Tag Archives: Puff Adder Series

#3407: Puff Adder Series Wrap-Up

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

EXTREMIS IRON MAN, BARON STRUCKER, YELENA BELOVA, ORB, & PUFF ADDER

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

Are you guys ready for a totally radical change-up?  I’m reviewing Marvel Legends!  Okay, that’s, like, not a change-up at all.  In fact, that’s about as status quo as status quo gets around these parts.  The totally radical change-up is *how* I’m reviewing Marvel Legends.  Since the site’s inception, I’ve been reviewing single release Legends each as their own single review.  For the last couple of weeks, I’ve been looking at each successive figure from the latest Avengers-themed assortment on Tuesdays.  Today, I’m wrapping up the remaining four figures, plus the Build-A-Figure, all in one fell swoop.  Won’t this be an adventure!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Extremis Iron Man, Baron Strucker, Yelena Belova, and Orb are the last four figures in the Puff Adder Series of Marvel Legends.  Iron is the one unnumbered figure in the set, while Strucker, Yelena, and Orb are figures 2, 3, and 5, respectively, in the line-up.  Puff Adder is, as you might guess, the Build-A-Figure for the series, assembled by buying six of the seven figures in the assortment.

EXTREMIS IRON MAN

“Tony Stark’s new Extremis Iron Man armor utilizes nanotechnology to allow direct interface between his brain and the armor”

This marks the second time that the Extremis armor has been done in Legends, following his release in the first Return of Marvel Legends assortment, which was good for the time, but also quite a while ago.  The figure stands 6 3/4 inches tall and he has 29 points of articulation, as well as rotating hip discs.  This new Extremis Iron Man is sporting a brand-new sculpt, and one of its major selling points is the new and improved articulation.  So, how does that work out?  It’s a mixed bag, honestly.  One of the major things is that the original Extremis sculpt is a really good one in its own right, and it was restricted, but workable.  This one is less restricted, and more workable…but it’s not quite the massive improvement that it was touted to be.  Of note, one of the big selling points was the “hero landing” pose, which got used a lot in artwork for this armor.  The figure’s even shown in this pose on the back of the box.  I’ve done my best to replicate this pose myself for the Wilson photo that accompanies this review, and in doing so, I got to discover just how much cheating Hasbro had to do to make the pose work with this figure.  Yeah, it’s doable, but it really only looks good from one very specific angle.  Anything else, and you’re looking at a horrible mash of body parts.  I’m also not a fan of how the shoulderpads work; they’re not jointed on their own, which greatly restricts the movement of the shoulders proper.  However, there are certainly areas where the articulation really shines, and the neck joint’s definitely one for me; he can actually look straight up, which you don’t see with a lot of Iron Men.  The actual sculpting work is also pretty strong.  There’s a lot of mechanical work, which is quite sharp, and he’s also properly scaled to look like there’s actually someone in the suit, which fixes the primary issue with the last figure.  Iron Man’s color work is pretty decent.  It’s a fair bit of molded plastic, but the colors work well, and he’s got that slightly metallic sheen.  The minor bit of paint is all pretty cleanly applied, and it should hold up alright over time.  Iron Man is packed with two sets of hands and a pair of repulsor blasts.

BARON STRUCKER

“Having served Hydra as far back as World War II, Baron Wolfgang Von Strucker stands as one of Captain America’s longest-living enemies. ‘Cut off one head and two will take its place.'”

In another life, with a slight change to his last name’s spelling, I bet this guy would have made some great jam.  Either way, he’s definitely celebrating the advancement of some very old people.  Strucker’s never gotten the Legends treatment before, but that’s not terribly surprising.  He’s really just a stand-in for Red Skull most of the time.  He’s seen here in his spandex garb, which seems odd for such an old guy, but when you’re an actual Nazi, I guess clothing choice is the least of anyone’s worries.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and has 32 points of articulation.  He’s built on the Spider-UK base body, which seems consistent with how he was depicted when wearing this outfit.  It’s been modified to remove visible pins on the arms and legs, which is pretty cool.  He’s got an overlay for his scarf, which is loose and free floating, and doesn’t feel especially secure.  The new gauntlet sculpt is clean and sharp, and I definitely dig it.  The new head sculpt is a very strong piece, and definitely the main selling point here.  I particularly dig how they handled his monocle.  In terms of coloring, he’s very green, that’s for sure.  The face paint is very effective, and that scarring looks impressive.  It’s unfortunately not all up to that quality, as the yellow paint for the accenting is very thin, showing the green below.  Additionally, the neck line is very sloppy, though it’s masked a bit by his scarf.  Strucker is packed with two energy effect pieces, as well as the right leg for Puff Adder.

YELENA BELOVA

“Trained by the spymasters of the infamous Red Room, Yelena Belova is the second operative to take on the role of Black Widow”

Yelena’s not new to Legends, but she’s also still had a lot less coverage than you might think, given how long she’s been around, and how easy a variant she is.  Her only comics version before this was back in the Toy Biz days, and it even put her in the wrong outfit at that.  This one places her in her “Dark Reign” era Thunderbolts gear.  The figure stands 6 inches tall and she has 27 points of articulation.  Or, you know, she would, if the neck joint on this one hadn’t busted between the first and second photos of the set here.  Not sure exactly what happened there, but her neck just tore clean through.  That’s a real bummer.  She’s based on the Riders Widow body, which hasn’t been used all that much, surprisingly.  It’s a good one, albeit one that’s a little older compared to others.  She gets a new head, upper torso, and belt overlay.  They’re pretty nice pieces, and I especially like the dynamic flow of her hair.  She’s rather light on paint, but it’s generally not too bad.  The red paint on her visor is a little off mark, so it doesn’t quite line-up, but other than that, she looks alright.  Yelena gets some of the best accessory work from the set, with two sets of hands, a pistol with and without silencer, a sniper rifle, a removable strap, two shooting effects, and two barrel flash effects.  She also features the torso of Puff Adder, which is his largest piece.

ORB

“Ridiculed for his appearance since his youth, the mercenary known as Orb holds the ironic distinction of being partially responsible for blinding Uatu the Watcher”

Orb’s certainly the set’s most obscure character choice.  He’s also an interesting selection, given he’s not *really* an Avengers foe, but I guess he’s close enough.  This is his very first figure, so that’s pretty cool.  The figure is just shy of 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  Orb is still using Bucky Cap body, a base that was once a very good offering, but is now really showing its age and wear to the mold.  There’s some noticeable gaps in the joints, and he feels a little floppy.  He gets a new head and collar, as well as using the pouched belt, flared gloves, and buccaneer boots for the body.  The new head’s not bad; it’s a sphere, but it’s a good one.  Orb’s color work is bold and bright, which is good.  The application of the paint is a bit touchy in some spots.  In particular, the blue paint is a little sloppy on torso and belt, and there’s a stray spot on one of the pouches of the belt.  On the flip side, the eye detailing turned out really well.  Orb is packed with his gun and the right arm of Puff Adder.

PUFF ADDER

Hey, look at that, it’s Puff Adder.  Now the Serpent Society is up to four.  Or five.  Or six?  Possibly seven?  It’s honestly kinda hard to account for it all.  It’s another member, that’s what I’m getting at.  This time, it’s the big guy, Gordon Fraley, aka Puff Adder.  Puff here is a late ’80s addition, and I honestly don’t know a ton about him.  The figure is about 8 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  Puff Adder is based on the same body as the Caliban BaF from 2019.  He gets a new head, but is otherwise just a rather basic, by the numbers figure.  It’s about what you’d expect for Puff Adder, though, so it works fine.  His color work is a lot of variations of green, which is again what you’d expect.  It generally works out okay, but without any actual sculpting or line-work, the two shades of lighter green rather blend together, which does muddy things just a touch.  Puff Adder includes two sets of hands, one in fists, one in relaxed poses.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

So, why this radical change-up here?  Let me ‘splain.  No, it’s too much.  Let me sum up.  For the last several years, I’ve been buying every figure in a given series of Marvel Legends for the purposes of getting a whole set to review.  However, I’ve been slowing down and even downsizing my personal collection of Legends a bit, so I’m not looking to actually purchase every single figure anymore.  Thankfully, my sponsors over at All Time Toys were kind enough to set me up with a deal where I get to take home and review a whole set of Legends, and then just pay for and keep the figures I actually want out of the set.  So, all of these guys, minus the Build-A-Figure, are the one’s I’ve elected not to keep from this particular assortment, for one reason or another.  And now you know my dirty secret.  Except it’s not a secret.  Or dirty.  So, I guess it’s just….a something?  Yeah, let’s go with that.

Though I didn’t opt to keep a lot of this set, it’s one that I can certainly get behind.  It’s got a good mix of heavy hitters, fan favorites in need of updates, and obscure oddballs, which actually mesh together a bit better than I’d expected.  Wonder Man is unquestionably my favorite, of course, but that Cap snuck up on me for just how cool he is.  Molecule Man’s cool for the novelty, so that’s neat.  Strucker is better than I’d expected, if not enough so for me to keep him.  Yelena *would* be in that category, if not for the breakage.  Orb unfortunately really showcases the need to finally retire the Bucky Cap.  Iron Man’s not bad, he’s just not quite what I was hoping for.  And then there’s Puff Adder, who is Puff Adder.

#3402: Molecule Man

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

MOLECULE MAN

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Owen Reece aka Molecule Man possesses near-limitless power to re-order the world around him at the molecular level”

Molecule Man was first introduced during Fantastic Four‘s second year, and was initially a rather formulaic creation from Stan and Jack.  He’s a normal guy, bombarded by radiation, granting him super powers.  So, he puts on a green and purple outfit and decides to become a supervillain, because he was in a book that had somebody else’s name in the title.  Despite his formulaic origins, Reece was a rather high-power-level character, which meant coming up with unique ways to keep him out of commission, which they did for about two decades, before rolling him into the otherwise pretty heavy-hitter driven Secret Wars event.  At that point, it was revealed that the radiation that bombarded Owen wasn’t just random, it was in fact part of the Beyonder’s power, making Molecule Man an even stronger player than he realized.  He plays a key role in getting the people stranded on Battleworld home, and has since then tended to fall into the part of a man attempting to reform himself…sometimes literally.  And now he has a Marvel Legend.  Let’s check that out.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Molecule Man is figure 1 in the Puff Adder Series of Marvel Legends, which is officially branded as an Avengers assortment, though Molecule Man’s place in such a line-up is a little bit iffy, since he’s more FF, or just general Marvel Universe.  I mean, the last FF wave had High Evolutionary, so I guess there’s a degree of trade-off going on there.  The figure stands about 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  Molecule Man uses the Red Skull jumpsuit body as his starting point, which certainly makes a fair bit of sense for the character.  He’s got a new head, torso, and skirt piece, which suitably transform him into a different character.  Molecule Man’s look has made some pretty radical evolutions over the years, as he’s gone from quite deformed and unattractive to something more conventionally handsome.  This one is closer to his more recent appearances, seemingly taking the most influence from Mike Detato’s version of him from Dark Avengers.  It’s not strictly classic, but it’s also not a terrible look, so I don’t hate it.  At least he’s still got funky hair to keep him *a little* weird looking.  Paint is quite minimal on this guy, with the vast majority of his coloring being handled by molded colors.  He still gets all of the important details, mind you, and the molded pieces result in a pretty sharp color set-up for the guy, suiting his classic design nicely.  His face gets some printed detailing, which works especially well with the scarring.  Molecule Man is packed with two sets of hands (in fists and open gesture), two purple energy effects, and the left leg to the Puff Adder Build-A-Figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Molecule Man is one of those characters I’ve always liked in concept, but never definitively latched onto in practice quite as much.  He’s been rare on the toy side, with only the Minimate prior to this.  I did like that one, though, and I was *kinda* intrigued by this one.  However, I was still a touch on the fence up until getting my set to review.  Having him in hand, I actually do really like him.  If I had one complaint, it’s that we didn’t get an alternate, earlier looking head sculpt, just to give him a broader coverage, but beyond that, I do find myself quite enjoying this 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 and their eBay storefront.

#3397: Wonder Man

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

WONDER MAN

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Longtime Avenger Simon Williams makes a move out West to join his friends as a founding member of the West-Coast Avengers”

When he was introduced in Avengers #9, Wonder Man was originally intended to only be a one-off character, seeing as he died at the end of his first appearance and all. This was further solidified by DC Comics letting Marvel know that they weren’t really fans of a “Wonder Man” potentially confusing readers of their own “Wonder Woman”. Marvel repurposed much of Wonder Man’s arc with the similarly powered Power Man…and then DC introduced a “Power Girl”, and Marvel decided all bets were off and brought Wonder Man back from the dead. When Simon came back, he held onto his original green outfit for a bit, before getting a George Perez designed update.  That update (dubbed by some fans as one of his worst, though I don’t fall in with them myself) was itself pretty short-lived, and was damaged just a few issues later.  Simon donned what was meant to be civilian garb in the mean time, but the look, which featured a pair of sunglasses and a distinctive red safari jacket, wound up sticking, lasting over seven years.  It’s a rarity on the toy front, but it’s gotten a Minimate, and now, it’s also got a Marvel Legend.  And, would you look at that?  I’ve made it all the way through this intro without totally going crazy about the fact that THEY TOTALLY MADE A SAFARI JACKET WONDER MAN MARVEL LEGEND AND IT ACTUALLY HAPPENED AND ITS BEEN MADE AND NOW IT HAVE IT AND I’M TOTALLY GONNA REVIEW IT NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!

…sorry, I could only hold that in for so long.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Wonder Man is figure 4 in the Puff Adder Series of Marvel Legends, which is this year’s first Avengers line-up.  This figure marks Simon’s second Legends figure from Hasbro (the last one was back in the Abomination Series), and his fourth overall (counting the Toy Biz version and his variant).  Thus far, they’ve all been based on different outfits, and not exactly in any particular order at that.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation (though that ab-crunch is largely rendered motionless by the jacket).  Wonder Man makes use of the jumpsuited-base body from Red Skull, along with the arm bands from Genis-Vell, and a new head, jacket, and turtleneck piece.  The new parts are courtesy of sculptor Paul Harding, and the head in particular is really the star piece here.  Harding has his own running project called “Marvel in the 70s”, and this piece is definitely designed to fit right in with those.  He captures that classic Perez feel, without actually being too artist-specific.  I especially love that toothy grin; perfect for the character, especially in this incarnation.  Wonder Man figures so frequently look rather dour, so this one is a very refreshing change of pace.  On my figure, his glasses are ever so slightly askew in their attachment, which appears to be a recurring thing, but it’s honestly minor, and easily fixed if one is so inclined.  The color work on this guy is quite bright and colorful, exactly as you’d hope to see for this design.  It’s largely molded colors, which keeps it pretty clean.  He gets a little bit of painted detailing for the silver on his zipper, as well as printing for the face.  The glasses are transparent, so you can make out the eyes beneath, which is definitely a cool touch.  Wonder Man is packed with two sets of hands, in fists and open gesture, as well as rocket effects to plug into the sides of his belt, and the left arm of Puff Adder.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve been a Wonder Man fan since Busiek and Perez’s Avengers #2 hit in 1998, and I first asked my dad who the heck this Wonder Man guy was.  Once I figured out who he was, I started reading whatever I could of him, and one of my favorites was his 1986 one-shot, which features him in the Safari Jacket get-up, which quickly became my favorite of his looks.  I’ve honestly been waiting for a good figure of it since then, and it’s been a long wait.  Thankfully, this isn’t just a good figure, it’s a great figure.  Such a great figure.

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

#3392: Ultimate Captain America

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

ULTIMATE CAPTAIN AMERICA

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“The Captain America of the Ultimate Universe has served as the Allies’ super-soldier in World War II, the leader of the first Ultimates team”

You know, it’s kind of crazy, but in the ten years I’ve been doing some sort of Captain America reviews in July 4th, I’ve never actually reviewed a new item on the day. I’m just bad at saving that sort of thing up, I guess. Well, I did it this year! So a-ha!

For today’s review, I’d jumping into an area of Captain America stuff that I only very rarely venture into: The Ultimates.  I’ve made it no secret that I’m not much of a fan of the Ultimate Universe’s take on Steve Rogers, at least from a characterization side, but on the flip side, he definitely made out pretty well from the design side of things.  While his altered WW2 uniform is my main jam from that line, his modern day outfits are no slouch either, and they all certainly make for some pretty good toys, including Cap’s most recent Legends treatment.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Ultimate Captain America is figure 6 in the Puff Adder Series of Marvel Legends, which is 2023’s first Avengers-centric assortment.  It’s a real mix of looks, with Cap representing the “modern” side..or at least as modern as any design from 20 years ago can really be.  Cap is based on his main look from the first Ultimates, which is his most distinctive, so it makes sense.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 31 points of articulation.  Cap’s articulation is really just a set of butterfly shoulders away from being the best the line has to offer, and even then, it’s still very good.  He’s got the pinless construction on his arms and legs, and his mid torso is a ball-joint, in contrast to the ab-crunch we’ve seen the last few times.  It all makes for quite a fluid set-up to the movement, and I very much dig it.  When this figure was first shown off, I had assumed that he’d be making liberal use of parts from the 80th Cap body, since that’s the new standard.  I was rather surprised to get him in hand and discover he’s actually sporting an entirely new sculpt, courtesy of Rene Aldrete.  It maintains a nice bit of internal consistency with how the two Anniversary Caps were handled, but just improves the layout of the articulation, as well as adding a bit more depth to the detailing of his actual suit.  Ultimate Cap may not be my go-to design, but this sculpt certainly takes advantage of the additional elements Hitch’s design added.  Cap’s got two new heads, one calm, the other angry.  They’re both a bit meaner than the 20th Cap heads, which is appropriate for this version of the character, but they still look like the same guy, which is especially impressive given the change of sculptor between the two releases.  Of the two, I do like the calmer look just a touch more, but the teeth-gritting look makes for some fun action poses.  Cap’s color work is a little more in depth than a “classic” Cap, largely because of the little bit of grey and brown added to the design.  His paint work is still more on the basic side, which works well enough.  On mine, the paint on the face and the emblem are prone to rubbing away a little easier than I’d like, so do be careful with those spots.  Cap is packed with two sets of hands (fists, and a gripping/open gesture combo), his shield, and the head of the Puff Adder Build-A-Figure.  The shield is the same base mold as the one included with the 20th Cap, but without the holes for the effects this time.  Unfortunately, the actual painted detailing isn’t the same between the two, so it’s not a clean swap if you’re looking to replace the 20th, but it’s at least a step in the right direction.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Legends has been incrementally giving us better and better Captain America figures as its gone along, and Hasbro set themselves a very high bar with last year’s 20th Cap, which was *so* close to being the perfect Cap figure.  When this one was announced I didn’t pay a ton of attention to it, but figured I’d at least grab it on the basis of it looking like a decent Cap.  It’s sooooooooooooooooooo much better than I was expecting.  He’s not a classic Cap, and for that reason, he’s not dethroning the 20th version, but boy is he just a very, very nicely done figure.  Hasbro has now gotten me to be genuinely excited about two Legends Ultimate Caps.  I don’t like Ultimate Cap.  I swear.

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