Tag Archives: Marvel Legends

#0885: Beetle

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

BEETLE – SUPERIOR FOES OF SPIDER-MAN

MARVEL LEGENDS SERIES

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From one legacy to another, I suppose. The subject of today’s review is Beetle, an identity originated by Abner Jenkins. Back in the 90s, Jenkins pulled a heel-face turn and took on the identity of Mach II (later Mach III, Mach IV, and Mach V), leaving the Beetle identity vacant. Recently, Janice Lincoln, daughter of Spidey villain Tombstone, took on the name, and had a prominent role in Spencer and Lieber’s Superior Foes of Spider-Man. She seems to be something of a pet character for Spencer, as she’s most recently found herself with a recurring role in his Ant-Man run. Now she’s got her very first action figure!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

BeetleAM2Beetle is figure six in the fourth series of the Spider-Man Marvel Legends Series line. She is the other half of the shared “Superior Foes of Spider-Man” title, which is sensible, given the she’s one of the titular foes. Though she hasn’t been around as long as some of the other characters in this series, Beetle has a few changes to her look. The one presented here is her more streamlined, basic look from Superior Foes. Though her earlier look was a little more interesting, this is the one that fits with the other “Foes” and it also allows for a bit more parts re-use. The figure is just over 6 inches tall and has 33 points of articulation, counting the wings. Beetle is ostensibly built on the mid-sized female body, which has been used for the likes of Hellcat and Wasp. She only actually uses the arms and legs from that particular body, along with the wings from the aforementioned Wasp figure. These pieces are all pretty good, but I did notice a slight bow-leggedness, presumably caused by the packaging. The head, torso, and (as far as I can tell) hands are new pieces. The head is basic, but striking, and hits all the right details. At first glance, I thought the upper torso was Scarlet Witch’s, but a closer look revealed it to be new. It’s a pretty well done piece, but, as with Wasp, I wish the connecting point for the wings weren’t so darn obvious. The lower torso is actually a pretty cool piece, with some fun detail work. Plus, they managed not to make the hip things too silly looking. I do wish it weren’t so flat from the side, though. The hands are hands; they aren’t too big or too small, and that’s what counts. After getting that weird red and silver thing a couple series back, it’s nice to get a Beetle in the proper green and purple. The purple’s a bit too magenta-y for my taste, but other than that, the paint application’s pretty decent. The one area where this figure is somewhat lacking is accessories. All she gets is the Absorbing Man piece (his right leg), which feels really light. An unmasked head would have been cool, since we see her that way several times over the course of Superior Foes.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Okay, so here’s the thing: I like this figure, but it’s not what I wanted. Let me explain: when this figure was first found out about, it was via a list of solicited figures. All we had was the name “Beetle.” As a pretty big fan of Abner, I was hoping for a non-Ultimate version of him. But, we got Janice instead. It makes sense, especially when paired up with Speed Demon. Plus, Janice is a pretty cool character in her own right. The figure isn’t perfect, but she’s still pretty cool, and I’m glad to have her. Now, Overdrive and Shocker can’t be far behind, can they?

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#0884: Jack O’Lantern

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

JACK O’LANTERN – VILLAINS OF THE NIGHT

MARVEL LEGENDS SERIES

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Legacy isn’t really a thing that Marvel tends to do a whole lot of, but they do have a few prominent examples, though they do have a tendency to be villainous. Perhaps the best known legacy identity they have is the Green Goblin, followed by his knock off, Hobgoblin. However, the two of them have followed Marvel’s more usual trend of reverting back to the identity’s originator. One villainous legacy that hasn’t as of yet taken any steps backwards is Jack O’Lantern, who has had five different incarnations to date. Jack O’Lantern is a minor enough character that he’s been rather sparse in figure form. He’s had three figures, and each has been based on a different incarnation of the character. The third figure is relatively new, and I’ll be reviewing him today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

JackOLantern2Jack O’Lantern is the fourth figure in the fourth series of the Spider-Man Marvel Legends Series line. He is officially titled “Villains of the Night,” which he shares with Morbius. I guess it works alright for him, but it feels like more of a Morbius title. This figure is based on the latest Jack O’Lantern (whose real name has not yet been revealed), who was a recurring foe of Flash Thompson’s Venom. The figure is 7 inches tall (including the flames; he’s 6 ½ inches without them) and has 30 points of articulation. Jack is based on the Ghost body (first used in the SDCC-exclusive Thunderbolts set), which itself re-used the thighs and biceps of the Young Avengers Patriot figure. The body is a little bit awkward, especially at the hips, and a serious pain to pose, but it’s not a bad sculpt. Despite being designed specifically for Ghost, the costume details aren’t too far off from at least one of the depictions of Jack O’Lantern. The only truly “off” part is the collar, which should be more open. Jack gets a new head; it’s an important piece, since it’s his namesake and all, and it’s a pretty strong sculpt, in terms of both its standalone quality and its meshing with the rest of the body. He also gets a new belt piece, to help bring the body more in line with Jack’s costume. The piece is nicely handled, though it certainly doesn’t help the issues with the hip movement. At the very least, it distracts from the somewhat large size of the hips. Jack’s paint is generally pretty strong. He’s a lot more murky and drab than most current Legends figures, but that’s definitely appropriate. The head in particular has some pretty cool shading work, which gives it the effect of being unevenly lit, as a Jack O’Lantern would be. Jack O’Lantern includes a pumpkin bomb (the same one included with the Hobgoblin BAF), a sickle, and a broomstick (the current Jack’s mode of transport). Due to the nature of the pre-existing hands, the broom and the sickle both have knuckle guard to help keep them more securely in place. Admittedly, it looks a little goofy, so I can’t really see myself using either of those parts. The figure also includes the left leg of the BAF Absorbing Man.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Jack O’Lantern was another figure from my parents. I didn’t really expect much from this guy. I’m passingly familiar with some of the prior incarnations of the character, but I don’t know the latest one at all. I find myself liking this guy more than I expected. The body is a little out of date, but not horribly so, and he certainly has a unique design.

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#0883: Speed Demon

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

SPEED DEMON – SUPERIOR FOES OF SPIDER-MAN

MARVEL LEGENDS SERIES

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Though they’re kind of arch-rivals now, the offices of DC and Marvel were once actually quite friendly. Friendly enough that in 1969, the writers of The Avengers and Justice League of America were able to get away with an unofficial cross-over of sorts. While the Avengers knock-off faced by the JLA were ultimately forgettable, the Avengers themselves faced off against the Squadron Sinister, who proved quite popular and even got a more heroically-themed spin-off, the Squadron Supreme, later down the line. In the original story, the Squadron Sinister were created by the Grandmaster specifically to do battle with the Avengers. After the story, they hung around the Marvel universe, and were repurposed into various different roles. Flash knock-off “the Wizzer” traded in his somewhat amusing name for the more imposing “Speed Demon” and became a rather forgettable Spider-Man foe. However, he’s gotten a few focus stories over the years, and was most recently one of the stars of Nick Spencer and Steve Lieber’s The Superior Foes of Spider-Man. Now he’s gotten his very first action figure ever! Lucky him!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

SpeedDemon2Speed Demon is seventh figure in the latest series of the Spider-Man Marvel Legends Series (this is numerically the fourth series of Spider-Man-related figures that Hasbro has done in this packaging style). Calling back to his most recent appearances, Speed Demon’s official title in this series is “Superior Foes of Spider-Man,” a title he shares with his co-star from the book of the same title, Beetle. Speed Demon’s more or less had the same design since giving up the “Wizzer” identity. This figure is clearly based on the most recent tweaking of that design, which admittedly plays up some of the Flash similarities a bit more. The figure is a little over 6 inches tall and has 32 points of articulation. He’s based on the Pizza Spidey body, which may actually have been a little bit of a misstep. Presumably, they were trying to give him a svelte, runner’s physique, but Speed Demon’s generally been depicted a little on the bulky side, and in The Superior Foes of Spider-Man series, he was depicted as being about the the same build as Boomerang, who’s figure used the Bucky Cap body. Speed Demon got a new head sculpt, which is a pretty nice piece, which definitely takes influence from Lieber’s SpeedDemon6art. It looks just slightly large on this body, making me wonder if Hasbro changed their mind on what body was being used. The figure also has two sets of hands, flat and in fists, which were originally used on last year’s Iron Fist figure. They’re a bit smaller than the Pizza Spidey hands, which at least makes them feel a bit better scaled on Speed Demon.  In an odd turn for a Hasbro figure, Speed Demon’s paint is perhaps his strongest feature. Everything is nice and sharp, and the gold detailing in particular really stands out, and adds some “pop.” There’s no slop or bleed over, and virtually no fuzzy lines, which is really nice to see. In addition to the previously mentioned extra hands, Speed Demon includes the head of Silvermane…on an RC car. This weird little piece is a specific reference to Superior Foes, and is a fantastically outside the box inclusion that’s a whole ton of fun. The actual head is on a fairly standard ball-joint, and the silver matches up pretty closely to the most recent Ultron, allowing fans who want a proper Silvermane a fairly close approximation (plus the Ultron head fits on the car, which is a pretty goofy sight). The car is a totally static piece, but it’s a decent sculpt. The little flag pole can be removed, should you feel so inclined. Speed Demon also includes the torso of the series’ Build-A-Figure, Absorbing Man.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like Spider-Ben, Speed Demon was purchased for me by my parents, who are just way too supportive. I really loved Superior Foes, so I was definitely looking forward to this guy. The body choice hurts the figure a little, but overall, he’s a pretty decent figure, and he’s got hands down the best accessory for a Marvel Legend since Silver Surfer was packed with Howard the Duck.

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#0882: Ben Reilly Spider-Man

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

BEN REILLY SPIDER-MAN – EDGE OF SPIDER-VERSE

MARVEL LEGENDS SERIES

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In the 90s, Marvel was marred by lots of big, multi-part story arcs, all based on some terrible concept or hook, almost all of which have gone down in infamy. For Spider-Man, it was “The Clone Saga,” a story that actually started off alright, before Marvel decided to capitalize on the vast sales of early installments by extending the story to more than twice its intended length, resulting in…well, let’s be nice and just call them “serious issues.” At about the mid-point of the story, it was revealed that the Peter Parker we’d been following for the last 20 or so years was actually a clone, and the more recently introduced Ben Reilly was in fact the original Parker (this was later reversed, for obvious reasons). This resulted in a major status quo shift, where Peter stepped down from the role of Spider-Man, and Ben took over. Today’s figure hails from that particular era…mostly. I’ll get to that in a little bit.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

SpiderBen2Spider-Ben (that’s the shorthand I’m gonna use, just to make my life easier) is the first figure in the latest Spider-Man Marvel Legends Series (seems they’ve dropped the “Infinite.” Does this mean the line is now just finite? Oh no!). Like last series’ Scarlet Spider, Spider-Ben fills the slot of the required Spider-Man variant. The figure’s official title is “Edge of Spider-Verse,” a title he shares with Spider-Gwen. The thing is, Ben didn’t appear in the “Spider-Verse” event, at least not the Ben from the main universe. So, is this perhaps meant to be an alternate universe Ben? Who knows. Regardless of what universe he hails from, this figure wears the costume that Ben was sporting during his stint as the main Spidey during the mid-90s. It’s a slight tweak of the classic Spidey costume, but it’s actually a pretty sharp redesign, and proved popular enough to get re-used for M2’s Spider-Girl. Structurally, Spider-Ben is about 95% re-use from last year’s “Pizza Spidey.” That means he stands just over 6 inches tall and has 32 points of articulation. The Pizza body is by far one of Hasbro’s strongest bodies, with solid SpiderBen3proportions and a pretty decent range of motion. It also makes a lot of sense to re-use it, seeing as Peter and Ben should have the same build (what with one being a clone and all). The only difference between the two sculpts is the addition of web-cartridges to the wrists. I think these are different from the ones used on Scarlet Spider, but it’s had to tell, due to differences in paint. The general paintwork on Spider-Ben is all pretty solid. Aside from one or two small bits of slop, he looks pretty sharp, and does a spot-on job of replicating Ben’s costume design from the comics. Ben includes the same three sets of hands included with Pizza Spidey: web-shooting, fists, and open gesture. They’re just as cool here as they were there, and I’m glad their inclusion has become a standard. Ben also includes the head and hands from Carnage, done up to match this figure’s color scheme. This allows him to be transformed into Spider-Carnage (from when Ben briefly bonded with the Carnage symbiote), which is a really cool extra. Finally, Ben is packed with not one, but two arms from this series’ Build-A-Figure, Absorbing man.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

While I was at MAGFest, buying Hellboy figures, my parents were out buying me this newest series of Marvel Legends (okay, it’s not like that’s all they were doing. They were actually having a day out and about). As odd as it seems, this was probably the figure I was most looking forward to in this new series. I love the new Spidey body, and I’ve always had a soft spot for this particular costume. This figure definitely doesn’t disappoint. In fact, he may very well be my favorite Spider-Man yet.

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#0878: Daredevil – Yellow

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

DAREDEVIL – YELLOW

MARVEL LEGENDS INFINITE SERIES

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Just a little while after this review is posted, Netflix will be premiering the second season of Marvel Studios’ Daredevil. I don’t know about everyone else, but I absolutely loved the first season of the show, so I’m pretty darned excited about season two. In honor of the show, why not look at something Daredevil-related? Because I want to, that’s why!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

DDYellow2Daredevil was released as the third Walgreens exclusive figure in Hasbro’s Marvel Legends Infinite Series line. The back of the box groups him with the Rhino series of figures, though he arrived at Walgreens a fair bit after those figures hit stores (he also doesn’t include any sort of Build-a-Figure piece). The figure stands about 6 ¼ inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation. As noted in the review’s title, this is “Yellow Daredevil;” he’s wearing the costume from his first handful of appearances, before he switched to the all red number we all know and love. While the costume was short-lived, it’s fairly distinctive, and has quite a lasting power with fans, resulting in it getting more than a few figures over the years. Sculpturally, this Daredevil is identical to the red version released last year. That’s not a huge shock, since he’s the same guy and all. I will say, while it was perfect for the regular Horn-Head, it seems a little off here. It feels like this more of a “later in his career” sort of sculpt, and I kind of expect early Daredevil to be a little more…svelte? Maybe if he’d been on the Pizza Spidey body? Of course, it’s not like this body is bad by any stretch of the imagination, and Yellow DD figures have traditionally just been straight repaints, so maybe I’m just off with this one. The paint is the whole selling point of this figure, so DDYellow4how did it turn out? On a whole, not bad.  He’s bright, colorful, and sufficiently different from the last one. The colors do a decent job of capturing the look (though I personally prefer it when straight black is used for the darker sections), and the application is mostly pretty clean. The choice to paint part of the yellow on the shin was unfortunate (remember guys, dark on light. Dark on light!), since it means that the shins don’t match the rest of the leg, and on my figure they don’t even match each other! Also, the “D” logo is definitely way too big on this guy; it should be like half the current size. DD includes the same pair of billy-clubs as the last figure, but in red this time. Since he doesn’t include a B-a-F piece, they’ve given him an extra, unmasked head. It’s just a re-use from the Marvel Now! Hawkeye figure, so it doesn’t quite match up with the features on the masked head. Still, it’s not a bad extra, and it looks pretty great popped on a suit body.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The original Daredevil costume will forever have a special place for me. I can’t say exactly why I like it so much, but I just really do. The SMC version was one of my personal grails, and this costume is the reason I got into Minimates. Needless to say, when Hasbro announced he’d be getting released in the new Legends style, I was pretty darn excited. I didn’t have any luck finding him at first, but two weeks ago, I happened upon him in a Walgreens I don’t frequent very often. Yeah, he’s just a repaint of the figure I got last year, but I loved that figure, and I love this costume, so I love this figure too. Now I’m gonna go binge watch the new season.

*Want a Yellow Daredevil figure of your own?  He’s currently in-stock with our sponsors over at All Time Toys!  Click here to check him out!

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#0761: Ultron, Vision, & Hulk

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

ULTRON, VISION, & HULK

MARVEL LEGENDS INFINITE SERIES

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Last year, Hasbro partnered up with Target during the holiday season in order to offer a few exclusive items from a number of their lines. Among the lines included was Marvel Legends Infinite Series, which got a special three pack of figures, which included Captain America, Ms. Marvel, and Radioactive Man. It would seem Hasbro is looking to make this something of an annual thing, as another three pack was just released. Included this time around were Ultron, Vision, and the Hulk, all of whom received a nice popularity boost courtesy of Age of Ultron.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These three are, as noted above, part of a Target exclusive set, arriving just in time for the holiday season.

ULTRON

UltVision&Hulk4Ultron’s had quite a few figures this year, but this is actually only the second Marvel Legend. This one gives us another shot at the comics design. Specifically, he seems to draw inspiration from Ultron’s comics appearances from the last several years, though he certainly amalgamates a few different designs. The figure is about 6 ½ inches tall and has 30 points of articulation. Part of why Ultron amalgamates a few designs is due to some necessary parts re-use. Ultron makes use of the body of last year’s Ultimate Beetle figure, along with a new set of forearms/hands, as well as yet another all-new Ultron head. Beetle’s body’s actually not a bad fit for Ultron, and it was pretty good sculpt to begin with, so it’s re-use is definitely a reasonable one. The new forearms and hands meld nicely with the rest of the body, and definitely work better for the character than the original Beetle hands would. The new head is definitely the star attraction here. It’s a fantastic sculpt, with lots of really sharp line work and some great symmetry, and it really captures the character well. Ultron’s mostly just molded in a dark silver plastic, which looks pretty decent, but he’s got a fair amount of red detailing throughout. In particular, I really like how the mouth has been handled; they managed to get that whole crackling energy thing down just right!

VISION

UltVision&Hulk2He’s had no new Marvel Legends for like 7 years (being dead can do that sort of thing to you) but Vision’s managed to get two whole new Marvel Legends figures. His first one hit just a few months ago, and was based on one of the character’s more recent designs. This figure opts for a slightly more oldschool look, offering Vision’s second design ever, from John Byrne’s run on West Coast Avengers. I respect Byrne a lot, but the less said about that run and why the Vision was suddenly mono-chromatic, the better. Regardless of the questionable rationale behind the why of the design, it’s actually not a bad look, and it’s certainly different enough to warrant a figure. The figure stands about 6 ¼ inches tall and has 32 points of articulation. He is, more or less, a repaint of the last Vision figure. He’s built on Hasbro’s favorite body, the Bucky Cap, and uses the same head as the previous Vision. Unfortunately, he’s back to the two-fisted look, which is a shame, since the outstretched hand of the last one (and this one’s prototype) made for a nice variety of poses. To make up for that, this guy gets a brand new pair of feet, sans shoes, which are very well sculpted. He’s also got that same cape piece, of which I am still not a huge fan, but it’s less offensive here. The paint is, of course, the main draw of this figure. Now, he could have been just solid white, since that’s how he was depicted in the comics. However, Hasbro decided to do something a bit more visually interesting, so he’s molded in clear plastic, with white painted over top, making him semi-translucent, which looks really cool. In general, this paint works a lot better for this sculpt than that on the Now! Costume. I do sort of wish the black costume lines went all the way around his torso, but he that’s relatively minor.

HULK

UltVision&Hulk3Last up, it’s the required heavy hitter of the set, Hulk. This Hulk, like Ultron before him, appears to be an amalgam of a few recent Hulk designs. Overall, he seems to take the most influence from the Indestructible Hulk book from the Marvel Now! relaunch, though he lacks that look’s armor. The figure is a little over 8 inches tall and has 31 points of articulation. The figure gets a new head sculpt, clearly based on the buzz-cut look from Indestructible. It’s a pretty nice sculpt, which is certainly expressive, so that’s cool. From the neck down, the figure is the same as the Age of Ultron version from earlier this year. It’s a decent enough sculpt, and it actually works a bit better for a comic design, than it did a film design. Hulk’s paint work is fairly straightforward, basic greens and purples. It’s not the most exciting look of all time, but it’s pretty solid work.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I, unsurprisingly, got this set from my local Target. My main interest in getting this set was definitely Vision. He’s definitely a solid figure, and an improvement over the Now! version. Hopefully a proper classic look (or maybe even his 90s look) is on the horizon. Regarding the other two figures in the set, Hulk is a well done space taker, but Ultron is actually a pleasant surprise. He’s the best figure in the set, and probably one of the best Ultron figures ever. Solid work!

#0738: Hulkbuster

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

HULKBUSTER

MARVEL LEGENDS INFINITE SERIES

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If you’ve been keeping up with the last week of reviews, the focus of today’s review being the Hulkbuster really shouldn’t come as much of a shock to you.

So, umm, yeah. Hulkbuster! Whoooooo! That’s…well, not really new or different, or anything. Not that that’s a bad thing! Just, everybody and there mother’s been doing Hulkbuster figures recently (gee, I can’t imagine why…), so I’ve kinda run out of things to say about the armor. Let’s just get to the freaking review already!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

HulkbusterML2The Hulkbuster armor is the build-a-figure for the (appropriately named) “Hulkbuster Series” of the Avengers Marvel Legends Infinite Series line. This marks the second time that the Hulkbuster’s made into the Marvel Legends line, but it’s the first one in quite a while. He’s based on the design from Avengers: Age of Ultron, so he goes with that subset of Legends figures, though he also fits in just fine with the comic-based legends. The figure is 9 ¼ inches tall and has 31 points of articulation, which is pretty darn impressive for a figure this bulky. He also weighs a metric ton. No lightweight build-a-figure this time! Hulkbuster gets an all-new sculpt, and while it’s not Hot Toys level of detailing, it’s pretty great. Everything is nice and symmetrical, and they’ve done a pretty decent job of balancing the aesthetic of the sculpt with range of motion on the joints. As far as accuracy to what’s on the screen, he’s a little bit off. Not a lot, but enough to make it noticeable. In general, it seems Hasbro opted to give HulkbusterML4the suit a slightly more “heroic” build, broadening the shoulders, shrinking the head a bit, and lengthening the arms and legs. All minor nudges, but the end result is a bit different. Of course, it also ends up being something that looks more at home with the rest of the figures in this series, so I can see why they might tweak him. If there’s one area on this figure that has room for improvement, it’s the paint. Now, let me follow that up by saying that this figure’s paint is by no means bad. In fact, it’s actually pretty good for Hasbro. What’s there is bold and cleanly applied. It’s a good looking figure. However, the color palate is much too bright to be movie accurate (especially noticeable when this figure is placed next to the Mark 43) and the sculpt would very much benefit from a paintjob that does a better job of accentuating it. As is, it’s solid work, but with a better paint job it could be fantastic work.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Yeah, so, umm, see that build-a-figure part up there? Wanna take a guess as to how I got mine? As soon as this guy was shown off, I knew I wanted one. None of the other Hulkbuster stuff really excited me, but this one did. The final figure may have its flaws, but, like I said, this is still a really solid figure. Both metaphorically and physically. Seriously, in event of my house getting broken into, forget the baseball bat, I’m grabbing this guy!

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#0737: Blizzard

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

BLIZZARD

MARVEL LEGENDS INFINITE SERIES

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Remember how I talked about Hasbro refusing to let a Marvel Legends prototype go unused? Well, guess what? Yep, today’s another of those figures! This one’s kind of special though, because he rounds out the famed “Jubilee Series” from before Legends’ switch to the Infinite Series branding. Last year’s TRU exclusive X-Men series got us the Jubilee Build-A-Figure, the holiday season Avengers three-pack gave us Radioactive Man, the Thanos series brought us Batroc, and the Ultron series threw in Tiger Shark, leaving just poor old Blizzard out in the cold. Fortunately, that didn’t last long, and now we’ve officially gotten every figure from the most impossible series of Marvel Legends ever thought up.*

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Blizzard2Blizzard (or “Marvel’s Blizzard” as he’s listed on the box) is the last single-release figure in the Hulkbuster series of the Avengers Marvel Legends Infinite Series figures. It’s interesting to note that he’s one of three figures in the series to get his own name on the box, which is a tad surprising, given that he’s freaking Blizzard. Not exactly a name that’s gonna get people lining up, but hey, I don’t mind. I’m just happy to have the figure! Blizzard stands about 6 ¼ inches tall and has 32 points of articulation. He’s built on the Bucky Cap body, which is a good fit, and he gets an all-new head sculpt. It’s not really anything groundbreaking, but it’s a pretty great sculpt of a dude in a full face mask. So, that’s cool. Most of what makes this figure Blizzard is paintwork, which is actually pretty great. They’ve gone with the design of the more recent Donny Gill version of the character. It’s not my favorite of the two looks, but it’s certainly not bad. This could have been a pretty bland paintjob, but Hasbro opted to make the blue metallic and the white pearlescent, which makes him look pretty darn spiffy! Also, it’s a minor thing, but it’s really great to see that they successfully matched the painted and molded plastic colors, so the figure doesn’t clash. A lot of figures don’t get that down, so I’m really happy this one did. Blizzard gets no character-specific accessories, which is a bit of a letdown, but he does get the upper torso of the Hulkbuster, so that kind of makes up for it!

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Blizzard is a figure I’ve been waiting for pretty much since he was originally announced. After getting the other three figures from the set, I was anxious to get him to finish up the group. He ended up being one of the four figures from this series I found at Walgreens, which was pretty cool. While I still think Valkyrie is the best figure in the series, I think I’d give this guy second best. He may not do much new, but he’s a pretty solid figure, and he’s got a fair bit of novelty to him.

*Seriously, can we address the Batman-level gambit that Hasbro played here? They legit showed off an entire series of villains who are at best C-list, with a Build-A-Figure of a has-been X-Man from the ‘90s (and a GIRL, no less). No big names, no special gimmicks. There was no way a retailer was gonna touch that line-up. But they showed it off at Toy Fair anyway, and built up all this pent-up fan demand for these literal nobodies, allowing them to slot every single one of those figures into a later assortment. The final scenario is literally the only case that any of these guys would have ever seen release. That’s damned impressive.

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#0736: War Machine

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

WAR MACHINE

MARVEL LEGENDS INFINITE SERIES

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Recently, Hasbro’s been putting a lot of effort into making sure that no Marvel Legends prototype gets left behind, so a decent percentage of just about every new series of the line in the last year has been made up of figures we’ve seen in some capacity before. Most of the time, these figures are comic-based figures who take advantage of movie popularity to get their sales, but today’s figure bucks that trend, actually being a movie-based figure who was salvaged from the scrap heap. So, let’s have a look at War Machine, shall we?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

WarMachine2War Machine is the second to last figure in the Hulkbuster Series of the Avengers Marvel Legends Infinite Series figures. He also has the notoriety of being the only movie-based figure in a series with a movie-based Build-A-Figure, which has caused some people a bit of frustration. This figure was originally supposed to be a part of the third series of the Iron Man 3 Marvel Legends, but that series ended up cancelled. He was meant to be based on the concept drawings for the pre-Iron Patriot War Machine 2.0 armor, but now he gets to be based on the actual armor design from Age of Ultron. Yes, it’s the same design, but now it’s more official, right? The figure stands roughly 6 ¼ inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation (counting the shoulder pads and the mounted gun). Sculpturally, this figure is an almost 100% re-use of the Iron Man 3 Marvel Legends Col. James Rhodes/Iron Patriot figure. Literally the only difference between the two sculpts is the left hand, which was open on the Iron Patriot figure, but is closed here. However, this is one of those cases where re-use is not only warranted, but pretty much necessary for the appropriate look. They’re supposed to be the same armor in-universe. It helps that the Iron Patriot sculpt was a pretty good one, too. The fine detail work is just great, it’s super accurate to the source material, and he has decent proportions to boot. The only real downside to this guy is the mounted gun, which doesn’t get the full mobility of the film version, resulting in it being stuck in a somewhat hard to work with pose. It’s workable, but a little frustrating. The main difference on this guy is that paint job. The Iron Patriot figure was (obviously) in more patriotic colors. This figure returns Rhodey to his more traditional black and grey color scheme for which he’s what he’s more known. It’s not the most exciting color selection of all time, but it’s accurate. Plus, he still has all the small writing and insignias that were seen on Iron Patriot, which is definitely nice to see. Another big difference between this guy and his predecessor is his accessory compliment. In addition to the requisite Hulkbuster piece, War Machine also gets an alternate head with his faceplate up, revealing a pretty decent Don Cheadle likeness.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I definitely got this guy for the Hulkbuster piece. There’s no two ways about that. When he was initially announced for the IM3 Legends line-up, I was definitely going to pass. I like the armor design and all, but I find the Iron Patriot color-scheme much more exciting, so that was the figure for me. But, then he got moved to this set and I didn’t really have a choice in the matter. Honestly, he’s a pretty great figure. He’s the same great sculpt, plus he gets that cool new head sculpt, which really makes him work. I don’t regret getting this guy.

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#0735: Valkyrie

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

VALKYRIE – FEARLESS DEFENDERS

MARVEL LEGENDS INFINITE SERIES

Valkyrie1

One of the cool things about the Marvel Universe is that it actually has a pretty wide range of differing female heroes and villains. They aren’t simply limited to one single type of role, just like their male counterparts. So, a few years ago, when a lot of the interesting female characters got booted out of the spotlight in favor of a near-unending stream of gruff, emotionless women who must compensate for not being as physically strong as their male counterparts, I was a little bummed. Good ol’ Valkyrie here managed to not be totally cast aside, mostly due to already being a somewhat minor character to begin with. She hasn’t really been a focus character or anything, but rumor has it that she’ll be making an appearance in Thor: Ragnarok, which should certainly boost her visibility, at least a little bit!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Valkyrie2Valkyrie is a part of the Hulkbuster Series (aka series 3) of the Avengers Marvel Legends Infinite Series. She’s listed as Fearless Defenders on the package, a name she shares with Thundra. The name is a much better fit for Valkyrie, given that she’s spent most of her career as a member of The Defenders, and she was in fact a main character in the recent Fearless Defenders comicbook. This figure opts to present Valkyrie in her most recent costume, which she started wearing towards the tail-end of the first volume of Secret Avengers, the same costume used for her Marvel Universe figure. I don’t find the design to be quite as striking as her classic look (I really miss the cape), but it’s a serviceable enough look. The figure stands just over 7 inches tall and has 30 points of articulation. She uses the same She-Hulk base body as Thundra and Hela, which is reasonable, but does have one notable issue: she’s just too tall! Her listed height is 6’3”, which puts her at just an inch taller than Captain America. At this scale, that should be a negligible difference; she certainly shouldn’t tower over the average male the way this figure does. On the other hand, Hasbro does seem to be up-scaling the Asgardians in general for this line, so compared to the most recent Thor figure, for instance, she isn’t quite as out of scale. Maybe the Asgardians have been juicing? Anyway, this figure has the same arms and legs as the other She-Hulk body figures, along with an all-new head and upper and lower torso pieces. The head is very nice piece. She’s got a nice, determined look to her; not as angry as Thundra, but certainly not as laid back as Wasp or even Captain Marvel. The face is much more angular than most female faces, which certainly works well conveying Valkyrie’s Nordic features. The hair is a separate, glued on piece, which is pretty nicely sculpted. The braids actually don’t look too ridiculous, which is always good, and the texturing on the various strands adds some nice dimension. She does have a pretty noticeable seam running along the right side of the hair, which is a bit distracting, but that’s the only real issue. The torso pieces are just a slight tweak on the more generic parts, really. One weird thing I noticed is that she’s got these weird ridges running down her backside; they aren’t present on any other figures using this body type, and I don’t believe they come from the comic design, so I’m not sure what they’re supposed to be. Weird. The collar and ….little circle things (?) are sculpted on, and look pretty good, certainly better than if they’d been painted. She also has an add-on for her belt, which is glued in place. The paintwork on Valkyrie is decent enough. It’s not terribly exciting (that’s kind of true to the comic design too, thought). The colors are pretty good and the transitions are pretty clean, so that’s good. The hair gets a nice warm brown wash to bring out the details. The face is pretty clean, even the eyes; not a huge fan of the bright red lips, but they don’t ruin the figure. Valkyrie includes her trusty sword Dragonfang, which is a little generic, but pretty good, as well as the arm of the Hulkbuster figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This marks the second time that Valkyrie has made it into the Legends style; her first figure was part of a Fan’s Choice two-pack, which also included an Ed McGuinness-styled Hulk. However, the set wasn’t the easiest to procure and holds a pretty hefty after-market value.  What’s that got to do with this? Well, I missed out on the first Valkyrie, which kinda sucked. So, when this figure was announced, I was pretty excited. I was a little bit down on her at first (since the costume’s not the most exciting thing) but I have to say, the figure’s really grown on me, and I think she might very well be the best single release figure in the series.