Tag Archives: Marvel Legends

#3943: Cyclops & Jean Grey

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

CYCLOPS & JEAN GREY

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

As a direct continuation of X-Men: The Animated Series, the designs in X-Men ’97 at its launch stick pretty close to the designs from the original, which for most of the characters also means sticking to their Jim Lee-designed looks from X-Men #1.  Before the show launched, we heard that the main cast would be getting some costume changes, which led to a lot of deliberation about which set of post-Lee costumes they’d land on, until the show itself threw things into reverse, reverting most of the cast to their ‘70s and early ‘80s era attire (the explanation in-show being that those are the costumes they had on-hand at the auxiliary base they have to launch their final run on Magneto from).  For me, it’s the best of both worlds, because I love both sets of designs, and it also means that the more frequently overlooked ‘70s designs get an excuse for some toy focus.  Also, there’s a new Cyclops and Jean Grey, and how can I ever complain about that?

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Cyclops and Jean Grey are a Hasbro Pulse-exclusive Marvel Legends two-pack.  They’re under the X-Men ’97 banner, and were released at the same time as a Storm and Wolverine two-pack with their matching costumes (Jubilee in her alternate attire, which was *not* a ‘70s/‘80s look also hit right around the same time in the main line).

CYCLOPS

This figure makes up kind of the central need for this whole set in the first place.  Though this look served as Scott’s main appearance for just over a decade, it often gets the short end of the stick on toy coverage.  In the case of Legends, the last release was back in 2017, as part of an exceptionally hard to get Toys R Us-exclusive two-pack.  Suffice to say, that figure’s gotten pretty pricey on the aftermarket, and also doesn’t quite fit with newer releases.  This one’s aim is to address all that, and also to maybe fix some issues with prior figures?  I’ll get to that.  The figure stands just shy of 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation.  As with most recent Cyclops figures, this one is built on the Vulcan body.  For this design in particular, it feels like a pretty natural choice for the character.  He gets a pair of new heads, new shins, and a new belt add-on piece.  The two heads follow the trend of recent Cyclops figures, with one calm, and one more intense.  As with prior instances, the more intense head has a slot in the visor for the attachment of an optic blast effects piece, which is always a fun touch.  When the X-Factor Cyclops was released, I was low-key kind of expecting those heads to get a straight re-use for this costume, despite the inaccuracies involved with such a choice.  I was very pleasantly surprised by the decision to go all-new for both sculpts, meaning that not only does he get the more distinctive visor shape of the Cockrum/Byrne days (complete with the etched in lines running at either side of the visor), he also gets the proper slants of the full mask under the visor; both prior Legends versions of this costume have gone with the later straight lines from the edges of the visor look, and while it’s a minor detail, I’m very glad it didn’t get overlooked here.  Likewise, his new boot pieces are a more accurate version of the boots Scott wore with this costume than the more generic buccaneer boots of earlier releases, making him even more accurate.  The only thing that isn’t quite as cool as Hasbro’s last version is the paint work, which, rather than replicating the shading of the comics for the blue sections, just goes for a flat blue.  They’re going for the animated look, which was a bit flatter, and I know the coloring on the last one was difficult to get consistent, so I understand it, and this one ultimately doesn’t look *bad*, but it’s the one area where he’s not *quite* as impressive.  Cyclops includes two pairs of hands (in fists, and an open/activating visor combo) and the large optic blast effect first used with X-Factor Cyclops.  It’s basic, but covers the important bases.

JEAN GREY

Jean’s return to her green miniskirt costume in the last pair of ’97 episodes is a return in more ways than one, since she’d also worn it during the original show’s adaptation of the “Dark Phoenix Saga.”  She’d also recently returned to it during the Krakoan-Era in the comics, which was how it got its last Legends figure.  That one wasn’t all that long ago, nor was it super hard to find, so this one was a *little* surprising, but given the two-pack angle, not incredibly so.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and she has 29 points of articulation.  Going in, I was expecting a lot of re-has from the HoX release of this costume, but that’s really not the case.  The only piece actually shared between the two is the torso.  The arms and legs are newer, updated pieces that sport the pinless construction on the elbows and knees.  The feet are now proper closed boots with heels, instead of the re-purposed shoe-d feet from Peggy Carter, and the gloves are now cleaner slip-over pieces, rather than the wrinkled ones from the last one.  She’s also got two new heads, and a newly sculpted skirt piece, which is more dynamic than the last one, and therefore more practical for posing the legs.  In general, she’s a much easier figure to pose, and by extension more easy to balance.  Much less falling over with this one.  The two heads mimic Cyclops, with one calmer, and the other more intense.  They’re both clearly patterned on her animation model from the show, but can also work easily as a stand-in for her comics look.  Jean’s color work is a slightly different approach than the HoX version, which went for flatter shades.  This one goes a bit more off-kilter, making the yellows gold and the green a sort of duller shade.  I wasn’t sure about it at first, but in hand it actually really works, and gives this design a more unique feel, while also calling forth her Phoenix design.  Jean is packed with two pairs of hands (in fists and open gesture), as well as two energy effects pieces in blue.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve mentioned many times how the late ‘70s X-Men is really what I consider my X-Men.  So, I’ve got this real attachment to that classic Cyclops look.  The Toy Biz version’s not worth mentioning, and much as I love the TRU Cyclops (because he’s a half-way decent Cyclops), he’s got some issues that hold him back.  When this look reappeared in ’97 I was very hopeful it would turn up in toy form again.  It took a while, but here it is.  I jumped on the pre-order for these as soon as possible, because I was not missing this Cyclops.  He’s sooooooooooo nice.  Very much the best version of this costume, and I love so much about him, but especially the actual accuracy to the costume’s intended design, which is always overlooked.  Jean I had very little actual expectations about.  I had the HoX release, and it was fine but not overly impressive.  I expected mostly re-hash here, and just saw her as a glorified accessory for the Cyclops figure.  While she doesn’t supplant Cyclops as the star for me, she’s a lot better than I expected, and an unquestionable improvement over the last release, and I’m very happy about that.

#3935: Morph

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

MORPH

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

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

THE FIGURE ITSELF

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

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

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

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

#3928: Captain America vs Venom

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

CAPTAIN AMERICA VS VENOM

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

In the ‘90s, Capcom’s arcade fighting games were a pretty notable thing, and also Marvel Comics was a pretty notable thing.  So, Marvel and Capcom opted to do that whole “two great tastes that taste great together” thing, and teamed up for some crossover action.  First starting more focused with X-Men vs Street Fighter, they eventually added the larger rosters of both Marvel and Capcom to the mix, and even got some toys along the way.  There’s remasters and all sorts of nostalgia going on right now, which always leads to an interest in some merchandising.  Jada has been running a really strong showing with a number of the Capcom properties, and, in a bit of an informal crossover, Hasbro’s doing their own line of just the Marvel half of the games.  Would you believe I bought the Captain America?

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Captain America vs Venom is a two-pack release from Hasbro’s Marvel Legends.  They’re part of the first big push of the “VS” set under the “Gamerverse” banner.  Though the packaging uses sprites and design elements from Marvel vs Capcom, there’s no actual mention of the game on the package, again keeping the informal crossover bit going.

CAPTAIN AMERICA

Do you ever feel like a plastic bag you’re buying the same thing over and over again?  I mean, I frequently am doing *exactly* that, but, like in a more metaphorical sense?  That’s where I’m at with this Captain America.  He’s the next progression of the journey to a classic Cap that we started back in 2016, with the Cap Wolf Cap, who debuted Cap on the “new” Reaper mold.  Wow, I said “Cap” a lot of times in that sentence.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation.  Remember my “Ship of Theseus” comment in the Secret Wars Cap review?  Well, this guy just sort of furthers that.  All that remains of the original Reaper body use at this point is, in fact, his belt piece.  He gets the lower torso first used for the 80th Cap, and the standard calm masked head included with the 20th Anniversary Cap.   His lower arms, pelvis, and legs to the top of the shin are all the modified pieces used on the Secret Wars Cap last year.  That leaves a new upper torso, upper arms, and boots for this specific release.  Cap’s game design notably omitted the usual scale-mail that his upper torso spots, so this figure does that as well,  but it still grants him a lot of sculpted elements, rather than simply painting them all on, like the Cap Wolf figure did.  Most notably, the new upper torso gives Cap butterfly joints on his shoulders, something he hasn’t had since the Toy Biz days.  They’re quite handy when it comes to fighting poses, which is ideal for a figure that’s specifically for a fighting game.  Cap also gets a new alternate head, with another expression.  This one takes the teeth-gritting expression of the Secret Wars release and dials it up to 11, for a full on scream.  It’s not your typical Cap expression, but it feels exceptionally true to the sprite models from the game.  Cap’s color work is perfectly fine, if not above average in terms of paint work application and quality.  But, once again, we’ve gotten *another* shade of blue, meaning that you can’t swap the heads on this guy with either the 20th or Secret Wars figures, which continues to feel like a missed opportunity.  Presumably, Hasbro’s waiting to unveil a Maximum Cap that has all the heads and retools this torso into one with the scale mail.  Cap is packed with two pair of hands (fists and thumbs up), his shield, and a bash effect piece for the shield.  The thumbs up hands are really cool, and offer a lot of fun posing options.  I wasn’t thrilled about the move back to the smaller shield, but I think it does work a bit better for the game look.  It’s amusing that this shield is smaller than the one included with the original TB MvC Cap figure, though.

VENOM

Venom.  Yay.  Venom.  I totally bought this set for both figures, and not just the one.  Of course.  I totally know all of the facts about the different Venoms, too.  Like, this one’s…blue?  Cuz of the sprite.  That’s why.  The figure stands 7 1/2 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  Like Cap, the classic Eddie Brock Venom’s gone through a lot of different mold variations.  This appears to be the same mold used for the Amazon three-pack Eddie that came with Riot and Agony, which itself was based on the Omega Red molds.  It means he’s still got visible pins on the knees, but otherwise modern articulation.  It’s not a bad sculpt by any means.  It feels very true to the character, and the heads both feel very much in line with his game design.  I especially like the partially unmasked head, because it reminds me of the old Spider-Man Classics figure.  In terms of coloring, he is, as noted above, blue.  It’s honestly a pretty good way of getting him to stand out from the others.  Generally, the paint’s pretty basic.  I do really love the green saliva on the tongue, though.  Venom is packed with the alternate unmasked head, and two pairs of hands.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’m cursed to keep buying every Captain America from Hasbro as they continue to make them incrementally better every time.  I’ve just accepted that.  This time, they also made me buy a Venom.  Wasn’t thrilled about that, but I really wanted the Cap, so I did it.  I’m glad I did, because I do really, really like this Cap.  The changes feel worth it, and he feels more like a new figure and not just a retread of the ones from before.  I think Secret Wars may still be more of a definitive Cap for me, but this one’s exceptionally fun, and I especially love all the fun stuff you can do with that screaming head.

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

Flashback Friday Figure Addendum #0041: Gambit

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Flashback Friday Figure Addendum and tagged with , , , , ,

GAMBIT

MARVEL LEGENDS (TOY BIZ)

Okay, after a brief interruption in the Flashback Friday Figure Addendums last week, we are back, and we are jumping back onto that Toy Biz bandwagon!  This one strays a bit later than a lot of the Addendums, hitting up Toy Biz’s move to 1/12 scale figures with Marvel Legends.  Let’s look at Gambit!

So, Happy President’s Day, I guess. Um, I don’t really have that much in the way of presidential action figures, so I’m just gonna go ahead as if it’s any other day. But I thought I’d point it out anyway. Just to mess with you.

Looking back at my past reviews, I’m actually a bit shocked by how few reviews I’ve done of ToyBiz’s Marvel Legends. For a while back there they were, like, the only line I really collected, and I’ve done quite a few reviews of DC Direct figures, which I collected about the same time, so it seems odd I haven’t really looked at any of them. I think part of this might be that I have some bad memories of trying to track certain figures down, and part of it might be that the figures just haven’t aged all that well. Or, I’m going by a totally randomized list, and not as many of them have popped up. Who knows? (Well, me but that kinda ruins my intro).

So, in an effort to attempt to correct some slight oversight, I’ll be reviewing the Marvel Legends version of the X-Men’s own resident scum bag, Gambit! Gambit isn’t as big a deal as he once was, but he was pretty big in the 90s, and even into the early 2000s, hence his place in the line. So, let’s take a look at the figure!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Gambit was released as part of the 4th wave of ToyBiz’s Marvel Legends line. He stands about 6 inches tall, and he has 40 points of articulation. The figure depicts Gambit in him classic pink/blue/black leotard and brown trench coat look that everyone thought was oh so rad in the 90s. It’s a truly hideous design, but I can’t help but be so damned nostalgic about it, because being born in the 90s ruined me as a person. The sculpt was pretty good at the time, but now feels like one of the more outdated sculpts in the line, with huge hands, some pretty serious monkey arms, and an overall emaciated look to him. I think the head still holds up, with that perfect floppy Gambit hair, and the totally in character smirk. The coat isn’t the best tailored thing ever, but it isn’t too bad, and it does somewhat mask the odd proportions of the figure. The figure’s paint is pretty good, though it can be sloppy in some places, particularly the face, which I’ve seen have some variance from figure to figure. I do appreciate that this is one of the only Gambit figures to give him the appropriate black sleeves with those weird pink squares, instead of just leaving them pink. The figure had a really nice assortment of accessories that I wish I still had, including: his staff, an energy explosion with a set of cards to simulate his powers, and a base sculpted to look like a fallen Sentinel hand. These pieces were all pretty cool, and I think I still have the stand in a box with some others, but the other two pieces are long gone.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Believe it or not, Gambit was one of my favorite ToyBiz Legends. I’m not really sure why, as I’m not that big a fan of the character, and the figure isn’t that amazing, but I really liked him. I suppose coming early in the line, he got a lot more play time than some of the later figures, and he was one of the figures in the line who you didn’t have to devote all your free time to tracking down.

He hasn’t aged amazingly well, but he’s still held up better than some of the figures, which does give a leg up. And given Gambit’s rather quick decline in popularity, the character has yet to see any kind of rerelease in the more recent incarnations of the line, which I suppose makes this guy a bit more valuable. 

That is a very long intro, and it sure does take a while to get to the point, doesn’t it?  I was still getting the feel for how to jump into things, I think, and I was still doing a lot of call outs for even more minor holidays, which I just don’t do now.  At this point, I was still recovering from being burned by some bad experiences collecting Toy Biz Legends.  Another decade removed, I’m less that way, and generally feel a bit more nostalgic about the whole experience.  Also, I do kind of rag on Gambit for being not really relevant anymore, which is funny here in 2025, when he’s definitely come back around.

Generally, the review proper’s not bad.  I stand by a lot of what I said.  The sculpt has good aspects, but also some issues as well, much like most of the Toy Biz run of this period.  When I originally reviewed him, he was sans accessories.  Since then, I’ve tracked down the stand (which I knew I had when I reviewed him originally, but just didn’t go to the trouble of tracking down), as well as the charged card effect piece (which I was convinced there was no chance at me finding originally, but I was clearly wrong).  The display bases could be a bit of a mixed bag, but Gambit’s is undoubtedly one of the best from the line, and the best of the running subset of damaged Sentinel bases packed with X-Men characters.

#3904: The Thing

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

THE THING

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

When it comes to cinematic adaptations, Ben Grimm, the ever-lovin’ blue-eyed Thing, has had a bit of a mixed presentation.  Michael Chiklis’s turn as Ben was undoubtedly the highlight of the two Story films, but Jaime Bell’s mumbling loner from Fant4stic was a particularly poor showing in an already poor film.  And, somewhere in the middle, you’ve got Micheal Bailey Smith and Carl Cialfalio’s two-handed Ben and Thing approach from the Corman movie, which is admittedly mostly just hampered by the film’s unfinished nature.  Where does Ebon Moss-Bachrach fall in the scale?  He’s at least as good as Chiklis, I’d say.  My only hang-up is that I don’t feel there’s as much time spent with him as the other three, so it’s a little harder to form a full opinion.  I do look forward to seeing more, though, and it’s certainly a much better approach than the one that immediately preceded it.  Anyway, here’s a figure of him!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Thing is another entry in the First Steps tie-in assortment of Marvel Legends, and the last of the four members of the titular team.  The figure stands just shy of 7 inches tall and he has 30 points of articulation.  The film returns Ben to something closer to his ‘60s scaling, which means that this figure is the smallest of the Legends Thing figures to date.  That’s not a bad thing, mind you.  His articulation’s a little different from the other team members, given his bulkier stature.  We see a bit of a return to the “twisting meat” era with the biceps and the abdomen both having opposing joints that sort of cancel each other out.  It’s not quite as much of an aesthetic problem this time around, though.  Ben’s sculpt is all-new, and it’s…well, it’s not technically inaccurate,  but it’s not the look the character spends the bulk of the movie sporting.  In the film, in contrast to most depictions of the character, he has a full uniform to match the other three, but what we get here is something closer to how Ben’s classically depicted, sans shirt and boots.  We see him in action with this look briefly during the opening montage of the team’s first four years of exploits, and it also shows up a few times in the in-universe promotional images, keeping him more in line with the slightly adjusted hair styles of Reed and Johnny.  It’s ultimately a more quintessential look for the character, and I myself prefer it, but maybe we’ll see a more accurate final battle Ben, complete with bearded head sculpt later down the line?  This sculpt is a strong offering, though.  The likeness on the head matches his design in the film nice, and they do a good job of recreating the rocky texturing of his skin, as well as keeping his uniform’s stitching consistent with the other three team members.  I do especially like the more reserved expression on the head, which feels very in line with Moss-Bachrach’s portrayal of the character.  The paint work here is a bit mixed.  The rocky skin gets some really solid accenting, which really works well with the sculpted details.  On the flip side, the uniform is a bit sloppy, and one of the logos on his leg was all scratched-up right out of the box.  Ben is packed with two pairs of hands, one in fists and one in open gesture.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Ben’s my favorite FF member, and this was the figure from this set I was most looking forward to.  He’s a modern movie Legend, so if you’ve gotten a bunch of those, you know what you’re getting here.  It means he’s a pretty solid, pretty straight forward figure, though, and he certainly feels like he gets the character down pretty well.

Shoutout to 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.

#3900: Johnny Storm

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

JOHNNY STORM

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

There’s no shortage of Johnny Storms in the MCU.  Or, at least, there’s no shortage of Johnny Storm *actors* in the MCU.  They’ve absorbed all of them thus far, and the next logical step, of course, is to just have their own Johnny, portrayed by Joseph Quinn in First Steps.  He does a solid job with the part, giving the MCU a Johnny to be proud of, and one that won’t get lost despite the overabundance of Johnny actors around.  And, just to make sure he doesn’t get lost in the sea of MCU-associated product, there are two versions of him available in the Legends assortment for the movie.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Johnny Storm is part of the 6-figure Marvel Legends tie-in assortment for Fantastic Four: First Steps.  As noted above, there are two Johnny figures included, one flamed on and one not.  This one is the not, in case the photos didn’t clue you in.  I do really like getting that option right out of the gate; we don’t really see it much with these figures.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 30 points of articulation.  His construction is very similar to Reed, though the two don’t actually share any parts.  All four members of the team have unique uniforms in the movie, and Johnny’s is the one that deviates the most from the traditional set-up, at least in terms of color break-down.  That said, it’s still a very FF-feeling set-up, so I can certainly dig it.  It’s also neat how they decided to put the whole team in a knit material so that Johnny would have something that looked like his old “heat lines” when flamed-on.  Johnny’s head sculpt has a good likeness of Quinn.  As with Reed, the hair isn’t quite on the mark for his look in the movie; it seems to take its influence from the in-universe promotional images within the movie, which have Johnny with a slightly more swept-back look.  The color work is largely consistent with the other two I’ve looked at; the exact details are slightly tweaked, and he’s definitely cleaner than Sue, but overall very similar.  I do like the accenting on the hair, as well as the very subtle stubble on his face.  Johnny is packed with two sets of hands (in open and fists), as well as two flame effect pieces.  The fists for some reason omit the black palms from the gloves, which is rather glaring in most poses.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

If nothing else, I am a sucker for a fully powered down Johnny figure, given their relative rarity for so long.  So, when the movie figures were confirmed to be giving us both, that made me quite happy.  I was also quite pleased by Joseph Quinn’s casting in the role, and his performance was certainly a highlight in the film.  The figure is fun.  Pretty much exactly on par with the others, and by extension exactly on par with other modern Legends, but it’s hard to complain about consistency when it’s this good.

Shoutout to 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.

#3896: Mr. Fantastic

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

MR. FANTASTIC

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

Fantastic Four: First Steps is officially here, and I can officially say it’s the best Fantastic Four movie they’ve made! …what, is that not a high bar to clear?  Well, it’s also the best super hero movie with Pedro Pascal!  Take that, Wonder Woman 1984!  Okay, so, I do seem to be dancing around this one a bit, don’t I?  Well, the truth is that I saw FF over the weekend and I liked it, but I don’t know that I loved it.  It’s not entirely the movie’s fault; I’m still really in that post-Superman high, and it’s not an entirely fair comparison.  The film’s strengths also definitely outweigh its weaknesses, though, so it’s a net positive for sure.  One of the film’s undoubted strengths, however, is the casting on the titular team, headlined by the aforementioned Mr. Pascal as Reed Richards aka Mr. Fantastic.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Mr. Fantastic is part of the First Steps tie-in assortment of Marvel Legends, which hit just before the film’s release, earlier this month.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 30 points of articulation.  Like the rest of the team, Reed’s seen here in his main team suit, with the closest ties to their standard suits from the comics.  While the comic suits tend to be uniform across at least three of the four, the movie differentiates them a bit more between the team.  Reed’s is notable in its omission of any white accenting around the collar, making it the most understated of the suits.  His sculpt is unique to him, and generally pretty solid.  The face notably has a very strong likeness of Pascal, even better than the ones we’ve seen for The Mandalorian.  It even got the Matthew seal of approval, for what it’s worth.  The hair’s a bit shorter and closer cropped at the top than it actually is in the film; it looks like it’s based more on the early promo work for the film than the actual film proper.  It’s not too terribly far off, though.  The body sculpt is fairly balanced and does a respectable job of replicating his costume design from the movie.  The articulation’s a bit obvious, especially the mid-torso joint, but I like the texturing work, especially on the piping and stitching.  Reed’s color work is really strong on the face and hair, and notably cleaner on the body than Sue’s.  The blue is a little paler than the color on the screen, again seeming to be patterned closer to the early promo images than the final film.  Reed is packed with two sets of hands (fists and open gesture), as well as a pair of alternate arms stretched out.  The stretched arms are slightly bendable, which is a fun way of showing off his power set.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Pedro Pascal as Reed was pretty inspired casting from the start, so I was certainly down for some toy coverage of that.  Pascal’s come up short on figures in the past, but that’s not the case here.  That likeness is super killer, and this figure is really fun, especially with those extra bendy arms.  Reed got the coolest figures out of the 2005 tie-ins, so it’s nice to see the character still being treated well even now.

Shoutout to 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.

#3892: Invisible Woman

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

INVISIBLE WOMAN

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

We’re just two days away from the release of July’s *other* super hero movie, Fantastic Four: First Steps.  How am I feeling about it?  Hopeful.  Admittedly, I’m also feeling like it has the difficult task of having to top Superman, and boy was Superman very, very good.  Can FF also be that good?  Well, I sure do hope so.  If the trailers are anything to go by, it’s set to at the very least be an improvement over the previous cinematic outings for Marvel’s first family.  While the *last* live action FF was a total ghost on the marketing front, Marvel’s putting a bit more behind this one, which includes a full complement of Marvel Legends.  Today, I’m kicking off my look at those with Venessa Kirby as Susan Richards, aka the Invisible Woman!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Invisible Woman is part of the six-figure Fantastic Four: First Steps tie-in assortment of Marvel Legends.  We get the full team, plus an extra variant of Johnny, and the Silver Surfer, all in rather fun retro-inspired packaging.  The figure stands just over 6 inches tall and she has 30 points of articulation.  There were some concerns when prototype shots surfaced that there would be issues with the neck articulation on this figure.  While the hair certainly impedes the range, the final production figure still makes out a bit better, and can get at least a little bit of upwards motion, so she won’t forever be staring at the floor in action poses.  Otherwise, her articulation is pretty much what we’ve come to expect from the more recent movie figures, which is to say, it’s pretty good.  The sculpt is all-new for Sue, and it’s quite nice. The head sports a solid likeness of Kirby, especially on the face.  The hair’s a bit thick, but the general shaping is in like with what we’ve seen so mar from the movie.  The body is tasked with replicating her costume design, which is an intriguing mix of the classic and Byrne designs, as well as throwing in a bit of ‘60s space suit flair.  It’s a good look, and it’s a solid recreation of the design, at least as far as I can tell.  The smaller elements seem to be worked out pretty well, and the underlying body has a nicely balanced set of proportions.  Sue’s paint work is a bit of a mixed bag.  The face, which is using the printing, is exceptionally good.  It’s very lifelike and helps to sell the already strong likeness of the sculpt.  The hair is notably without any accenting, which kind of flat, but at leas it’s not messy.  The body on the other hand has some notable slop on the collar and symbol, which are unfortunately very obvious places to have such issues.  There are also a few other errant spots of incorrect colors, but generally, things look okay.  Sue is packed with four hands (open right, fist right, relaxed left, and gripping left), and a shield piece to attach to the open right hand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve been waiting on a good FF movie for a good long while, and good toys to go with it for most of that time too.  I did have an attachment to the ’05 line, which, even though the movie was just “meh” was at least a fun line of toys.  But, with a real gap in any sort of FF coverage, I’m certainly excited to see more this time around.  Sue is undoubtedly a fun figure, living up to the current Legends standards, and doing all the things you’d hope for her to.

Shoutout to 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.

#3862: Rom

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

ROM

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

In 1979, Parker Brothers, traditionally a board game company, nominally got into the action figure world with Rom, an early electronic toy that took the traditionally figure guise.  The toy was a pretty colossal failure, and would have likely been completely forgotten were it not for the licensing agreement Parker Brothers made with Marvel for a comic adaptation of the figure.  Despite the toy’s failure, the Bill Mantlo and Sal Buscema’s comic adaptation was very successful, running 75 issues and 4 annuals, far outlasting the original toy.  Because of the weirdness surrounding the whole thing, Rom’s always been a rarity on the toy front, and has also been completely absent from anything Marvel related.  But, with the character now owned by Hasbro, and Hasbro being on good terms with Marvel, Marvel’s been able to reprint the original series, and Hasbro’s been able to put out a new figure, under the Marvel Legends banner no less!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Rom was released in the Classic Comic Collection series of Marvel Legends, alongside the Banshee figure I reviewed last week.  He further contributes to the eclectic nature of the assortment, which is just kind of a grab-bag of random characters and looks.  Hey, it got me classic Banshee *and* a Rom, so I shan’t question it.  The figure stands just shy of 7 1/4 inches tall and he has 31 points of articulation.  His articulation scheme is a little different than the usual Legends release, but it’s very much workable, and it does well within the confines of his unique design.  His sculpt is completely new.  It’s based on Rom’s slightly refined look as the series progressed and he moved a little further from the toy-inspired elements of his original design.  There’s still plenty of those vintage elements, though, and he’s very clean and sharp.  It’s one of the slickest Legends sculpts of the year, for sure, and it works really well with his articulation scheme.  Rom’s paint work is decently handled.  Notably, all of the silver is painted, rather than molded, which gives it a more even finish, without any of those swirly bits.  He’s also got some slight red detailing, with the eyes in particular working very well to capture that comic design.  Rom is packed with both his Neutralizer and Analyzer, as well as an effect piece for the Neutralizer, and two pairs of hands (in gripping and a fist/flat combo).  He’s also got a small replica of Rom: Space Knight #1, which is using the same mold as the GSXM included with Banshee.  It’s still kind of a weird gimmick, but at least Rom’s actual on the cover of the issue he comes with.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Rom’s a thing I mostly know through reputation, and not through much actual direct interaction, since the original toy’s pretty rare, and the comic was out of print for so long.  That said, I’ve always dug his design, and I’m also always down for a good robot toy.  His last figure was really hard to get, so that was a no-go. This one proved easier, so here we are.  Banshee was sort of by the numbers and simple, whereas this guy is rather involved and rather a departure from the standard style.  He’s very much an impressive figure, and hands down the best Rom ever made, as well as the best figure in this particular assortment (even if Banshee is my own personal favorite).

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.

#3858: Banshee

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

BANSHEE

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

Last week, I took a detour from my ’90s Marvel reviews for something that was still *kind of* a ’90s Marvel review.  This week, all I can truly promise is the Marvel.  In fact, it’s kind of meant to *replace* a more ’90s-centric piece already in my collection.  That doesn’t seem right, does it?  Well, look, there are layers, okay?  Today we’re talking about Banshee, a surprisingly early addition to the X-Men mythos, first appearing in 1967 during Roy Thomas and Werner Roth’s run on the original team.  He was a reluctant antagonist, and would eventually join the team proper when the “All-New, All-Different” line-up debuted in Giant-Size X-Men #1.  Since he and Sunfire were both “returning characters,” they didn’t get to be on the fancy Gil Kane-drawn cover to the issue with the rest of the team, which means they more frequently get left out of figure coverage related to the issue.  Fittingly, Hasbro started their “modern” recreation of the team in Legends form back in 2017 with Sunfire, and are finally closing it out (more or less) eight years later with Banshee.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Banshee is part of the Classic Comic Collection series of Marvel Legends, which just started hitting in the last month or so.  It’s certainly an interesting line-up of characters, and by that I mean they seem to have just sort of drawn names out of a hat.  Banshee is one of two X-Men in the line-up, the other being Dakken, whom I don’t know that he’s ever met.  This is Banshee’s third time in Legends form, all three having been under Hasbro.  He’s based on his classic green and yellow garb, which is the same as his first Legends figure, from Hasbro’s first series of Legends after they got the license in 2007 (which, incidentally, like this figure, was in a hodgepodge assortment that happened to include an Ultimate Iron Man figure).  That one was *not* good, so this one’s been a long-time coming.  The figure stands about 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation.  As we’ve all been kind of expecting since we got Strike Team Banshee back in 2023, this figure makes liberal use of parts from that one, sharing both heads, the modified upper torso, and the attachments for the glider wings with the earlier figure.  I still love both heads (sculpted by Paul Harding), and the calm one in particular feels more at home on this costume, what with the clearly ’70s muttonchops and all.  It’s still a little odd that he doesn’t have consistent hair between the two heads, but it is what it is.  On the flip side, I’m still not super into the very obvious pegs that attach the glider wings to him.  Sure, they’re secure, but they’re awful to look at.  This guy swaps out the Jim Lee-specific costume elements for the standard Vulcan pieces, making for a slightly cleaner sculpt.  In terms of color work, he changes things up, obviously, to match the new palette.  I’m always partial to the green and yellow, so I do generally like it.  That said, the tops of the boots and gloves being painted rather than molded is a bit jarring.  Otherwise, though, it all looks decent.  Banshee is packed with five different hands: a pair of fists, an open right hand, and two gripping hands.  These hands are unique, as near as I can tell, in that they have stitching on them to indicate gloves.  It’s a small detail, but I actually really like it.  Banshee is also packed with a small replica of Giant-Size X-Men #1, as is the gimmick of this assortment for…reasons?  I don’t know.  It’s nifty enough, even if it’s not *quite* scaled right.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Back in 2006, I was *thrilled* by the announcement of Banshee being in Hasbro’s first series of Marvel Legends.  In 2007, I was *not thrilled* by Hasbro’s actual Banshee figure.  I just never much cared for it.  I’ve been waiting for a better one since.  As we made our way through the updated GSXM line-up, I kept hoping the next one would be him, making it especially comedic when we got the Strike Force version first (especially since *exactly* the same thing happened in Minimates).  I made do with that one, but this was the one I was really waiting for.  He’s simple, and it’s not like he’s really doing anything new, but it’s very, very nice to have the GSXM line-up finished, and also, since Banshee was around for a bit, also have all of the subsequent line-up changes before he left the team in ’79.  That’s my favorite era of the book, and it’s really my X-Men, so this is really awesome.

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.