Tag Archives: Marvel Legends

#2536: Electro

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

ELECTRO

MARVEL LEGENDS RETRO COLLECTION (HASBRO)

“As the villain Electro, Max Dillon wields full control over electricity in his never-ending quest to defeat Spider-Man!”

When Marvel was putting together Spider-Man: The Animated Series in the ’90s, James Cameron was still signed on to put together a live action theatrical film.  He had chosen Electro and Sandman as the villains of the piece, and they were subsequently left out of the cartoon, so as to avoid any brand confusion or competing versions of characters (it’s something that Marvel gave up on pretty quickly, but that DC still holds onto fervently to this day), but as the show got well into its run, it became clear that Cameron’s film wasn’t going to materialize.  Sandman never got to make the transition over to the show since they’d already worked in Hydro-Man to replace him), but Electro did manage to make it over, albeit re-imagined as the Red Skull’s son.  That late into the cartoon, the toyline wasn’t quite as strictly tied to the animation, so Electro never got released on that classic packaging, but, well, here he is now?  Sort of?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Electro is the third figure from the recent Spider-Man-themed assortment of the Marvel Legends Retro Collection.  He’s also the third not to have a ’90s counterpart he’s recreating, but at least in his case, there actually was an Electro figure in the line, just after they had changed the packaging.  This marks Electro’s third time getting the Legends treatment, the second under Hasbro’s tenure.  The last one was a more modern-inspired take on the character, while this one goes strictly classic.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  The last Electro figure was built on the Pizza Spidey, and I thought that worked pretty well for the character.  Hasbro seems to have felt rather differently, so he’s been moved all the way up to the Spider-UK body for this release.  It seems kind of bulky for how I usually think of Electro, but he’s a character who’s fluctuated greatly in size from artist to artist, so this one feels valid too.  Ultimately, I don’t actually dislike it as much as I initially thought I would, and it’s not like the UK body is a bad one by any stretch of the imagination.  Electro re-uses the classic-style head from the previous release, which is honestly just sensible, since it’s not like Hasbro was ever going to do a better classic Electro head.  This one’s just pitch-perfect for the character, and even manages to somehow not look completely ridiculous on this bulked up body.  He also gets a new set of forearms, which add his little electric bolts from the tops of his gloves, completing that classic look.  Electro’s paint work is pretty standard.  It’s very classic, and very bold.  It changes from the slightly metallic shades of the prior figure to just strict yellow and green, and also differentiates the head sculpt by actually painting in the eyes this time around.   On the accessories front, this figure amends the one major flaw of the last Electro by including hands with and without the electric effects.  I’m glad to see them learning.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was very lucky to actually get ahold of the Space Knight Venom Electro, and I was pretty happy with that release, but I figured this guy was coming sooner than later, especially as Hasbro filled in that Sinister 6 line-up.  Personally, I wasn’t terribly excited for him, since, as I noted, I was pretty happy with the prior release.  I also wasn’t big on the base body choice on the prototype.  But, I’m not really turning away any Legends right now, so I bought him along with the rest of the set.  Honestly, he’s better than I’d expected him to be, and it’s really a toss-up as to which version I prefer.  They’re both very nice.

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.

#2535: Gwen Stacy

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

GWEN STACY

MARVEL LEGENDS RETRO COLLECTION (HASBRO)

“A bright student with a keen scientific mind, Gwen Stacy is girlfriend to Peter Parker.”

Hasbro’s Retro Collection sub-line of Marvel Legends is loosely meant to replicate the Toy Biz toys of the ’90s, which typically means aping at least a little bit of what the ’90s cartoons were doing.  Today’s figure, however, kind of spits in the face of that whole thing, since by the time Toy Biz was making Marvel figures, Gwen Stacy was about two decades deceased, and Peter had been with Mary Jane Watson for about half of that time.  That, and the fact that Gwen was just a civilian with no costume or anything, meant that Gwen was absent from the Toy Biz Spider-Man line*.  Hasbro has, nevertheless, decided to include her in their latest round of Retro-inspired figures, and I’m not really going to fight them on any of it at this point.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Gwen Stacy is the second figure in the recent Spider-Man-themed Marvel Legends Retro Collection assortment, which just started hitting retail in the last month or so.  She marks the second of the two figures I’ve looked at so far that don’t actually really fit in the packaging style the line is emulating, but, honestly, that’s become something of a running theme with these figures.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and has 27 points of articulation.  Gwen uses the Phoenix body as a starting point, but is mostly made up of new parts, with only the legs and hands ultimately being re-used.  Everything else is new to this figure, and that’s probably for the best.  Gwen is seen here in her attire from “The Night Gwen Stacy Died,” a suitable choice for her, given it not only captures the spirit of the character well, but is also a pretty slick look, and by far her most memorable design.  The sculpt does a pretty solid job of capturing her design from the comics, and just generally making her look as one might expect Gwen to look.  There’s some really nice texture work on her sweater, and both her jacket and hair get a nice bit of dynamic flow to them, which helps keep her from looking too static.  The head sits a touch high on the neck for my taste, and I wouldn’t have minded seeing a different set of hands used (I’m getting a little tired of that splayed oped hand), but the sculpt is overall a good translation of her design into three dimensions.  Gwen’s paintwork is overall pretty solidly handled.  It’s clean, and it gets the job done.  I think I might have liked her jacket to maybe be a slightly brighter shade, just to give her a little bit more pop, but the application is all pretty clean, and she doesn’t look bad in the slightest.  In terms of accessories, Gwen gets a handful of items that all seem…misplaced?  The big one that caused a tiny bit of controversy was the Mary Jane head sculpt.  Some people misread it as Hasbro saying that Peter’s love interests are interchangeable, and were rather miffed at the thought of putting MJ in an outfit that is so clearly linked to Gwen.  Of course, I see it more along the lines of Mystique‘s Lilandra head, or Skullbuster’s Reese head, where they *can* be used on the body they’re included with, but are more meant to give collectors a head that can go on another body, effectively giving them two figures in one.  I myself like how the MJ looks on Jessica Jones’ body, albeit with a hand-swap as well.  Also included are a rolled up copy of the Daily Bugle, which feels more like a J Jonah Jameson bit than a Gwen one, a binder (which is admittedly the one inoffensive piece here), and a Midtown High School yearbook, which long-time Spider-Man scribe Dan Slott pointed out makes no sense for either Gwen or MJ, since neither of them actually went to Midtown High.  Odd choice.  Still, props to Hasbro for trying *something* I guess.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Gwen’s one of those figures that I wasn’t sitting there desperately waiting to get or anything, but that I was happy enough to see turn up in the line.  She’s a solid addition to the ever growing roster of civilian supporting cast members, and definitely a key character that deserves some proper toy coverage.  Her accessories are maybe a little odd-ball, but they don’t detract from the core figure, and I’m pretty happy to at least get the MJ head as an option, given I never got the two-pack version back in the day.

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.

*Gwen did eventually get the Toy Biz treatment in their Silver Age line, one of their many one-off lines distributed through specialty retailers, so she wasn’t entirely left out of the fun.

#2534: Daredevil

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

DAREDEVIL

MARVEL LEGENDS RETRO COLLECTION (HASBRO)

“Although he is blind, Matt Murdock possesses superhuman senses and courage as the superhero Daredevil.”

You know, it almost feels wrong to discuss a new Marvel Legends Daredevil without also talking about a new season of the show, but, alas, the show tapped out with three seasons, and this is my fourth Daredevil.  There are possibly some talks about working the cast into the MCU, though, so maybe by the time I get to the next Legends release, I’ll have more to talk about.  Otherwise, I’ll just be forced to get all meta again, and that gets old real quick.  So far from Legends, we’ve gotten several prominent costume designs for the character, but there was one notable exception that we were all …that some of us were…I was waiting for: Armored Daredevil!  And look at that, he’s finally here!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Daredevil is part of the new Spider-Man-themed Retro Collection assortment of Marvel Legends.  The assortment has packaging that’s meant to patterned on that of the old Toy Biz Spider-Man line.  Interestingly, this version of DD wasn’t actually featured in that line.  He was, however, released in the Marvel Super Heroes line that proceeded it, which served as the packaging inspiration for the first two Retro Collection sets.  What am I getting at?  Well, it couldn’t possibly be that I’m angry that Hasbro took so long getting us this figure and that he clearly should have been released back at the beginning of the line…because that would be ridiculous.  Right?  Right.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall he has 30 points of articulation.  While the last three Daredevils have been built on the Bucky Cap body from the same bank of parts, this figure changes things up by giving him a head to toe new sculpt.  I honestly wasn’t expecting that to be the case, but I certainly can’t say I’m upset by it.  It means that, for the first time ever on an Armored Daredevil figure, all of the armored elements of his costume are actually raised sculpted elements, which really makes the whole design just a bit more impactful, and certainly adds an air of sleekness and cleanness to it.  The build of the body beneath these elements isn’t too far removed from the Bucky Cap build, so it reads as more or less the same guy, but it’s slightly more refined this time, resulting in a more balanced, more natural look than the Bucky Cap figures have.  The actual construction of the body is also a touch sturdier, which I’m definitely down for.  Daredevil’s paint work is generally pretty impressive, with the metallic red in particular looking really slick.  There’s some slight bleed-over on the torso section on my figure, but it’s fortunately not too terribly obvious.  Certainly better than some of Hasbro’s previous attempts.  Daredevil’s accessories include two sets of hands in fists and gripping poses, two styles for his wrist guards, one with the batons attached and one without (improving from the permanently attached baton sculpt of the smaller-scale figure), the billy clubs in silver, and an all-new unmasked Matt Murdock head, which really benefits from not just being a repainted Hawkeye head.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Despite the fact that I’ve got plenty of DD figures already, this was definitely the figure I was most anticipating from this assortment.  Honestly, I’ve been hoping for this design pretty much since we got the updates to red and yellow, and counter to what my remarks early in the review might have hinted, I’m glad that Hasbro waited until they had really stepped up their game sculpting wise on the line to add this costume to the mix.  He’s very well served by the all-new sculpt, and I would put him on par with the Marvel Now Moon Knight in terms of how much a dedicated sculpt can do to really make a design like this amazing.  I think people are kind of sleeping on this figure right now, which is a shame, because he’s really fantastic.

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.

#2533: Punisher with Motorcycle

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

PUNISHER with MOTORCYCLE

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Frank Castle rides through the night dispensing brutal vigilante justice.”

Hasbro’s “Legendary Riders” subset of Marvel Legends releases is something of a dubious offering.  It’s a really obvious choice on the outset (much like it was when Toy Biz decided to devote an entire assortment to it during their run with the line), since there are a number of memorable rides in the Marvel Universe.  Unfortunately, said rides I think are more prominent in all of our heads than they are on the page, which is why, just like with Toy Biz’s assortment, Hasbro’s had to start…stretching things a bit, to cover the fact that they effectively launched a whole new line to have a good excuse to release a Ghost Rider with a motorcycle.  Admittedly, some of their figure with vehicle pairings are slightly better than others, while others seem to take a stance of “if we add the word ‘ride’ somewhere in the bio, it’ll all work out.”  Today’s review is kind of from the latter category.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Punisher heads up the sixth assortment of the Legendary Riders sub-line of Legends, as the only actually new offering contained there-in (he’s packed alongside a re-pack of Squirrel Girl, who initially shipped alongside Cosmic Ghost Rider, who, fun fact, is another variant of Frank Castle.  How about that?).  It follows the trend so far of even numbered assortments only being half new, which seems to have worked out okay so far.  We’ve gotten all manner of Punisher looks in the last couple of years, so there’s been a little bit of re-treading, but fortunately it’s not without some decent spacing.  This guy’s largely inspired by Frank’s look from Garth Ennis’s run on the book, when he opted to angle more into a real-world take on the character.  We haven’t seen this style in figure form since the Nemesis Series in 2008, so it’s fair for it to be getting an update.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  For the most part, Frank re-uses parts from the Netflix Luke Cage figure, which is a pretty decent bulked up civilian base.  It does seem perhaps slightly large for Frank, but not baselessly so.  He has been on the Reaper body, after all.  He gets a new head and arms, which are all pretty solid pieces.  Technically, there are two heads, with differing expressions, as well as levels of damage to him.  Personally, I like the gruffer, taped up look, but they both work well.  The new arms are using Hasbro’s new internal construction technique for the pins, which help keep things looking a little cleaner.  It’s all topped off by a re-use of the shoulder strap piece we’ve seen a few times now, which works well with the design.  Frank’s paint work is all pretty basic stuff, but certainly not bad looking.  Everything is nice and clean, and gets the job done.  Frank’s accessories are the coolest part of all of this.  In addition to the previously mentioned extra head, he also gets a pretty sweet viking helmet (safety first), a sawed off shotgun, an uzi, a TEC-9, a machete, and a baseball bat.  Not a bad selection of weaponry there.

Also included, of course, is the motorcycle that justifies the “riders” portion of the set.  Now, when I think of Punisher and vehicles, I tend to think more of a van sort of thing, but that’s not very cost effective at this scale, so he gets a bike.  It’s a chopper-style bike, which seems appropriate for Frank.  I can’t say I’m familiar enough with this particular incarnation of the character to know if there’s any specific reference for this particular bike, but it looks cool, so I can’t really fight that.  It looks like the majority of the sculpt is shared with the bike from the Riders Wolverine set, but not having personally handled that set, I can’t say with absolute certainty.  At the very least, there are a few cosmetic changes, including the handle bars, which keep the two bikes unique enough that they don’t look like straight re-use.  Re-used or not, the sculpt is a very impressive one, and it looks like a relatively real vehicle.  There’s some really strong detail work going on here, and my favorite little bit by far is the license plate on the rear of the vehicle.  It’s just really well done, and it sells the realism of the whole thing so nicely.  About the only thing I’d liked to have seen that isn’t included is some weapon storage, which feels like the sort of thing that Frank would really want on whatever vehicle he ended up using.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Remember when I didn’t really like Punisher and didn’t tend to buy toys of him?  Those were the days, huh?  The turnaround time on this set felt really quick, so I didn’t really have much time to process that it was coming, or really form any thoughts about it ahead of time, so I more or less opened it up blind.  I wasn’t expecting much, but ultimately, I got a pretty fun set that feels worth while enough to justify its existence.  After being left kind of cold by both offerings in the last assortment, I’m happier with this one, and I don’t feel quite as negative about the overall prospects of the sub-line.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for hooking me up with this set to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#2516: Moon Knight

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

MOON KNIGHT

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“A vision in an Egyptian temple leads Marc Spector to don a shroud and become the crime-fighting hero, Moon Knight.”

Well, I gotta admit, this was sooner than I’d expected.  I…uhhh…thought I had more time.  You know, to really prepare, and build up the energy.  Do a whole thing.  Play up the crowd.  But, you know what, here goes:

It’s MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON KNIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yep, there’s a new Moon Knight, and I’m right here reviewing it.  Reviewing all those lame Deadpool figures early in the week paid off, didn’t it?  You know it did! ….Okay, maybe I’m being a little mean to the Deadpool figures.  It’s not their fault they aren’t Moon Knight.  Aw, what do I care, I’m reviewing a Moon Knight!  Let’s do it!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Moon Knight is the latest Walgreens-exclusive Marvel Legends release, following up on this year’s first offering of Iron Man 2020, who I’m just now remembering I haven’t actually gotten around to reviewing.  2020’s been a roller coaster of a year, but it’s not so much of a roller coaster of a figure.  It’s also not Moon Knight, which is really a point against any figure that’s not Moon Knight.  Or ’90s Havok, but he’s a whole other thing.  This is our second Moon Knight Legend in the last few years, following up on the Marvel Now!-costumed one that was in the Homecoming tie-in assortment.  He’s sporting his classic attire this time around, which I’m definitely down for.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation.  While the last Legends Moon Knight made use of his own unique body, this one opts for building off of the 2099 body.  I’m a little iffy on this body, as I find it’s not always well integrated with its new, more character specific pieces.  I could definitely see an argument for it also being a touch on the small side for Marc.  I think a lot of people were kind of expecting him to show up on the Spider-UK body.  That being said, the 2099 body means he gets the butterfly shoulders, which are a definite plus.  In addition to re-using the cape, hands, and underlying head of the 2017 Moon Knight, this guy also gets a healthy helping of new parts, including a new hood, forearms, shins, and belt.  It all amounts to a figure that looks quite different from his mold ‘mates, and in fact quite different from the prior Moon Knight figure.  I was particularly impressed with the new hood sculpt, which adds some extra detailing to what we got on the last figure, blending with the cape even better.  I also really dig the clean sculpting on the arm and leg bracers, which help to break up what could otherwise be a pretty basic costume set-up.  The only slight complaint I have on the construction side is that the cape is actually just a touch too long for the 2099 body.  It’s not terribly off, and is really only an issue when he’s standing straight up, but it is slightly annoying.  Moon Knight’s paint work is surprisingly intricate given how little variation of coloring there is in this design.  The slightly metallic coloring on the bracers and belt definitely does a nice job setting them apart, and I really love the slight shading they’ve done around the eyes and on the bottom of the hood.  I wish there there a little more shading on the cape, but what’s there works, and it’s honestly better that it being too heavy.  Perhaps my favorite thing about the coloring is the all-white mask.  I really dig this look for Moon Knight, and while I was a little iffy about how it worked out on the Mezco figure, it ends up working out really well here.  But, if you don’t care for the all-white set-up, have no fear: Hasbro was kind enough to include a second head with a black mask, giving you the choice.  It’s amazing that the $20 Legend can do this, but the $90 Mezco can’t.  In addition to the second head, this guy gets two large moonerangs, three of the smaller ones, an actual proper staff (the one notable omission from the prior figure), and two spare gripping hands.  As with the previous release, the standard fisted hands on this guy have slots to hold the smaller moonerangs, which is cool.  The only thing I’m not big on here is the alternate hands; for some reason, rather than using the gripping hands from the last Moon Knight, which match the fists in terms of detailing, they just used a basic pair, which aren’t even gloved hands.  They also aren’t quite the right size for his accessories, which can make holding things troublesome for him.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

After the very lengthy search that surrounded getting the last Legends Moon Knight, and the serious trouble I’ve been having getting the other Walgreens exclusives as of late, I was actually kind of dreading this release a little bit.  I pre-ordered him through Walgreens’ website, which didn’t actually end up helping, because they cancelled my order with no warning.  It’s okay, though, because I’d actually found him about two weeks earlier when I swung by my local Walgreens for a couple of essentials, and found this guy there before even knowing he was actually out.  So, that was pretty easy, I guess.  In sort of a similar fashion to Iron Man, I had picked up Mezco’s One:12 offering because I wanted a more classic Moon Knight, and then Hasbro went ahead and rather quickly gave me one in Legends style.  And, again, I feel like this one kind of ends up doing the job a little bit better.  He’s just about everything I’d want out of a Moon Knight figure.  He’s really good.

#2515: Strong Guy

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

STRONG GUY

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

Okay, let’s get way better with this Marvel Legends game, you guys.  Yes, the last three days haven’t been the line’s best form, but it’s okay, because it’s all worth it.  Today, you see, we get to the final piece of this assortment, or perhaps pieces, I suppose.  Yes, it’s time to take a look at the Build-A-Figure, one Guido Carosella, better known as Strong Guy, the heavy of X-Factor’s second line-up!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Strong Guy is, as you can probably piece together, the Build-A-Figure for the Strong Guy Series of Marvel Legends.  He actually stands out a little bit from the line-up that builds him, since they’re a X-Force/Deadpool mix, and he’s not really in either of those categories.  Presumably, they just wanted to make sure he had a slot to go into, what with the one proper X-Men assortment being AoA-themed this year.  This marks Strong Guy’s introduction into the Legends format, and his third figure total, following the 5-inch figure and the Minimate (which was itself released just in the last year).  The figure stands 8 inches tall and he has 27 points of articulation.  Strong Guy is sporting an all-new sculpt, which is appropriate, since it’s pretty tricky for someone of his unique stature to share parts with other characters.  Given his larger build, the articulation works quite well, with a solid range of motion, and some great stability, even with his wonky proportions.  I quite enjoyed the old Toy Biz 5-inch sculpt when I took a look at it earlier in the year, and I remarked that it was honestly one of the nicer ones.  This one?  It blows that offering out of the water.  The costume details are nice and sharp, and the head sculpt is one of the most character-filled expressions that we’ve gotten.  Hasbro has been really stepping up their game on the face sculpts in the last year, and Strong Guy just pushes that even further.  Perhaps the only slight down fall of this figure, if you can truly even call that, comes with the color work.  Hasbro’s been stepping up this area more recently, so the fact that Strong Guy is mostly reliant on molded colors, and has minimal accenting does make him feel just a touch unfinished in some areas.  At the very least, a few more details on his jacket would have gone a long way.  That being said, the application is pretty decent, and the basic work still puts him on par with the most of the line.  It’s certainly a step up from where things were when Hasbro first relaunched the line.  Strong Guy doesn’t get any accessories, but given the sheer size of the figure and how he’s a completely new sculpt, that’s honestly totally fair.  Plus, I can’t really think of much he’d need, anyway.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I dig Strong Guy.  I dig Strong Guy a lot.  Ever since we got our first taste of X-Factor with Multiple Man back in 2018, I’ve been looking forward to getting this guy in some form or another, and with the Havok and Polaris figures further filling out the line-up, was even higher on my list.  As soon as this guy was shown off, I was totally on-board, no matter what figures I had to buy to get him…which may have been for the best, but I’ll get to that in a second.  Strong Guy’s an awesome figure, and I’m really glad to have him.  He looks fantastic with the rest of his team.

This assortment is a definite mix of highs and lows.  Strong Guy’s a fantastic Build-A-Figure, and a front runner for my favorite BaF of the year.  It’s really just Crimson Dynamo he has to contend with.  The figures that build him range from surprisingly good to downright abysmal.  Maverick is on the high end of that spectrum for me, but Black Tom, Warpath, and Sunspot all make for a serviceable middle-ground figure.  The Deadpool variants, however, are really treading on thin ice now, and neither one offered here is anything approaching needed.  And Shiklah is garbage, and you can’t convince me otherwise.

#2514: Deadpool

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

DEADPOOL

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Just got the suit back from the dry cleaners. I hear blue and gold is the new red?”

Okay, yep, there’s another Deadpool.  Still gotta review the other Deadpool.  It’s okay, there’s just this one more review, and then I get to review something I actually care about.  Come on, Ethan, you can do this!  I believe in you, me!

What good would a Deadpool wave be with only a single Deadpool variant?  That would be downright preposterous, wouldn’t it?  Well, we covered the zanier side of things with Pirate Deadpool, so let’s have a look at something that’s a bit less out there, and a bit more…umm…what’s a more exciting word for bland?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Deadpool is technically figure 1 in the Strong Guy Series of Marvel Legends, but I’m over here looking at him last.  Why?  Because I kept putting him off, that’s why.  And, I guess I can’t keep doing that?  Yeah, okay, I’ll stop stalling.  I swear.  Look at me: quitting stalling.  For realsies.  Totes quitting.  Stop the madness!  So, what we have here is Deadpool in one of his X-Men uniforms.  It’s not the first one we’ve gotten.  It’s not even the first figure of this particular design, which cropped up as a variant in Hasbro’s 2008 fan choice two-packs.  The figure that I’m putting off reviewing is 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  Structurally, he’s a mash-up of prior Deadpools, using the Juggernaut Series head, the 2099 body and the wrist, neck, and ankle bands of the Sasquatch Series figure, and the harness from the Corps set.  It’s fine, and it gets the job done.  Everything is about as accurate as it should be.  He’s got the same issue as the last, slightly more comical X-Men costume Deadpool figure, which is that the Juggernaut Series head doesn’t quite sit properly on the neck of the 2099 body.  It just sits a bit too high and doesn’t look right in most poses.  Additionally, the harness was originally sculpted for the old Bullseye body, so it sits a little off kilter on the torso.  The whole assembly just ends up looking a little poorly conceived.  In terms of paint, this guy’s main appeal, for lack of a better, blander word, is his changed up color scheme.  Instead of his usual red and black, he’s blue and yellow.  It’s very blue and yellow, so I guess that’s good?  Application’s clean, so there’s that, I guess.  Deadpool is packed with two sword, a handgun, a shotgun, and the head to the Strong Guy Build-A-Figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I didn’t have any interest in this costume the first time it got a Legends figure, and I can’t really say my opinion on it changed by the time of the second go-round.  This costume’s never been one that’s excited me all that much, and I’m really starting to feel some hardcore apathy to all of the Deadpool variants we’ve been getting as of late.  I wasn’t much for Pirate Deadpool, but at least he tried something different.  This one’s just so…meh…

Blandness aside, 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.

#2513: Shiklah

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

SHIKLAH

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Shiklah is the shape-shifting superhuman Queen of the Undead and former Mrs. Deadpool.”

Oh goody, today I get to review Shiklah.  She’s my faaaaaaavorite.  Ever since that time that…ummm…she did that very memorable…thing?  And then that other thing happened?  Wasn’t that great?  ….Okay, real talk, I’ve been fooling you this whole time.  Not only do I not remember either of those memorable things I mentioned, but Shiklah is also *not* my favorite.  I know, you’re shocked.  I’m very convincing with this ruse, right?  Okay, let’s just get to the damn review.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Shiklah is figure 3 in the Strong Guy Series of Marvel Legends, and she falls squarely into the Deadpool portion of the assortment.  Woooooooo.  Deadpool-theme.  It’s automatically wacky and zany and off the wall and they don’t even have to try, right?  Well, that seems to have been the prevailing theory on this one.  The figure’s 6 inches tall and she’s got 27 points of articulation.  Shiklah is using the Lady Deadpool body, and it’s not really the greatest.  From the (admittedly brief amount of) research I did, the body seems rather skinny for how she’s usually depicted, so it’s not great standpoint.  Also, her joints are kind of warped, and she’s got the really high-heeled feet, culminating in a figure that can not stand.  At all.  The effort I had to put into getting her to stay standing for the few photos I have here was insane, and I couldn’t even actually keep her up for all of them, which is why she’s just on the ground for one, and totally absent from another.  Really frustrating and poorly made are the best terms to describe her, really.  She gets a new head, which is fine, but seem large on this body, and she’s got floating add-ons for her necklace and belt, which don’t really stay in place, so hey, there’s more frustration to look forward to.  Her cape is a “cloth” piece, in the same vein as Storm’s.  I use the quotations because I struggle to really call this material cloth.  It’s effectively just paper when you get down to it.  It doesn’t hang well, it doesn’t pose well, and it’s not going to hold up well over time in the slightest.  There’s no pose where it doesn’t look dumb, apart I guess from when she’s laying flat on her face.  How fortunate, then, that that’s the only pose she can actually pull off long-term.  Shiklah’s paint work is, at least, fairly inoffensive.  It does its job, and seems to match the comics alright.  It’s quite purple.  There are no glaring issues, which I suppose is a piece of mercy given the rest of the figure.  Shiklah includes two accessories, neither of which is actually hers.  The main one is Jeff, Gwenpool’s pet land shark.  He’s just an unarticulated figurine, but he’s a fun little piece, and certainly an enjoyable addition to the Gwenpool figure.  He’s got a nice little jaunty walking pose that’s fairly versatile, and he interacts well with Gwen.  There’s a bit of obvious flashing and join lines that are a little bit annoying, but they don’t ruin the figure.  The other extra is Strong Guy’s arm, for those that want that (which is, like, 90% of the people buying this thing).

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I do not care about Shiklah.  She’s far outside of the period of time when I still enjoyed Deadpool, and she just doesn’t seem like she’s got much going on.  Honestly, it doesn’t even seem like Hasbro cares about Shiklah, given Jeff was actually shown off before she was, and is in front of her on both the side illustration and the product image on the back of the box.  I was originally planning to be more jokey with this review, and have Jeff as the main figure and Shiklah as the accessory.  Then, in the course of getting my photos, I realized how actually phoned-in and terrible the figure is, and I felt the need to actually talk about her.  I loathe this figure.  Do you know how bad a figure has to be for me to loathe it?  I’ve bough Mattel figures that I didn’t loathe!  But boy do I loathe this one.  I loathe it so much that I’m getting rid of it.  Not selling: getting rid of.  At least Jeff and the Strong Guy arm justify the cost for me, but you can tell that Hasbro just needed a space filler for this set and didn’t feel like they should put out another Gwenpool just yet.

Not so mixed feelings aside, 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.

#2512: Pirate Deadpool

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

PIRATE DEADPOOL

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“It’s a pirate’s life for Deadpool with plenty of adventure. Oh, and doubloons. So many doubloons.”

Remember how I mentioned that the latest round of Marvel Legends was half-X-Force/half-Deadpool?  Well, I already covered the X-Force, so I guess I might as well get these Deadpools out of the way.  We’re firmly going for the “isn’t he so wacky and goofy and off the wall in the most predictably meme-esque way possible” side of Deadpool with today’s figure, Pirate Deadpool.  Why is he a pirate?  Oh boy he’s wacky, that’s why.  Yeah…just go with it, guys.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Pirate Deadpool is figure 7 in the Strong Guy Series line-up of Marvel Legends.  He’s the first of two Deadpool variants in this assortment, and definitely the wackier of the two.  He’s based on Deadpool’s appearance on the cover of issue 14 of his mid-00s solo series, which is a thing, I guess.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 31 points of articulation.  This Deadpool is based on the Bucky Cap body, which is fair I guess, since about half of them are.  He gets a new head, torso, left forearm, and add-ons for his cape and the skirt of his jacket.  The new parts are mostly pretty decent, but for some reason, he loses out on the movement mid-torso for the new piece, which is rather limiting.  The skirt piece is also a little softer in terms of detailing than I’d prefer, especially around the two (frustratingly non-removable) pistols.  It’s also really thick, and rather restrictive.  I do rather like the new head, though.  The hat’s permanently attached, which ultimately works out better for scaling, and he’s got a slightly goofier expression going on, which works pretty well for the character.  All in all, the parts amount to a pretty respectable recreation of the illustration from the cover.  His paint work follows the trend of all of the post-Juggernaut Series Deadpools, so he’s got that much brighter red as a base color.  It’s certainly eye-catching.  The paint work is all pretty decent, with the application mostly being pretty clean.  There’s a little slop around the bandana on his head, but it’s otherwise not so bad.  Pirate Deadpool is packed with an appropriately pirate-y cutlass and flintlock, and…a katana?  I mean, I get that he’s Deadpool and all, but boy does that katana stick out as being weirdly off theme for this release.  He’s also got the left leg for Strong Guy, which isn’t very pirate-y, but I’m less likely to complain about that one.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I didn’t really want a Pirate Deadpool when there wasn’t a confirmation of a Pirate Deadpool, and once there was, I still didn’t really want one.  I did, however, want a Strong Guy, which required buying a Pirate Deadpool.  Yeah, get used to this concept.  There’s going to be a bit of that this week.  Just as a heads up, on that one.  In-hand, I guess he’s not terrible.  If you want a Pirate Deadpool, this one’s not bad.  I just don’t really want one…

Mixed feelings aside, 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.

#2509: Warpath

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

WARPATH

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“A powerful mutant with superhuman strength and speed, Warpath is a formidable warrior with a proud and noble heart.”

One thing that seems to accompany the mutant gene in the Marvel universe is a propensity to breed like rabbits.  Everybody and their brother seems to have…a brother.  Okay, poor choice of words.  But, the point still stands, that a whole lot of the merry mutants have siblings, frequently with similar, or even identical, power sets.  I guess it’s a pretty easy way for the writers to “bring back” a character that can’t really be brought back.  Such was the case James Proudstar, brother to John Proudstar, the original Thunderbird and early addition to the X-Men’s casualty list.  James cropped up first under the same title as his brother, before jumping into his own identity as Warpath, whose wound up with a good deal more staying power than his brother.  That’s probably why he’s got so many more figures.  Well, here’s one more.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Warpath is figure 6 in the Strong Guy Series of Marvel Legends.  Unlike a lot of this assortment, this isn’t Warpath’s first time as a Legend; he got two separate figures back during the two-pack days of Hasbro, covering two of his later X-Force costumes.  This one, however, goes back to his start with X-Force, and gives him that proper Liefeldian design.  Shoulder pads and pouches!  The figure stands 7 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation.  Warpath is built on the body introduced with Omega Red back in 2018.  It’s honestly surprising it took this long for the body to crop back up, because it’s a really solid big guy type of body, with a really good articulation scheme.  It’s certainly a welcome improvement to the Hyperion body, or even that weird Hulkling take-off the prior Warpaths made use of.  Warpath gets a new head, hands, forearms, shins, and add-ons for his shoulder pads, wrist bracers, and belt.  The head seems perhaps a touch on the large side, if I’m honest.  Not terribly so, but in line with Hasbro’s usual difficulties getting the proportions just right on some of the larger characters.  Sizing aside, though, it’s a really nice sculpt, definitely befitting James’s usual depictions.  The forearms clean up the Omega Red-specific elements of the prior mold, paving the way for easier use for other characters, while the shins not only add another point of articulation, but also add in Warpath’s fringed boots.  The shoulder pads do a variation of the Omega Red ones, pegging into place on the shoulders.  It keeps them secure, while still allowing for removal, if that’s your thing.  The bracers and belt wrap things up with some fairly standard issue parts, which work out pretty well.  His paint work is pretty basic, but also pretty appropriate.  They did tone down his colors ever so slightly from how they were initially depicted in the comics, but it definitely still works, and probably even works a bit better, since he ends up a little less garish.  Warpath’s accessory complement is…odd?  He’s got a second pair of hands for gripping, but nothing to grip.  I don’t mind the extra hands at all, but I’m not used to seeing them without accessories to interact with.  Perhaps he was supposed to have some knives or something?  He also gets the left leg of Strong Guy.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Warpath’s not a character I’ve ever had any sort of major attachment to, due mostly to never really following any of the stories he was a part of.  Subsequently, I’ve also not really collected many of his figures, apart from having his first Toy Biz offering.  That said, he’s got a pretty distinctive design, so I was down to see his classic look get some Legends love, especially with most of the team already here.  He’s a pretty strong figure.

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.