That’s right, folks, it’s all Marvel Legends, all week as I break down the San Diego Comic Con Exclusive A-Force box set figure by figure. Yesterday, I kicked things off with a look at the packaging and a review of Monica Rambeau, today I’m checking out Jennifer Walters, aka She-Hulk.

If you’re trying to figure out the order I’m going in, I’m started with the two figures that I think were most overdue. Before this set Monica Rambeau had yet to have a Marvel Legends figure, and as for Shulkie here, this is her first appearance in the modern Legends reboot. But…

We were teased with her all the way back in the 2013 Hit Monkey Wave on the Red She-Hulk package, which was supposed to be part of a shared slot. Even the name on the package is “Hulkettes.” These days, the shared-slot figures are both included in the assortment case, but back then they were running variants, and it wasn’t uncommon for one of those variants to never come out. Such was the fate of Jennifer Walters. But here we are, four years later, and we finally got her. Is this a case where it was worth the wait? Did we get an entirely new figure? Mmm… Yes and no.

Shulkie borrows quite a bit from Red, which really comes as no surprise as this is a very specific, taller female buck. The legs, lower torso, and most of the arms are pulled from the older figure, with the chest, hands, and obviously the head being different and/or new sculpts. As a result, from the neck down, this figure actually uses less original sculpting than Red She-Hulk, as a matter of fact, there’s absolutely none at all. The costume is achieved entirely by paint, and that’s fine because it actually looks quite good. The white paint over green plastic should have been problematic, but instead it’s bright and clean with absolutely no bleed through. The metallic purple used for her one-piece is quite vibrant as well. There are a few little chips and scratches on the white paint of her belt, but nothing worth getting upset over.

Unfortunately, the new head sculpt isn’t the hit I was hoping for. It almost looks like they went back to the forbidden well that is the old Madam Hydra head and did some reworking on it. I’m not saying that’s the case, but this one does indeed remind me of that figure, and that’s not a good thing. It’s facial structure is too severe to really work as Jennifer Walters, and the eye paint is uneven making her left eye look smaller or like it’s about to slide off her face. Granted, the paint thing might just be an issue with my particular figure. Keep in mind, none of this is terribly noticeable at casual glance, but it all rears its head under scrutiny. The hair also looks off, like it’s way too high in the front. I’m not going to say this portrait is terrible, but after coming off the wonderful Monica head, this one feels like a drop.

I’m not going to run down all the points of articulation, since it’s almost all identical to Monica. Suffice it to say, the older, ball jointed hips are a bummer. These are a pain in the ass to work with and they feel a little dated. Jennifer may be a powerhouse, but she’s also a pretty limber gal, and her figure just feels a little too stiff.

Waiting so long for She-Hulk turns out to be one of those good and bad scenarios. An all new body would have been most welcome, especially since the hip articulation on this one hasn’t aged well. On the other hand, the 2013 She-Hulk would have been a very different look, and I’m much happier to get Jennifer in this more traditional costume. You could argue that we could have had both, but who knows whether Hasbro would have released this figure if they had also released the previous one. For all my pissing and moaning, the truth is that I still like this figure well enough, but I think Hasbro could have done a much better job on the head sculpt and paint. A-Force Shulkie is not the homerun that Monica Rambeau is, but I’m still happy to have her.