Tag Archives: Marvel Legends

#3426: Kraglin

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

KRAGLIN

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Former first mate of Yondu and Ravager who fought alongside the Avengers against Thanos, Kraglin sets off with the Guardians to protect the galaxy.”

When he appeared in the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie, Kraglin was really just an extended cameo for director James Gunn’s brother Sean.  He had a few memorable lines, and got a spot standing next to Yondu, but that was really it.  By the time of the sequel, he became a full-fledged character on his own, and by Vol. 3 he’s actually worked his way into the team’s family dynamic.  Not so bad for a throwaway character.  Given his ever growing role, he’s also been fortunate to make his way to the world of toys. That’s not so bad either!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Kraglin is the final single-release figure from the Cosmo Series of Marvel Legends, wrapping up the Guardians 3 tie-in stuff.  This is his first proper figure, though he also got a Pop around the same time.  Are we really gonna count that, though?  No, we’re not.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 29 points of articulation.  Kraglin is seen here in his full Ravagers gear, which he wears during the film’s climactic battle.  It’s also the same basic thing he wore during the last two films, so he can also work as a mid-credits Kraglin from Vol. 2 if you’re so inclined.  Since he’s wearing Ravagers garb, Hasbro’s taken the opportunity to do a little re-use on this figure.  He’s got the arms and legs of the movie Yondu from the last movie’s tie-ins, coupled with a new head, torso, and hands.  Unfortunately, the Yondu parts were engineered to match up with pieces from the first film’s Star-Lord figure, which was one of the first film’s weakest figures to begin with, and was already a little outdated by Vol. 2, making the parts feel even more out of whack all this time later.  The new head and torso certainly do their best to elevate the general quality of the figure, especially with the fairly respectable likeness of Gunn on the head, he still feels a little bit out of place.  Those limbs are just rather unforgiving.  Kraglin’s paint work isn’t too bad; there’s a decent amount of smaller detailing present, which goes above and beyond what Yondu got.  He also gets the usual face printing, which is as strong here as ever.  He’s packed with Yondu’s arrow piece, a small knife, and a leg for Cosmo.  The arrow piece is still a bit stubborn, and I don’t like that it’s got that permanently attached trail, but it’s better than nothing, I suppose.  I’d have liked to see maybe an extra head, without the fin, so that he could be a Vol 1/Vol 2 Kraglin, but I guess that would have just been too much Sean Gunn for one package.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Thanks to how large just the main cast was on the first two Guardians, I knew there was no way we’d be getting a Kraglin, but I still really liked the character, and was always hopeful.  I was glad to see him get a larger role this time around, and even more glad that it translated into him finally getting a figure.  It’s not a perfect figure.  In fact, it’s a bit rough.  But, on the flipside, it also matches up pretty well with that Yondu figure, so I guess there’s that.  And, quite frankly, it could have been a lot worse.

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.

#3422: The Lizard

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

THE LIZARD

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Desperate to be whole again, geneticist Curt Connors injects himself with a regenerative serum derived from reptile DNA, only to find himself transformed into the monstrous Lizard!”

Since Spider-Man was a animal-themed character who got his powers through a science experiment gone awry, it made for a nice narrative parallel that most of his early antagonists were, likewise, animal-themed and gained their powers through science experiments gone awry.  Four of his first six villains were animal themed, including The Lizard, who first appeared in Amazing Spider-Man #6, published in 1963, almost a whole 60 years ago.  That’s a good run for a guy with a name as indistinct as “The Lizard.”

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Lizard is a Walmart-exclusive Marvel Legends release, which hit in the fall of 2022.  He’s sort of an odd release, honestly.  He’s a retro-carded figure, but those have generally been wider release, except for a few Spidey variants.  Also, he was released alongside a cel-shaded Spider-Man from the cartoon, but he himself has no such shading, nor is he at all cartoon-inspired.  Thematically, he seems like he would make more sense as part of the “60 Amazing Years” sub-line, and not retro-carded at all, and he’s also a weird choice for an exclusive…but, who knows exactly what’s going on there?  I certainly won’t pretend to have that knowledge.  The figure is about 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  Compared to the last figure, he’s definitely got more of a range to his articulation.  He’s not stuck in any sort of permanent hunch (which is good, because he didn’t really have that much of one in the early days), and he gets a better selection of deeper poses.  His tail is no longer segmented like the last one, instead being soft plastic with a wire running through it.  While I’m always iffy on that sort of set-up, it’s a better look than the segmented, especially if you don’t have the budget to do more than three segments.  At least this way, the tail doesn’t have any hard angles.  This guy also gets the pinless construction for his elbows and knees, as well as using the newer torso set-up we’ve seen on some of the Spideys.  And, since he’s no longer a Build-A-Figure, he doesn’t fall apart during posing, which is a definite plus.  Lizard’s sculpt is an all-new one (courtesy of sculptor Rene Aldrete), and I’m quite a fan.  Over the course of his 60 year career, The Lizard has been on something of a sliding scale of humanoid vs monstrous.  The last Legends release was more on the monstrous side, while this one goes back to his earliest days, when he was far more humanoid. He’s not *quite* a Steve Ditko Lizard, instead arriving more at something resembling John Romita, Sr.’s slightly more refined depiction from around issue 44-45 of the original book.  It’s a version of the character we don’t see often in toy form, but it’s made the jump quite nicely here.  The main head is definitely that earlier version of the character, with his goofy facial expression and all.  You know, the best version of the Lizard.  If you’re not a huge fan of that, though, there’s a slightly later run version to swap out, which has the more distinctive serpent-style face, as well as the ever present tongue.  The body sculpt showcases his far less beastial build in the earlier days, being closer to an average build, and without the insane amounts of tattering to the clothes.  This one keeps it pretty low key on the tearing, with just a little on the edges of the sleeves and the legs of the pants.  It works well, and means that there’s a good chance some of these parts might see a bit of re-use.  The color work on this guy is generally pretty basic.  The best of it’s definitely on the lizard skin, which gets a wash to help bring out all of the scaly detailing.  The rest of it’s just base coloring, and the application is all generally pretty cleanly handled.  The Lizard includes the previously mentioned alternate head, two sets of hands (open gesture, and a fist/grip combo), and a pair of beakers.  The beakers are the same molds included with the Retro card Beast figure, but now in different colors.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve reached the point where I don’t hunt down Walmart exclusives because I just don’t need that kind of stress in my life.  So, when this guy was announced, I wrote him off as something I wasn’t going to get and decided I’d be content with my Build-A-Figure.  But, my decision to not hunt keeps paying off, because we got a loose one traded in at All Time, and boom, that means I got one.  I’m glad I did, because he’s exactly what I wanted out of a Lizard figure.  The monstrous ones never quite spoke to me, and this one just hits right where he needs to.

#3421: Adam Warlock

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

ADAM WARLOCK

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“With his cosmic powers and super-human strength, Adam Warlock is sent by the Sovereign to seek revenge on the Guardians of the Galaxy who have humiliated them.”

First teased in one of the many stingers that dropped during Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2‘s credits, Adam Warlock is one of the very first characters we see during Vol 3, already in the midst of his mission to take the Guardians down.  With Nebula firmly on the side of the heroes this time around, it’s Adam who begins this story as an antagonistic force, as he stumbles his way into being a better person.  And, it’s honestly a pretty good take on the character.  And hey, he gets a new Marvel Legend out of it!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Adam Warlock is figure 5 in the Cosmo Series of Marvel Legends, which serves as the tie-in assortment for Guardians Vol 3.  While Adam has had the Legends treatment two times prior (including one figure in the second tie-in assortment for the *last* Guardians film), this is his first MCU figure. The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 30 points of articulation. His articulation scheme is a pretty basic set-up for the line at this point. It’s not bad, bust it doesn’t really push the envelope or anything.  Adam is sporting an all-new sculpt, based on his look early-on in the film, prior to losing the cape.  It’s admittedly when he’s at his most Adam-Warlock-y in terms of look, so I get the choice.  The sculpt’s certainly got the height for the character, but he does seem a touch scrawny for the character as portrayed in the movie.  Like, not terribly far off, but just kinda small feeling, especially when placed next to the likes of Star-Lord and Drax.  His head has an okay likeness of Will Poulter, hindered only ever so slightly by the hair, which is a bit short and too composed for how Adam looked in the movie.  He’s definitely based more on the concept art for the character than the actual film look, though admittedly, it’s much closer to the final product than most concept work, so that’s a definite plus.  The one major downside to the sculpt is that the cape is totally non-removable, which does somewhat limit his applicability to the other figures, since he spends so much of the movie without the cape.  But, honestly, it’s not the end of the world.  The color work on this guy is generally pretty basic.  Lot of molded colors.  The distinction between the armor and skin tone could maybe be a touch more pronounced, but it’s also pretty minor in the movie.  Adam doesn’t get any accessories of his own, but does include the helmet and tail to the Cosmo Build-A-Figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I have a soft spot for Adam Warlock, so I’ve been looking forward to his official introduction into the MCU since he was teased in Vol. 2.  Will Poulter was definitely an out of left field casting choice, but he turned in a really solid performance, and I was glad to get him in figure form.  The figure’s not without its issues, but I still dig the overall vibe of it.  And, I’m sure we’ll see more of him down the line.

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.

#3419: Ch’od Series Wrap-Up

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

EMMA FROST, KID OMEGA, & CHO’D

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

I’ve done most of this X-wave as single reviews, but it’s safe to say I’ve taken things as far as I possibly can on that front.  There’s only so much prolonged discussion I can have about X-Men history, especially as we move towards the more recent stuff.  So, let’s get one more assortment out of the way, shall we?  Onto the remainder of the Ch’od Series!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Emma Frost and Kid Omega are figures 1 and 5, respectively, in the Ch’od Series of Marvel Legends, and are the last two figures neccessary to assemble to the set’s Build-A-Figure, wrapping up what appears to be this year’s only BaF assortment for X-Men.  Ch’od is the assortment’s titular Build-A-Figure, assembled by purchasing six of the seven figures in the assortment.

EMMA FROST

“The former Hellfire Club White Queen must grapple with her teammates’ misgivings about her joining the X-Men, as well as her own.”

During Grant Morrison’s run on X-Men, Cyclops and Emma Frost, formerly the White Queen, began a…slightly more than platonic relationship, born out of her assisting him with overcoming being possessed by Apocalypse and then dying and coming back…look, early ’00s X-Men isn’t a great time, guys.  When Jean Grey died at the end of Morrison’s run, Marvel tried real hard to push Scott and Emma as a proper couple, which included placing them both in central spots for the Astonishing X-Men line-up.  Yep, we’re going back to that time that Marvel really wanted up to make proper heroic Emma a thing.  Oh goody.  This is our fifth Emma in Legends form, all of them under Hasbro’s tenure.  This one’s notable for being a proper update to Hasbro’s very first version of the character.  Boy, was that a bad figure.  This one doesn’t have a hard bar to clear to be better.  The figure stands about 6 1/4 inches tall and she has 27 points of articulation.  Her articulation scheme is very restricted, both by the long hair and the cape, which render the shoulder articulation largely useless.  It’s part of the trick of working with this particular design, I suppose.  The sculpt does at least look pretty decent, especially in contrast to other attempts at the character, even just limiting to this look.  She looks quite a bit like Cassidy’s artwork from the book, while still fitting the overall aesthetic of the line as well.  Emma’s color work is basic, but honestly better than I’d expected.  The hair and face get some really strong accent work, which brings a nice degree of life to the figure.  Emma is packed with two sets of hands, in fists and open gesture, as well as the right leg of Ch’od.

KID OMEGA

“Omega-level telepath Quentin Quire, inspired by the attempt of Professor Xavier’s life, joins the mutant nation Krakoa’s new secret defense team, X-Force, as Kid Omega.”

Quentin Quire hails from Morrison and Quitely’s New X-Men run, and, if I’m honest, he’s not a character that’s ever really clicked with me.  He’s just so emphatically symbolic of the sort of self-assured, really insufferable sorts of characters that Morrison really likes to write.  Later writers haven’t really done much to change my opinion.  But, who am I to stop other people from getting a Quentin Quire figure if they want one?  The figure stands about 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation.  Quire is built on the Amazing Fantasy Spidey base, which is a fantastic starting point for any figure, really.  It’s a more modern Quire, so he’s in a jumpsuit, which works with the base body set-up.  He gets a new head sculpt, which is fine.  It’s not amazing or terribly unique or thrilling, but it looks enough like the character to get the idea across.  The “glasses” are a soft plastic, and prone to warping, which does wind up looking a little bit silly, but that comes with the territory.  The paint work on Kid Omega is decent enough; the pink detailing is sharp and pretty eye-catching, which is cool.  The fingers are painted for the fingerless gloves, and that’s a little sloppy on the edges.  Kid Omega is packed with two sets of hands in fists and gripping poses, as well as a recolor of the Doomlands Vagabond-patterned gun that came with Cable.  Unfortunately, he doesn’t have trigger fingers on either gripping hand, so he can’t really hold the gun properly.  He’s also packed with the torso of Ch’od.

CH’OD

“An alien from the Shi’ar galaxy, Ch’od’s monstrous, reptillian form belittles his keen intellect and heroic heart. Once a slave, he has regained his freedom, and now travels the spaceways in the company of the Starjammers, always on the lookout for other victims of tyranny in need of his aid!”

Hey!  It’s Ch’od!  This guy’s awesome!  A creation of Dave Cockrum and one of the most consistent members of the space pirate team the Starjammers, Ch’od’s the big lizard guy at Marvel who’s *not* Abomination.  I swear, he’s much nicer.  This marks Ch’od’s second figure ever, with his only other release being the one from the Toy Biz 5-inch line.  It’s been quite a while.  The figure stands about 7 3/4 inches tall and he has 29 points of articulation.  Remember what I said above about Ch’od *not* being Abomination.  Well, let’s take that and admit there’s some similarity of design elements between the two.  Hasbro’s taken advantage of said similarities for this figure, as he re-using all but the head, forearms, and hands of the Abomination Build-A-Figure from 2016.  It’s not a pitch-perfect match for Ch’od’s design, but it’s very close, and certainly as close as we can expect for a Ch’od figure in this day and age, honestly.  He gets a new head, forearms, hands, and belt.  The head is absolutely fantastic; it’s a good likeness of Ch’od, and is clearly unique from Abomination.  I especially like the articulated jaw; it adds a lot of character to the figure.  The arms and hands are fairly basic, with only minor changes to the prior pieces for just a touch more accuracy.  His color work is basic, with largely molded plastics, but that works well for the character, and the colors are nice and bright.  What paint work is present is pretty clean, so that’s definitely nice.  Ch’od actually gets an accessory: his furry companion Cr’eee!  It’s an all-new sculpt, with an articulated head and everything.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This set is admittedly one that I was more actively invested in than the other two I’ve done these wrap-ups on.  In fact, I think this one is a pretty strong line-up, all things considered.  There’s a pretty solid flow of character choices, and it’s got a pretty killer Build-A-Figure.  Ultimately, it’s Ch’od that’s really the star piece.  He’s just one of those figures I honestly wasn’t expecting to see, and he does well with the parts re-use.  Corsair’s a pretty strong solo contender, being just a very clean and well-implemented release.  Cyclops is a solid figure in his own right, even if he’s ultimately in a slightly less definitive costume.  Fang and Chamber are both a lot of fun, and hampered only ever so slightly by some iffy parts re-use choices.  Monet’s not much to write home about on her own, but serves as a decent set-up for other characters.  Emma is honestly the best version of this costume out there and is only held back by the same design issues that hold back literally every version of this costume.  And Quire’s not really exciting either, but he’s not a character I was invested in in the first place, so that’s hardly surprising.

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.

#3418: Hyperion & Doctor Spectrum

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

HYPERION & DOCTOR SPECTRUM

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Hyperion convinces Doctor Spectrum and the Squadron Supreme to use their vast superpowers to solve Other-Earth’s problems by remaking it into a utopia by any means necessary”

I’ve spoken a few times before about the Squadron Supreme, Marvel’s in-house stand-in for the Justice League.  They’ve managed to have a surprisingly enduring popularity over the years, but admittedly, not a ton of merchandising, since they exist just outside the mainstream.  We’ve gotten a few Hyperions, and a few Nighthawks, but it’s rare we get past those two.  Hasbro’s decided to give a proper line-up an actual go, it would seem, and are kicking things off, unsurprisingly, with another Hyperion, but also resident Green Lantern stand-in Doctor Spectrum!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Hyperion and Doctor Spectrum are a Fan Channel-exclusive Marvel Legends two-pack, the first of a set based on the Squadron.  Later sets indicate that this line-up is meant to be based on the “Squadron Supreme of America” version of the team from Jason Aaron and Ed McGuinness’s Avengers run, but in the case of these two particular figures, that means they also double as classic versions of the characters.  This set hit right around the same time as yesterday’s Franklin and Valeria pack, right at the end of June/beginning of July.

HYPERION

Hyperion has had one Legend before, way back in the Hit Monkey Series.  While that’s *technically* within the modern Legends classification, he was a weak figure even when he was new, and the base body that he introduced to the line is more or less retired, so a new version’s certainly not un-called for.  The figure stands 6 3/4 inches tall and he has 31 points of articulation.  He’s largely working with a fairly basic articulation set-up, but he does get a ball-jointed mid-torso set-up, which is quite nice for posing and aesthetics.  Hyperion is built from absolutely no parts from the Hyperion mold, if you can believe it.  He’s got the arms and legs of two different Hercules figures, plus a new head, torso, and cape.  The head, handle by sculptor Paul Harding, is based on Hyperion’s earliest appearances, when he was still sporting the short hair and the domino mask.  I appreciate how it’s got just a touch of a Superman vibe, without being just straight up Superman.  He’s still his own character.  The color work on this figure is very bright and eye catching. There’s a slight mismatch on the exact shades of red, which seems to happen a lot, but otherwise things work out okay.  His actual paint is all pretty clean, and I like how the hair gets the darker accenting to help bring out the sculpted details.  Hyperion is packed with an extra pair of gripping hands.  Not really sure why, but I guess he might want to hold some stuff occasionally?

DOCTOR SPECTRUM

Doctor Spectrum’s only prior figure is a Minimate, which wasn’t a super plentiful one at that.  Despite being one of the team’s higher profile members, he’s just never gotten the spotlight.  But hey, here he is now.  Yay!  The figure stands about 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  Spectrum is based on the supposedly retired Bucky Cap base body, which just sort of keeps showing back up.  It’s like a Baby Boomer that just won’t stay home, or something.  This time around, it’s got a new set of arms, with pinless construction on the elbows.  They don’t quite sit flesh with the body, which is a touch awkward.  Why they didn’t just use the newly developed Vulcan body is anybody’s guess.  I assume there’s some sort of logic behind it, and I’m not gonna try to figure it out.  He also re-uses the Blizzard head, which honestly is pretty hard to go wrong with.  It’s a basic full face mask.  Not like there’s a lot of different ways to do that, right?  Doctor Spectrum’s distinctive color scheme is largely handled via molded colors, but there’s a fair bit of actual painting on the torso.  Some of the edges are a touch sloppy, but they’re not awful.  The only thing I’m really not big on is way the blue continues around the shoulders; it just doesn’t look right when posing.  The Doc is packed with two sets of hands, one open gesture, the other gripping, two effects pieces, and his Power Prism.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The Squadron Supreme are a fun concept, and it feels like all we ever get are Hyperion figures.  Well, and Nighthawk too, I suppose, but his are usually his Defenders costume, so it doesn’t really count.  I have a particular affinity for Doctor Spectrum, what with him being the GL equivalent and all, so I’ve long wanted some proper toy version of him.  This one’s admittedly a little phoned in.  But, at the same time, it’s not a *bad* figure, and certainly preferable to no Doctor Spectrum at all.  Hyperion, despite being yet another Hyperion, is actually a pretty cool figure, so I can get behind that, I guess.

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.

#3417: Franklin Richards & Valeria Richards

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

FRANKLIN RICHARDS & VALERIA RICHARDS

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Genius children of Fantastic Four’s Reed and Sue Richards, Franklin and Valeria Richards explore the wonders of the multiverse with their Moloid friend Turg as part of Marvel’s First Family”

Comics, by there very nature as a serialized medium with only so much space to tell in a given installment and slower pace of release relative to the real world, are almost always required to move at their own pace.  For long-spanning universes, such as Marvel and DC, this requires the use of a sliding timeline, where things happen at a different pace in-universe.  Marvel, in particular, likes to have milestone moments to showcase the characters are moving forward.  One of the biggest ones for them, especially in their earlier years, was Franklin Richards, the son of Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Woman.  Reed and Sue began in Fantastic Four as simply dating, then got married, and eventually had Franklin, all under the tenure of their creators Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, in their first decade of existence.  Franklin is a rare character that was born within the narrative, who has actually gotten to grow up in-universe, going from infant, to toddler, to child, to teenager.  Sure, it took him 50 years to get to being a teenager, but, still.  Along the way, Reed and Sue had a second child, Val, who, like her brother, has also gotten to grow up, albeit at a slightly faster pace.  The two of them aren’t exactly ripe for toy coverage, but they’re not entirely without it either, which is how I can be talking about them right now.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Franklin Richards and Valeria Richards are a Fan Channel-exclusive Marvel Legends two-pack, capitalizing on the increased profile of the characters following Dan Slott’s revival run for the FF.  The two of them are based on their more modernized teen looks, with outfits to match the rest of the team as we saw them in the Super Skrull Series.  Or other versions of the team as well, since they actually kept these suits past the main team ditching them as the run progressed.

FRANKLIN RICHARDS

Franklin’s had a surprising number of figures, in that the number he’s had before this one isn’t zero.  In fact, this isn’t even Franklin’s first time as a Marvel Legend, since he was included in Toy Biz’s FF boxed set back in 2004.  It’s the first time Hasbro’s tackled him, though, so there’s that.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation.  Franklin is based on the Amazing Fantasy Spidey body, which is honestly a fantastic base body that hasn’t gotten much play thus far.  It’s perhaps a bit too tall and too muscular to *really* be spot-on for Franklin, even as a teenager, but a proper base body would have required a completely new sculpt, and Franklin’s not the sort of character that really warrants that.  So, I guess we’re just making do with this one.  Franklin gets a new head sculpt, based on his post-teen-angst-driven-dying-of-his-hair look (which, per Dan Slot, was done so that Franklin wouldn’t get confused with Johnny in long shots of the team), which is a very different look for him, but it’s also his current one, so I can dig it.  It looks the part, based on the art, and adapted to the usual Legends stylings.  His color work is pretty closely matched to the modern FF costumes, which is proper for his design.  The actual painting is one the limited side for the uniform, but what’s there is cleanly handled.  He’s got the standard printed face as well, which works pretty well.  Franklin is packed with two sets of hands, in fists and gripping, plus the two beakers we got with Lizard and Beast, as well as a pair of blast and a pair of smoking effects, which are compatible with the tops of the beakers.

VALERIA RICHARDS

While Franklin’s had his share of figures, Val has thus far been without any at all.  Admittedly, she was a baby and a toddler for a good while, so not quite as toyetic.  But she’s got one now, and that’s what really matters, right?  The figure stands about 5 3/4 inches tall and she has 29 points of articulation.  Val is built on the Spider-Girl base body, which, like we saw with Franklin, does seem maybe a touch too mature for Val.  Again, though, she’d need a totally unique base, so we’re again working with what we’ve got.  It’s a good base body, at least, so it’s not the worst thing ever.  Val gets a new head sculpt, which, like Franklin, is a good approximation of the art, while also fitting her in with the rest of the line.  There’s also a familial resemblance between her and Franklin, which is certainly appropriate.  Val’s color work is pretty similar to Franklin’s, with the expected change-ups for the head and hair, of course.  Val is packed with three sets of hands, in fists and two styles of gripping, as well as the data pad from the AIM Supreme, and her teammate Turg the Moloid.  Turg is re-using the base and dome from What If…? Scott Lang.  I was a little bummed to see she didn’t get her goggles, as they were a pretty key part of her look (and they differentiated her from Sue in much the same way that Franklin’s hair differentiated him from Johnny).

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve had this odd sort of fascination with Franklin Richards figures since I was a kid.  I guess maybe I just really connected with him at the time?  I don’t know.  I do know that one of the first comics runs that I actually actively kept up with was Waid and Wieringo’s Fantastic Four, and Franklin and Val are both pretty important to that run.  I also really enjoyed how Slott worked them into his run.  This pack is perhaps not a star piece of the collection or anything, but they’re a fun way of getting two pretty important supporting players, and I’m definitely down for that.

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.

#3416: Rocket

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

ROCKET

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“As Rocket takes on more leadership duties within the Guardians of the Galaxy, his past actions have consequences that come back to haunt him.”

Though certainly a character that was always in the focus in the movies, Guardians of the Galaxy‘s Rocket was typically more of a quirky supporting player than an outright lead for most of his appearances.  In Guardians Vol. 3, Rocket takes on a far more central role, and one that grants the character a lot more nuance than we’ve seen out of him previously.  Resting the emotional core of your story on a CGI talking raccoon is an iffy prospect at best, but Vol. 3 makes it work.  It makes it work very well.  And Rocket gets to really shine because of it, which is honestly pretty awesome.  You know what else is awesome?  Toys.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Rocket is figure 4 in the Cosmo Series of Marvel Legends, which, as noted previously, is the tie-in assortment for Guardians Vol. 3.  The whole team is present, and Rocket’s also Rocket, so his inclusion makes perfect sense.  Curiously, this marks the first time that a Legends MCU Rocket has been released without any sort of Groot packed alongside him (though that was technically flipped this time, since the deluxe Groot included a baby Rocket).  Like the rest of the team, he’s seen here in his swanky new uniform, which is definitely a good look.  The figure stands 3 inches tall and he has 28 points of articulation.  Like his last go-round, Rocket is still a fully articulated figure, and he’s even a little bit better this time around, since his ankles are rocker joints and the wrists are universals, rather than the straight swivels that we got the last time around.  If nothing else, it certainly makes him a bit easier to stand.  Rocket is sporting an all-new sculpt, courtesy of Rene Aldrete, which is certainly a respectable recreation of Rocket’s on-screen model.  He’s not the drastic step-up in quality we saw with the last release, but that’s largely because the last one was really, really good already.  This one largely sticks to that, just giving him the new uniform, and working in the articulation just a tad bit better.  Rocket’s color work generally matches with the rest of the team suits; the red is still a little sloppy, but it otherwise works okay.  There’s some more intensive work on the head and tail, which captures the detailing of the fur pretty well.  There’s something about the eyes on this one that, much like Mantis, just seem a bit off to me, however.  I’m not sure exactly what it is, but it’s the only thing that I prefer on the older version.  Rocket is packed with the same large blaster rifle as the Vol 1 version, which, I’ll be honest, I was never much of a fan of.  It was awkward and hard to hold the first time around, and it remains so this time around.  Rocket is also packed with the head and main body of the Cosmo Build-A-Figure, which is by far the largest section, since he’s by far the smallest figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The original Rocket figure was honestly one of the worst the line ever put out.  The second, on the other hand, was one of the best.  There wasn’t a ton of room to improve, but this figure found some, and it went for it.  I’m not big on the eyes or the backpedalling to the weird bulky gun, but I do like the core figure a lot, and I also really like having a cohesive set of Guardians.

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.

#3414: Fang

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

FANG

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Wolverine takes advantage of his likeness to Imperial Guard Fang and impersonates him to infiltrate the Shi’ar.”

Okay, so, like, that’s….that’s not right. Like at all. Ignoring the very obvious issue that the bio above is talking about Wolverine, and not the actual character this figure is meant to represent, there’s also the fact that while Wolverine and Fang do sport similar characteristics, they certainly don’t look enough like each other for one to impersonate the other. Also, Wolverine didn’t impersonate him to infiltrate the Shi’ar. What actually happened was that Wolverine, in need of a new costume after his was destroyed in battle, stole a replacement from Imperial Guardsman Fang, an expy of the Legion of Superheroes’ Timber Wolf, who was himself something of an inspiration to Wolverine. It gave Wolverine a new look for a few issues, and gave Fang’s design a little extra highlight, which serves as a decent justification for making a Fang figure. I’ll take it!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Fang is figure 2 in the Ch’od Series of Marvel Legends. He’s one of the three Phoenix Saga related figures in the set, as well as the second Guard in the line (after Gladiator), and Fang’s first actual figure. The figure stands about 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation. He’s using the cleaned up version of the Spider-UK body that was previously used for Strucker, which is decent enough, but in a perfect world, I think it might have made more sense to put him on the Wolverine body, since they’re depicted as being similarly sized and all. But, they opted for this one, so here we are. He gets a new head sculpt, courtesy of Paul Harding, as well as new add-on pieces for the necklace, belt, and boot and glove cuffs.  The new head is a mix of a few of Fang’s looks from over the years, but it captures the general feel of the character pretty well.  The new add-ons have a little difficulty staying in place, but we’re not quite at the level of 90s Cyclops’s leg bands, so it’s not awful.  The whole thing winds up as a solid recreation of his comics design.  Aiding in that is the color work; it’s basic, but it’s clean, and the color scheme looks like it should.  Fang is packed with two sets of hands, in fists and open claws, as well as the head for the Ch’od Build-A-Figure, and his little animal companion.  He does *not* include any Wolverine parts, which feels like a missed opportunity, and also like it might have been a slight change of plans, especially given the character bio he received.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Honestly, this figure surprised me.  I mean, I thought a Fang Wolverine was a longshot, so just a Fang figure, with no Wolverine connection at all, seemed downright impossible.  But, I guess not so much.  Fang is overall fairly by the numbers.  I’m admittedly a little bummed by the lack of Wolverine parts, but he stands out well enough on his own, and I’m certainly not upset about getting another Imperial Guard member.  Here’s to hoping we see some more of them!

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.

#3413: Astonishing Ant-Man

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

ASTONSIHING ANT-MAN

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Attempting to save his daughter’s life, ex-criminal Scott Lang steals technology imbued with Pym Particles. Gaining the ability to shrink to the size of an insect, Scott becomes an unexpected Super Hero as Ant-Man”

Alright, I may have wrapped up the Cassie Lang Series of Marvel Legends last week, but that doesn’t mean I’m done with the cool Ant-Man goodness *just* yet!  In 1979, with the Ant-Man identity three names back for Hank Pym, the guise was assumed by Scott Lang, who used it to save his daughter Cassie’s life.  Scott would take on the title officially until his demise during “Avengers Disassembled” in 2004, and would reclaim it following his 2012 resurrection in Avengers: Children’s Crusade, allowing him to again be the main Ant-Man when it came time for the MCU incarnation to make his debut.  Obviously, Scott’s gotten quite a bit of toy love in the last few years, but classic Scott Lang figures are still something of a rarity, which makes today’s offering extra cool!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Astonishing Ant-Man is a Target-exclusive Marvel Legends release.  He hit roughly around the same time as the Cassie Lang Series, which had him timed out to loosely coincide with the home media release of Quantumania.  This is our second classic style Ant-Man under Hasbro, and our third Legends version overall, counting the old Toy Biz release.  Technically, it’s also a one and one for Scott Lang sporting the gear, since the Retro Card Ant-Man Hasbro put out was actually Hank, going by the eye color.  Yes, I brought up the eye color.  Deal with it.  The figure stands about 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation.  He’s using the ANAD 2099 body as his base this time around.  It means he’s still got visible pins on the elbows and knees, which is a bit of a bummer, but I do feel like the build is a much better fit for both Scott and Hank than the Pizza Spidey body was.  Ant-Man gets a new head and belt piece to finish off the look.  The head is just a beautiful piece of work, through and through.  The helmet is a separate, non-removable piece, and it’s honestly never looked better in Legends form.  They always get something slightly off, but not this time.  It’s clean, it’s sleek, and it’s sharp.  The only downside is how the antenna are easily bent out of shape, but a little bit of heating, straightening, and cooling does wonders for him.  Under the helmet, we get a new facial sculpt, which can honestly work alright for either of the two Ant-Men, but is ever so slightly leaning towards Scott, as it should be.  His new belt is very similar to the one used on Retro Ant-Man and Black Ant, but it’s sized correctly to the new base body, and is also much more sharply detailed.  Ant-Man’s color work is very bright, very bold, and very clean.  The paint work on this one is especially sharp, and it really sells the overall look.  They’ve also made sure to give Scott his proper blue eyes, so that you know who’s who.  Ant-Man is packed with two sets of hands, one open, one in fists.  It’s light.  I won’t lie.  But, honestly, Ant-Man’s always light when it comes to Legends.  I think maybe an unmasked head, or even yet another release of that same pack-in mini Ant-Man might make me feel better, but the hands aren’t terrible.  At least he’s not just stuck with fists again.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The Retro Ant-Man was, at best, always just kind of a placeholder for a better figure.  Black Ant as fine on his own, but he’s not classic Ant-Man, and repainting him in classic Ant-Man colors doesn’t magically fix that.  So, he was fine, but he was never really a star piece for me.  That said, this figure, much like his Toy Biz Walmart-exclusive counterpart, is a figure I didn’t realize I needed as much as I did.  Thankfully, Max was able to hook me up with one without much fuss, allowing me to get him in hand and realize that he is, in fact, the best classic Ant-Man figure out there by a very large margin.

#3412: Bombastic Bag-Man

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

BOMBASTIC BAG-MAN

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Left without a costume, a desperate Peter Parker dons a spare Fantastic 4 uniform and a brown paper bag. And so the Bombastic Bag-Man was born!”

We live in a crazy era for Marvel Legends.  Like, I just can’t be clear enough about that.  It’s an era of getting, serious, actual, fully planned out figures of gag concepts.  Case in point: Bombastic Bag-Man.  After discovering that his black costume was an alien symbiote with its own agenda, Peter Parker enlisted the help of Reed Richards to remove the symbiote.  Left without a suit, he borrowed an older FF suit and a paper bag.  In true Spider-Man fashion, Peter has to stop a crime on his way home, still sporting his makeshift costume, and introducing himself as “The Bombastic Bag-Man.”  It’s silly, and really not a marketable Spidey look, but it’s also a fan-favorite.  It’s come close to figure form a few times, never quite making it to the finish line.  Hasbro, however, has finally made it actually happen.  Crazy.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Bombastic Bag-Man is a Target-exclusive Marvel Legends release.  He’s a one-off on the Marvel Super Heroes style retro card, and he was part of Hasbro’s overall celebration of Spidey’s 60th Anniversary.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 30 points of articulation.  Bag-Man is built on the Reed Richards modification of the Pizza Spidey body.  Why they didn’t just use the Pizza Spidey body straight is anybody’s guess; perhaps they just thought this one was more Fantastic Four-y.  I’m a little bummed that it means he loses the butterfly shoulder, but it’s still a decent body.  He also re-uses the feet from Shang-Chi, made evident by their lack of peg-holes.  The figure’s topped off by a new head sculpt, for the full Bag-Man effect.  The bag and the actual head are separate parts; the bag isn’t removable, and the head beneath only actually gets eye and chin detailing, but it gives everything the appropriate depth.  The actual bag sculpt is also just really good; it honestly looks just a real paper bag that’s been shoved over his head, down to the mis-shaping for his nose.  The color work on Bag-Man is largely meant to mimic the colors on the Walgreens FF releases.  It’s appropriate, since it’s supposed to be one of the same uniforms, and all.  That said, it’s not an exact match.  The blue is a slightly brighter shade, and the exact sizing of the “4” logo is a bit larger.  Granted, for true accuracy, he’s meant of pair off with the Byrne-era costumes anyways, so it doesn’t truly have to match, I guess.  Bag-Man is packed with two sets of hands (fists and open gesture) as well as the “Kick Me” sign Johnny stuck on his back.  That piece is gonna get a lot of use for sure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As I’ve gotten into a few times here, I’ve given up on the exclusives game for the most part.  But, somehow most of it ends up in front of me, just the same.  I dig Bag-Man as a silly concept, so I was glad to get a chance at one when he came into All Time.  He’s not perfect, but he’s certainly fun.  And we live in a time where there’s a freaking Bag-Man figure.  Crazy.

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.