I’m still trying to get through the last of the Marvel Universe figures that are stacked in the corner so that I can put the line to bed and move on to the Infinite line. To that end, I’m digging deep and checking out a figure that has been waiting to be opened for almost a year. Yes, it’s Elektra. Now, I find Elektra to be a pretty cool character in the comics, although I rarely encounter her in the books that I read, but the truth is I’ve been ruined on her. It all goes back to a flight to New Jersey where they showed the Jennifer Garner movie. At first I thought I was lucky. I like looking at Jennifer Garner, (who the hell doesn’t?) and I was curious about the movie. Soon I realized that I would have rather stared at the front seat in front of me than watch the movie in its entirety. I found myself wishing I had a parachute. But let’s not hold that against comic book Elektra…

Hey, there’s the Marvel Universe packaging! We won’t be seeing this many more times, which is kind of sad because I always loved these little cards and I’m not really sold on the bland design of the Infinite packages. Elektra’s card shows off some wonderful character art and the figure looks great it the bubble. I actually have some doubles of MU figures hanging on my wall. In another life, I could see myself collecting this line mint on card. Anyway, let’s get her out and see how she is…

As is often the case with the MU figures, Elektra uses a generic body and lets the paint do most of the work, although the addition of the sculpted sash around her waist goes a long way to make the figure look quite distinctive. Sure, the sash is a bit big and clunky, but I think it works fairly well for the scale. In addition to using red paint for her top and boots, Elektra also has red straps painted on her arms and thighs, all of which is extremely evocative of the Psylocke figure. There’s a wee bit of slop here and there, but all in all I’ve got no complaints about the paintwork here, especially when I think back to how bad it was on a figure like Warbird.

Hasbro went all out for the head sculpt on this figure. I really dig the face sculpt itself, but it’s the elaborate hair and bandanna that really makes this figure shine. The hair on her right side is split to fall partially over the front of her shoulder and the rest falls down her back reaching to her waist. I particularly like the long strands coming off from where her bandanna is tied. It’s all wonderfully punctuated with some beautifully crisp paintwork.

Elektra is one of the more articulated female figures in the line. The arms have ball joints at the shoulders, hinges at the elbows and swivels in the wrists. The legs have ball joints at the hips, double-hinged knees, swivels at the thighs and tops of the boots, and hinges and rockers in the ankles. She has a swivel just under her chest and her neck features both a ball joint and a hinge. There are, however, a few problems here. First off, the hinge in the neck is almost useless because of the sculpted hair. No surprise there. The more frustrating issue is the very limited range of motion in her hips. I think this is because of the pelvis sculpt, but you have to really work to get much movement in there. For an acrobatic character like Elektra, the range of motion at the hips is disappointing.

Elektra comes with her pair of trusty Si. These are wonderful and tiny little pieces, with silver blades and guards and painted handles. They can be tucked into the sash, either front or back, which is very cool. Another great little touch is that Elektra’s hands are sculpted so that her index fingers wrap around the guards to make her hold them better.

There’s no doubt that Elektra is a fantastic looking figure. Hasbro worked their usual magic with a lot of paint and a little fresh sculpting to portray the character perfectly. Yes, that articulation in the hips is damn frustrating. I wanted to spend a lot more time posing and shooting her, but the limitations got the better of me. Still, considering that most of the time my figures are just posed on the shelf, it’s not enough to ruin the figure for me. It’s also worth mentioning that despite being off the market, Elektra can be had for a pretty good price. I think I wound up paying $10 for her and she was definitely worth that. At least now I have someone to keep Daredevil company on the shelf.