WARRIOR GAMORA, NICK FURY, YELENA BELOVA, & HYDRA-STOMPER
MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)
As become the trend for the last handful of Marvel Legends assortments I’ve taken a look at, I’m wrapping up my latest round of Legends reviews by a quicker, all-in-one wrap-up for the figures I’m less interested in for this particular assortment, along with the main course, the Build-A-Figure! So, let’s jump on into that!
THE FIGURES THEMSELVES
Warrior Gamora, Nick Fury, and Yelena Belova are Figures 1, 3, and 6 from the Hydra Stomper Series of Marvel Legends. They’re the last three figures that contribute to the assortment’s Build-A-Figure, the Hydra Stomper, who is assembled from parts included with 6 of the 7 figures in the assortment.
WARRIOR GAMORA
“In the MCU, Gamora was raised by Thanos to become a deadly assassin. But in this universe, her tactics are challenged by a new, unusual target: Tony Stark.”
In the first season finale of What If…? we were treated to a team of heroes assembled from the cast of prior episodes throughout the season…and Gamora. One episode got pushed from Season 1 to 2 due to production delays, and it was the one that would have explained what the heck was going on with this version of Gamora, so we kind of had to infer some things. Season 2 should finally give us that episode, however, so maybe we’ll finally get what’s going on there? Well, in the mean time, she’s got an action figure, which stands just shy of 6 1/2 inches tall and has 29 points of articulation. Her mobility is a little on the stiff side, but she does at least get the pinless joints. Also of note is just how hard it is to keep this figure standing, which is rather frustrating. She’s sporting an all-new sculpt, which looks rather accurate to the animation models, placing her on par with the figures from the last set in that regard. In terms of coloring, she’s again pretty well-matched to the show look. The paint application is a little sloppy on edges of hands but otherwise clean, and the colors certainly pop. Warrior Gamora is packed with her own version of Thanos’s double-bladed thing, as well as the left arm of Hydra Stomper, and an extra left hand.
NICK FURY
“In the years following the Blip, a weary Fury must face his biggest and most personal challenge yet when he learns of the Skrulls’ clandestine invasion of Earth.”
As I touched on in my Talos review, I wasn’t much of a fan of Secret Invasion. It’s handling of Nick Fury was on my list of things I didn’t really care for. Personally, I felt it to be a bit of a waste of Samuel L Jackson’s talent. But, I’m not here to review the show, I’m here to talk about the toys. This Fury is based on his later in the show look, as he’s in the process of going back to being his old self. It’s a fairly basic Fury, with a little dressing up, so it’s not the worst choice. The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and has 34 points of articulation. His articulation is rather on the restricted front, for a handful of reasons, chief among them being how his coat is set-up. The figure is based on the tall suit body, or is at the very least using its arms and legs. He’s got a new head, torso, and coat, courtesy of sculptor Paul Harding. The head sculpt is sporting a solid likeness of Jackson, and is definitely the best thing about the figure. The coat isn’t terrible *looking*, but it’s still very restricting. The hands look a bit too large for the body, and his whole build feels kinda scrawny for Nick. In general, the figure’s not very fun to mess with, which is kind of a bummer. His paint work is rather on the basic side, but that’s kind of expected. It does what it needs to. Nick does at least get a respectable accessory set-up. He’s got his knit cap (which sits quite well on the head), plus two styles of pistol, two muzzle flashes, two smoke effects, and the left leg of the Hydra Stomper.
YELENA BELOVA
“After the Blip, former Widow Yelena returns to a world without her beloved sister Natasha. Now, Yelena seeks revenge on the man responsible for her sister’s alleged demise: Clint Barton.”
Yelena’s re-appearance in Hawkeye was hinted at during Black Widow‘s post-credits scene, so it wasn’t a terrible surprise when the masked assailant trying to kill Clint in the show turned out to be her. But, of course, Hawkeye was generally not a show built on crazy twists and turns, so much as just pretty straight forward narrative payoff. For the story, Yelena has gone back to a more traditional Black Widow appearance, so that allows for a different approach to her design for a figure. Said figure stands about 6 1/4 inches tall and has 27 points of articulation. Construction wise, she’s got re-used arms and legs. The arms are from the old Yelena, while the legs are a mix of pieces from the prior Yelena and the solo movie Natasha. The new suit detailing doesn’t completely match the old sculpt, but I guess it’s close enough. My figure also has a weird mold scarring on the right leg, which was annoying. She gets a new head, torso, and wrist bracers. The head sports a better overall likeness of Florence Pugh, but its relative scaling seems a little off compared to the body. The rest of the new parts are decent enough, fitting in with the old parts. In terms of paint, the face detailing seems a little dark, but otherwise, it’s not bad. The body work is pretty basic, but that’s pretty much expected. Yelena is packed with two sets of hands, batons, and the torso to the Hydra Stomper. Given how key her masked appearance is to the overall set-up of her arrival on the show, it feels like this figure is missing an alternate masked head.
HYDRA STOMPER
In the first season finale of What If…?, when the Watcher pulls in Captain Carter for his mission, he plucks her out of her timeline’s version of the opening scene of Captain America: Winter Soldier. When he returns her at the end of the episode, that universe’s Natasha informs Peggy that they’ve found something, revealing a glimpse at some sort of variant of Steve’s Hydra Stomper armor from the ’40s. Since Steve stepped into Bucky’s overall role in that universe, it is presumed that he will also become that universe’s equivalent to the Winter Soldier. We won’t really know for sure until the follow-up actually airs during Season 2, but we’ve got a figure of his updated design (which is, disappointingly, not called the “Winter Stomper”), and that’s pretty cool. The figure stands 7 3/4 inches tall and he has 28 points of articulation. His sculpt is an all-new one, since its meant to be based on a total upgrade of the armor (based on the one shot of it we’ve seen, anyway). He’s a lot smaller than the last one, and just how accurate that is remains to be seen, since our only shot doesn’t have anyone else there for any sort of scale. The new look definitely has a more proper post-WW2 vibe about it, without feeling like it’s 100% modernized, either. It’s a little sleeker and more rounded off than the previous design, which also fits with that slightly smaller scaling. It’s still a very chunky sculpt, though. All that said, his articulation winds out working a little bit better, since there’s not as much boxiness to work around. The rocket pack also has a much easier time staying in place this time around. Hydra Stomper’s color work replicates his new, updated color scheme, which is silver and red, instead of the prior drab green and white accenting. The molded plastic for the silver is the swirly kind, which I’m a tad iffy on, but it does alright. The painted accents are cleanly applied, and works pretty well. Though he’s a Build-A-Figure, the Hydra Stomper still gets a reasonable accessory set-up, with two sets of hands and an unmasked Steve head.
THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION
The Disney+ assortments have been a bit of a mixed bag, but there keeps being enough of a draw in each set (usually, the Build-A-Figure, honestly) to pull me back in. With the Captain Carter stuff being my favorite part of What If…? by far, there’s no way I was passing up on this set, even if I didn’t strictly speaking want every figure in it. Ultimately, it’s overall more of a middling assortment. Not bad, but just more middle of the road than anything. Stomper and Fisk are both nearer the top of the list, being pretty much exactly what I expected them to be. Talos winds up as the unexpected gem in the line-up. The show may not have been great, but that figure sure is. Goliath is by the numbers, but a thoroughly solid figure. Agatha is practically a glorified statue; she looks good, but there’s very little play factor. And the rest? Well, they didn’t warrant me keeping them, for one reason or another. Gamora’s a decent sculpt, and probably the best of the three. Yelena’s got some issues with deco and re-use, and as good as the likeness may be, the first figure still feels like a better overall toy. And Fury? Fury is easily the weakest of the bunch.
Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with these figures to review. If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.