Tag Archives: Marvel

#2983: Morlun

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

MORLUN

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“From the darkness, the vampire Morlun hunts Spider-Man in an effort to slay the superhero and feed on his powers.”

In the early ’00s, writer J. Michael Straczynski took over as the main writer for the Spider-Man books, and decided to add his own lasting impact to the mythos with…well, let’s just call them some questionable ideas.  Everyone remembers the messes that are “Sins Past” and “One More Day,” two stories that Marvel’s been trying to shake for a while now, but one that gets overshadowed by those two a lot is “The Other,” a story that reveals that Peter getting bitten by the spider was no accident.  No, apparently the spider did it on purpose to pass its powers onto Peter and turn him into a Totem, a bridge between animal and man.  It only gets weirder from there, honestly.  The central villain to this very odd story is Morlun, a rather generic vampire guy, who’s a generic vampire and also…I mean that’s really it, I guess.  Maybe Straczynski forgot that Peter already had a vampire-themed adversary?  When Dan Slott took over the book years later, he decided that rather than just ignore all of this stuff, he’d try to make it actually a little more worthwhile, and made Morlun part of a whole family of multi-universal hunters called the Inheritors, who are all far more interesting than he is.  It makes him suck less on the whole, but it also makes me like him less by comparison, so it’s certainly a catch-22.  Now he’s got a figure, so there’s that.  Guess I’ll get that reviewed.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Morlun is figure 5 in the Armadillo Series of Marvel Legends.  He’s the first of the two comic-based figures in the assortment, and also marks Morlun’s first time in figure form.  The figure stands about 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 29 points of articulation.  Morlun is built from a mix of a few different parts, as well as a few new parts mixed in.  He’s got the arms from the male Hellfire Club members, as well as the core and legs of the larger suited body, mixed with a new head, hands, and jacket/torso cover.  It does a perfectly fine job of capturing the character’s, admittedly, rather generic design from the books.  The parts mesh well together, and they do at least give it there all on the detailing.  He’s even got the little life-force suckers on his hands, which is kinda cool.  The standard head has a toothy grin that’s fairly appropriate to the character’s depictions over the years, so that’s a cool touch too.  Morlun’s paint work is decent enough.  Certainly not crazy-eye-catching or anything, but it does what it needs to, and the application is generally pretty clean and sharp.  Morlun is packed with an alternate head, this time with his lips pulled back to reveal more of his upper teeth.  This is…imposing?  Or maybe it’s supposed to be?  It’s a near miss, I think.  It kind of just looks like he’s got indigestion.  Maybe something he ate is disagreeing with him?  Morlun is also packed with the right arm of Armadillo.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

In case you hadn’t picked up, I don’t really care for Morlun.  My first exposure to him was an off-hand mention in the bio of a Minimate, since I wasn’t a regular Spider-Man reader until well after he appeared, and I remember looking him up, only to discover how bland, disappointing, and out of place he was.  I didn’t hate what Slott did with the Inheritors, but Morlun himself has never stuck with me.  I wasn’t exactly jumping up and down about his inclusion here, nor does the figure do much to sway me on the character.  It could be worse, though, and at least this one means we might see the other Inheritors down the line.

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.

#2982: Miles Morales

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

MILES MORALES

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“When a fierce power struggle threatens to destroy his new home, Miles Morales realizes that with great power there must also come great responsibility.”

In 2018, Sony took advantage of their exclusive distribution rights on Spider-Man media to release a totally PS4-exclusive game based on the character, which was rather a big hit. There were some toy tie-ins at the time, and last year they launched a follow-up game to go along with their launch of the PS5, now centering on Miles Morales in the title role. Unsurprisingly, there are some more toy tie-ins, starting with a standard version of the main character, who I’m taking a look at today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Miles Morales is figure 4 in the Armadillo Series of Marvel Legends.  Miles is under the Gamerverse branding, and is the only such figure in this set.  He’s based on his standard costumed appearance from Spider-Man: Miles Morales, which is in turn a pretty straight translation of his costume design from the comics.  The figure stands just shy of 6 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  In terms of how the articulation works, he’s pretty much set-up the same way as the Integrated Suit Spidey, with the adjusted neck joint which includes the double ball joint.  It’s generally not a bad set-up, so I can get behind it.  Miles is sporting an all-new sculpt (which is shared with the Gamestop-exclusive stealth version).  It’s a little taller and the proportions are a little more nuanced than on the previous strictly comics Miles.  There’s also a good deal more texture work this time around, with raised webbing and some actual patterning on the suit proper.  It all looks pretty good, and helps give him a little bit of extra sharpness over his predecessor.  It also means that, unlike the Peter figure we got back in 2018, Miles is quite screen accurate, which is pretty cool.  Miles’s paint work is generally pretty solid.  The application’s all pretty sharp, and I quite dig the slightly metallic finish on the red sections.  Miles is packed with quite an impressive selection of accessories, getting three sets of standard hands (in fists, open gesture, and thwipping), plus a set of hands specifically for his shock abilities, as well as an unmasked head, and the right leg for the Armadillo Build-A-Figure.  Given how anemic the accessory selection on some of the Spidey variants has gotten more recently, as well as the fact that he’s an all-new sculpt, there definitely feels like a lot of value here.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Special thanks to Max for loaning this figure for review.  I’ve been taking a closer look at how I collect Legends in the last year, and with me already owning a pretty standard-looking Miles figure that I quite like, I wasn’t sure I was in a rush to get this one.  Max, not having the prior release, was snagging one, so he was kind enough to set me up with the BAF piece, as well as letting me borrow this one to round out the reviews.  This figure’s quite nice, I won’t lie.  He turned out very well, and I certainly appreciate the level of detail on the sculpt, as well as how well accessorized he is.  I also like that Hasbro’s committed to keeping a standard Miles available, especially one that’s just a strong all-around figure.

#2979: Doctor Strange

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

DOCTOR STRANGE

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Possessing vast magical knowledge and skills to call upon, Earth’s Master of the Mystic Arts steps onto the battlefield.”

Since wrapping up the rather epic and sprawling events of the Infinity Saga, the Marvel Cinematic Universe seems to moving somewhat in the direction of more of a general Marvel Team-Up kind of vibe, with solo outings not actually being quite so solo.  In respect of this, No Way Home doesn’t just feature Spider-Man, it also features another Steve Ditko creation, Doctor Strange, in a role that’s at least prominent enough to justify him getting coverage in the tie-in toy line.  How about that?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Doctor Strange is figure 3 in the Armadillo Series of Marvel Legends.  He’s the last of the movie tie-in figures in the assortment, and our first proper MCU Strange since the Infinity War three-pack release back in 2018.  Despite the rather constant adjustments that happen to costumes within the MCU in order to justify new toys, it appears that Strange’s look has effectively remained the same since the first film.  So, this is just another take on that.  The figure stands about 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  This Doctor Strange continues the trend of the other all being some form of re-work of the first MCU figure.  This one is, notably, the most re-worked.  He shares the legs with the first release, but that’s it.  Everything else is new.  The head is certainly the best Cumberbatch likeness we’ve gotten to date.  I had liked the IW version a lot, but this one’s just a bit better.  He also seems to be just a touch cartoonier, meaning he fits in well with the What If…? figures we just got.  The new arms remove the pins on the elbows, which is a nice, if minor improvement.  The new torso isn’t drastically different, but it’s more accurate, as is the skirt piece, which also features a separate piece for the belt now.  It’s all topped off with a cape that *might* be the same one as the IW version.  There are minor changes in the exact shaping, which might actually make it new, or might just be slight mold variance.  Either way, it’s a nice piece.  His paint work is generally pretty basic.  A lot of the color work is molded, but what paint is there is solid, especially on the face.  Strange is packed with three sets of hands (the two sets of hands included with the first MCU Strange, as well as two all-new effects hands), the Eye of Agamotto (re-used from the prior releases), and the head to the Armadillo Build-A-Figure.  I really love the new effects hands.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The IW Strange was one I already I didn’t know that I needed, but that I was very happy to get once I had him.  When this one was shown off, I was really of the same notion, that I didn’t really need him.  I still love the IW release, but this one’s just another improvement, across the board.  The likeness is better, the new body sculpt is strong, and he’s got the best accessory selection we’ve gotten yet for a Strange figure.  This guy’s surprisingly good.

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.

#2978: J Jonah Jameson

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

J JONAH JAMESON

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Behind the anchor desk on The Daily Bugle web site, Jameson does everything he can to sling mud at his greatest adversary — Spider-Man.”

One the very best things about the Raimi trilogy of Spider-Man films was JK Simmons as constant Spidey foil J. Jonah Jameson.  He was so perfect and irreplaceable in the role, that, in fact, they didn’t replace him.  The Garfield films left Jameson out entirely, as did Holland’s first outing.  However, at the end of Far From Home, we finally got to see the MCU version of Jameson, once again played by Simmons.  His role was really just a cameo that time around, so we had to wait until the follow-up film to see him get the proper action figure treatment.  It also means we got two Marvel Legends Jamesons in the space of one year, which is pretty crazy if you ask me.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

J. Jonah Jameson is figure 2 in the Armadillo Series of Marvel Legends.  He’s the third of the four movie figures in the assortment, and also the second official Legends Jameson in the whole of the line.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 30 points of articulation.  Jameson is a mix of old and new parts.  Most of them date back to the Coulson body, which remains a tried and true standard.  To mix it up, he also gets the upper torso from Bruce Banner for a sans-tie look.  To further mix it up, he also gets what I believe is an all-new jacket piece (it’s buttoned at the front, which I don’t *think* we’ve seen before), as well as two all-new heads.  The heads are both based on the updated look for Jonah, with one being more neutral in expression, and the other shouting.  I personally prefer the shouting one, because that feels more inherently Jameson, but they both have a pretty strong Simmons likeness, and I do like having the options.  Jameson’s paint work is generally rather subdued, as is to be expected on a rather average looking person.  The paint on the heads is certainly nice (although the mustache on the calm head is a little sloppy on mine), and the rest of the work is good base work.  In addition to the two heads previously mentioned, Jameson also gets two sets of hands, one set flat, and one with a pointing/fist combo.  It’s very useful for the purposes of adding more expression to the character’s posing.  He also includes the right arm to the Armadillo Build-A-Figure.  I wouldn’t have minded getting maybe a Raimi trilogy style head for him as well, but ultimately what we got works pretty well.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Jameson is a simple, perhaps outwardly plain figure, as any J. Jonah Jameson figure tends to be, but I certainly had been hoping we might see him turn up since his appearance in FFH.  I wasn’t at all upset to see him crop up here.  The figure isn’t going to be wowing everyone or absolutely selling the whole assortment, but he’s very well done, and about as much as you could hope for from such a figure.

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

#2977: Black & Gold Suit Spider-Man

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

BLACK & GOLD SUIT SPIDER-MAN

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Spider-Man relies on his Black and Gold suit and abilities to defend against threats.”

Everyone worth their salt knows that a Spider-Man movie these days can’t just have one look for Spidey.  How would you sell all these toys otherwise?  So far, all of the MCU Spidey films have had two main looks, and the merchandising has followed accordingly.  For No Way Home, I’ve already looked at the more classically “Spidey” Integrated Suit, but there’s also the slightly more divergent Black and Gold suit, notable for how black and gold it is.  The exact purposes of the suit are a bit muddied at the moment, but early listings referred to it as the “mystic” suit, so it stands to reason that it might be the suit more tied into Spidey’s dealings with Strange and his magic.  Whatever the case, it’s an excuse to put Spidey into all-black again, and everyone loves that.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Black & Gold Suit Spider-Man is officially figure 1 in the Armadillo Series of Marvel Legends, since Integrated was not actually numbered and all.  He’s the second of the four movie figures, the second of the two Peter Parker Spider-Men, and the second of the three Spider-Men in the assortment.  The figure stands just under 6 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  Structurally, he’s pretty simple, because he’s actually just a total parts re-use of the Far From Home standard figure.  I’m not sure if that’s entirely accurate based on what I’ve seen of the suit so far, but it doesn’t seem like it’s terribly far off, and there are at the very least a good number of shared elements between the two suits.  Moreover, it’s just kind of a solid sculpt, so I don’t really mind seeing it crop up again.  There seem to be a few different options on the gauntlets, at least as far as we’ve seen from all of the other tie-in stuff.  This one goes for the look that keeps the Upgraded Suit’s red and black gloves, presumably to avoid the need for new parts.  In terms of paint work, this figure is admittedly a little bit messy.  Not terrible, but the belt in particular is definitely misaligned on my copy, which does not look super great.  Otherwise, he’s alright, I guess.  The figure is packed with the same sets of hands that the mold’s original release sported, as well as the left leg for the Armadillo Build-A-Figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Remember all of the things I said about not feeling the upgrades to the suits yesterday?  Well they apply even more so here.  I mean, it’s a different color scheme at least, and it’s also a mold I like, so in hand I don’t wind up minding this figure all that much.  Were it not for the issues with the paint, I’d say he was actually a rather nice figure.  As it stands, he’s just alright, but I don’t feel like he’s a space waster or anything, and I may feel more excited about him after seeing the movie.

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.

#2976: Integrated Suit Spider-Man

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

INTERGRATED SUIT SPIDER-MAN

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Spider-Man gears up in his Integrated Suit to bravely confront a new threat.”

Next week, we get the third installment in Tom Holland’s Spider-Man film series, Spider-Man: No Way Home.  It’s pretty hyped up, and there’s a lot going into it, and no one knows exactly how it’s going to play out, but it sure does look like a fun ride.  Hasbro’s actually managed to get the tie-in assortment out in a rather timely fashion, and I’ve managed to get them and prep them for review, also in a timely fashion, so how about that?  I’m going to be looking at the movie figures specifically this week, starting off with the newest Spidey variant, Integrated Suit Spider-Man!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Integrated Suit Spider-Man is part of the Armadillo Series of Marvel Legends.  He’s the first of the four movie-based figures in the assortment, as well as being the double-pack, and, of course, the one figure in the set that doesn’t actually come with a part for the Build-A-Figure.  The figure stands just shy of 6 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  The articulation scheme on this figure is largely the same as the prior MCU Spideys, with the only change-up being how the neck articulation works, as it’s now a proper double ball-joint, which gives him a slightly better range of motion.  Additionally, he’s the first movie Spidey with the pinless construction on the elbows and knees, which is pretty nifty.  The Integrates Suit is an all-new sculpt based on the movie design.  It looks like it’s kind of a mid-way point between the Iron Spider suit from Infinity War and his standard suit from Far From Home.  I’m still kind of partial to the FFH design myself, but this one looks pretty cool too.  The sculpt does a rather nice job of capturing the design as we’ve seen it in the trailers and promo shots, and translating it into a figure that’s consistent with the prior figures stylistically, while also improving a little bit on how the assembly works.  The sculpt’s definitely a bit sharper than the last couple of MCU Spidey’s, which is a nice trend, and he’s just generally got a very nicely put together, rather sleek appearance.  My only complaint is the the gauntlets are separate pieces, and, more specifically, that they’re not affixed, so they pop off when you go to swap out the hands.  It’s a minor issue, to be sure, but I almost lost one of them in the process of getting my photos, which was a little bit panic-inducing.  The paint work on this guy is a little bit better than the last one.  There’s a little more going on, and the application is pretty sharp.  They’ve still foregone the webline detailing, but I’ve learned to live with it.  Integrated Suit is packed with two sets of hands, in thwipping and fist poses.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As noted above, I really liked the Upgraded Suit from FFH, so I wasn’t really sure about this new change-up.  I’ve liked what I’ve seen in the trailers, though, and I’ll admit it’s just generally growing on me.  The fact that the figure’s actually really nice certainly helps.  I appreciate that Hasbro took the opportunity to really refine the process here, and it results in a figure that’s just a really strong movie Spidey.

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.

#2975: Web-Man

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

WEB-MAN

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“A product of Dr. Doom’s Twin Machine, Web-Man is the opposite of Spider-Man in every way.”

And hey, we’re right back to the Marvel Legends.  Seriously, I hope you guys aren’t expecting a prolonged break from Legends soon, because I’m legitimately booked up through the new year with these suckers.  I blame Hasbro.  And also myself.  I did buy them all, after all.  Before I delve into the rest of this week’s very timely movie-themed Spider-Man figures, I’m going to first take a small detour into Spider-Man’s very first live-action adaptation, courtesy of The Electric Company.  The Electric Company had a live-action segment, “Spidey Super Stories,” which was itself the subject of its own adaptation in comic form back at Marvel.  Spidey Super Stories ran 57 issues, with all sorts of slightly more specifically kid-aimed stories.  In issue 25 of the series, Spidey faced off against Dr Doom and his Twin Machine, leading to the creation of Web-Man, Spidey’s opposite in every way.  Fortunately for our hero, this opposite set-up proved quite helpful in defeating Web-Man, since the opposite of Spidey being a genius made Web-Man a blithering idiot.  You know, for kids!  The most outrageous thing about all of this is that it all ends with Web-Man getting an honest to god action figure 44 years after that first appearance.  I certainly wouldn’t have put money on it.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Web-Man is a one-off Fan Channel release under the Retro Collection sub-line of Marvel Legends.  He started showing up at retail about a month or so ago.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation.  Curiously, despite being in the Retro line, which had its own updated Spidey last year, Web-Man is yet another case of Spidey variant that *doesn’t* make use of the updated parts at all.  Instead, he’s using the ANAD 2099 and Spider-UK head combo that we saw on the first Gamerverse Spidey.  It’s certainly not a bad combo at all, and it matches up well with the mid-70s Spidey look, but it’s admittedly kind of funny that Web-Man, whose whole thing is being a copy, isn’t actually a copy of the standard Spidey from the same line.  In fact, he’s not a copy of any standard Spidey, since this exact combo of parts is still yet to be used for basic color scheme Spidey.  Speaking of color scheme, that’s this guy’s whole selling point, since he’s got a reverse color set-up.  It generally works pretty well, although, again, we’ve not actually gotten a Spidey with this specific shade of blue.  It matches the comics design, though, so I get why they went with it.  Web-Man is packed with three sets of hands, which I’m very happy about, because I get bummed out every time we get a Spidey variant without the full range.  Yay for the full range of hands.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Web-Man’s one of those rather goofy concepts that you never expect to see, at least not released in any explicit sense.  Like, maybe a one-off Spidey variant in some toyline might swap the colors for a laugh, but they’re not gonna actually call him Web-Man, right?  But, well, then they did, and now here we are.  He’s a very simple figure, with a very basic premise, but he actually does it quite well, and I’m honestly all about it.

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.

#2972: Hercules

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

HERCULES

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“The hero of Olympus, Hercules uses his mythic strength to prove he is worthy of immortality.”

Hey, let’s just move from one Marvel-ized interpretation of mythology to another.  We started with Norse mythology, and now we’re moving over to Greek mythology…sort of.  There’s a bit of Roman in there too, since Marvel calls him Hercules, when his proper Greek name is actually Herakles.  All of the other gods keep their proper Greek names, though.  Marvel are hardly the only people to do this, of course, but I do like giving them a hard time about it whenever it comes up.  Anyway, after going 12 whole years between Marvel Legends releases, Herc’s having a good decade, I guess, and getting another one just two years removed from the last one.  How about that?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Hercules is the latest release in Hasbro’s Retro Collection sub-line of Marvel Legends.  He, like the last handful of them, is a Fan Channel-exclusive solo release, and just started hitting in the September/October area.  Hercules has had a few different looks over the years, all sort of revolving around the same basic design elements.  The two prior Legends releases each went with a distinct look, and this one continues that trend, with yet another look (although technically one that was already done in Marvel Universe).  This Herc is based on his shoulder-harness-sporting look from the ’80s, which he notably sported during his tenure with the Avengers under Roger Stern, amongst other things.  It’s a good look, and, like I said, one we haven’t gotten at this scale before.  The figure stands 7 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  Structurally, Herc shares a lot of his parts with the last Hasbro version, with the entire upper torso being shared between the two of them.  It was a really strong sculpt the first time around, and I’m a fan of anything that removes us further from re-using the Hyperion body again.  He gets a new set of legs, as well as new add-ons for his harness, belt, and wrist bands.  Additionally, he also gets not one, but two new heads, both of which are more closely patterned on his ’80s design.  The two heads are fairly similar, with the difference between them being expression.  There’s a more serious one, and one with a goofy grin.  I’m personally more a fan of the goofy grin, but both of them work very nicely for the character.  The new legs notably use the pinless construction for the knees, which is certainly a plus given the whole lack of actual pants and all.  Herc’s paint work is generally pretty decent.  The hair from the last figure’s chest has now spread to the arms, which I guess works pretty well.  The application on the change-over from the headgear to the hair is a little sloppy on both heads, but overall things are decently handled.  No major slop or anything.  In addition to having the two heads, Herc also gets two sets of hands (gripping and fists, like the last release), as well as his rather distinctive mace.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I really, really liked the last Herc Hasbro put out, but he was an admittedly very modernized take on the character.  Something a little more classic’s never really a bad thing for him, so I was actually pretty happy that Hasbro circled back around to him relatively quickly.  Even more so that he’s actually another distinct look for the scale, which allows all three versions to maintain their validity.  I think this one’s honestly my favorite of the three we’ve gotten so far, which is no small feat.

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.

#2971: Thor

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

THOR

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Armed with Stormbreaker and Mjolnir, the son of Odin steps onto the battlefield to face Thanos one final time.”

Happy Thor’s Day, everyone!  Man, it’s been too long since I’ve gotten to use that one.  I blame my own poor forward planning when it comes to review schedules.  But I totally remembered this time, so a-ha!  Though Avengers Endgame got a lot of coverage in Marvel Legends, the nature of a good chunk of the designs either being downplayed for the Quantum Suits, or kept completely secret until the film’s release, like Thor here, meant that there were still a number of designs still left out in the cold.  Thor effectively has three main looks during the film.  His pre time-skip look, which we got with the Infinity War stuff, his post-time-skip “the Dude” look, which we got as a Build-A-Figure in 2019, and his final battle attire, which we’ve just gotten now!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Thor is the last single-release standard figure for the Infinity Saga sub-line of Hasbro’s Marvel Legends.  He’s one of three items in the sub-line based on Endgame, which is the movie with the heaviest coverage here.  The figure stands about 6 3/4 inches tall and he has 29 points of articulation.  After years of the MCU Thor’s being almost comedically larger than the rest of the figures, it seems they’ve begun to slightly down-size him, ever so slightly, for more proper scaling.  So, this Thor is actually a little smaller than prior versions, but that’s actually more accurate to Hemsworth’s relative height to everyone else.  In terms of articulation scheme, this figure more or less sticks to what the Infinity War versions of him had, albeit slightly more restricted by his added bulk.  He does get the pinless construction on his elbow and knee joints, however, which is pretty cool.  Thor’s sculpt is all-new; the arms look similar to the IW ones, but, as noted previously, they don’t have exposed pins on the elbows, so they’re new too.  It’s a pretty solid sculpt overall.  Since it’s being released two years after the film, it doesn’t have to worry about odd preliminary design details that got changed, meaning it matches up pretty well with the design seen in the finished movie.  The head sports a respectable likeness of Chris Hemsworth, which, much like the Bro Thor, I think is aided a bit by the more distinctive features of the more disheveled appearance.  I quite like the detailing on the braided beard, and they’ve done alright with capturing the more scraggly-looking hair.  The body gets the slightly heftier build down pretty good, and the texturing and small detail work on the outfit’s all rather nice.  The paint work on Thor is generally pretty basic.  Most of the outfit and such is just molded colors, with more of the intricate work on the head.  The head ends up doing the same thing that the three-pack Infinity War version did, going for a more “powered up” appearance.  While I’m not opposed to the general concept, or even how it turned out on the figure, it’s a little bit limiting of a choice for the only included head.  Maybe at least throw us an extra head with standard eyes?  Like I said, it does at least still look pretty cool, so I can’t entirely fault it.  Thor is packed with both of his hammers, done up in clear blue to somewhat match his powered-up look, as well as two sets of hands (gripping and open gesture), and two lightning effect pieces.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was honestly a bit surprised when we got the full-on Bro Thor before this one back when the Endgame product was first hitting, and even more surprised by the complete and utter lack of this figure in any of the immediate follow-up.  I was at the very least expecting some sort of multi-pack with the big three in their final battle attire or something.  Honestly, I wasn’t expecting a single release on him, but I can’t say I was disappointed by the choice.  Thor’s a pretty solid figure.  He’s a bit late to the party, perhaps, but that means we only have to contend with just the one of him from the start.  It’s certainly nice to get another final battle figure.

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

#2970: Happy Hogan & Iron Man Mark XXI

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

HAPPY HOGAN & IRON MAN MARK XXI

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

Moving along the Iron Man timeline with our reviews here, we make our way to the final entry in that set of films, Iron Man 3.  IM3 had the good grace of being the first MCU film to get the Legends treatment proper, which was a pretty big deal at the time.  That said, it was just two movie-related figures in an otherwise comics assortment, which meant we just got the rather barebones Mark 42 and Iron Patriot releases, with scrapped releases for War Machine Mk II and Ben Kingsley’s Mandarin.  Later Legends treatments got those additional two released, and there’s been a slow trickle of a few additional House Party armors every so often.  We get one tribute to the film in the Infinity Saga set, featuring Stark Industries Head of Security Happy Hogan, as well as one more House Party armor.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Happy Hogan and Iron Man Mark XXI are a Target-exclusive two-pack, released in the Infinity Saga sub-line of Marvel Legends.  They started hitting retail at the beginning of October, and have thus far been hitting in at least okay numbers.

HAPPY HOGAN

“Stark Industries’ new Head of Security gets caught in the middle of the battle as Iron Man gears up to face an all new powerful threat.”

After six film appearances (with a seventh in later this month), Jon Favreau’s Happy Hogan finally gets some Legends coverage.  Not bad for a guy in a suit, I guess.  The figure stands just shy of 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 30 points of articulation.  Happy is a much larger guy than any of the other suit-wearers we’ve gotten, so he requires mostly new pieces.  He borrows the arms from the Logan version of, well, Logan, but is otherwise sporting all-new parts.  I certainly appreciate getting more variety to how the guys in suits are built; things were beginning to get a bit samey.  I do appreciate that he’s even got a pocket on his shirt under the jacket, showcasing that he’s just a little bit more working class than most of the other suit wearing guys we’ve gotten.  The only downside to the sculpt is that they’ve neglected to give Happy his ID badge, which is definitely gonna set him off.  C’mon guys, everyone needs to be wearing their ID badges.  By far the best part of the sculpt is the head, which has a pretty spot-on likeness of Favreau circa IM3, which is when Happy really comes into his own, so it’s a good choice.  He’s got a good recreation of Happy’s usual “sunny disposition.”   Happy’s paint work is reserved, but works well.  Mostly it’s just the face, which is quite lifelike.  Theres a few other spots on the suit, namely the belt and buckle.  It’s all pretty clean, and it does the job well.  Though he may not have his ID badge, Happy does at least get his cellphone.  It’s a tiny little piece guaranteed to be lost, but hey, it’s still a cool touch.

IRON MAN MARK XXI

“Mark XXI, codename ‘Midas,’ is a fully loaded high-altitude suit built by Stark that’s outfitted with enriched gold titanium alloy.”

There are a great number of varieties of Iron Man suits presented by the film’s “House Party” concept.  Many of them are quite unique, while others are really just re-decos of prior armors.  This one’s one of the latter.  Dubbed “Midas,” the Mark XXI is a recolor of Avengers‘ Mark VII, done up in all gold as a reference to Iron Man’s distinctive all-gold armor from the early Silver Age.  Unsurprisingly, the figure is likewise just a re-use of the Mark VII mold.  He stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 37 points of articulation.  The sculpt worked well for the Mark VII and it works well for Midas as well.  It’s hard to fault Hasbro for the re-use, especially when the mold is as good as this one.  The color work is changed up, of course, so that he’s now all gold.  It’s a mix of molded plastic and painted sections, so there’s som variety to the finish.  It doesn’t look half bad.  Midas gets the same accessory selection as the Mark VII: two sets of hands and blast effects, all in changed up colors to match with the core figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Happy Hogan is one of those character’s I’ve always loved in the comics, and I’ve been thrilled to see him actually get to grow over the course of his MCU appearances.  I didn’t have the highest hopes for a Legends release, but they’ve been pulling out all the stops recently, so it’s not the craziest thing.  It was definitely cool to see him show up here, and I like that they went with his IM3 appearance.  Midas isn’t one of the more thrilling House Party armors, but the original base figure was nice, and so is this one.  There have been worse space fillers in these two-packs.