Tag Archives: Marvel Legends

#3763: Captain America

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

CAPTAIN AMERICA

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“When the Avengers, the X-Men, and the Fantastic Four are transported to a strange planet, Captain America is chosen to take the lead in fighting the ultimate war!”

As much as it’s become something of a rarity these days, since I tend to buy most Marvel Legends for myself, there was a time when Legends invariably made up a large component of what I got for Christmas.  We’re, of course, going largely back to the Toy Biz days, but still.  Thanks to a new set of figures that came in right under the wire on last year’s deliveries, the timing astoundingly lined-up for that to happen again.  2024 marked the 40th anniversary of Secret Wars, an event designed to sell toys, so what better way to mark the occasion than by selling some more toys?  It gives Hasbro a good excuse to re-release some heavy hitters, like, for instance, Captain America!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Captain America is part of the six-figure “Secret Wars” anniversary assortment of Marvel Legends, which hit right at the end of last year.  He’s joined by the similarly heavy-hitter-y Wolverine, Spider-Man, and Iron Man, as well as the all-new but still very much important to the actual event Beyonder and Titania.  They’re all patterned on the vintage Mattel line, with replica retro card backs, and a few of the gimmicks as well.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  Structurally, this figure’s the same kind of “Ship of Theseus” set-up as the Renew Your Vows Spider-Man, just for Cap.  His oldest parts are from the Grim Reaper body, who was reworked into Cap Wolf.  Cap Wolf got upgraded to 80th Anniversary Cap, who was also used for the 20th Anniversary Series 1 Cap.  This figure further upgrades the body by adding pinless construction on the arms and legs, as well making the glove cuffs a separate piece, making for a cleaner assembly.  In general, it takes a base body that was already quite strong, and gives it that winning edge, making this the best Cap base body to date.  Cap gets two new head sculpts, both sculpted by Paul Harding, who handled the heads on the 20th Cap.  According to him, all four heads were sculpted at the same time, and these ones were saved for later.  This time around, he’s got one smiling head, and one gritting his teeth.  They’re both quite nice, and just as solid as the prior two.  Personally, I think the smiling one’s my favorite of the bunch, but I like the versatility in general.  There’s only one drawback, and that’s to do with the colors.  This figure is notably NOT the same color palette as the 20th release, which in a vacuum isn’t terrible.  Clearly, they’re trying to emulate the Mattel colors more directly, right down to the reversed stripe pattern on the mid-section.  The blue in particular is a bit warmer, and I do honestly prefer that.  The biggest trouble with it, however, is that it means you can’t swap the different expressions between this guy and the 20th, so there’s no neutral expression for this figure, and you can go more intense with the 20th.  It’s not the end of the world, but it’s a little more limiting than I’d expected.  In terms of actual application, he’s generally alright.  The glove construction in particular clears up the problem with messy edges on the gloves that we saw with the earlier mold.  On my figure, both heads do have some slight issues, with part of the A being scraped off on the happy head, and a weird flecking of flesh tone paint on the angry head.  Neither is a major issue, but it’s frustrating.  Cap is packed with three sets of hands, in fists, gripping, and flat/pointing.  The gripping are an interesting choice, and I assume they’re just there to reference the vintage figure?  I do miss the open gesture hands from the 20th, but I always miss the open gesture hands when they get left out, honestly.  He gets two different shields, and neither of them is standard, continuing the bit of this updated Cap mold not getting standard shields, and also the gag of the vintage Secret Wars Cap not getting a standard one either.  He’s got a throwback vintage shield, complete with the lenticular gimmick, as well as a shattered version of the standard shield, which even includes the broken off pieces.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I love the 20th Cap, but even when he was new, I was aware there would be another on the horizon.  This one didn’t surprise me.  I ended up getting him as a gift from Max, who sniped me purchasing him on the basis that he didn’t know exactly what to get me, and knew I wouldn’t have the new Cap that just came in.  It’s a solid observation.  I’ve gotten something out of every successive iteration of the Caps that led to this version of the mold, and this one is certainly the best thus far.  Sure, the color change is frustrating, and we still don’t have a proper undamaged classic shield for him, so I know there’s another one on the horizon with all the heads and a repainted Ultimate shield.  And, I’ll buy that one too, because I’m weak.  But, until then, I do really, really like this one.

#3752: Colossus

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

COLOSSUS

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

Though quite successful at the box office and rather ripe for merchandising, the first two Deadpool movies weren’t granted any direct merchandising at the time of their release.  The second film did get a handful of figures a year after the fact, as part of Hasbro’s celebration of the 20th anniversary of the first X-Men movie, so that was at least something.  However, Colossus, notable player in both films, was absent from these delayed tie-ins, which was certainly a bummer.  The third film, Deadpool & Wolverine has been granted a more direct tie-in, as well as a few “legacy” figures, which means we finally get a Colossus!  Yay!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Colossus is a single deluxe-sized Marvel Legends release.  He was designed to coincide with the release of the main Deadpool & Wolverine tie-ins, but he wound up hitting just a bit before them, which winds up actually making him a pretty nice bridge between the Legacy re-releases and the new figures.  The figure stands 7 3/4 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  As far as Colossus figures go, this one’s actually got pretty decent articulation, with no real issues of restriction, a nice change of pace from the last few Hasbro’s done.  I did have an issue with his knees being a bit stuck out of the package, but they freed up without too much trouble.  This guy gets a brand-new sculpt courtesy of Dennis Chan, based on Colossus’s largely unchanging look from the three films.  It’s overall a very nice offering, with only one real complaint from me, which is that the arms are a tad too long.  Beyond that, though, it’s a solid recreation of his look from the movies.  In particular, I really like the head sculpt, which just feels appropriately Colossus-y to me (and, bonus points, it’s the same shade of silver and the same neck peg size as the 80th set version, so you can swap it to the classic body if you’re so inclined).  Colossus’s colir work is reasonable.  The silver is the same used on the 80th figure, and the rest of the application is generally pretty clean.  He’s packed with an alternate head, two sets of hands, and his pocket-sized X-Men rule book.  The alternate head has his teeth gritted and some slight damage, indicating it’s from his fight with Juggernaut.  The rule book has two of the rules actually written out so you can read them, which is a very fun little touch.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was kinda “eh” on the first Deadpool (I know, sacrilege), but I absolutely loved how they handled Colossus, and enjoyed his expanded role in the second film immensely.  Him being left out of the first round of coverage really bugged me, so I was really hoping the third one might bring this guy around.  The Toy Biz Colossus remains one of my favorites from their Legends run (he’s maintained a spot over my desk in my office for several years now), and I was always a bit let down by how middle of the road the 80th figure was.  This one may be movie-based, but he’s the best Legends Colossus we’ve gotten from Hasbro, and I do love the extra cross-compatibility.  Even on his own, though, he’s just a fantastic 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 and their eBay storefront.

#3750: Spider-Man 2099

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

SPIDER-MAN 2099

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

You know what time it is?  It’s Marvel Legends time!  We can’t forget about Legends time!  Do you have the Legends time?  …because, it’s, uhh, it’s Legends time.  Look, what I’m getting at here is that I’m doing another Marvel Legends review.  And I had this bit in my notes for the review, and said in those notes I should come up with something better, but I opted to not do that because I was feeling a bit lazy.  So, there you have it.  I’m keeping up with the Spider-Verse theme today, taking a look another of the main characters from Across the Spider-Verse, Miguel O’Hara, aka Spider-Man 2099.  2099 made his first appearance at the end of Into, setting up Across in the process, and he’s also one of three Marvel characters portrayed by Oscar Isaac.  And now he’s got another figure.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Spider-Man 2099 is the fifth and final figure I’m looking at from the second series of Across the Spider-Verse tie-in Marvel Legends figures.  He follows in the footsteps of Punk and Gwen, being a figure that’s effectively a re-hash of the one from the prior assortment.  Given 2099’s role in the film, and also how well the standard version sold, another one’s far from a bad choice.  The figure stands 6 3/4 inches tall and he has 30 points of articulation.  The majority of this guy’s parts are re-used from the first version.  That means his articulation remains the most restricted of the bunch, but beyond that, it’s not a bad looking sculpt.  It’s a good recreation of the film design, with strong proportions and pretty sharp detailing.  The back has been retooled so as to remove the cape and where it was mounted, since he spends a lot of time without it in the movie.  He also get the cross-dimensional goober like Punk, Gwen, and Pavitr, though this one is obviously larger to fit his larger stature.  His color work is slightly tweaked as well, with the blue being darker this time, making the contrast on the costume a little punchier.  Otherwise, the paint masks look to be the same, and he still looks fine.  2099 gets the same sets of hands as the last release, as well as a new unmasked head sculpt, which is a good match for the source material, and gets some solid paint work.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The first 2099 was fine, but he never elevated beyond that.  I had high hopes and he was just a touch below them.  So, a new one wasn’t a terrible venture, and I like that they took the time to add more to this one.  If you already have the first one, it’s hard to say if the new parts truly justify buying a whole new figure, but I prefer this one overall, and think he’s just a generally superior product.

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.

#3747: Spider-Gwen

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

SPIDER-GWEN

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

Hey, it’s another Marvel Legends review. Alright, cool. Umm, well, if you were expecting something quippy, I’m not your guy on this one. I go more meta, but not in a social media way. So there. Today’s topic is Spider-Verse again, specifically Gwen. Spider-Gwen, Spider-Gwen, does whatever a spider cwen! Yeah, that’s the ticket right there. Onto the review!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Spider-Gwen is the fourth figure in the second Across The Spider-Verse tie-in series of Marvel Legends. Thus far, Gwen’s been represented in every Spider-Verse tie-in assortment, and she’s definitely the re-hashiest of the bunch this time around. Not that it’s ultimately a bad thing. Like the last time, the figure stands just under 6 inches tall and has 29 points of articulation. Generally, this is the same mold as before, but it’s not *identical*, and it’s actually more different than I’d expected. The one properly new piece is the wrist band goober thing, which most of them get this time around. It just slides on over the wrist, so you can also give it to the standard Gwen, if you’re so inclined. She also has changes to both of the included heads, granting them slightly different expressions. The mask has wider eyes, and the unmasked head has a more serious expression. I liked the prior heads just fine, but I honestly feel like these two are both just a bit stronger.  The color work on Gwen marks another slight change-up.  Like Spider-Punk, Gwen gets a re-deco based on her shifting color scheme from her home universe.  This one’s more purplish.  It’s not a drastic change, but it’s a neat one.  Gwen gets the same extra hands as her regular release, as well as a small figurine of LYLA, Miguel O’Hara’s holographic companion.  It’s not really so much an accessory for Gwen herself, mind you, instead just being an extra piece for 2099, but it’s still nifty.  It’s nicely sculpted, and a good match for the animation model.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was happy with my Into Gwen figure, and wasn’t initially sure about the standard version.  But, I got that one, and I really liked her, and I felt like that was probably good enough.  I wasn’t really expecting another one, and this one initially seemed like one I could skip.  Then, of course, I saw she came with LYLA, and I didn’t want to miss out on a new character.  Honestly, I like the end result more than I’d expected to.  The colors are run, and I prefer the slightly changed new heads.  All-in-all, she’s a slightly oddball choice, but a fun 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 and their eBay storefront.

#3745: Spider-Punk

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

SPIDER-PUNK

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

Okay, let’s keep this semi-regular Marvel Legends reviews thing going a bit longer, shall we?  Last week, I jumped into the newest Spider-Verse related stuff, and I’m gonna keep that running here.  Since it’s been a bit of time between assortments and a lot of the other Spider-Verse product has largely disappeared, the latest set of figures has a lot of re-hash, in order to get the main characters back out there.  Spider-Punk wound up as the breakaway hit of Across the Spider-Verse, which has kept his initial Legends figure tricky to get, which I guess adds to the compelling reasons to do another.  Does it make it worth it?  Let’s find out!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Spider-Punk is part of the second assortment of Across the Spider-Verse tie-in figures from Marvel Legends.  This marks our third Spider-Punk in Legends, and the second one that’s specifically movie-based.  The figure stands about 7 1/4 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  For the most part, the mold’s the same Arlen Pelletier sculpt as the first figure.  It was a very good sculpt the first time around, and it remains a very good sculpt still.  This time around, he gets a brand-new unmasked head.  It was a major omission from the prior figure, especially given how much of the movie he spends unmasked.  It fits well on the body and it’s also a solid recreation of how he looks in the film, so I definitely count it as a strong addition the the sculpt.  He also gets the little trans-dimensional goober wrist band, which was missing from all of the first assortment figures.  In the film, Spider-Punk change’s colors from shot to shot, making him look like an ever-changing assortment of punk-rock fliers and photos.  The first figure had his “standard” colors, while this one goes for an alt look, which is a monochromatic purple.  It’s a rather unique look with some decent pop to it.  The paint’s not bad; technically, there’s less applications than the standard, but what’s there remains pretty strong.   Spider-Punk gets the same alternate hand and guitar as the last release, but now in colors to match the new figure.  He also gets the same unmasked head that’s already on the body, but in standard colors, meant for use with the regular figure.  There is, however, no *masked* head for this figure, so he’s in a similar boat to the original release.  The mold’s already there, so it’s a pretty egregious omission.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The first movie Spider-Punk figure was hands down my favorite figure in the initial assortment, and he was subsequently my favorite part of the movie when I got to see it.  I definitely missed the unmasked head on the first one, so a revisit certainly isn’t unwelcome.  I like the additional head for the original, but I’ll admit the missing masked head’s a real bummer.  Still, the figure remains a fun one, and I won’t turn down another Spider-Punk.

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.

#3742: Pavitr Prabhakar

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

PAVITR PRABHAKAR

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

The cast of Spider-Verse, both as a comics event and as a set of movies, is populated by a mix of spider-variants both new and pre-existing.  While a number of the ones at the center of things were created for the story (such as Spider-Gwen and Spider-Punk), there are a very great many that existed well before the event.  Pavitr Prabhakar, aka Spider-Man India, was created for a series that retold the Spider-Man story in an Indian setting for an Indian market in 2004.  The story was brought back to the States in ’05, and he was subsequently worked into the main “Spider-Verse” event.  He’s one of the notable new Spiders in Across the Spider-Verse, albeit in more of a supporting role.  He was left out of Hasbro’s first round of toy coverage, but the second round swoops in with the fix!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Pavitr Prabhakar is another figure from the second Across the Spider-Verse tie-in assortment of Marvel Legends, which just started hitting retail in the last few weeks.  This is Pavitr’s first figure treatment, and he’s also the only proper “new” character in the assortment (though I guess Miles G and Peter A are *kinda* new characters for the line).  The figure stands 5 3/4 inches tall and he has 27 points of articulation.  He’s notably shorter than the others, but that’s appropriate, and adds some nice height diversity to the set-up.  His articulation  scheme is pretty decent overall, but I did find it a little restricting at the shoulders and neck, given what we’re used to for Spider-Men.  The figure gets a totally new sculpt, based on his updated design from the film.  In the comics, much like with Spider-Punk, Pavitr’s costume is a far closer adaptation of the traditional Peter Parker design.  They did a pretty radical re-work for the film, resulting in a design that’s far more unique, but also still feels at its core like it gets the spirit of a Spidey design.  It translates very well to figure form; it’s sharp, clean, and it has a good flow to it.  Pavitr’s color work is very bright and clean, and quite eye-catching.  What paint work he has is sharply applied, especially the “tattoo” designs.  About the only thing I’m not crazy about is the feet, which are supposed to have his toes exposed.  They’re sculpted that way, and sort of painted that way, but the coverage is inconsistent, and it doesn’t really look natural.  Pavitr is packed with an alternate unmasked head (which I’m very happy is a standard thing here), two pairs of hands, and his bangle-web-line.  The bangles on his wrists, as well as the dimensional stabilizer, are also all removable, so you can mix up his look appropriately that way as well.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I only had moderate knowledge of Spider-Man India before going into the movie, but after seeing the movie, he jumped up very high on my want list.  He was certainly the most notable omission from what we got last year, so he was very definitely a strong choice for this line-up.  He’s just a very solid figure and a solid addition to the line.  He rounds out the main set of characters very nicely.

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.

#3740: Peter Parker

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

PETER PARKER

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

It’s been the better part of a moth since I’ve looked at any Marvel Legends, which isn’t a *crazy* long time, but it is a notable hiatus for me.  I largely blame that on Hasbro’s slightly more erratic release schedule for the line in the last year, though I suppose my slightly more tailored interests regarding which figures I’m picking up also contribute.  While Beyond the Spider-Verse, the third installment in Sony’s animated Spider-Verse films is still a ways off, there’s still plenty of product to be had from the first two movies, so Hasbro’s taking the opportunity to go back and do some more of those.  Up to this point, a notable omission from the line-up has been a standard, fully-costumed version of Peter, which this latest round finally gives us, albeit in the form of Peter A…or whatever is the “official” designation of the Peter from Miles’ home dimension.  The one what’s voiced by Chris Pine.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Peter Parker is part of the second Across the Spider-Verse tie-in assortment of Marvel Legends.  However, like the standard Miles from this assortment, as well as the Peter B from the last round, he’s officially Into branded, since that’s the movie he’s actually from and all.  We are, as of yet, still without any Peters at all from Across, but it’s not like I’m bitter or anything.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation.  He’s a mix of old and new parts, with the upper torso and arms from the Peter B figure from last year.  It also looks like his head is the same as the Stilt-Man Series unmasked head.  The rest is new, and it offers up some improvements to the articulation scheme.  He’s now got the waist crunch like we’ve been seeing on more recent Spideys, as well as drop hips for slightly better range.  Some of the joints are a little sticky, and it would have been cool to get some butterfly shoulders, but generally it’s a nice step up.  The actual sculpting is as top-notch as the Spider-Verse figures have been the whole time.   Generally, he’s pretty sharp, and they’ve given him those nice, defined abdominal muscles to show that he’s not Peter B.  Paint here is generally pretty basic stuff.  Largely, he’s using molded colors, of course, but there’s the blue/red overlaps, which are overall okay.  There’s some slop on the mid-section of my figure, but it’s minor.  The head gets some more in depth work, with a printed face, and some accenting on the hair.  Peter is packed with a masked head (the same as the one from last year) and two sets of hands in fists and thwipping poses.  It covers the basics, but does feel a little light.  Maybe another head with a damaged mask, like his final scene showed, would have been cool.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I honestly wasn’t expecting to get this guy, especially once we’d moved onto the figures from the sequel.  I even bought the Sentinel figure largely because it came with the parts to do this look, and I wanted the option.  Hasbro sure did show me, huh?  He’s pretty basic, as far as figures go, but that’s not a bad thing.  He does what he needs to, and he does it well.  He’s an easy variant, but also a new character, so that’s very cool.  Now, with this Peter covered, can we please get one from Across finally?

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.

#3735: Giant-Man

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

GIANT-MAN

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

Hey, guess what time of year it is!  It’s time to review a Haslab!  Man, it’s crazy how I do this *every* year with no breaks.  What’s that? There was a break?  I missed a year?  Oh, man, how did that happen?  Oh, yeah, Engine of Vengeance.  Boy was that a whole thing.  But also, it seems so quaint nowadays, doesn’t it?  Ah, well, at least we got back on the horse…or Giant-Man, as it may be.  Yes, continuing the trend of updating Build-A-Figures from the Toy Biz days, Hasbro provided an update for was probably the hardest to complete of all the Toy Biz Build-A-Figures, Giant-Man.  First appearing in Tales To Astonish #49, Hank Pym’s second identity, Giant-Man, was an inversion of his previous shrinking powers, adding an important switch-up that would remain key to his identities going forward.  The identity also debuted alongside one of the greatest Marvel villains of all time that no one remembers, the Living Eraser, which I think is pretty noice.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Giant-Man is the fourth Marvel Legends HasLab project, and the third to successfully meet its funding goal.  The campaign for Giant-Man ran last year from September 9 to October 23, needing 10,000 backers to go into production.  It ultimately ended with 13,889 backers, putting it at just 111 shy of the third stretch goal.  It’s the lowest backer count of the successful Haslab projects, but it’s not a huge shock given that it’s Giant-Man, and he’s got more limited appeal than the other two, and also isn’t getting caught up in all the pandemic speculation buying.  This guy started shipping out to backers at the end of last month.  The figure stands 24 inches tall and he has 90 points of articulation.  While he’s the shortest of the three HasLabs, he’s also the most articulated, which feels like a good trade off.  In general, he does just feel a but more mobile than the other two, which is honestly pretty nice.   The only thing I’m not crazy about is how sticky the finger articulation is.  I’m very concerned about breakage, because they just don’t seem as solidly constructed as prior offerings.  Where Galactus and the Sentinel both used more modernized versions of their designs for the purposes of the HasLabs, Giant-Man is based more specifically on his classic look, specifically the second iteration with the “suspenders.”  Giant-Man is sporting an all-new sculpt, courtesy of sculptor Rene Aldrete.  It’s generally a pretty strong one, taking the classic design and adding enough additional “real-world” details to fill in the larger canvas a bit more.  It also generally maintains consistency with the smaller Giant-Man we got in the two-pack earlier this year.  Giant-Man’s color work is largely reliant on molded colors fitted together, which looks appropriately striking, and just generally works well.  There’s some smaller accent work that works okay, and, much like the sculpted details, fills in some of the larger canvas a bit.  At the start of the campaign, Giant-Man had three swappable face plates, and three sets of eyes.  The faces are standard, smiling, and angry, and the eyes are *supposed* to be straight ahead, off to the left, and looking down.  Unfortunately, on the eyes, it seems a rather sizable portion of the figures are actually shipping out without the correct selection of eyes.  In my case, there are no straight ahead, just two looking off to the side, which is more than a little annoying.  It seems Hasbro is planning to get replacements back out to people, but it seems things are still in the early stages there.  So, for right now, I guess he’s got a bit of Todd McFarlane syndrome going on.  Ultimately, it feels like it might have been a few too many moving parts for what’s ultimately a minimal adjustment.  The three faceplates also offer up some variety, but ultimately, I don’t see myself using anything but the standard for actual display.  Partway into the campaign, Hasbro also offered up interchangeable antenna, so that he can have either black or white.  I thought I’d prefer white, but I actually think black works a bit better at this scale. There were two possible stretch goals, both pertaining to extra looks on the head.  The one we got was the zombie one, which provides an extra faceplate, eye set, and antenna set.  Honestly, I wasn’t much sold on it, but it works surprisingly well.  It’s too bad we don’t have any other “classic” zombies to go with him, but he still looks nice with the What If…? Cap we got.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Just when I was out, they pulled me back in!  After Galactus, I really thought I was done with HasLabs.  The Engine of Vengeance came along and seemed to confirm that for me (not that I was rooting for its failure or anything; I thought it was a decent product, I just didn’t have the space for it), but then this one showed up, and how could I say no?  I never did get to finish the Toy Biz one, so this was a cool opportunity.  He’s definitely fun.  Does he top the Sentinel and Galactus?  No, but also I didn’t expect him to.  He’s a more basic style of figure, and, apart from some slight hiccups, it works.

#3725: Moon Knight

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

MOON KNIGHT

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“After a near-fatal encounter at an ancient Egyptian temple, mercenary Marc Spector agrees to become the Earthly Avatar for the deity Khonshu”

Hey, you guys, guess what I’m reviewing today!  That’s right, it’s Moooooooooooooooooooooooooon Kniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight!  Gotta do the long, drawn out Moon Knight bit.  It’s one of my signature things.  Of course, it was a more distinctive thing when there weren’t so many fricking Moon Knight figures, but who am I to complain about Moon Knight figures?  Just not the right guy, I tell ya.  And this way, I’m never too far away from another Moon Knight review, and isn’t that just the world we all want to live in?  Well, it’s certainly the world *I* want to live in.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Moon Knight is Figure 1 in the Blackheart Series of Marvel Legends.  As I touched on in my Bloodstorm review, this assortment is Fan Channel, and is themed “Strange Tales.”  Moon Knight’s connection to the theme is still a little loose, but closer than Bloodstorm’s, I feel, and it’s another chance to get a “name” in the set.  We’ve gotten a variety of Moon Knight looks in Legends in the last few years, but this one aims for a different one; he’s based on Moon Knight’s look from the short-lived Fist of Khonshu series from ’85….well, mostly.  I’ll get to that.  It’s only a slight tweak to his classic look, but it’s a design that’s not gotten the Legends treatment yet (though a slight variation of it showed up in Toy Biz’s 10-inch line in the ’90s).  It’s also one of his three skins from Ultimate Alliance (meaning we just need his “Ultimate” costume to wrap that up; your move, Hasbro).  The figure stands about 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation.  He uses the adjusted version of the 2099 body with the pinless elbows and knees, which is a little more sleek and clean.  He’s using the same masked head (if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it), and the lower legs from the classic Moon Knight, but gets a new cape, gauntlets, and belt.  The cape’s not drastically different from the original piece, but it sits a little better on the body and no longer drags at the feet, which are both plusses.  The gauntlets and belt are based on the more ornate pieces from the Fist of Khonshu series, and are quite nicely done, and accurate to the source material.  He’s got very minimal paint work, but what’s present really works, and it’s all pretty crisp and clean.  He’s got the traditional moon crescent logo, rather than the Ankh that he initially had with this design, meaning he’s really using the West Coast Avengers variant of the look, which is just fine by me.  Moon Knight is packed with two pairs of hands (the gripping and fists from his 2017 release), a large crescent blade, three smaller ones, Gambit’s staff in white, which are all re-used from prior releases.  He also gets a new Ankh (which is the only of the additional Fist of Khonshu weapons we get), as well as the head to the Blackheart Build-A-Figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

It’s a new Moon Knight, so obviously there was no chance of me passing this one up.  Honestly, it’s a look I’m happy to get, since he has it during the his WCA tenure, and that served as my earliest exposure to the character.  It’s a solid figure; it takes what works from prior Moon Knights, and improves and adds the new costume elements, making it a solid update that’s not making the earlier figures redundant.

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.

Hey, do you wanna own a thing from this review?  Well, if it’s the Moon Knight, that’s too bad, because he’s mine and you can’t take him.  But, if you’re in the market for Blackheart’s head, or perhaps some other items from the official Figure in Question collection (TM), check out my eBay page.  Or, you know, don’t, I guess.  It’s your time.  Who am I to account for it?

#3722: Blood Storm

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

BLOOD STORM

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“A mutant and proficient thief, Ororo Munro was targeted by Dracula and transformed into a vampire known as Bloodstorm.”

Hey!  It’s Halloween!  I swore to myself that I would start this review with some variation of “it’s Halloween, oooooo, scary” over my own dead body.  My own, cold, dead, blood-sucking body.  Speaking of cold, dead, blood-sucking things, you guys remember when I talked about Mutant X?  Man, that sure was a thing.  Well, I finished my read-through of the series back in July, and here in October, we’ve gotten our first Mutant X-themed figure in over 20 years.  Riiiiiiight after I finished my read-through.  Look, I’m not saying it’s all thanks to me, but I’m okay if you guys want to.  So, after that very long wait for another figure, who do we get?  ….It’s Bloodstorm…of course it’s Bloodstorm.  It would be Bloodstorm.  Well, let’s review Bloodstorm.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Bloodstorm is figure 2 in the Blackheart Series of Marvel Legends, which is a Fan Channel exclusive set.  The assortment is officially titled “Strange Tales” and generally themed around the supernatural side of Marvel.  Bloodstorm’s certainly an offbeat choice, but not the weirdest, I suppose.  She gets a leg-up by being a Storm variant in a year when everyone wants X-related stuff.  She officially debuts Mutant X as a theme in Legends, and is the second Bloodstorm figure we’ve gotten, the first being Toy Biz’s 5-inch figure from 2001.  The figure stands just over 6 inches tall and she has 28 points of articulation.  She’s a mix of old and new parts.  She’s using the legs and feet from the mohawk Storm from the Apocalypse Series, and the arms from Jessica Jones.  It’s an okay selection of parts, but certainly ones that are showing their age.  The legs in particular are kind of warping, and the exposed joints are especially obvious.  The arms look fine, but they’re definitely restricted at the elbows.  The rest of the parts are new, sculpted by Paul Harding.  The new parts are definitely very strong additions, and do a lot to carry the older parts when viewed as a whole.  There are two different heads, one calm, and one more dynamic.  The dynamic one is certainly my favorite of the two, and it makes for good posing.  Bloodstorm’s color work is decent enough.  Obviously, very dark and monochromatic, which is the part.  The heads both get some pretty solid accent work on the faces and hair, which really sells the already pretty solid sculpts.  Bloodstorm is packed with two sets of hands, one in open gesture, the other more a claw pose.  No fists is a bit of a bummer, since the two included pairs are rather along the same lines.  She’s also packed with the torso and tail of the Blackheart Build-A-Figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Look, guys, a Mutant X assortment of Legends has been my dream set for a good long while, so *any* Mutant X Legends is a pretty big deal.  But, I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t buy this figure out of obligation more than actual desire to own it.  Bloodstorm’s definitely not my favorite part of the book, and after finishing it, I still do not get the hype behind her.  But, I really, really want more Mutant X figures, so I have to buy her.  She’s alright.  I find her a bit hampered by the old parts, but the new ones are at least pretty strong.  Can I please get more Mutant X figures now?

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.

Would you like to own an official piece of The Figure in Question history…or something like that?  Well, the figure reviewed here isn’t available, but I’m selling the Blackheart Build-A-Figure piece, as well as some other items from the official Figure in Question collection, over on my eBay page, so check it out.  Or don’t.  I have no control over you outside the confines of the review.