Tag Archives: Marvel Legends

#3162: Sabretooth

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

SABRETOOTH

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“With keen senses, a mutant healing factor, and zero moral restraint, Sabretooth is a dark reflection of his archnemesis, the mutant hero Wolverine.”

I fully intended to begin today’s review of a Sabretooth figure by bringing up the fact that he didn’t actually start out as an X-Men or Wolverine antagonist, and was instead an Iron Fist villain, but in doing some back-reading of old reviews in preparation, I have discovered that I’ve actually mentioned that fact in almost all of my Sabretooth reviews here on the site.  I…I should probably double check old intros a little more often, shouldn’t I?  Eh, I probably won’t.  Look forward to hearing about the Iron Fist thing in my next Sabretooth review, after I’ve completely forgotten the lesson I learned in this one’s intro.  Just try to pretend its new and exciting information when you hear it then.  And give me a break, because I’ll be older and more tired by that point.  Just keep me comfortable, is what I’m getting at here.  Man, this intro’s getting really meta and really bleak, really fast.  Well, onto the toy, I guess.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Sabretooth is figure 6 in the Bonebreaker Series of Marvel Legends, and is the final figure needed to assemble the Bonebreaker Build-A-Figure.  There’s also a Wolverine variant, but I’ve honestly got enough Wolverine variants, so I passed on that one.  This Sabretooth is based on his first appearance costume…more or less.  It marks the first time Hasbro’s done the design, and its second time in Legends form, following the Toy Biz Face Off release.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  While the last two standard universe Sabretooths have been based on the Hyperion body, this one is on the slightly slimmer Reaper body.  It makes sense, since the earlier Sabretooth design was always depicted as being a little slimmer anyway.  It’s also a body that’s not super over-used, so that’s a plus.  The figure gets a new head, forearms, shins, hands, and feet, as well as an add-on for his fur collar.  The new parts mesh well with the old, and the whole thing’s a rather cohesive looking take on the original design.  The head in particular is quite nice; rather than the more frequent screaming expression, he’s got Creed’s evil grin, which is frequently overlooked for such figures.  The figure’s paint work is generally pretty decently handled.  He does have a bit of a departure from the proper 1st Appearance look, with fingerless gloves and…toe-less boots?  They don’t appear to be based on any particular version of the costume, but I do kinda dig how they look.  Sabretooth has no accessories of his own, but he includes three separate pieces for Bonebreaker, all meant to connect to the lower tank-portion of the figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was very happy with the Jim Lee style Sabretooth from the Apocalypse Series, so I didn’t need another.  That said, I get the desire to update this look, since it’s been a while since it got toy coverage.  This one turned out pretty well.  He’s not going to be my go-to Sabretooth or anything, but he’s certainly a cool figure.

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.

#3161: Darwin

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

DARWIN

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“True to his name, Darwin has the power to adapt against any threat, be it searing volcanic heat or the cold vacuum of space!”

Hey, remember when I was talking about retcons?  And, more specifically, the retcon that introduced Vulcan, the third Summers brother?  And, how terribly handled it was?  Well, for the sake of argument, how about a retcon character that I actually don’t hate, who is in fact from that exact same story?  Yes, today, I’m talking about Armando Munoz, aka Darwin, one of the other three members of Vulcan’s ill-fated team, and the only other one to survive to the present day.  Darwin has the ability to adapt to the threats around him, and has generally been a pretty low-key sort of character, whose unique (and actually decently defined) abilities and lack of connection to pre-existing characters make for a far less obtrusive inclusion within X-history, even if it was added after the fact.  And, he’s even gotten to be in a movie, which was pretty cool.  And now, he’s got a Marvel Legend.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Darwin is figure 5 in the Bonebreaker Series of Marvel Legends.  He fits well with the overall oddball-theme of the assortment, as well as having the added benefit of being in the same assortment as his former teammate Vulcan, which I suppose is a pretty nice little tie.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  Darwin is built on the Pizza Spidey body, which is a reasonable choice for the character, who is usually portrayed as being more on the slender side.   He gets a new head, belt, and hands, which capture his look respectably well.  The new head is suitably alien in its appearance, matching the character’s earlier appearances, as well as the costume choice that they’ve gone with, which is his original “Deadly Genesis” design.  He winds up looking a little bit like John Lithgow, if I’m honest, which I don’t really hate.  The paint work on Darwin matches up with his comics design; I really dig the purple, and the skin tone is appropriately pale and washed out.  I like the slight accenting on the head, in order to bring out more of the sculpted details.  Darwin is packed with two sets of hands (open gesture and fists), as well as half of the tank treads for the Bonebreaker Build-A-Figure.  It might have been nice to get a few parts showing off his adaptive skills, but this figure is pretty clearly the assortment’s low-cost figure, so I get why they stuck with what we got.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

My first exposure to Darwin was actually in X-Men: First Class, where I quite liked him, despite his relatively small role.  I haven’t been actively following him in the comics, but I’ve always enjoyed the stories I’ve read with him, and, like I mentioned in the intro, I find his retcon status to be far less frustrating than Vulcan’s, so I just generally like him more.  While I didn’t *need* a figure of him, it’s one I can appreciate, and, for as basic as this one is, he’s honestly pretty fun.

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.

#3160: Maggott

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

MAGGOTT

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Maggott’s mutant power is his two giant slugs, Eanie and Meanie, that serve as his digestive system.”

At the height of the their popularity in the ’90s, the X-Men were in desperate need of new characters to fill up the many, many books that were being published.  You can’t just fill every roster with Wolverine, right?  As they progressed, the characters seemed to be trying to top each other in terms of both weirdness and general X-Tremeness.  Things had gotten pretty absurd by 1997, which is when we got today’s character, Maggott, frequently touted as one of the strangest X-Men.  He was crazy, and ridiculous, and honestly kind of awesome.  So, of course, he had to be killed in a horrible fashion once the ’00s came along, to prove that we were far more serious.  Super serious you guys.  But it’s okay, because none of the X-Men stay dead anymore, so he’s back!  Yeah!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Maggott is figure four in the Bonebreaker Series of Marvel Legends.  This is Maggott’s first action figure release, though he was actually slated for one back in the ’90s, as part of a cancelled follow-up assortment to Toy Biz’s “Missile Flyers” theme.  Crazy it took this long, but here we finally are.  The figure stands 6 3/4 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  Maggott’s sculpt is an all-new affair, patterned on his primary design from the ’90s, in all of its crazy ’90s-ness.  The sculpt does a pretty great job of capturing the essence of his ’90s appearances, while still filtering it through to something that could fit in a bit better with the overall stylings of the other figures in the line.  If I have one complaint, it’s that the head seems perhaps a touch too large, but beyond that, I think it really works.  I especially appreciate the extra texture work on the jacket, as well as the more jovial expression on the face.  The color work on Maggot matches well with his in-book color scheme.  It was pretty gaudy, even for the time, but they’ve kept it true, and haven’t dulled it down, as tends to happen with such designs.  The paint application is all generally clean and well-handled, and there’s no notable slop or bleed over.  Maggott is packed with his two maggots, Eanie and Meanie, which can be placed on him (though they don’t really secure or anything), as well as the head and weapon for the Bonebreaker Build-A-Figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The cancelled Toy Biz figure was my introduction to the character, but since then, I’ve always had this sort of built-up need to own a Maggott figure.  And, up until now, there’s not been one, which is kind of a bummer.  When this guy was teased, and then confirmed, I was actually pretty excited.  Sure, he’s not Havok, but he was still quite high on my list.  He’s a fun, rather unique figure, and, after 20 years, I’m just glad to finally have a Maggott in my collection.

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.

#3159: Vulcan

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

VULCAN

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Vulcan sets his sights on total galactic conquest. Standing in his way are the X-Men, the Inhumans, the Kree…and his brother Havok!”

I’ve discussed before here on the site that I’m not a particularly big fan of retcons.  I just feel that jamming a character into a pre-existing narrative is at best an unsettling venture, and at worst, it’s just painfully bad.  So, today’s focus, Vulcan, aka Gabriel Summers, brother to Havok and Cyclops, is a character I’m generally non-plussed about.  The idea of a third Summers brother had been floated around for quite some time before Vulcan’s introduction, with a number of possible candidates, all of whom were previously established characters.  Vulcan was introduced in 2006, and is like a retcon turducken.  He’s the third Summers son, whom their mother was retconned into being pregnant with when she and Corsair were abducted by the Shi’ar.  He was then involved with the Shi’ar, before coming back to Earth, working for Erik the Red (a character we saw previously, who had made no prior mention of knowing another Summers brother), being found by Moira Mactaggert (another character who had not mentioned another Summers brother), and recruited by Charles Xavier (another character again to not mention the extra Summers brother) to lead a second team of X-Men to Krakoa in order to rescue the first, thereby making the All-New All-Different X-Men who actually rescue the team and defeat Krakoa in Giant-Size X-Men #1 the third team of X-Men, not the second.  He’s then hidden away for a bunch of time, until he resurfaces during “Deadly Genesis,” where we get to find out how cool and badass he is, because, he’s, like, an Omega Class Mutant, you guys.  So, he’s like the other two Summers brothers, but actually way better.  And he did a bunch of cool stuff offscreen.  We swear, you guys.  He’s, like, so much cooler than all the others.  And his powers?  They’re very cool.  No idea what they are, of course, because he’s definitely got one of those power sets that super vague and just what’s needed to make him seem “cool.”  But they’re cool.  Promise.  Okay, I’m gonna stop ragging on Vulcan and just actually review the figure, I guess.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Vulcan is figure 3 in the Bonebreaker Series of Marvel Legends.  This marks Vulcan’s very first time in action figure form, which is crazy, given how cool this guy is.  It says so in all of his appearances.  So, we’re setting things right with this one.  Vulcan is depicted here in his main X-Men attire, and seems to be most specifically based on his more recent appearances from the post-House of X stuff.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation.  While Havok was on a re-purposed body, Vulcan debuts an all-new base body.  This one has been specifically designed as a replacement for the Bucky Cap body, so it’s meant to have a similar build and styling.  The proportions are slightly more nuanced and balanced, the detailing is generally cleaner, and he gets additional butterfly joints for the shoulders.  Additionally, the elbows and knees are using the pinless construction, making for an all-around cleaner look for the figure.  Generally, it’s a decent base body.  I feel like the knees are possibly a touch too low, but it otherwise looks pretty solid.  It’s a good replacement for the Bucky Cap, though I do somewhat rue the fact that I’ll now be having to reference this as the “Vulcan Body” in every use going forward.  Couldn’t they have used it for someone cooler first?  Vulcan gets a unique head sculpt, which is respectable from a technical stand point.  It’s very sharply defined, and generally matches with his more recent depictions in the comics.  The color work on this figure is quite bright and bold.  The paint for the dark blue sections is nice and sharply handled, as is the face and belt.  There’s not a ton going on, but what’s there works.  Vulcan is packed with two sets of hands (fists and open gesture) and the torso, arms, and hands for the Bonebreaker Build-A-Figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

If the intro didn’t fill you in, I’ve got some issues with Vulcan.  The character is deeply flawed to his concept, and about the only thing I’ve ever liked about him is that his later stories gave some nice focus to Havok.  I’ve never particularly liked him, and nothing anyone has done with him has made me care.  His inclusion here is kind of meh, but he does at least debut the new body, which is a nice starting point for future, better figures.

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.

#3158: Havok

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

HAVOK

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Alex Summers aka Havok fires super-heated plasma from his hands to devastating effect. A veteran hero and leader, he longs to step out of his older brother Cyclops’ shadow.”

What’s that?  A new Marvel Legends Havok?  Well, don’t mind if I do.  When Havok was first added to Legends under Toy Biz’s tenure in 2006, they opted to put him in his original Neal Adams-designed outfit.  Since then, Hasbro’s given him two additional figures in the line, both covering different designs than the Toy Biz release.  Now, they’re going back to the beginning, with their own go at the original Havok, and, quite frankly, I couldn’t be happier.  Because, you know, Havok.  So, let’s wreak review some Havok!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Havok is figure 2 in the Bonebreaker Series of Marvel Legends.  Obviously, the assortment’s still got a Wolverine and all, but Havok does feel a bit like the headliner…but I’m probably biased on that.  I always feel like Havok’s the headliner.  I mean, he’s Havok.  Top shelf stuff.  This is Havok’s fourth time in Legends form, and his third under the Hasbro banner.  As addressed up above, this Havok is based on the character’s first costume, which he sported for about two decades, before the whole X-line got rebranded and he got his Jim Lee design.  It’s a classic look, and one that many of his designs since have referenced.  Moreover, he’s more or less wearing this costume again in the current run of the X-books.  Yay for relevance!  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation.  Hasbro’s last two Havoks were built on the Bucky Cap body, but with that body officially being retired, this guy gets moved to a different base.  While there’s an intended replacement in this assortment, it’s not used for Alex.  Instead, he’s built on the 2099 body.  It’s a little smaller than the last base, but as a younger incarnation of the character, it doesn’t feel too out of place.  This also feels like the most direct replacement for the old Bullseye body, which served as the basis of the original Havok Legends figure*.  So, in that respect, it works out pretty well.  He gets an all-new head sculpt and it’s a very strong piece.  It’s a slightly calmer expression than the original Toy Biz release, but it still feels very on-brand for the character, retaining a number of traits from the ’90s Havok head sculpt, even.  The paintwork on this figure is largely pretty basic, but what’s there is really good.  In particular, the energy effect on his “symbol” on his chest is quite believable, and manages to convincingly look like it’s glowing.  I definitely dig it.  Havok is packed with three separate energy effects, all three of them new.  There are two for the wrists, like with the last ones, as well as one that clips into his back.  The wrist ones are a little loose, but I otherwise really like the new pieces, and I’m very seriously tempted to buy so many of this figure just for the effects for my other Havoks.  He’s also packed with two drum pieces for the Bonebreaker Build-A-Figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Have I mentioned that I like Havok?  I feel like that may be important.  Unsurprisingly, this figure was my most wanted of the assortment, because I’m always down for a good Havok.  This is a good Havok.  A very good one.  There’s a simplicity to the core figure, in contrast to the complexity of the last Havok, and it works very well.

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.

*It was so direct a replacement, that it was actually used for the most recent Bullseye figure from Hasbro

#3157: Siryn

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

SIRYN

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Inheriting her mutant sonic scream from her father Banshee and raised by her criminal uncle, Black Tom Cassidy, Theresa Cassidy forges her own heroic path with X-Factor as Siryn!”

Hey, do you know what it’s time for?  Well, another review, obviously, but, more specifically, it’s time for more Marvel Legends.  You know, because there’s new Marvel Legends. So, I gotta review them.  That’s how it goes, guys.  The latest round of figures is X-themed, and its an assortment of veritable oddballs.  I’m all about that.  The first of the oddballs up to bat is our second member of the Cassidy family in recent years, Theresa Cassidy, aka Siryn.  Daughter to Banshee, and long-time X-Force member, Siryn is surprisingly short on toy coverage, with only a single Minimate release to date.  Now, she adds a Legend to that list, adding to the ever-growing X-Force team within the line.  Let’s see how she turned out!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Siryn is figure 1 in the Bonebreaker Series of Marvel Legends, which looks to be this year’s only proper X-assortment.  She’s sporting her classic Banshee-inspired X-Force look from the ’90s, which is probably her most distinctive design, making it a pretty logical choice of costume.  The figure stands a little over 6 inches tall and she has 30 points of articulation.  Her parts are a combination of the prior mid-sized body, with the pinless arms and legs first showcased on Shriek.  She also gets re-used cuff pieces on the wrists and ankles, as well as an all-new head sculpt.  The new head is pretty decent.  There’s a nice dynamic flow to the hair, and the face generally matches the look of the character as she tends to be depicted in the comics.  Notably, unlike a lot of Banshee figures, the head isn’t permanently screaming, which is generally for the best.  It’s certainly less limiting in terms of posing.  Topping things off is her “cape,” which much like Storm, is made from a very thin, almost paper-like cloth.  It’s only printed on one side, and it’s generally kind of cheap looking, but it’s pretty much what I’ve come to expect at this point.  It at least gets the point across, but I’d appreciate at the very least two-sided printing.  The color work on this figure is generally alright; the application on the yellow is a little sloppy, but not terrible.  The face, especially the freckles, is quite nicely rendered, with a very lifelike quality.  It’s definitely the strongest aspect of the figure.  Siryn is packed with two sets of hands (in fists and open gesture poses), as well as half of Bonebreaker’s tank-body.  I’d have liked to have gotten an extra head with the screaming expression, but otherwise, I guess it’s not terrible.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Siryn wound up being the first of these figures that I got a hold of, despite perhaps not being the highest on my list.  That being said, that’s less about her, and more about what else was in the set.  I’m glad to finally have a proper Siryn figure, and this one is a good one.  She’s generally by the numbers, and not without some small set-backs, but I like her.  Now, can we finally get a Banshee update to round out the Cassidy family?  Because it’s getting a little silly at this point.

Thanks to my sponsors at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure for review.  If you’re looking for toys both old and new, please check out their website.

#3154: Storm

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

STORM

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“With her weather manipulation powers Storm can summon lightning across the sky, or gentle rain over a parched land.”

Back in June, I looked at the first two figures in Hasbro’s X-Men: The Animated Series-inspired sub-line of Marvel Legends.  They’ve been rather steadily putting up pre-orders for additional figures, and, thanks to the onslaught of everything that was supposed to show up over the course of the next year showing up exactly now, I’ve got another one of them to look at!  Today’s focus is the mistress of weather herself, Storm!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Storm is the fourth figure in Hasbro’s X-Men: The Animated Series sub-line of Marvel Legends.  Between her and the previously released Jubilee, there was also a Mr. Sinister, but I opted to pass on that one in order to focus on just the team.  This marks the fourth of the ’90s-ispired Storms under the Legends branding, spanning both Toy Biz and Hasbro.  As with the prior figures, Storm ships in a VHS-inspired package, to really sell the animation angle.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and she has 27 points of articulation.  Storm’s construction is largely the same as the prior ’90s Storm figure, meaning she’s on the medium female base body, with the unique torso and upper arms.  She gets an all-new, more animation accurate head sculpt, which is a pretty nice piece.  Seeing as Jubilee was completely without new parts, at least getting the one here is cool.  I was bummed to see that the cape is still that really thin paper-like material, and it’s still rather creased out of the package.  It’s not like it’s worse, or anything, and I guess I wasn’t really expecting it to be better, but a part of me still hoped.  One other thing I noticed about this particular release that bugs me is that the mold appears to be suffering from some degradation, resulting in some serious difficulties keeping the figure standing.  She fell about 10 times during the photo session for the review.  I’m not a huge fan of that.  The paint work on Storm is on par with the other two.  They’ve given her that simulated cel-shading, which still manages to work from most angles.  Also, as a rarity for a Storm figure, she actually gets pupils, which is a fun change.  Storm is packed with an alternate set of hands with electricity effects (re-used from the GSXM Storm).  It’s a bit light compared to the others, I feel; I’d have liked to at least get one extra head, even if it were the same one, just with the pupils whited out.  But, I guess it’s nice to at least get something, right?

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I must confess, I didn’t jump on Storm right away.  The first two figures in the line really got me invested, but Sinsiter cooled things down, so I kind of slept on getting this one.  Adding to that is the fact that I was actually pretty happy with the Retro Storm from a few years back, so I didn’t really need the upgrade in the same way that I did with Wolverine and Jubilee.  That said, once Jean went up for pre-order, I doubled back for Storm, realizing that I would probably want the whole team in a more cohesive style.  I’m glad I went for it.  She’s not as showy as the others, but I like the changes, and I’m looking forward to getting the whole team assembled.

#3145: Quasar

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

QUASAR

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Donning a pair of Quantum Bands, Wendell Vaughn transforms into Quasar, the Protector of the Universe!”

 Before Marvel really exploded in the ’60s, but after Timely’s real start in the ’40s, the company had this sort of nebulous period in the ’50s (at which point they were operating under the name Atlas), where they just tried a little bit of everything. They still tried at the superhero game every now and again, and one of those attempts was Marvel Boy. Though he didn’t amount to much in his first go-round, he would resurface years later in the pages of Fantastic Four, having suffered a nervous breakdown, and ultimately dying in battle. His power source, the Quantum Bands, would find their way to a new wielder, Wendell Vaughn, aka Quasar. Though never a top tier Marvel character, Quasar had a fair bit to do up through the ’90s, as a notable fixture in Marvel’s cosmic line. He’s never been particularly plentiful on the action figure front, but he did at least get some Legends love in the last year. I’m taking a look at that figure today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

 

Quasar was a Walgreens-exclusive Marvel Legends release, following last year’s theme of cosmic characters. He has subsequently been offered up for a wider release, which is probably for the best, since he never really showed up much of anywhere on the first time around. The figure stands about 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation. Quasar is built on the Bucky Cap body, which is pretty much on the eve of its retirement at this point. It’s been given a little bit of a facelift, with a new set of arms, which now have the pinless construction on the elbow joints. He also gets a new head, cape, and Quantum Bands. The head has an impeccable likeness of a younger Robert Redford, which honestly works. It looks like his comics counterpart, but with a touch of realism. The new cape is very clean and sleek, and quite well-balanced. The bands are sharply detailed, and a good match for the in-comics pieces. The color work on this guy is pretty solid. He’s bright and eye catching, and I really like how the star field on the cape turned out. Quasar is packed with two sets of hands (fists and flat handed) and a set of effects pieces to go over his fists.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

 I’ve always wanted a good Quasar figure, and there’s never really been a good option for one. The MU one was all modern, and not my thing, so the classic look here is definitely cool. The Walgreens exclusives haven’t been super easy to get, so I was really glad that he got the wider release. It would be great if, perhaps, it were followed up by, I don’t know, maybe that Nova figure that I also could never find. That would sure be nice.

Thanks to my sponsors at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure for review.  If you’re looking for toys both old and new, please check out their website.

#3144: Captain America

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

CAPTAIN AMERICA

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“When, in 1941, a frail young patriot agreed to be a test case for an experimental “super-soldier” serum, he was transformed into Captain America – the living symbol of freedom. His body is now physically perfect, his courage unmatched and his fighting skills cannot be equaled. Cap joined WWII and helped the allies win the war. After spending the decades following the war in suspended animation, he was revived by the Mighty Avengers, a super hero group this charismatic born leader would eventually command.”

Hey, remember way back, when I was having to space out my Marvel Legends reviews, because, like, there weren’t a ton of them?  Well, I’m not *quite* back to that level, but I’m still kind of needing to space some things.  I mean, it’s been more than two weeks, which feels like a fair bit of time.  Also, last time I left off on a standard Captain America, and this time I’m picking up with a standard Captain America.  You know, for consistency sake.  Back in May, I took my first look at Hasbro’s celebration of Marvel Legends‘ twentieth year, with their fancy updated take on Iron Man.  They’re working to recreate the whole “Series 1” line-up from Toy Biz’s run, so joining up with Iron Man is the aforementioned Captain America!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Captain America is another of the four figures in Series 1 of the “20th Anniversary” sub-line of Marvel Legends.  Though he was the first figure shown off, Cap’s trailing Iron Man and Hulk in his arrival at retail.  As with the whole line-up, Cap’s a Fan Channel-exclusive, so he’s not at big box stores.  It’s a nice change of pace, given that the 80 Years Cap was a Walmart-exclusive.  While Iron Man was a slight deviation in terms of design from the 80 Years figure, Cap is more or less an equivalent update, though this one is without the Alex Ross-inspiration.  He’s a more straight-forward update of the look of the original Legends Cap, which certainly makes a lot of sense for this release.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and has 32 points of articulation.  From the neck down, this figure’s sculpt is the same as the 80 Years release.  It’s a good, strong sculpt for a classic Cap, and it’s only gotten the one use before, so I like seeing it crop up again.  He gets a brand new masked head sculpt, which is rather different from the last one.  After years with the weird scowl-face, the 80 Years was a step in the right direction.  It was a bit specifically inspired by Ross’s art, which is a little less on the multi-purpose side.  This one, sculpted by Paul Harding, is more general in its design, and it’s very definitely my favorite Hasbro Cap sculpt to date.  Definitely a worthy successor to the original Cap sculpt, and that’s saying quite a bit.  Cap’s color scheme is much brighter on this release than the 80th figure.  I like it.  I like it a lot.  It’s bold and very eye catching, and there’s a ton of really well-rendered accenting, especially on the scale mail.  It really helps the sculpted elements to pop.  Much like Iron Man, Cap is quite well-accessorized.  He gets an unmasked head, a corresponding pulled down mask piece to go over the neck, three sets of hands (fists, open gesture, and a flat/pointing combo), a shoulder harness, his shield, three different styles of effects pieces for the shield, and a display stand with a cardboard backdrop.  The unmasked head matches up well with the masked one, and it’s a pretty solid sculpt in its own right.  I dig that ’80s style hair for Rogers.  The hood piece is kind of loose and floaty, but it serves its purpose well enough.  The hands are all re-used, but they work well, and provide him with a host of cool posing options.  The shoulder harness is a new piece, distinctly different from prior ones.  I like its more simple design.  The shield is at once an improvement on prior pieces, and also the worst thing about the figure.  I really like the larger size of the shield, and I like the effects pieces…in concept.  In practice, it results in three permanent holes in the shield, rendering it rather odd looking when the effects pieces aren’t in place.  So close, and yet so far.  Perhaps a future release will re-work the piece to remove the holes, and then we can have it all.  Cap’s display stand is the same one included with Iron Man, and his backdrop is likewise double sided, with an illustration of the original figure’s stand on one side, and the cover to the issue of Captain America packed in with the Series 1 release.  Yes, unlike Iron Man, Cap’s cover is actually the same one was the original figure.  So, that’s a pretty cool touch.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I liked a lot about the 80th Cap, but I felt like he was just shy of hitting that perfect Cap mark.  I definitely liked the look of this one from its announcement, and I was thrilled when it turned out to *not* be a Walmart exclusive.  It was very definitely my favorite and most anticipated of the Anniversary figures, and it’s been a little bit of a wait, but it was very definitely worth it.  The shield thing is a bit annoying, but that issue aside, this figure’s absolutely fantastic, and undoubtedly the best Legends Cap to grace the line.  I really, really like this figure.

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.

#3131: Captain America

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

CAPTAIN AMERICA

MARVEL LEGENDS (TOY BIZ)

I gave today’s intro a fair bit of thought.  Usually, I like to keep things fairly light and apolitical here on the site, what with it being about toys and all, but I would be lying if I said that wasn’t becoming a harder thing to do these days.  My aim isn’t to offend, or hurt, or throw mud, or anything like that, but even from an apolitical stand-point, there wind up being some lines that get crossed, and it gets pretty hard not to say anything about it.  So, I’m gonna keep being me, and I’m gonna say what I say, and continue to just try to be my best self.  Today is July 4th, a day that’s typically dedicated to celebrating all the great things about America.  For me, on the site at least, that means I get to review another Captain America figure, because that’s how I roll.  This year, things are very much muddied by current events, leaving a lot of people not feeling quite so hot about America, and perhaps a little less proud to be part of this whole venture.  I can definitely feel that, and I think we’ve all got some work we can do to get to a better place together.  I think we can all work towards being our own best selves.  And if you think my best self isn’t going to take the opportunity, in a time of uncertainty, fear, and worry, to review a figure of Steve Rogers, a symbol of hope for all the things that America should be to all the people that call it home, then you’re definitely not one of my regular readers.  When you need some inspiration, a Captain America’s not a bad place to start, right?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Captain America was released as part of Toy Biz’s “Face Off” spin-off of Marvel Legends, which gave us new versions of the core heroes, facing off against their antagonists.  For his part, Cap was packed alongside Red Skull.  There was also a variant unmasked Cap, which was instead packed with Baron Strucker.  Look, he’s fighting a Nazi either way, right?  This was Toy Biz’s fourth and final version of Cap in their run with Legends, following the original Series 1, the Ultimate, and its more classically-inspired variant.  The figure stands about 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 46 points of articulation.  That hefty articulation count is aided by the addition of separately articulated fingers, something Toy Biz was giving a try later in their run.  They wound up as one of the very first things cut by Hasbro, and, honestly, it’s not a huge shock.  They’re really not much more than a novelty, and they mean he can’t really grip or anything.  It’s the sort of thing that alternate hands are just a far more efficient way of doing finger poses.  Other than that, the articulation is pretty decent from a range of motion standpoint, though perhaps not so much from the appearance angle.  They definitely aren’t super worked into the sculpt’s aesthetics.  Said sculpt was a mix of old and new.  He used the Ultimate Cap as a starting point, with the addition of a more classically-based set of gloves and boots, as well as slightly tweaked versions of the upper torso and head.  This whole sculpt wound up getting up-scaled for Toy Biz’s Marvel Legends Icons line, and it was honestly pretty good for the time.  It’s perhaps not aged quite so well, what with its wonky proportions and the slightly odd shaping of the face.  That said, the texture work, especially on the scaling, is really amazing work, and if nothing else, he’s certainly got a nice style to him.  At the time of release, he was probably one of Toy Biz’s best.  Cap’s paint work is decent enough.  Toy Biz was still tending to go pretty muddy with the colors at this point, but this guy actually gets a fairly bold and clean color scheme.  It works pretty well for the character, and, again, it’s really some of the line’s best work.  Cap is packed with his shield, which is the same as his Series 1 counterpart’s, complete with the cloth straps for placing over his shoulders.  This time, it’s better painted, and I particularly like the black interior; it definitely adds a lot more pop.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Back when this figure was released, I decided to stick with my Series 1 version, rather than trying to upgrade.  Given how difficult it was to get these packs, or really Legends in general, it wasn’t hard to justify.  I always kind of wanted one, but I never got the chance to grab him over the years.  Fortunately for me, he came into to All Time a couple of months ago.  He’s certainly a figure that shows his age, but I still really enjoy him for what he is.

Thanks to my sponsors at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure for review.  If you’re looking for toys both old and new, please check out their website.