvel Legends Infinite Series. Like Batroc and Radiactive Man before him, he’s another figure salvaged from the proposed “Jubilee Series” of the Return of Marvel Legends line. With Tiger Shark, we’re now just one figure away from getting all of the figures from that series, which is pretty darn amazing. Hasbro is very committed to not letting those go to waste! The figure is about 6 ¾ inches tall and has 32 points of articulation. If you’ve read either my Radioactive Man or Anti-Venom reviews, you’ve seen a lot of this figure’s sculpt before. He’s built on the Hyperion buck, which is a decent body. It isn’t one of their greatest, but it’s not their worst either. The only real issue with it is how far back the neck sits on the chest, but that’s only obvious in certain poses. Aside from that, it’s a good base for larger characters, such as Tiger Shark. In addition to that body, he’s got a unique set of clawed hands (which are bound to see re-use at some point) and an all-new head sculpt. These pieces are all well sculpted and match up pretty nicely with the base body. The head, which was sculpted a little while ago, has that boxy look of some of the early Return of Marvel Legends males. That being said, it works okay for Tiger Shark. The biggest down side is that the headfin, which, while well-sculpted, restricts the neck movement greatly, due to it being made from solid plastic. I’m not sure what could be done to avoid this issue, but it’s annoying nonetheless. Now we get to the paint. Oh boy, the paint. Hasbro frequently has issues in this area, but Tiger Shark seems worse than usual. The torso is really where the worst is; they’ve painted orange over the purple, and, since it’s a lighter color, the purple bleeds through all over the place. The pelvis also has a huge scratch of orange on the front, which is really obvious. And this was the better of the two Tiger Sharks I saw at the store, which doesn’t speak well for the QC on this particular figure. Tiger Shark’s only extra is the right arm of the Build-A-Figure, Ultron.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Take a guess as to where I got Tiger Shark. If you guessed Toys R Us, you’re right. If you didn’t, I’m not sure what your deal is. Like, do you not read every one of my reviews? I’m hurt. Deeply. Anyway, I got Tiger Shark from my local TRU. I can’t say I was super excited about the figure, nor can I say he really blew away my expectations. That said, it’s nice to have at least gotten the figure. I’ll never say no to more Masters of Evil!

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#0630: Bulldozer

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

BULLDOZER

MARVEL LEGENDS INFINITE SERIES

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The Marvel Universe is full of super villains who aren’t really specifically tied to just one hero. Sure, most of them start out with someone in particular, but then they just get passed around for a while. Such is the case with the Wrecking Crew. They started off as Thor villains, but they’ve made their way around to most of the major heroes. This ties demand for figures of them into a few fanbases. Unfortunately, they really aren’t well-known enough to the general public to warrant them all being released at once, so they have to be released one at a time. Hasbro first released them as part of their 3 ¾ inch Marvel Universe line, where each of them was packed with one of the many Marvel heroes. Then Hasbro turned their sights onto Marvel Legends. However, thanks to their wacky handling of swap figures, we only ended up getting three of the four, leaving poor Bulldozer out in the cold. But he’s finally here!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Bulldozer3Bulldozer is the third figure in the Ant-Man Marvel Legends Infinite Series. He was originally supposed to be the swap figure for Wrecker in the last series of the Return of Marvel Legends line, but none of the revision cases were produced. Fortunately, Hasbro seems determined to never let a good Legends sculpt go to waste, so we got him here. Yay! The Wrecking Crew have had a pretty consistent look over the years, but they’ve gotten a few tweaks here and there to “modernize” them. The ML Crew represented the team in their more current incarnations, and Bulldozer follows suit, which is, at the very least, good for consistency. The figure is almost 8 inches tall and has 30 points of articulation. He is a massive figure, to almost a surprising degree. And he’s got some serious heft. For the most part, he re-uses a lot of the pieces from previous Wrecking Crew members, which in turn used a tweaked version of the body used by Hulkling in ToyBiz’s Young Avengers set. The body us definitely privy to some exaggerated proportions, Bulldozer4but in the case of the Crew, that actually works pretty well. It’s also loaded with tons of texturing, which keeps the sculpt really interesting. Bulldozer features all-new, unique parts for his head, hands, shoulder armor, belt, and boot cuffs. These pieces are all done to match up with the body, and are themselves coated in tons of texture work. It gives Bulldozer a real worn-in look, which really fits his role as a thug for hire. Bulldozer actually has some pretty decent paintwork for a Hasbro figure. He’s still not perfect, but the slop is minimal, most of the paint stays within the lines, and the colors are pretty well chosen. Bulldozer has no accessories of his own (though, given the size of this guy, I can’t say he feels lacking) but he does include the left arm of Ultron, this series’ Build-A-Figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Bulldozer was another of the figures I found at my local Toys R Us. I never got any of the other Wrecking Crew figures (due to being out of Legends at the time), so I wasn’t really expecting much out of this guy. I was really just buying him for the Ultron piece. However, he really surprised me. Quite frankly, he’s my favorite figure in the set. He’s just a lot of fun, even if you don’t have the rest of the Crew.

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#0629: Marvel’s Wasp

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

“MARVEL’S” WASP

MARVEL LEGENDS INFINITE SERIES

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Wasp. It’s Wasp. That’s who I’m looking at today. That’s some intro, right? Yeah, I really couldn’t come up with anything. Awkward, right? Oh well. Anyway, here’s my review of this new Wasp figure! Enjoy!

THE FIGURE ITSELF
WaspML2Wasp is figure number two from Hasbro’s Ant-Man Marvel Legends Infinite Series. This is Wasp’s second foray into the Marvel Legends line, though it’s her third figure (or fourth, depending on whether you believe in the mythical Blue Wasp), thanks to variants. Her last figure was way back in the last series of ToyBiz’s run on the line, 8 years ago. Plus, that wasn’t a very good figure, so it’s about time she got another shot. Wasp’s one of those characters who’s had tons of different looks over the years, so there’s quite a few good ones to choose from. Hasbro has chosen her black and gold outfit…which is the same one the ToyBiz figure was wearing. It’s not that it’s a bad design, but it’s a look we’ve gotten several times before, and it’s not exactly the most thrilling look. Oh well, nothing that can be done now. The figure stands 6 inches tall and has 33 points of articulation, counting the wings. Wasp’s sculpt is based on the mid-sized female body we’ve seen for Storm, Hellcat, and Scarlet Witch. It’s a reasonable sculpt, with nice proportions, and I’m glad to see she’s been given non-heeled feet, which is always a plus. I wish the neck wasn’t quite so skinny, but it’s serviceable. The figure got an all-new head sculpt to top the body off. It’s a pretty good sculpt; the eyes seem just a tad too far apart, but not horribly so. The hair is a separate part from the head, which is odd, given how short it is, but it looks good and gives some nice dimension. The upper torso’s also been tweaked a bit to add sockets for the wings. They’re pretty sturdy, but the sockets are a little obtrusive. The wings themselves are quite well done, and the level of maneuverability is really great. The paintwork on Wasp is okay; not fantastic, but not bad. There’s a fair amount of slop, especially on the edges of the gold detailing, but some areas, like the face are actually pretty clean. Wasp’s only accessory is the torso of this series’ Build-A-Figure, Ultron.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

So, like Ant-Man, I found Wasp at my local Toys R Us a few weeks back. I think the Marvel Universe figure might still be my favorite Wasp to date, but this one’s a pretty good one. She’s definitely a huge improvement to the ToyBiz version from all those years ago, and that’s a good thing.

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