Tag Archives: Ms. Marvel

#3242: Ms. Marvel

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

MS. MARVEL

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Kamala Khan is 16 years old, good at school, and bad at fitting in. But when she unexpectedly develops super-powers, she’ll learn that what makes her different makes her powerful.”

Introduced in 2014, partially as a way to hang onto the “Ms. Marvel” title after Carol Danvers got promoted to Captain, Kamala Khan’s been something of a breakout character for Marvel.  She’s been consistently headlining her own comic since her launch, and rather quickly made the jump to both animation and video games.  Just this year, she also made her debut in the MCU, with her own self-titled Disney+ show.  Iman Vellani’s turn as Kamala was absolutely the highlight of the show, and I’m looking forward to seeing her interacting with the rest of the MCU in The Marvels.  Until then, I guess I’ll just make do with her Legends equivalent, which I’m looking at today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Ms. Marvel is figure 2 in the the Infinity Ultron Series of Marvel Legends.  She’s the only figure from her show in this line-up, and is more than likely the only figure we’re likely to get from her show in general, since there aren’t a ton of toyetic designs to adapt.  This marks Kamala’s third time as a Legends release, which isn’t bad at all for a more recent addition to the lexicon.  She’s sporting her full costume from the show’s finale, which is honestly one of the MCU’s best adaptations of a comics design.  Apart from some slight punch-up on some of the line-work, and swapping the boots for sneakers.  The figure stands 5 3/4 inches tall and she has 27 points of articulation.  She’s got one of the more restricted articulation schemes for this assortment; part of it just comes down to design, since the skirt, long hair, and scarf all provide a fair bit of restriction.  It’s not awful, just not quite up to the very impressive standards of the rest of the assortment.  Ms. Marvel is sporting an all-new sculpt, and it’s not bad, but it’s not one of this set’s strongest, at least in terms of accuracy.  The likeness on the headsculpt doesn’t have much of Iman Vellani in it; the face doesn’t seem round enough, and the lines make her look a fair bit older than she should.  The hair is also rather flat, which doesn’t help the shaping issues.  The body is also a bit on the skinny side (a common theme for the women in this assortment, honestly), which only further highlights the issues with the likeness.  The actual detail work isn’t bad, though.  There’s a lot of decent texturing and sharp line work; at the very least, the costume design is pretty accurately handled.  Ms. Marvel’s color work is generally decent, but not quite 100%.  They went for metallics on the suit, which isn’t bad, but it winds up a little bit muddied in practice.  The golds in particular are a bit too dark, which I think just really throws the rest of the look off.  Just not quite enough pop there.  The application on the paint is at least pretty cleanly handled, and the whole thing does have a nice polish to it.  Ms. Marvel is packed with two sets of hands, in gripping and fists, as well as the torso and cape of Infinity Ultron.  Curious that she didn’t get any energy effects pieces, but I suppose they didn’t want to poke that particular bear again.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As I’ve brought up before, I’ve been following Kamala since her first appearance in the comics, and I thoroughly enjoy the character, so I was definitely down for her being added to the MCU.  Her show didn’t quite click with me the way some others have recently(but I’m not really in its target audience, so that’s totally okay), but as I mentioned in the intro, Iman Vellani’s performance in the lead role was still really, really strong.  Unfortunately, in terms of the toy coverage, this one’s not quite it.  It’s not a bad figure, but it’s not a particularly accurate figure, and it just doesn’t stick the landing for me the way the comics version did.

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.

#2444: Ms Marvel

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

MS. MARVEL — GAMERVERSE

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Whip-smart with an optimistic personality, Kamala Khan is determined to combat injustice wherever she finds it.”

In 2014, after deciding to give Carol Danvers a promotion to Captain, Marvel was in need of a new hero to take on the mantle of Ms. Marvel.  They found her in the form of Kamala Khan, a Terrigen Mist-empowered Pakistani-American teenager with shapeshifting abilities.  She was a pretty solid addition to the Marvel roster pretty much from the word go, and has hung on to a decent fanbase since her introduction.  She made the jump to multimedia in 2017 as part of the Avengers Assemble cartoon, and is now going one step further, featuring as one of the playable characters in the upcoming Avengers game.  She had already gotten the Legends treatment once before, but now she’s getting a second go.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Ms. Marvel is the final single-packed figure in the Abomination Series of Marvel Legends.  She’s the third figure based on the Avengers game, though with how faithful the design is to the comics, she makes for a good middle-ground figure.  The figure stands 5 1/2 inches tall and she has 29 points of articulation.  Structurally, she’s mostly the same figure as her first release.  It was a pretty solid offering the first time around, and it’s still a pretty strong sculpt this time around.  The only change-up is to the boots, which are now Nico’s laced-style boots.  It’s a nice change, and I think it makes for an improvement to the overall sculpt.  The figure makes its biggest changes in the paint department.  While the original release was a more bold, comic accurate color scheme, this one is a little more subtle for the most part.  There aren’t any changes to the overall layout, and the general aesthetic is pretty much the same, though.  She does get the face printing in place of how the original was handled, which looks a little bit more realistic, and better fits her in with the game stuff.  I also really like the slightly lighter blue of this design, though I’m not sure how much I like the more washed out gold.  Ms. Marvel is packed with the same set of stretched arms as her original release (updated to the new color scheme), as well as the torso to the Abomination Build-A-Figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I already have the first Ms Marvel figure, and I was pretty happy with it, so I didn’t really feel like I *needed* this figure.  That said, I’m not turning away much Legends these days, so she was getting added to the collection regardless.  I didn’t expect much from this figure, but I think she’s an overall improvement to the original.  If you already have the original, this one’s not necessary, but if you’re just looking to pick up one version, this is definitely the way to go.  I really can’t blame Hasbro for wanting to make sure this character remains easily available.

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

#1368: Ms. Marvel & Kang

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

MS. MARVEL & KANG

MARVEL MINIMATES

Hey-ho there readers!  So, today’s gonna be another Marvel review, because, like 95% of what I’ve bought recently is Marvel.  On the plus side, I’m actually looking at a relatively new item for a change.  That’s cool, right?  I’ll be heading back over to the Minimates corner of my collection, and taking a look at one of my favorite new additions to the Marvel Universe, Kamala Khan, alongside long-time Avengers for Kang the Conqueror!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Ms. Marvel and Kang were released in the fifth Walgreens-exclusive series of Marvel Minimates.  Both are based on their appearances in the Avengers Assemble cartoon, but in both cases, this translates to a look that’s essentially identical to their comics counterparts.

MS. MARVEL

“Exposed to the Terrigin Mists, Inhuman high-schooler Kamala Khan gains the ability to shape-shift, and decides to become one of the super-heroes she idolizes.”

It’s been a good year for Kamala!  First she got a Marvel Legend, and now she’s got a Minimate too!  Not too shabby for a character that’s only been around since 2014.  Ms. Marvel makes her Minimate debut here, and is based upon her appearance in the episode “The Inhuman Condition.”  The figure stands about 2 1/4 inches tall and she has 14 points of articulation.  She’s built on the standard ‘mate body, with add-ons for her hair, scarf, and skirt.  The skirt appears to be a fairly standard piece, but the scarf and hair are both new.  They’re decent enough pieces, I suppose.  Obviously, they’re a bit more on the simplistic side, as is the case with most of the animation-based mates.  It’s really only noticeable on the hair, which you can easily replace if you really want a more realistic look.  That being said, the pieces mimic her design from the show pretty well, and fit the character nicely.  The paint work on her is generally pretty solid; the colors are still a little more washed out than I’d like, but she generally looks like she does in the comics, and the colors have more “pop” than some of the others.  I’m not the biggest fan of the rather bland expression on the face, though; Kamala’s usually depicted as rather jovial, so a smile or grin would have been more true to the character in my opinion.  Ms. Marvel is packed with a spare right hand and left arm (borrowed from Mr. Fantastic), simulating her stretchy powers, as well as the usual clear display stand.

KANG

“Kang is a time-traveling warlord from the 30th century who finds himself repeatedly embroiled in conflict with the 21st century Avengers.”

Wow, another Kang?  Man, it was such a big deal to get him the first time, but I think I might have burned out all of the excitement.  Of course, that ‘mate was only in an exclusive 4-pack, which not everyone got, so I suppose a new one makes sense.  Like Ms. Marvel, he’s built on the standard body, and has the usual articulation.  He has add-ons for his head-piece, shoulder bit, and skirt.  The shoulder thing is re-used from the last Kang ‘mate (rather sensible), and the other two parts appear to be new.  They’re decently sculpted, though I’m not 100% sold on the head piece.  It’s an odd looking thing in the comics, and neither attempt at translating it into ‘mate form is particularly right.  This one’s not terrible.  This figure uses the standard upper-arms, which is one change I’m in favor of, since I was never much of a fan of the puffy sleeves from the last one.  As far as paint goes, I can’t say I’m a huge fan of the paint on this guy; the colors just aren’t vibrant enough for my taste.  The green in particular just feels really dull and boring.  I’m also not a big fan of the reduced detail work, since the things like the wrinkles of the shirt and the lines on his mask were some of my favorite parts of the last Kang.  In terms of accessories, he only includes a display stand.  I feel like there has to be something else he could have gotten.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I found these two while looking for Marvel Legends at Walgreens.  I’ve largely fallen out of collecting Minimates hardcore, in part because of the difficulty of finding the Walgreens releases, so these two sort of snuck up on me, and I was really surprised to find them as quickly as I did.  Ms. Marvel’s the real draw of the set for me, and aside from the slight disappointment with the expression, I’m really happy with her.  Kang is kind of meh.  Rather drab and un-interesting to me.  Perhaps it’d be different if I didn’t have the first one.  Still, it’s a pretty decent set all in all.

#1252: Ms. Marvel

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

MS MARVEL

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

After sorting out their issue of not ever being able to hold onto a character named Captain Marvel by promoting the original Ms. Marvel to Captain, Marvel ran into another problem:  what do they do about the Ms. Marvel name they just vacated?  They kind of need to have a character using that name, lest some distinguished competition steal it out from under them.  While they had solved the first problem by promoting an old character, the Ms. Marvel problem was solved be creating an all-new character entirely.  Enter Kamala Khan, a Pakistani-American teenager, who also happens to be an Inhuman (though that doesn’t really get brought up much; if she’d been introduced five years prior she would have just been a mutant) who possesses shape shifting abilities.  Not gonna lie, I like shape shifters, so that was a good start.  She hit the ground running with one of Marvel’s better solo books back in 2014, and she’s even made her way into the Avengers and the recently re-launched Champions.  And now, she’s got the very best thing of all: an action figure!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Ms. Marvel was released in the Sandman Series of Marvel Legends.  It’s either the last 2016 series of Spider-Man Legends or the first 2017 series, depending on how you want to look at it.  The figures started hitting at the tail end of December (which is how I got Spider-UK), but a lot of places are only just starting to see them show up.  Why is Ms. Marvel in a Spider-Man series?  Your guess is as good as mine.  As far as I know, there aren’t any strictly Avengers-themed sets planned for a while, and she certainly fits in better here than with the X-Men or Guardians stuff.  A figure’s a figure; I’m certainly not going to complain.  Her figure stands about 5 1/2 inches tall and she has 29 points of articulation.  Kamala is built not the Spider-Girl body, which is always a good starting point in my opinion, and is a good fit for the character.  She gets a new head, and upper and lower torso pieces, as well as add-ons for her bracelet and scarf.  All of the new pieces are really solid additions; Ms Marvel has a pretty distinctive art style, which kind of informs how the character should look, but can also be tricky when trying to have her fit in with an established line.  You never want to go too artist specific with a line like this, but you also don’t want her to end up too bland and generic.  She walks the line pretty well; she’s clearly taking inspiration from her solo book, but she also feels right at home with the rest of the line.  I sort of wish her face were a little more expressive or goofy, since that’s sort of her character, but I can see why they’d want something slightly more neutral.  It’s a nice sculpt regardless.  My one minor complaint is just an issue with my figure; one of her ankle joints is pretty well stuck, and it’s made keeping her standing quite the difficult task.  Kamala’s paint is nice, bold, and bright, which is definitely appropriate for her.  The gold in particular is a really nice shade, and doesn’t appear to be the sort of gold that will start to degrade over time. Application is mostly pretty sharp, with only some minor slop, mostly around the edge of her sleeves.  Shapeshifting can be a difficult power set to show off in toy form, but Hasbro’s given it their best go.  Kamala includes an alternate pair of foreams, which are enlarged and stretched out.  While they loose the wrist movement, they are otherwise really fun pieces.  This is probably the best way of handling the shapeshifting thing, and I hope they do something similar when they tackle Mr. Fantastic.  In addition to the extra arms, she also includes the torso the the Series’s Build-A-Figure, Sandman.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Kamala was definitely at the top of my want list from this series.  I’ve been following her comic since issue 1, and I’ve really enjoyed the character.  I was bummed back in December when I thought I’d missed her figure.  Fortunately, I ended up finding her and the rest of the series at a local K-Mart.  Unfortunately, K-Mart seems to have started hiking up their prices, and were asking for an extra $5 per figure.  Not worth it for the others, but I didn’t mind so much in Kamala’s case.  This is definitely a solid figure, and another win for Hasbro!

#0553: Ultron & Ms. Marvel

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

ULTRON & MS MARVEL

MARVEL MINIMATES

Ultron&MM1

Countdown to Avengers: Age of Ultron: 3 days remaining.

Okay, yesterday was a bit of a downer. Sorry about that. Guess not every Ultron can be a winner. But hey, things do get better from here out. And what better way to kick off that whole “Turning things around” thing than a look at one of my favorite lines, Marvel Minimates. They not only got us a good, classic Ultron, but also a Ms. Marvel to go with him. So, why don’t we take a look at them now?

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Ultron and Ms. Marvel were released as a two-pack in Series 19 of Marvel Minimates. 19 was released in conjunction with Series 20, and together they helped to fill some rather sizeable holes in everyone’s Minimates Avengers.

ULTRON

Ultron&MM2Alright, first up is the man (or robot) of the hour, Ultron. This is not only his very first Minimate, but also the first figure to depict his classic design, so it’s a two-fer. The figure is about 2 ½ inches tall and has 14 points of articulation. Ultron is constructed from the standard Minimate body, with the addition of a brand-new sculpted head. The piece sits a little low on the shoulders, causing a little bit of no-neck syndrome, but aside from that, it’s a rather nice classic Ultron head. It has, of course, been adapted into the ‘mate style, which works very nicely, and it includes all the important details for an Ultron head, plus a few additional texture details here and there. And check out the antennae! They’re actually where they should be! Imagine that… The paintwork on Ultron is pretty great. He’s mostly just silver, but he’s got plenty of detail lines to effectively translate his design and give him quite a bit of dimension. Also, the head is molded in translucent red plastic, with silver painted over it, which, when combined with the patch of unpainted plastic on the back of the head, allows the eyes and mouth to be illuminated. It’s not perfect, but it looks cool enough, and the patch isn’t visible from the front. Ultron included two energy blast pieces, molded in red, which can be placed on his hands.

MS MARVEL

Ultron&MM3This is really Ultron’s week, but seeing as this was a two-pack, it seems good ol’ Carol Danvers here is along for the ride. Surprisingly enough, this remains Carol’s only Minimate to date, but I have a feeling that might change soon enough. Ms. Marvel is about 2 ½ inches in height with, you guessed it, 14 points of articulation. Ms. Marvel is presented here in her second, Dave Cockrum designed costume. It was far more distinctive than her first, and it was the one she was most associated with before switching over to Captain Marvel a few years back, so it’s a good choice. The figure is built on the standard Minimate body, with add-ons for her hair and sash. The hair first saw release way back in Series 5, on the New X-Men Phoenix. It ended up finding its way on to quite a few Minimate females, but I think this actually may have been its last appearance. It’s not a bad piece, but it seems just a little too big and blocky for Ms. Marvel. I think the sash was a new piece, but I can’t say for sure. It’s well sculpted and accurate to the character regardless of its origins. Ms. Marvel features a far more detailed paintjob than Ultron, with several different colors and accents. Generally, it’s pretty good, though there are some minor issues with fuzzy lines here and there. Also, I kind of would have preferred straight black for her costume instead of dark grey, but I suppose that’s just me. Ms. Marvel included no accessories.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This set was released right as I got back into Marvel Minimates in full force. It was picked up the day it was released from my local comic book store, Cosmic Comix. I remember being quite excited, specifically for the Ultron. It’s a pretty fun little set, and it’s still a pretty important one, too. The two figures aren’t without their flaws, but they both hold up pretty well, especially for only being released a third of the way into the line.

#0414: Ms. Marvel, Captain America, & Radioactive Man

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

MS. MARVEL, CAPTAIN AMERICA, & RADIOACTIVE MAN

MARVEL LEGENDS INFINITE SERIES

Okay, last day of Marvel Legends reviews this round. But, we’re going out with a bang. Not one, not two, but THREE (count ‘em THREE!) figures this time. Target is doing something of a push for more business in their action figure department, so they’ve just started carrying exclusive sets from Hasbro’s Marvel Legends Infinite Series and Star Wars: the Black Series lines, as well as Playmates’ Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles line. I just got the Marvel set, so let’s see how that turned out.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Ms. Marvel, Captain America, and Radioactive Man are part of the exclusive Marvel Legends Infinite Series three-pack currently for sale at Target. Radioactive Man was previously slated for a regular release in the Marvel Legends line before the move to the Infinite Series branding, but he ended up getting cancelled. It’s nice to see him find a place here.

MS. MARVEL

“When her human DNA fused with that of the mighty Kree warrior Mar-Vell, Carol Danvers became the superhuman Ms. Marvel.” This is the star attraction of the set for a lot of people. It’s understandable, given that the character hasn’t seen a figure in this scale since way back in the Toybiz days. That’s a pretty dated figure, and near impossible to find, at that, so a new figure is a great move. The figure is about 6 inches tall and she features 29 points of articulation. She’s depicted here in her second costume, designed by the late Dave Cockrum. It’s generally the design she’s most associated with, and it’s probably one of the better ones. Ms. Marvel’s sculpt is head-to-toe identical to that of the Moonstone figure from the Thunderbolts boxed set. Generally, a complete re-use for a separate character doesn’t work out for the best, but Ms. Marvel and Moonstone have generally been rather similar in looks, so a little bit of paint is enough to make it work. It’s a pretty solid sculpt, with good proportions and movement. In addition to the Moonstone pieces, Ms. Marvel’s also been given a sash add-on, which actually does a nice job hiding the flatness of the lower torso. That was the only real issue with the original sculpt, so it makes the figure even better. The paintwork is, obviously, key on this figure, and for once Hasbro really made it work. Everything is really clean, and all the details are nice and sharp. The gold on the logo in particular looks really nice. About the only issue with the paint is the decision to have the exposed skin go up quite so high on the hips. If the costume came down a bit further, the articulation would be pretty well hidden, but as it is they look a bit unsightly. Ms. Marvel included no accessories, but apart from maybe an energy blast or something, there’s not much that would make sense.

CAPTAIN AMERICA

“Science made Steve Rogers a super-soldier with extraordinary speed, agility, strength, and durability, but it’s his heart that makes him Captain America.” Cap here is kind of the requisite heavy hitter of the set. It’s highly unlikely he’ll have much pull for the set’s intended audience, but he’s kind of unavoidable. The figure is about 6 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation. He’s something of an amalgam of Cap’s various looks over the years. The strongest influence seems to be from the Ultimate universe version of the character, but the color palate is more classically inspired, and the painted on head wings are from the most recent incarnations of the costume. The end result is actually not bad. Like the design, the figure’s pieces are also something of an amalgam of previous figures. Most of the figure is re-used from the most recent Ultimate Cap (Which it should be noted took a lot of its parts from the ML Face-Off version of Punisher). The only pieces not from that figure are the right thigh, which is from the X-Men Marvel Legends Infinite Series Magneto, and the shoulder strap, which is from the ML Commander Rogers figure. The body is a little dated in comparison to some of the more recent stuff, but it’s not terrible. The add-on shoulder strap and belt pieces do a lot to mask some of the flaws, allowing it to serve as a decent mid-way point between the body like we saw on Carnage and the one used for Radioactive Man. I’m still not 100% sold on the head, but it could be worse. It’s just a bit too mean looking. The figure’s paint is pretty solid. Everything is pretty clean. I dig the boldness of the blue. The stars on the shoulders present a bit of an issue with posing, as moving the shoulders causes them to be a bit misaligned. Cap includes his mighty shield and an extra unmasked head. The shield is the same one we’ve seen a few times. It’s a good piece, plus it can be placed on his back, which is cool. The head is a re-use from Commander Rogers. It has a lot of the same issues as the regular head, but at least it matches.

RADIOACTIVE MAN

“A nuclear physicist with his eye on taking over the world, Dr. Chen Lu transformed himself into the walking atomic meltdown known as Radioactive Man.” Not to be confused with the Simpsons character of the same name. Radioactive Man is probably one of the primary reasons for this set’s existence, since I imagine Hasbro didn’t want the sculpt going to waste. The figure is about 6 ½ inches tall and he features 32 points of articulation. He’s based on Radioactive Man’s classic appearance, which is one of my favorites, as goofy as it is. Radioactive Man’s a big guy, and as such he’s built on Hasbro’s new bulky body, which I believe was first used for Hyperion. It’s a pretty good body, especially for larger characters, although the neck might be just a tad too far back. Still, it’s well-proportioned and poses well. Not much else you can ask for. Radioactive Man’s also got a brand new head and an add-on piece for his, uh, skirt. The head is pretty decent, though Hasbro’s male heads are starting to look a bit repetitive. Too many similar features, I guess. The skirt piece is nice, though it can end up being a bit restricting in some poses. Radioactive Man’s paint is pretty decent, if a bit sparse. For the most part he’s molded in translucent green, which is definitely cool. The skirt and boots are molded in s darker, solid green, and the torso’s painted to match. The logo on the chest is clean, which is good. I would have liked it to be more of a yellow, but it looks fine. The only other details are his eyes, which are just simple white. Unfortunately, the left eye on mine is out of place, but it’s not too noticeable. Radioactive Man includes no accessories.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Unsurprising for a set that is exclusive to the store, I picked these three up from Target. My brother and I had gone to pick up Lego Batman 3 (which is awesome by the way), and I happened to find this set as well. As luck would have it, I had exactly the right amount of cash on hand to get both. Sure, I don’t really need another Captain America, but this one’s inoffensive and the other two more than make the purchase worth it. Plus, Radioactive Man. How can you say no to Radioactive Man? You just can’t!