Tag Archives: Hasbro

#0302: Ant-Man

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

ANT-MAN

AVENGERS INFINITE

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Avengers Infinite, which serves as Hasbro’s replacement for Marvel Universe, certainly has an interesting character selection. When it was first announced by Hasbro that MU was going to be rebranded with the Avengers name to make it more marketable, a lot of fans were worried that this would mean other areas of the Marvel universe would be left out. Given that, of the figures I’ve reviewed recently, there’s been one actual Avengers member (and a more recent one at that) and two characters not really related to the Avengers at all (not to mention the assortment also including Cyclops, who at this point is like the only X-Man NOT to be a member of the Avengers), I think it’s safe to say the “Avengers” section of the title is mostly a formality. Still, Hasbro is doing their best to keep the Avengers mainstays coming, as evidenced by today’s figure of founding Avenger Ant-Man.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

AntManWilsonAnt-Man is part of the third series of Avengers Infinite, which is just now starting to hit stores. Ant-Man was long rumored to be part of a two-pack in Marvel Universe before the line’s cancellation, but he never saw release. You guys sensing a common theme with this series of AI, because I sure am. According to the back of the box, he’s the Hank Pym version of the character, but it could just as easily be Scott Lang if you so desire. It’s mostly based on the character’s original design, although the helmet seems to be a bit more Ultimates inspired. The figure stands about 4 inches tall and sports 24 points of articulation. He’s built on the Black Spider-Man body, specifically the incarnation of it from the end of the MU line when they added the thigh cuts. The body is one of the older bodies from the MU line, and while it doesn’t such, it’s not the greatest. In a perfect world, Hasbro would come up with another “skinny” buck, but this one works okay in a pinch. Ant-Man’s only new piece is his head. I’m not a fan of The Ultimates, so I’d prefer a more classically inspired helmet, but this one’s not terrible. It’s well sculpted, and there are a lot of nice details, so that’s cool. There are holes where it looks like they meant to place antennae, but there’s nothing there. I guess they couldn’t get them to work feasibly. For the most part, Ant-Man is molded in red plastic, except for his head, which is skin tone. Everything else is handled via paint. The paint aps are overall pretty clean, though the red to blue transitions are a bit rough. They’ve chosen to give his straight gloves and boots instead of his usual jagged ones. It’s unfortunate, as it robs the figure of a unique design element. Ant-Man includes one accessory: a mini Ant-Man, similar to the mini Wasp included with her figure.

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THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Ant-Man is the fourth, and final, of the Avengers Infinite figures I picked up from my local comicbook store, Cosmic Comix. I’ve always been a pretty big Ant-Man fan, so I’ve been waiting for this figure since he was supposed to be in a two-pack way back in the MU line. I’m glad to finally have the figure, but he’s at best middle of the road. I’m more of a Scott Lang Ant-Man fan, and while this one works perfectly fine as Scott, I would mind seeing him get a figure based on either of his more recent designs.

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#0301: Marvel’s Death’s Head

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

MARVEL’S DEATH’S HEAD

AVENGERS INFINITE

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Would you believe me if I told you that I had definitive proof that Transformers and Doctor Who share the same universe with just about every Marvel Comics super hero? Because they do, thanks to a set of appearances by one character: Death’s Head. As you clearly see in the title, he’s Marvel’s Death’s Head (which has two possessives. If I want to talk about the clasp on his cape, I’m talking about Marvel’s Death’s Head’s cape’s clasp. Think about that for a while…). Death’s Head was created for a Transformers comic while Marvel held the license. Not wanting to potentially lose a unique character to Hasbro, they quickly created a short strip featuring the character that was published in several of the comics in their UK line. Marvel also happened to be publishing a Doctor Who comic at the time, which also saw an appearance from Death’s Head before he finally made his way to the main Marvel universe. Now, 27 years after his original appearance, he’s finally gotten his very own action figure made by…. Hasbro. How about that?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

DeathsHeadWilsonDeath’s Head was part of the second series of Hasbro’s Avengers Infinite, the line which serves as a replacement for Marvel Universe. He was long rumored to be an upcoming figure in the MU line, so following that line’s cancellation, the figure’s fate was uncertain. Fortunately, he found a home in AI, so everybody still has a chance to have a toy of their favorite tri-dimensional bounty hunter. He stands just over 4 inches in height and features 27 points of articulation. Death’s Head makes use of the MU Colossus body as a starting point, reusing the arms, upper and lower torso, and legs from the boot up. Given that both characters are larger in stature and both feature a similar banded metal patter, the choice of re-use is inspired. In addition to these pieces, the figure also has brand new pieces for his head, hands, shins, and feet, as well as add-ons for the cape/shoulder-pads and the belt/loincloth/waist armor. The new pieces are really great sculpts. The head sculpt looks to have been lifted directly from the character’s comic appearances, and the armor pieces have some really wonderful denting and weathering. My only complaint is how loose the cape add-on is, as it causes it to sit incorrectly if you aren’t careful. The paintwork on Death’s Head is nice and clean for the most part. There’s a bit of bleed over here and there, but nothing too distracting. The metallic blues in particular make the figure really pop. Death’s Head is armed with an axe, a mace, and a shield, all of which are new pieces that look pretty great and fit the figure’s hands well.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like Deathlok and Valkyrie, Death’s Head was picked up from my local comicbook store, Cosmic Comix. Like Valkyrie, Death’s Head is a figure that I’ve wanted since the initial rumors of his release started cropping up. I’m not entirely sure why I’m so interested in the figure. I’ve read maybe two or three of Death’s Head’s comic appearances. I guess something about the character’s design just resonates with me. Unsurprisingly for a character designed for a toyline-tie-in, Death’s Head translates really well to the action figure format and makes for a pretty neat toy.

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#0299: Marvel’s Valkyrie

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

MARVEL’S VALKYRIE

AVENGERS INFINITE

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While Deathlok has just been granted a new lease on life by Agents of SHIELD, Valkyrie (or should I say “Marvel’s Valkyrie”) has not quite lucked out just yet. There’s certainly hope, I mean who though the Guardians of the Galaxy would be the next hit? So, here’s to Valkyrie getting her due! In the mean time, she was fortunate enough to get a figure in the most recent series of Hasbro’s Avengers Infinite. Perhaps her prospects are moving up!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

ValkyreWilsonValkyrie was released in Series Three of Avengers Infinite. She was originally meant to be released in a three-pack with the Executioner and a Thor variant, which would have been one of the final releases in the Marvel Universe line. When the set fell through, Hasbro moved Valkyrie over to the new line. The figure stands about 4 inches tall and sports 29 points of articulation. She’s based on the most recent Valkyrie design, which she wore towards the tail end of the first volume of Secret Avengers. It’s not too different from her classic design. She just traded in the cape for some pants, which seems like a fair move on her part. For most of her sculpt, Valkyrie makes use of the larger female buck from the Marvel Universe line, which first saw use on She-Hulk. It’s a pretty good body, with fairly normal proportions and some pretty great articulation, so its use here is acceptable. Valkyrie gets a newly sculpted head and hands. The hands are fairly basic gripping hands. Nothing really new there. The head is the star piece here, and it’s a pretty great sculpt. It captures Valkyrie pretty well, and doesn’t look too spaced out, a definite step up from quite a few female face sculpts. Valkyrie is molded in appropriate colors where possible, with some painted details for the silver areas, as well as detail work on the face and hair. For the most part, the paint is applied cleanly, although there are a few instances of fuzzy lines and slop. Nothing too distracting, though. Valkyrie includes a sword accessory, which is quite well sculpted and fits in Valkyrie’s hands pretty well. The plastic used is a bit on the soft side, but it’s workable.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Valkyrie was picked up from my local comicbook store, Cosmic Comix, along with yesterday’s Deathlok and a couple others a few weeks ago. Valkyrie is a figure I had wanted since she was initially announced in the MU three-pack, so I was pretty eager to get her. Valkyrie is a character that’s only seen a few figures, which makes it even more important for her figures to be decent. Fortunately, this one is a pretty great interpretation of the character and an all-around great toy!

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#0298: Deathlok

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

DEATHLOK

AVENGERS INFINITE

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Ah, Deathlok. There’s a character I’m sure no one was expecting to see turn up as a recurring character on a prime-time show on ABC. I know some people were a bit disappointed by how he turned out in the show, but I enjoyed J August Richards’s performance as the character. As an added plus, it’s brought the character some more notoriety, which has translated to an action figure. And, umm, well, I like action figures…

THE FIGURE ITSELF

DeathlockWilsonDeathlok is part of the third series of Hasbro’s Avengers Infinite line, which serves as the replacement for Hasbro’s previous Marvel Universe line. He stands about 4 inches tall and features 26 points of articulation. He’s based on the classic Deathlok look, which was sported by the first two Deathloks. It’s built using one of the larger male bucks as a base, with a metal right arm and metal legs. It’s possible these pieces were used elsewhere, but I don’t know off-hand. The head is definitely new, and it’s a pretty great representation of everyone’s favorite half killing machine/half pacifist government controlled warrior. It’s perhaps a bit on the smooth side, but I’m willing to be slightly more forgiving at this scale. Deathlok also features sculpted add-ons for his belt (with holster) and his back pack, both of which do a pretty good job interpreting the design. The back pack is easily removable, but the belt and holster would take some creative thinking to remove. Deathlok is mostly molded in the appropriate colors. The torso and left arm are red plastic, the legs and right arm are silver, and the head is a brownish-orange. The rest is paint, and it all looks pretty good. All of the line work is sharp and clean, and there’s no real occurrence of bleed over or slop. Deathlok includes two guns: one smaller, one larger. As far as I can tell, both are new pieces. They both fit nicely in Deathlok’s hands, and the smaller gun can also be placed in his belt holster.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I picked up Deathlok from my local comicbook store, Cosmic Comix, along with a few other figures from the Avengers Infinite line. I had planned on getting a few of the figures in the series when they were initially announced, but they had actually slipped my mind. So, I was actually caught a bit by surprise. Deathlok is a character I might have passed over in previous years (I only have the Marvel Legends version because he included a piece of Galactus), but the character’s recent turn on Agents of SHIELD has sparked my interest enough to pick up this guy. He’s a pretty decent figure, and one I’m sure fans of the character will be happy with.

#0297: Groot, Rocket Raccoon & Nova Corps Officer

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

GROOT, ROCKET RACCOON & NOVA CORPS OFFICER

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY

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Guardians of the Galaxy was a truly awesome movie. I haven’t had a chance to mention that here, so there it is. If you haven’t seen Guardians do yourself a favor and do so as soon as possible. It’s one of those rare films that truly has something for everyone. Captain America may still be my favorite movie of the year, but Guardians is the most fun.

Hasbro’s offering the film’s cast in a few different scales. I’ve already taken a look at the 6 inch scale figures, which offer the most detailed takes on the characters. Sadly, that line is just the main Guardians. If you want to get a larger selection, you need to turn to the 2 ½ inch line. I made my first venture into the line with Groot, Rocket, and a Nova Corps Officer. Let’s see how they turned out!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

This trio was released as part of the first, and so far only, series of 2 ½ inch figures. Most of the sets are two packs, but this one is a three-pack due to Rocket’s smaller stature.

GROOT

GrootRocket&NovaWilson1He is Groot. Oh boy is he. Groot is the tallest of the set, at almost 3 inches in height. He also sports 5 points of articulation, which is basic, though not surprising at this scale. There are actually two Groots in this line, with the difference being paint. I think this one’s the less “default” one, for reasons I’ll get to shortly. The sculpt of the figure is pretty good. It’s certainly not as detailed as the larger Marvel Legends Groot, but it does an admirable job with the scale. Groot’s design, being a bit more alien probably lends itself a bit more to the smaller scale. The paint work on Groot is my only real issue with the figure. For the most part, there isn’t much paint. He’s molded in the appropriate brown, with some paint for his eyes. My issue is the thing that makes him a less than standard Groot. For some reason, they’ve thrown some green paint on his right arm, the upper right section of his torso, and the right half of his face. I think it’s meant to represent when he gets a bit more plant-like at certain pints of the movie, but it ends up just looking like lots of green paint.

ROCKET RACCOON

GrootRocket&NovaWilson2Rocket’s kind of an accessory to Groot, I think. He’s the shortest figure (though not quite as short as he should be) at a little over 2 inches and he features no articulation.  Like Groot, there are actually two versions of Rocket in the line. However, the two Rocket figures provide two unique sculpts. This Rocket is the “relaxed” Rocket sculpt. He’s in a neutral standing position, and he features no weapon. He does have an open hand, so I guess he could hold one if you so desired. His sculpt is pretty good for a solid chunk of plastic. He’s got a fair bit of character too him, and he looks overall accurate to the source material. The paint work on Rocket is more intricate than that of Groot. They’ve also avoided taking any strange liberties with the paint, so that’s good, I suppose.

NOVA CORPS OFFICER

GrootRocket&NovaWilson3The army builder of the set is the Nova Corps Officer here. He’s also the first of the figures I’ve looked at so far to be unique to the smaller scale line, and hence, the reason I picked up the set. He’s average height at roughly 2 ½ inches and he features 5 points f articulation. His waist is a separate piece from his torso, but there’s no movement there. NCO (his full name’s hard to type) features an all new sculpt, which is actually quite detailed for the scale. The small area of face that’s visible seems a bit blank, but aside from that, he’s got some amazing sculpted work. NCO is molded in a basic blue, with paint for all the other colors. The torso has some nice work, and the arms aren’t too bad. Sadly, the head has some pretty obvious bleed over around the exposed area of skin, which is a bit distracting. Still, given the scale, it’s forgivable. One thing that is less forgivable is the total lack of any sort of paint on the legs. He clearly has sculpted parts meant to be painted a different color, but they’ve just been left the basic blue.

I should point out that this set included a giant missile launcher (hey, it’s Hasbro’s trademark. They can’t leave it out.) and an accessory-tree of random parts. I’m pretty sure these are all meant to go with NCO, but I can’t tell for sure. Heck, I can’t even totally identify what some of them are…

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

While walking through Toys R Us on my birthday, I came across a rather large Guardians display, and the 2 ½ inch figures were among them. I did NOT buy this set there, because TRU is charging a full $4 more per set than everyone else. Instead, I went to the Target across the street. They only had this one set, but it was actually the one I wanted the most anyway. I like Rocket and Groot, and I definitely wanted a Nova guy, who is so far only available in this line (the minimate is out sometime next month). This set was definitely a trial set for the line, and I must say I’m impressed. For $6 you get three pretty nifty figures in a fun little scale. If you’re willing to splurge a bit, you can even get a few of the vehicles, which seem to be the line’s main purpose.

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#0285: Biker Scout & Speeder Bike

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

BIKER SCOUT & SPEEDER BIKE

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES

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We interrupt the regularly scheduled “Birthday Stuff” reviews for a quick little venture into a galaxy far, far away. You might notice that there are two reviews today. Yeah, they’re both by me, I just screwed up the scheduling. See, I originally intended to publish the Green Ranger review today, just like I did, but I decided I wanted to take a break from the birthday things to review something I was very excited about. Sadly, the day got away from me, so I didn’t get a chance to stop the Green Ranger from auto posting. My bad! Anyway, that means there will be two reviews today, just cuz.

The subject of this review comes from Hasbro’s Star Wars: The Black Series, their very popular 6-inch scaled line of Star Wars figures. So far, they’ve put out three series of figures with another three planned. In addition to that, they’ve also started offering a line of Deluxe figures and vehicles, starting with Jabba the Hutt and today’s focus, the Biker Scout and Speeder bike!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

BikerScout2The Biker Scout stands about 6 inches tall and features 31 points of articulation. He’s based on the basic scout design from the final battle on the forest moon of Endor in Return of the Jedi. The Biker Scout features an all new sculpt. No re-use from any of the previous figures, and not even any upscaling of pieces from the 3 ¾ inch Biker Scouts. The sculpt is probably the most accurate take on the design over the years. All of the proportions look just right, especially on the helmet, which is a really key area of the design. Do be mindful if you pick one up in person: the helmet is made of softer plastic and it gets pressed up against the packaging in such a way that might warp it a bit. The arms might be just a tad too long, mostly due to the elbow joints, and the hands might be slightly too small, but it doesn’t look too bad with the right pose. The uniform features some pretty great texture work to differentiate the armor from the cloth parts of the costume, which gives the figure a nice bit of dimension. The paint work on the Biker Scout is pretty good, by Hasbro standards at least. The basic paint work is pretty clean, though the visor is a bit fuzzy on the edges. He has a wash over a few of the white areas. It brings out some of the details well, but it might be better if it were just a little bit more subtle. The Scout includes a blaster pistol, which is nice, but mine broke putting it in his hand, so be careful.

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THE VEHICLE ITSELF

BikerScout4The Speeder Bike is effectively the title half of this set, even if the Biker Scout may have gotten more of the tooling put towards him. The bike is about 10 inches long, and about 2 inches tall at its tallest, with articulated back flaps and a rotating gun on the underside. The sculpt is really quite intricate, with lots of really cool details hidden in the various nooks of the sculpt. It looks to be really accurate to the movie, which is cool, and I’m glad to see a speeder bike that is mucked up by an exploding feature. The paint work is pretty good overall, but it is a bit varied. The metal under-workings have some really nice dry-brushed silver details, which is pretty cool, but the silver details on the main body are a bit more solid, which makes them look a bit too placed. Otherwise, the paint is nice, with no slop or bleed over. The Speeder Bike includes a clear(ish) stand that plugs in via ball joint, allowing the bike to be posed in mid-flight.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I found this set at my local Target yesterday. I actually found it completely by accident, since I wasn’t expecting it to be released just yet. I was there looking for a couple of other things, and came across this bad boy, which was very exciting! The Biker Scout is my favorite Trooper design from Star Wars, so I’ve been patiently awaiting his release since the beginning of the Black Series. I am thrilled to finally have this set, and it’s hands down my favorite item from the line!

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#0279: Groot

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

GROOT

MARVEL LEGENDS

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All good things must come to an end. Also, mediocre things and bad things have to come to an end too. Essentially, what I’m saying is that wherever you stand on the quality of the “Groot Week” reviews, today marks the end of said week. Yes, it’s Groot Week Part 7, featuring the main man himself, Groot!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

GrootWilsonGroot was released as the Build-A-Figure for the Guardians of the Galaxy Marvel Legends Infinite Series, who could be assembled by acquiring all of the figures in the series. The figure stands about 8 ½ inches tall and features 28 points of articulation. The figure is based on Groot’s appearance in the movie, though it could easily pass for one of the comicbook interpretations of the character. The sculpt is brand new, which is not a shock with a unique looking character such as Groot. I’m honestly impressed at the level of work put into the new pieces, considering none of them have the potential for re-use. Still, the sculpt looks spot on to the look from the movie, and it’s got some really great detail work. In particular, Groot’s face just looks perfect for the character. It would be easy to write the paint work on Groot off as simple, but the more appropriate word would be “subtle.” While the work isn’t immediately obvious, Groot has quite a bit of detail work that helps make him look like a tree-man instead of a hunk of brown plastic. Groot, like many Build-A-Figures before him, is sans-accessories, essentially being an accessory himself. It’s easy to forgive, given his larger stature and impressive detail work.

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THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Groot, being the Build-A-Figure for the series, was purchased piece-by-piece from Amazon. While the rest of the series has been pretty darn good, Groot was my main reason for buying the set. There was a fair bit of pressure for him to be a good figure, and I have to say, he really delivers on that front. Groot has proved to be my favorite figure in the series by far, and completing him makes up for some of the short comings of a few of the others in the series!

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#0278: Nova

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

NOVA

MARVEL LEGENDS INFINITE SERIES

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Groot Week is almost finished, but there’s still one more basic review and then the review of Groot himself left. Today’s figure is Nova, the second half of the two comic-themed figures in Hasbro’s Guardians of the Galaxy Marvel Legends Infinite Series. The Nova Corps seems set to play a fairly important role in the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy movie, so the inclusion of a Nova figure here is certainly a sensible one. Let’s see how the figure turned out!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

NovaWilsonNova is part of the Guardians of the Galaxy Marvel Legends Infinite Series. The figure is about 6 inches tall and sports 32 points of articulation (counting the moving shoulder pads). He’s based on the Nova Prime incarnation of the Richard Rider version of Nova, which is the look Richard’s been sporting for the last several years in the comics. It’s a sharp design (both metaphorically and literally), and it’s been fairly prominent in the comics, so it’s a good choice. Nova seems to have a mostly new sculpt.  He looks like he uses the basic male buck seen on figures such as Zemo and Boomerang as a reference point, and he may also use the upper arms, upper legs and feet from that body, but it’s hard to tell. The new pieces look really good, and everything seems accurate to the character’s design. Unfortunately, Nova uses softer plastic than the other figures in the series, so he ends up being rather shaky, and a bit difficult to keep standing. The paint work on Nova is all nice and cleanly applied, with no noticeable slop or bleed over, plus he’s got some pretty sweet shiny metallic coloring going for him. It’s nice to see him break from the pack paint-wise. Like iron Man, Nova’s sole accessory is his Groot piece, which is the right arm in this instance. It’s disappointing to see another figure lacking accessories, but once again, Nova doesn’t really have any accessories that jump to mind.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like all of his series compatriots, Nova was purchased from Amazon once the series became available. Initially, I hadn’t planned on picking up Nova, but once I decided to complete Groot, he became a necessity. I’m a moderate fan of Nova, but I tend to prefer his classic design. Still, this figure does an admirable job translating his newer design. I do wish they’d used a sturdier plastic for him, but it doesn’t ruin the figure, and his issues standing don’t even come close to the ones that plague Gamora. All in all, Nova’s a pretty good figure, and is potentially the figure in the series with the best chance of being a stand alone purchase.

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#0277: Iron Man

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

IRON MAN

MARVEL LEGENDS INFINITE SERIES

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Groot Week continues today with part five. Like the previous reviews, this figure comes from Hasbro’s most recent round of Marvel Legends Infinite Series, based on the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy movie. The series includes six regular figures and a Build-A-Figure. I’ve reviewed the four movie figures, and today I’ll do the first of the two comic-themed reviews. The first comic-themed figure is Iron Man, who is effectively the series’ heavy hitter.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

IronManSpaceWilsonIron Man is part of the Guardians of the Galaxy Marvel Legends Infinite Series. He stands about 6 inches tall and features 32 points of articulation (counting the shoulder pads). The figure is based on Iron Man’s space-faring armor from the most recent Guardians of the Galaxy comics, also known as the “Phoenix Killer” armor. It’s certainly a unique design, and its prominent placement with the Guardians makes for a sensible inclusion in the series. The figure is predominantly re-use. He features a new head and shoulder pads on the body of the Bleeding Edge Iron Man from the first series Iron Man 3 Marvel Legends. The Bleeding Edge is one of Hasbro’s better Iron Man sculpts, so it’s a great starting point, and the head offers a different take on the Iron Man helmet. I’m not sure how I feel about the shoulder pads. They stick up pretty high, and almost seem like they’d seem better flipped the other direction. The biggest issue the figure faces, however, is his inability to put his arms all the way down, which is an issue native to the original base figure. It would have been nice if Hasbro had done some re-working to facilitate improved movement, but I can understand the need to save some money on tooling. The paint work is fairly basic. He’s molded in a metallic red and has some simple gold highlights, and a few yellow details painted on. For the most part, everything is applied cleanly with no noticeable slop or bleed over. There are one or two areas of some minor chipping, but they aren’t too noticeable, so it’s not bad. Iron Man is relatively light on the accessories, with only the right leg of Build-A-Figure Groot included. I can’t really think of any accessories that could have been included, so I can’t really fault Hasbro here.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Iron Man was purchased via Amazon, like his series-mates before him. For the most part, I only got Iron Man for the Groot piece, but I have to say, after having him in hand, I like him a whole lot more than I thought I would. The bold colors and the use of one of Hasbro’s best Iron Man bodies make this a really solid figure, and the unique design means he really stands out from the pack. Iron Man is a pretty great that will sadly be overlooked by a lot of people due to being yet another Iron Man.

#0276: Drax

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

DRAX

MARVEL LEGENDS INFINITE SERIES

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It’s time for part four of my look at Hasbro’s most recent round of Marvel Legends figures. This time around, the figures are based around the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy movie. There are six main figures, four based on the movie and two based on the comics. Today, I’ll be looking at Guardians member Drax (formerly Drax the Destroyer), who is also the last single release figure based on the movie. Let’s jump on in!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Drax is part of Guardians of the Galaxy Marvel Legends Infinite Series (man, Hasbro seriously needs to come up with a better naming scheme for the new Marvel Legends stuff…). Drax stands about 6 ½ inches tall and features 30 points of articulation. He’s based on Drax’s design in the movie, which is in turn influenced by Drax’s more modern design in the comics. I can’t say I’m a huge fan of the character’s more recent looks (purple spandex and pirate boots for the win!), but the movie does add a decent spin on it I suppose. Like the rest of the main Guardians, Drax features a brand new sculpt, so as to properly replicate his movie design. Drax’s sculpt is truly an impressive piece of work. The figure has a nice bit of heft to him, and has a properly bulky build. On top of the build, he’s got some wonderful texture work on his uniform and tattoos. The tattoos are something that a lesser company might have just painted, but the sculpt really helps them pop. The paint work on Drax is actually pretty good. There’s a few areas of slop and bleed over, but nothing too major, and certainly nothing as bad as some of the others in this series. In fact, Drax has the best paint of the series so far! Drax comes armed twin knives, which fit nicely in his hands and the sheaths on his boots, and he also features the lower torso of Groot.

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THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Drax was another figure acquired from Amazon after they got the Guardians figures in stock. Drax was a figure I had no real feelings about one way or the other, mostly due to my relative disinterest in the choice of costume design. While Drax still isn’t one of my favorites in the series, I do think he’s a very solid entry in the series, and he does help to make the team as a whole look a bit better.