Tag Archives: Marvel Legends

#2730: Wolverine – House of X

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

WOLVERINE — HOUSE OF X

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“With adamantium claws unleashed, Wolverine is prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice in the fight for freedom for all mutants.”

Last year’s main X-Men-theme per Marvel Legends was very event-based, specifically centering on 1995’s “Age of Apocalypse” event.  For the first X-themed assortment of this year, Hasbro is once again going event-based, but this time around is something far more recent, this time being 2019’s “House of X”, the event which served as the launching point for the Jonathan Hickman-driven current era of X-Men.  A lot of the team’s biggest names were central to both that event and what’s followed in the on-going books, making this a nice way of refreshing some of the X-Men’s heaviest hitters.  You don’t get much heavier hitter than Wolverine, I guess, making him a pretty solid starting point if I do say so myself.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Wolverine is part of the Tri-Sentinel Series of Marvel Legends, and is officially branded as “House of X,” much like the rest of the assortment.  He’s the only non-numbered figure in the set, as the only figure not to include a Build-A-Figure part.  He’s sporting his current costume design, first showcased in the event.  It’s an update on his brown costume, with a little bit of the Black/Grey X-Force layout worked in.  It’s not a bad look for the character, and really checks a lot of the classic Wolverine boxes.  The figure stands just shy of 6 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  Structurally, he’s built on the modern Wolverine base first introduced in the Juggernaut Series.  He uses the more utilitarian gloves and boots from X-Force Wolverine, which are good match for what he’s sporting in the comics these days.  He’s also got a new head sculpt, and an add-on for his belt, both of which are pretty decent pieces.  The head in particular I quite like, as it’s got him actually cracking a smile, which is a nice change of pace for a Wolverine figure.  I also like that the mask is differently shaped than other Wolverine figures, and that they’ve included all of the seams and such on the cowl that help to “modernize” this design.  Wolverine’s paint work is generally pretty solid.  He follows the established color scheme from the comics well, and there’s no notable slop or bleed over, so that’s good.  I do like that they actually went to the trouble of differentiating the browns on the main costume vs the accessories.  The arm hair detailing on the arms is about the same as other recent Wolverines, which works from a consistency stand point if nothing else. Wolverine is the lightest figure in the assortment on the accessory front, due largely to the lack of a Build-A-Figure part.  He does at least get an extra head, based on his time as “War” in the future sequences of “Powers of X.”  The main difference is the presence of a beard.  Very different.  It’s a decent extra, I suppose, although the likelihood of getting the other three horsemen seems slim, giving this particular piece limited applications.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The whole House of X thing just sort of happened around me, I guess.  I read it, and I was familiar with the whole concept, and I’ve stuck with the comics since then.  The designs are generally pretty decent, and Wolverine’s a good, fairly standard Wolverine.  The figure doesn’t really do anything new, but he’s not bad, either, and certainly has more reason to exist than some of the other recent Wolverines.

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

#2711: Toxin

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

TOXIN

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“The 1,000th symbiote in a lineage that includes Carnage and Venom, Toxin is feared by many to be the strongest and most dangerous.”

After the craziest of the symbiote-overload in the ’90s died down, Marvel decided they wanted to try again.  So, Carnage once again had some spawn, but just the one this time.  The end result was Toxin, who, in contrast to Venom and Carnage, was not an inherently malicious creature.  Initially bonded with police officer Patrick Mulligan, Toxin served as an ally to Spider-Man, rather than either of his progenitors.  After Mulligan’s death, Toxin was then shifted over to usual Venom host Eddie Brock for a bit, as Eddie moved his way through a handful of symbiotes.  Toxin’s been privy to a few figures over the years, twice now getting a Legends release.  The first one wasn’t much to write home about, but maybe this new one will change things up a bit?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Toxin is the latest Deluxe-sized offering for Marvel Legends.  He follows the trend set by Apocalypse, being a new larger scale figure, as opposed to a reissue of a prior Build-A-Figure.  Toxin’s had a few somewhat divergent looks over the years, and this one grabs a few elements from each of them and merges them all together into one thing.  He’s definitely more monstrous than Mulligan usually was, and the face is definitely lifted from Brock’s time with the symbiote, but the general appearance is still definitely an earlier Toxin look.  The figure stands 7 3/4 inches tall and he has 30 points of articulation.  Toxin is built on Monster Venom body, which seems a little bit on the large side for Toxin’s usual depictions, but it’s honestly a little on the large side, even for the two Venom figures it was used for.  The symbiotes just tend to get sized up a bit, I guess, when it comes to toys.  The Monster Venom body remains a very impressive piece of work, and I can understand Hasbro wanting to get more mileage out of it.  To change things up, Toxin gets a new head, and a slightly tweaked back plate, as well as tendrils.  So many tendrils.  More tendrils than we have room for.  Elevendrils.  It’s really intense, and it really works.  Certainly continues the dynamic nature of the Monster Venom body.  The tendrils are popped on in stages, so you can kind of tweak just how tendril-y he is if you like.  It does mean they pop off on their own occasionally, but it’s overall not too bad.  Toxin’s paint work is generally decent.  The red’s very bright, which I rather like; it contrasts well with the black on the other portions of the figure, and makes him more eye catching than Hasbro’s last attempt.  The transition from red to black is also pretty nicely handled, managing to be pretty subtle, and to maintain a consistent look across multiple pieces.  The red sections could, I suppose, stand to have a little more accenting on them, but that’s about the only thing I can really knock.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

My actual experience with Toxin is pretty limited.  I’m familiar with him as a character, and I know the toys, but I don’t believe I’ve actually read any of his comics appearances.  He’s got a halfway decent visual, though, and this figure using the Monster Venom body, which I really quite like, gave him some points in his favor.  The end product’s pretty nifty.  If you like Symbiotes, you’ll like this one, and he’s certainly a step-up from the last version.  Now, if we could get the slightly less monstered out Mulligan version at some point, that’d be pretty sweet too.

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

#2710: Firestar

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

FIRESTAR

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Angelica Jones soars into battle harnessing the power of microwaves to combat evil as Marvel’s Firestar.”

Comics adaptations introducing characters that circle back around to the comics proper isn’t an uncommon thing, going back as far as the Superman radio serials and their creation of Jimmy Olsen.  Over at Marvel’s side, things were a little bit later game for them, but one of their first instances of this was Angelica Jones, aka Firestar.  First appearing in Spider-Man & His Amazing Friends in 1981, Firestar was created when the television rights for the Human Torch couldn’t be acquired.  She found her way into the comics four years later, in Uncanny X-Men #193, as a member of the Hellions.  From there she got her own mini-series, joined the New Warriors, and even had a stint with the Avengers.  She’s never been quite as prominent in the main universe as she was in the cartoon, but she’s certainly stuck around, and made her way into most of the major Marvel scales, including, most recently, Marvel Legends.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Firestar is her own standalone Marvel Legends release, which started hitting retail last month.  She’s another Fan Channel figure, so she won’t be hitting major big box retailers, but will be at specialty shops and the like.  She features her own separate branding, which neatly avoids the issue of whether she should be grouped with Spider-Man, X-Men, or Avengers. Firestar’s had a few different designs over the years, but she generally tends to circle back to variants of her original animation design, which is what this figure wisely opts to go for. The figure stands just over 6 inches tall and she has 27 points of articulation.  Firestar is built on the Phoenix base body, which is thematically appropriate, I suppose.  It’s also just a pretty good match for Angelica’s usual built.  She’s got a new upper torso piece, which adds her collar piece.  It’s pretty basic, but hits the spot.  Firestar includes two different head sculpts, based on two differing looks.  The one she comes out of the box wearing is slightly more modern-inspired, and has more wind-swept dynamic hair, and a slightly more rounded mask.  The second head is a bit more directly based on her animation design, with a more geometric mask, and slightly less mobile hair.  Of the two, I personally prefer the more modern head, but they’re both quite nice, and I like having the option.  Firestar’s paint work is basic, bright, and clean, which are really all the best things for a Legends figure.  I appreciate that they actually did the darker accents on the hair for the animation head, keeping it properly show accurate, since those tend to get overlooked.  Firestar has a pretty nice accessory selection.  In addition to the extra head, she also gets two sets of hands (both fists and open gesture), two effects pieces (borrowed from the Infinity War Scarlet Witch), and, coolest of all, Ms. Lion, the trio’s pet dog from Amazing Friends.  Ms. Lion even gets a ball-jointed neck for full posability.  How about that?

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Firestar’s always been a favorite of mine, thanks to the handful of Amazing Friends episodes I had on VHS as a kid.  I didn’t manage to get her Toy Biz figure until late in the game, and that one’s, admittedly, a little phoned in, as was the later Marvel Universe figure.  I’d been hoping for something with a little more effort for Marvel Legends, and that’s what I got.  This figure’s a really nice, very cleanly done take on the character, and a fantastic way of rounding out this trio in Legends form.

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

#2685: J. Jonah Jameson

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

J JONAH JAMESON

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Tough, gruff, and loud, J. Jonah Jameson is a force to be reckoned with in the boardroom and on the front pages of the Daily Bugle. As the newspaper’s editor-in-chief, Jameson is a perennial thorn in the side for both Peter Parker and Spider-Man.”

Not quite a villain, but certainly an antagonist, J. Jonah Jameson has been part of the Spider-Man mythos since almost the very beginning.  As really just a guy in a suit, though, you wouldn’t exactly expect him to be a very frequent part of the tie-in toys.  You would, however, be surprised by just how often he actually winds up getting proper action figure treatment.  He’s almost got Mary Jane beat!  What he’s never officially had, however, is a Marvel Legend, though he’s gotten close, since he had a 6 inch movie figure back in the Toy Biz days, and was also one of the extra heads included with Chameleon.  But now he’s official.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

J. Jonah Jameson is in the same boat as yesterday’s Black Cat figure; he’s a standalone release for the Retro Collection sub-line of Marvel Legends.  He’s also the third civilian release under this particular banner, so I guess the exciting package is good for something, huh?  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 30 points of articulation.  Jameson is built on the suit body, specifically the variant of the suit body that was used for Klaue, which is specifically designed for that vested appearance.  He additionally uses the Jameson head that was previously included with the Chameleon figure (taking a page out of the Toy Biz playbook), which was a pretty solid piece it’s first time around, and remains a really great character piece for Jameson.  In order to become sufficiently Jameson-esque, the body gets an assortment of new parts, including a new set of forearms, a new tie piece, and an add-on for the vest.  This vest/tie combo works better to help the body not be too bulked up, as it was on the Klaue body.  This set-up pretty nicely matches with Jameson’s usual newsroom appearances.  Additionally, the vest piece is open, so it can easily be removed, adding for an extra set of looks for the figure.  Jameson’s paint work is generally pretty decent.  It’s rather monotone, but that’s true to the character’s usual looks.  I quite like the pattern on the tie, and the application on the head is much improved over the one included with Chameleon.  Jameson gets a pretty solid selection of accessories to top everything off.  He’s got two sets of hands (one gripping, the other pointing/fist combo), the rolled up newspaper we saw included with Gwen (it makes way more sense here), and an unrolled copy as well, which features a ton of fun little references and in jokes.  Now, why it’s so much wider than the rolled up one is anyone’s guess; maybe it’s the proof they assembled before they sent it to the printers?  Actually, that would probably make a lot of sense, wouldn’t it?

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Jameson is one of those essential characters that you just forget you don’t have a proper figure for.  The extra head was cool, but none of the available bodies really seemed to fit the character.  Getting a full figure for him wasn’t expected, but was certainly appreciated.  In hand, he’s a bit of an unsung figure, I think.  He’s quite nice, and he’ll go great with a display, but he doesn’t quite pop the way some of the costumed figures do.  Still, he’s definitely cool to have.

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

#2684: Black Cat

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

BLACK CAT

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Black Cat is the most confident, cunning burglar the world has ever seen! Donning a black costume and mask, heiress Felicia Hardy changes into her Super Hero persona and prowls the streets with Spider-Man at her side.”

A definite fixture of Spider-Man’s supporting cast (thought not truly consistently a rogue), Black Cat has had her fair share of toys over the years.  Perhaps it’s the striking visual that helps, but it could also be that she’s probably Spidey’s most notable female rogue…that is, when she’s being a rogue.  She’s gotten more prominent in the toys as she’s grown more prominent in the comics.  While she had just one figure during the Toy Biz 5 inch days, and just one more when they moved to 6 inch, Hasbro’s now coming in on their third time doing the character since they relaunched Legends in 2014.  Not a bad set up for her, now is it?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Black Cat is part of the Spider-centric Retro Collection sub-line of Marvel Legends.  At this point, Hasbro doesn’t really seem to be focussing on assortments for this style, so much as just dropping new figures one at a time when they feel like it.  Black Cat was, subsequently, her own solo release.  Black Cat has had a few looks over the years, and she pretty much gets a different one every time she gets a new figure.  This one in particular goes for her early ’90s variant on her classic look, which was also the design used for her appearance in Spider-Man: The Animated Series.  That’s proved a major influence on most of these Retro Collection figures, so it’s a sensible choice.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and she has 29 points of articulation.  The vast majority of this figure’s parts come from the Skyline Sirens version of the character from 2014.  That one was built on the Moonstone base body, and generally did a decent job of capturing Black Cat’s usual figure.  It’s not quite as well articulated as more recent bodies, however, which can be a bit of an issue when it comes to posing.  My figure in particular wound up being rather bow-legged.  Since this version of the costume doesn’t have the fur collar, the figure swaps out the upper torso for the basic Moonstone body piece.  She also borrows the calm head from the Dark Phoenix figure, as well as the studded collar from the Hellfire Club Black Queen figure.  She’s really going for that evil Jean Grey vibe, I guess?  The head sits a touch low on the neck, but overall it’s a nice selection of parts, and adds up to a decent recreation of the design they’re going for.  It’s amazing what you can do with nothing but re-used parts, huh?  The paint work on this figure is overall pretty basic and straight forward.  I do like how crisp and clean the detailing on the face and mask is, and the very slight accenting on the fur works quite well to showcase the sculpt.  It certainly looks a bit better than the blue from the earlier figure.  Black Cat is packed with the same whip as the Sirens figure (albeit in different colors), and a recolored version of Goose, this time as a…black…cat.  Actually having a cat’s more of a Catwoman thing than a Black Cat thing, but she’s already copying DC’s homework, so let’s just roll with it.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was fortunate enough to actually get the Skyline Sirens Black Cat at retail, but a lot of people weren’t, which meant a lot of people’s only viable Black Cat was the Kingpin Series one.  It’s not a terrible figure, but it’s not a classic Black Cat by any stretch.  With the real push for that ’90s Spider-Man vibe, a redo of some sort felt pretty essential, and here she is.  She’s a decent figure.  Nothing amazing, or definitive, but a solid take on the character, and another somewhat unique costume for this scale.  At least this one’s a bit easier to get.

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

#2683: Stilt-Man

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

STILT-MAN

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Wilbur Day was a mild-mannered scientist – until he stole the plans for a hydraulic ramming device which he soon used to invent his battle-suit. As Stilt Man, Wilbur has fought against the likes of Spider-Man, Captain America and even Thor himself!”

Oh man, first I get to look at Frog-Man, and now I’m looking at Stilt-Man?  I’ll take that particular win for sure!  Obscure, far reach characters are definitely my bread and butter when it comes to the likes of Marvel Legends, but are usually isolated from each other in differing assortments.  Getting multiples at the same time is definitely pretty sweet.  Stilt-Man’s pretty old school Marvel himself, first appearing in 1965’s Daredevil #8, and hanging around as a recurring foe for a number of prominent Marvel heroes, up until someone decided it was a good idea to have Punisher shoot him in the head shortly after Civil War.  Fortunately, comic book death is rarely permanent, and he was brought back during Dan Slott’s run on Spider-Man, in order to start antagonizing Marvel’s heroes anew.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Stilt-Man is the titular Build-A-Figure for the Stilt-Man Series of Marvel Legends.  Believe it or not, this *isn’t* his first time as a toy; he got a Minimate back in 2010.  But, it’s been over a decade, and he’s never had a Legend before, so here we are now.  In his standard configuration (I’ll touch on that in just a moment), the figure stands 11 3/4 inches tall and he has 28 points of articulation.  Obviously, the great majority of his movement is on the upper body of the figure, which is pretty much articulated the way any basic body has been for a while in this line.  He lacks some of the newer articulation layouts, such as the butterfly shoulders, but it’s a reasonable selection for the character.  The stilt legs aren’t particularly mobile, since they’re not really supposed to be, but he does at least get universal joints on the the ankles, which is useful for keeping him standing.  On my figure, the hips are a little loose, and this is something I imagine will only get worse with the stilts attached.  I’m probably going to pick up an extra torso as a precaution, but ultimately it’s not the end of the world.  Even with slightly looser hips, he’s still fairly stable.  Stilt-Man’s an all-new sculpt, which is honestly a little bit surprising, but certainly not unwelcome.  At the very least, it means he’s got the pinless design for the elbow joints, which helps to keep him looking rather sleek.  In general, the sculpt just does a very nice job of capturing his classic design.  Of course, there’s certainly a bit of room to say “hey, I sure wish my Stilt-Man figure was taller.”  Well, fear not, because by simply popping off the feet on his stilt-legs, you can make the legs completely modular.  Every new section adds another 6 inches to the figure’s height.  So, with enough Hand Ninjas (or, at least, just they’re BaF parts), you can make a Stilt-Man that’s as tall as you want.  You want a 12′ Stilt-Man to really accent your foyer?  Go for it you absolutely crazy person!  That’s pretty dope, right?*  Stilt-Man’s paint is pretty basic.  He’s largely just molded in silver plastic, with the paint being confined to his head.  Basic, but also low room for error, so it works out.  Despite being a Build-A-Figure, Stilt-Man is actually quite well accessorized.  He’s got two sets of hands in gripping and fists, a gun (re-used from Yon-Rogg), a briefcase full of money, and a stand.  It pretty much covers everything you could ever want from a Stilt-Man, which is certainly quite impressive.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve been all about Stilt-Man ever since he cameoed on the Iron Man cartoon in the ’90s, and I’ve pretty much wanted a toy of him since.  I loved the Minimate when he was released, but I’ve kind of moved away from ‘mates overall.  I definitely wanted a Legends figure, and the confirmation of this guy early last year was definitely dope.  The final figure is very nicely implemented.  The core figure’s awesome on his own, and the extras just push him to the next level.  I’m also really excited by the modular nature of those stilts, and I’ve made it my mission to get this guy as tall as possible, though I’m playing the waiting game so that I don’t have to buy myself an army of Hand Ninjas to get there.

After a year full of a lot of middling or mixed assortments, this set is surprisingly strong and consistent.  The Spider-Verse figures are definitely the star attractions, and Gwen’s my favorite out of that set.  On the other side is Prowler, who isn’t quite as impressive, but isn’t at all bad either.  Miles and Peter are a great use of new parts for very specific designs, and will definitely be the break away figures for most people, I think.  The comics side is no slouch either, though.  The Hand Ninja’s not one of my favorite designs, but the figure’s well-done, and Frog-Man and Stilt-Man are top tier figures of those goofy characters I oh so love.  This is genuinely one of Hasbro’s best assortments of Marvel Legends.

*The Minimate had a similar set-up, but required purchasing an additional Stilt-Man and Iron Man for every set of stilts you wanted, which made it a little more difficult to do than the Legends set-up.

#2682: Frog-Man

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

FROG-MAN

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Eugene Patilio suits up as Frog-Man in a misguided attempt to restore his family’s good name.”

FROG-MAN!?! They made a Frog-Man!?!  …Okay, can I really be that surprised at this point?  Probably not.  I don’t know.  Everything is skewed these days, and the current state of Legends is such that making previously unthought of characters no longer seems so unthought of.  Where was I?  Frog-Man.  Right. So, for those of you who aren’t so familiar with Frog-Man (which I’m going to assume is most people, because he’s Frog-Man), he’s actually a little bit of a legacy character.  His father, Vincent, was the Daredevil villain Leap-Frog, and after he gave up on the whole super villain thing, Eugene took over his gear, and took up as a would-be hero, now using Frog-Man, after Leap-Frog was deemed too goofy.  Eugene has mostly stuck to the background of the Marvel universe, but turns up every now and then, including most recently as one of Tony Stark’s allies in the newest Iron Man series.  And hey, now he’s got a toy!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Frog-Man is figure 6 in the Stilt-Man Series of Marvel Legends, and he’s the second of the comics-based figures in the set.  He’s this assortment’s resident odd-ball figure, picking up from last year’s inclusion of White Rabbit (a character Frog-Man’s got a little bit of history with, so there’s that).  The figure is 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 31 points of articulation.  Frog-Man’s construction is largely made-up of re-use, specifically of the Doc Ock body from 2018.  It’s a good body, and one that so far hadn’t seen any sort of re-use, so it’s still rather unique.  It also matches up quite well with Frog-Man’s design in the comics, which makes it quite a sensible choice for re-use.  The only slight downside is that it means he’s still got visible pins on his elbows and knees, but they’re at least comparatively smaller than some of the others.  In order to switch him from Ock to Frog-Man, this guy gets a new head, feet, and an add-on piece for the back pack.  The head’s definitely the most distinctive part, and it’s pretty nicely implemented, with clear differentiating for the mask and what we can see of the underlying head.  The head under the mask is perhaps a touch intense, I think, for Frog-Man, but it’s a minor thing, and I really like how the mask looks.  The feet give him not only his flippers, but also the springs on the heels that give the suit its jumping abilities.  He’s quite stable on these feet, which makes him quite easy to pose.  The back pack is useful in covering up the one character-specific remnant of the Ock sculpt, the ports for his arms on his back.  It plugs into the top ports to keep it secure, and otherwise works out pretty well for the look.  Frog-Man’s paint work is largely pretty basic.  Most of the colors are molded plastic, but what paint is there is pretty cleanly applied.  I do like the pattern on the darker sections; it helps sell the goofy comics design even further.  Frog-Man doesn’t seem like a character who lends himself to accessories, but he does still get two sets of hands, in both fists and open gesture poses, so that’s pretty cool.  He also gets the left arm, extra hand, and gun for the Stilt-Man Build-A-Figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Frog-Man’s one of those characters so minor that I know him more from his reputation of being minor than from actually reading his comics appearances.  I’ve definitely read a few of his appearances, and I have this sort of soft spot for the guy, even without that really direct connection. I was not expecting him at all before he was officially shown off, and I didn’t pay him too much attention in light of the rest of the set.  After getting them in hand, though, he really works for me, just because I didn’t expect him, so I just got to enjoy him for being the cool, goofy toy that he is.  And boy is he cool and goofy.  And boy do I love him.

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.

#2681: The Hand Ninja

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

THE HAND NINJA

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Skilled in martial arts and espionage, the ninjas of The Hand are a force to be reckoned with.”

Remember how Ethan didn’t really care for the Red Ninjas?  Think that’s gonna come up again?  It’s a pretty safe bet.  First introduced in the pages of Daredevil #174 in 1981 by Frank Miller, the Hand were an ancient order of…well, pretty generic ninjas really.  They share a lot of common ground with the Red Ninjas, serving as a force of rather generic ninjas mostly just there to give the bad guys some minions.  They’ve kind of become the go to ninja foes for the Marvel Universe, and showed up in the second season of Daredevil on Netflix, as well as seasons of other shows that I’d prefer to not acknowledge the existence of at this juncture.  They’re…well, there just kind of generic ninjas, but people seem to have gotten really attached to them.  They’ve shown up twice before as Marvel Legends, but it’s been a little while, so the latest series has given us an update.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Hand Ninja is figure 5 in the Stilt-Man Series of Marvel Legends, and is the first of the the three comics-based figures in the line-up.  He’s sort of a loose attachment to the overall Spider-Man theme of the line-up, falling a bit more into the Daredevil side, but DD stuff usually goes with Spidey anyway, so I guess it works.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation.  At first glance, the Hand Ninja looked like an all-new mold, but the visible pins on the elbows and knees got me to do a little bit of detective work, and confirm that his arms come from Mordo and the legs (up to the ankle, anyway) come from that same assortment’s Doctor Strange.  Not the worst choice for re-used parts, I suppose, though it’s a shame they couldn’t get reworked like Gwen and Prowler’s re-used parts to bring them up to speed with the new releases.  He still gets a new head, torso, pelvis, and feet, as well as add-ons for his bandolier/sheath and belt/skirt.  These new parts implement some of the newer articulation standards, such as butterfly joints at the shoulders, and the newer balljoint/crunch combo for the torso.  They work pretty well in terms of posing, and I was happy to see that the skirt didn’t impact the posability on the legs too much.  In terms of the newly sculpted parts, I do find that there are some areas where the parts don’t quite fit together as well as I’d like.  The head definitely sits a little too high on the neck, and the bandolier is rather loose and ill-fitted to the torso.  It’s a weird enough fit that I had to double check a few times to see if it was a re-use.  I don’t think it is, but whatever the case, it’s definitely a bit loose.  For the most part, however, the sculpt looks pretty decent, and is a respectable sort of all-encompassing take on the various Hand Ninja looks from over the years, leaning more towards the more basic end of things.  The paint work on the Hand Ninja is a lot of reds, as expected.  They mesh together well, and he’s even got those eerie milky grey/green eyes that we tend to see on Hand Ninjas, which is a nifty enough design.  The Hand Ninja is packed with two sets of hands (gripping and open gesture), a sword, and two Kama.  Aside from having nowhere to keep the Kama when not holding them, it’s a pretty cool set-up.  And, most importantly, the Hand Ninja includes the Stilt-Legs to Stilt-Man, as well as a stand for said legs.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Hand Ninjas don’t, as a rule, thrill me, much like the Red Ninjas.  I don’t tend to like them so much as a story telling device, as I often find them to be kind of bland and boring (ie: most of the of their Netflix appearances).  That being said, they can make a good toy, with the first Hand Ninja Minimate being a pretty stand out piece.  I’ve not picked up any of their earlier Hasbro figures, but I did have the Articulated Icons Basic Red, which was a good stand-in.  Did I need this guy?  No.  But then I saw that he came with Stilt-Man’s Stilt-Legs, and I kind of was locked in.  Ultimately, after being disappointed by the Red Ninja, I was pleasantly surprised by this release.  He’s got his flaws, but I like the overall appearance of the figure.  I don’t see myself army building him, or anything, but he’s perfectly acceptable on his own.

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.

#2678: Prowler

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

PROWLER

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Equipped with an armored suit and gadget-filled wrist gauntlets, Marvel’s Prowler pursues his enemies under the cover of darkness.”

The Prowler is a relatively early Spider-Man villain, appearing in 1969, and also an early entry in two of Marvel’s favorite things to do with villains: reforming and replacing.  Hobie Brown was the original Prowler, and was ultimately not so bad a guy, eventually becoming one of Spidey’s allies after retiring from his villainous past.  However, the Prowler identity didn’t end with Hobie, and he wound with a few successors as the years went on.  The one that stuck the best wasn’t even truly a successor, but a full-on reboot, when the Ultimate universe’s version of the Prowler was revealed to be Miles Morales’ Uncle Aaron.  This development served as the basis for the character’s appearance in Into the Spider-Verse, which boosted the identity into more of the public consciousness, and has helped to further cement Aaron as the Prowler.  And now he’s got a Legends release to help with that.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Prowler is figure four in the Stilt-Man Series of Marvel Legends, and is the final Spider-Verse themed figure this time around.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  Prowler’s construction follows in Gwen’s footsteps, re-using some of the older base body parts, albeit with a twist.  He’s officially Bucky Cap adjacent, using the pelvis and hips from that body, as well as the related, but altered torso from Dr. Strange, as well as the similarly related but altered upper arms from Shatterstar.  As we saw on Gwen’s legs, the Shatterstar arms have been tweaked to remove the visible pins around the elbows.  The pattern of the wrinkles on the sleeves is the same, however, so they’re using at the very least the same CAD files.  In addition to the re-used and tweaked parts, Prowler gets a healthy amount of new pieces as well, including the head, forearms, hands, legs, and add-ons for the cape and belt.  The end result is a little bulkier in terms of build than Prowler was in the film.  However, he was still definitely bulkier than Peter or Miles in the movie, so it’s not terribly far off.  He does also inherit some of the issues of the re-used parts, most notably the iffy shoulder and elbow movement from the Shatterstar arms.  The new cape piece also doesn’t *quite* peg in correctly, causing it to pop free a lot, and making it a little bit of a pain when posing.  That said, the posability on the new parts, especially the legs, is really smooth, and there’s a very nice range.  The paint work on this guy is pretty decent.  Fairly straight forward in terms of the color work and such, but it looks pretty slick, and matches well with his movie appearance.  The biggest let-down for me on this guy is definitely the accessories, or more accurately the lack of them.  He’s got the right arm and an extra hand for Stilt-Man, and a briefcase with money in it, also for Stilt-Man, since Prowler’s hands are too big for the handle.  There are no extra parts for Prowler himself, which is a bummer, because I was at least hoping for an extra unmasked Uncle Aaron head, if not also some extra hands.  As it stands, he definitely feels the lightest of this assortment.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Prowler’s always been one of those characters that I don’t mind owning as a toy, but I also don’t feel an undying need to own.  While I liked him well enough in the movie, he was undoubtedly lower on my list than the various Spiders.  So, I wasn’t quite as pumped for this particular release.  Of course, that ended working to his benefit, I think, because I didn’t have much in the way of expectations.  He’s not the star of the assortment, and I do wish he’d gotten a few more accessories, but he does manage to get the look down pretty well, and I do quite like the new parts.  Overall, not a bad release.

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

#2677: Peter B. Parker

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

PETER B. PARKER

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Peter B. Parker mentors Miles Morales, an all-new Spider-Man, to understand the importance of power and responsibility.”

Up until Into the Spider-Verse, Spider-Man movies always had Peter Parker as their lead, and typically a younger version of Peter at that.  Even the comics version of “Spider-Verse” had the mainstream Peter Parker as its central Spider-Man.  So, it was a bit of a shift when the movie’s version of Peter was aged up and moved into the role of mentor for Miles.  It ended up working very well, of course, and gave us a Peter that was consistent with prior incarnations, while still offering up something audiences hadn’t really seen before.  It also gave us a Peter with a lot of kind of goody and distinctive variants on his usual Spidey costume, which are really just ripe for toy treatment, aren’t they?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Peter B. Parker is figure 3 in the Stilt-Man Series of Marvel Legends, the third of the four Spider-Verse figures included.  Like Miles, Peter has several notable looks over the course of the film.  This figure goes for his appearance when he first encounters Miles.  It’s definitely distinctive, and matches Miles in terms of theme, even if it doesn’t quite match up in terms of actual interaction.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  In terms of posability, Peter’s a little more stiffer than Miles and Gwen.  There’s still a good range, but the joints can be a bit tight, and the rather thin limbs can make them a little tricky to get posed.  Also, on my figure, the neck keeps wanting to come out of the torso.  Ultimately, I think this will loosen up over time, but it’s definitely tricky right out of the gate.  And, like Miles, he’s got a little trouble standing, so it takes some more careful posing to get it done.  Peter’s sculpt is all-new (though, as with Miles, I wouldn’t be shocked to see some of these parts get used for a more fully suited Peter down the line), and it’s a pretty great recreation of his animation model from the movie.  The head really nails the disheveled appearance of Peter in the movie, and I love the sort of out of it smile he’s got.  Even the sweat pants and the mismatched shoes look great, and really sell that hastily assembled appearance.  The paint work on this guy is pretty well rendered.  The basic color work is largely handled via molded plastic, but the paint application that is there is pretty clean.  There’s a lot of detailing going on on the face (though I did notice a bit of variation from figure to figure on the stubble), which matches up pretty well with the movie, and they’ve even included smaller details like all of the buttons on his jacket.  I’m still iffy on the total lack of paint for the weblines on what we can see of his costume, but it does mean he matches Spider-Ham.  Additionally, since he’s not supposed to go with the comics style figures, per se, the change isn’t as drastic as it was on, say, 6-Arm Spider-Man.  In terms of accessories, Peter makes out probably the best of the three Spiders, with a second head with the mask on the top of his head, plus three sets of hands (ungloved, and gloved in fists and thwipping), and his fast food beverage.  The lack of a fully masked head lends credence to a full-suited version coming later, and I do like the beanie style look they’ve given him here, as well as the fact that he’s got a slightly changed up facial expression.  They’ve changed up the neck joint, however, making the ball for this one much smaller than usual, meaning it’s a different construction even from Miles.  Not entirely sure why they moved away from the standardizing for these two figures, but hopefully it’s a) just a fluke and b) any further variants of these two characters will at least remain internally consistent.  The hands are a decent mix, with the ungloved ones in particular being designed for use with the drink, which is itself my personal favorite of the accessories included.  In addition to his own accessories, Peter also gets the head for the Build-A-Figure Stilt-Man.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Schlubby Peter is one of the movie’s most distinctive visuals, right next to “What’s Up Danger?” Miles, so he was definitely a design I was wanting to see in some form, especially when the more basic lines completely left it out.  I was definitely down for his inclusion in Legends, and he was another figure I was really looking forward to.  Ultimately, I do wish his posing wasn’t quite as stiff, but beyond that he’s pretty awesome, and definitely a figure I’m glad I have.

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