Tag Archives: baf

Jul 7 2023

Marvel Legends (GotG v3): Kraglin, Adam Warlock and Cosmo BAF by Hasbro

Well, hello folks! I’ve been a bad host this week, but I’m happy I was able to show up before the end with at least one piece of content. I had my head buried in work with some big projects, which I swore up and down I would no longer be doing, but it is what it is. Anyway, I got some cool toys in this week and hope to have a full slate of reviews for next week. As for now, let’s wrap up the Guardians of the Galaxy 3 Wave with the last two packaged figures and the Build-A-Figure!

If you need to get caught up, the previous figures were Deluxe Groot, Star-Lord, Mantis, Drax, Nebula, and Rocket. Groot was not technically part of this wave, and Star-Lord did not have any BAF parts, but collecting the rest allow you to build the Russian Space Pooch, and we’ll check her out at the end. Let’s start with Adam Warlock…

Warlock was fine in the movie, but I wasn’t expecting too much out of him. He certainly wasn’t worth the tease that we got at the end of Guardians 2. As for the figure, this was probably the one I was least looking forward to in this entire assortment. But that doesn’t mean he’s a bad figure. The costume sculpt is actually quite impressive. There’s a nice layering effect from the super fine chain mail texture to the plates and contour lines which all add a very cool complexity to the base figure. This may be some of the best sculpting in any Legends MCU costume to date. But the MCU suit aesthetic is getting a bit threadbare and there’s just getting to be a general sameness about them to me. I feel like there are some similar design beats between this suit and Vision’s when they should be completely different. With that having been said, the coloring is very nice with a mix of glossy red and pale gold, and the printed pattern on the cape is sharp and snappy.

The head sculpt is pretty good. I was not familiar with the actor who played him, but the likeness here seems pretty good. I’m not thrilled with the gold plastic they used for his face and hair. It doesn’t really convey the same effect as the onscreen makeup, but it’s not bad either.

And that’s really all I have to say about this guy. The articulation is exactly what you would expect and the pinless joints are nice. I just can’t say I had a lot of fun posing him or playing around with him. If he didn’t come with a BAF part, I probably would have passed on him or waited until clearance. I also wish we had gotten a Ravager version of Gamora in his slot instead. But at the same time, I’m happy to add him to the shelf. Let’s move on to Kraglin…

Apparently even being the Director’s brother doesn’t guarantee you an action figure, at least not until you’ve been in all three movies. But here we are finally getting Kraglin in Marvel Legends. Granted, he’s had the biggest role in this last one, taking over the mantle (and fin) from his deceased Captain. I was pretty excited to get him and this figure does not disappoint. The attention to detail in the costume is very well done, with various textures and bits of padding in the sculpt. You also get some reinforced panels and a shoulder rig that includes a scabbard behind his shoulder and a sling for his arrow. There’s some extra fine sculpting in the zipper and I love the way his collar sits all folded up around his neck. But what the heck, Hasbro… we’re back to pins in the joints?

The head sculpt here is a pretty good likeness to Sean Gunn, although I don’t think they got his eyes quite right and the facial hair needed to be a touch more pronounced. Still, I like it a lot and it looks exceptionally good in profile. The fin is recreated beautifully with some nice panel lines and details. It’s also pretty gross how it sprouts out of his head like that.

The sheath behind the shoulder holds a tiny little knife, which his right hand can hold pretty well.

Kraglin’s other accessory is the arrow, which includes an energy trail to show it zipping through the air. The effect is very well done with a clear red plastic trail, but I really wish they had included a second arrow without the trail as well. It would have been a cheap and easy accessory that would have went a long way. Still, I like some of the poses you can do with the effect part arrow, so that’s cool. And that brings us to…

Cosmo the Space Dog! Usually I like my Build-A-Figures to be big figures that wouldn’t fit in a normal Legends sized box, but I can’t deny I’m happy to have Cosmo. There are actually nine separate pieces here which include the four legs, the tail, the body, the head, and two pieces for the space helmet, which does open and close. There’s something about animal legs that don’t always translate well to rotating ball joints, but these work OK. The suit looks great with some sculpted rumples and various bits of vintage space gear.

I had a lot of trouble getting the clear dome on the helmet to work, but eventually I got there. That may have just been me being an idiot. The head sculpt here is really quite fantastic for the first doggo in Marvel Legends. The sculpted fur looks really good as does the little flash of teeth in the corner of her jowls. The eyes are also excellent. Cosmo is a good dog!

And that’s the first complete wave of Marvel Legends for me this year! See how that works? I enjoyed Guardians 3 and that made me want this wave. Meanwhile there are absolutely no other MCU projects, film or otherwise that are even getting any of my interest. And with Hasbro dipping into stuff like Amadeus Cho Hulk for a Build-A-Figure, there’s little chance I’m going to be picking up any other current Legends waves. I still have some unopened older figures, and I may get to some of those this year, but with this Guardians 3 wave behind me, Legends is likely going to fall off the radar for a while now.

Dec 28 2022

Marvel Legends (The Controller Wave): Blue Marvel, US Agent, Speedball, Thor, and The Controller BAF by Hasbro

Welcome, friends, to the last Marvel Monday Review of 2022… and it’s on a Wednesday! Yup, instead of being productive, I decided to be really lazy on Christmas and just drink, eat, loaf around, and watch a bunch of videos and I can’t say as I regret it. But, I didn’t want to crap out on the last Marvel Monday Review, so not only did I bump it to today, but I’ve decided to speed-review the rest of The Controller Wave, so as not to end the year in the middle of a wave! So, that’s four figures plus the Build-A-Figure to check out today. LET’S DO THIS!!!

I already checked out Madam Hydra and Quake, and I didn’t buy the Iron Man from this assortment because he didn’t come with a BAF part, so that leaves us with this happy band of four figures to open. That’s a lot to cover in one sitting, so I’ll be brief where I can. We’ll go ahead and start with Blue Marvel!

I was very happy to see Adam finally get a figure in modern Legends, and I think this one turned out great. The costume is mostly comprised of a painted buck, but you do get fully sculpted boots with laces, plus a belt and a jacket. The coloring on this figure looks pretty sharp, with a mostly blue suit and black and white trim. The paint lines are clean, and thanks to the design of the suit, the unpainted pins in the elbows and knees don’t create a mismatched eyesore. I really like the sculpted stitching on the jacket and the chunky collar.

The head sculpt is excellent, with some great definition in the facial details. The hair is sculpted separately to create a clean hairline and I dig the creasing around his eyes and the prominent brow.

Blue Marvel comes with two sets of hands, one being fists and the other being what looks like accessory holding hands, but he doesn’t come with anything to hold. He does, however, come with some energy effect parts. These are cast in clear blue plastic and fit over his fists. I’m never going to complain about extra hands, but I think Adam would have been fine with just the fists. Either way, I love this figure and he’s definitely one of the highlights of this assortment. Next up… Speedball!

Speedball is a pretty simple figure, at least from the neck down, and built off what appears to be one of the Spider-Man bucks, as I’m pretty sure I recognize the pancake feet, plus he has the lateral crunches in the shoulders. The costume is achieved entirely through paint, but I have to say I really like what they did here. The molecular pattern on his boots, gloves, and belt looks really cool, especially against the blue of the suit.

I do like the head sculpt as well. The goggles are extremely well done, with yellow lenses that show his painted eyes behind them. His tuft of hair is certainly distinctive and you get the same cool molecular pattern on his hood. Very nice!

I’m glad they went for the extra articulated body here, but I think Robbie could have used an extra pair of hands, certainly more so than Blue Marvel. As it is, he’s the only figure of these four that doesn’t come with a second set of hands, so you know I gotta call him out. He only has fists, and I think either relaxed hands or the running kind with the fingers tightly closed into a chop would have suited him really well. Still, a very cool figure! Next… Thor!

This is Herald Thor and of all the figures in this assortment, this is the one I would have liked to single out and review solo if I had just one more Marvel Monday before the end of the year. I really dig everything about this figure. The black tunic and armor pieces over the traditional checkered silver armor looks great, especially with the red belt and bands on the boots and the white added to the tunic. The cape also has some great paint on the interior going from purple to red at the bottom. The spikes in the knee pads and arm bracers are a nice touch too!

The portrait is easily one of the most unique looks we’ve had for the character. He sports extremely long pale blonde hair, a black head band, and his eyes are light blue with white pupils, giving him a really creepy affect. The chiseled facial features give an awesome severity to his expression. This is great stuff!

Thor comes with a translucent blue version of Mjolnir with a lightning part that wraps around it and makes for a really cool effect! You also get two pairs of hands, one being fists and the other including a right hand to hold the hammer and a left hand that looks like it’s poised to cast forth a bolt of lightning.

And we aren’t done yet, because Thor also comes with the Ravens, Hugin and Munin, each of which are unique sculpts. One is posed at rest with his wings tucked in, while the other is in flight. This is an absolutely awesome, and easily my favorite release in this wave! The last figure to open is US Agent!

Yup, I saved the dud for last. I think this is the second release of US Agent in the modern Legends line, as I can recall getting the first release way back in 2012 as part of the third wave. Heck, I even remember also reviewing that figure the week after Christmas, so how’s that for serendipity! And I honestly can’t figure out what the point of this release is, because it’s practically the same costume with just a few tweaks. You get the same red gauntlets and buccaneer boots, the same pattern on the chest, which is a little wider here, and a simpler and cleaner belt, which I think works a bit better for a classic comic look.

The head sculpt appears to be lifted directly from that previous release, and if it’s not well it’s pretty damn similar. I don’t think it’s aged well, nor do I think it’s a particularly great sculpt to begin with. The bulbous nose is off-putting, and the facial features are really soft. I just don’t like it.

You get two pairs of hands, which include one set of fists, a right hand to hold the shield from the edge and a relaxed left hand. These later two hands are perfect for displaying him about to throw the shield. The shield itself has a new paint job and omits the star in the center that the previous release had. It’s equipped with both a peg and a clip, so he can wear it on his back or attached to his wrist. This is an OK figure, but nothing for me to get too excited about. It’s marginally better than the original release, but I’m not sure why we got him again at all. TO THE BUILD A FIGURE!!!

The Controller is your reward for buying six out of the seven figures in this assortment and he goes together exactly like most other BAFs do. Plug the arms and legs and head into the torso and you’re good to go. I’ll freely admit that this BAF was what compelled me to hunt down all the figures in this wave and I’m overall pretty glad I did, as it’s a really nice looking figure, even though the reuse of the collar and shoulder piece from the Deluxe Thanos release is super obvious. The two-tone blue costume looks good and I do like the super glossy finish on the Thanos piece.

The portrait is a real winner too! The Controller’s craggy face looks fantastic and they did a wonderful job with his expression. The deep set pupil-less eyes and the downturned mouth showing a flash of teeth looks like he’s about to kick some serious ass.

And hey, you get two pairs of hands too! And guess what? One of those pairs is a set of fists! The other pair includes a relaxed left hand and a right hand clutching a pair of Slave Discs. Very cool! I will note that while this big guy features all the usual articulation I expect to see in a BAF, the elbows have almost no range of motion because of the way they’re sculpted. You just get the teeniest bit of bend there.

And there you have it, the last wave of Marvel Legends for 2022. Overall, I think this was an excellent assortment with just US Agent there to offer up one slot of mediocrity. The ladies were great, Thor is amazing, I’m very happy to have Blue Marvel, and Speedball was there too! On a side note, this is actually the second to the last complete wave of Marvel Legends that I have in the pipeline to review, although I have quite a few multi-packs waiting to be opened. This coming weekend I’m going to be putting up some of my collecting resolutions for 2023, and one of the big ones is centered around Marvel Legends, so you won’t want to miss that! In the meantime, I’ll see you all back here on Friday for the last review of the year, and I have no idea yet what that will be!


Oct 24 2022

Marvel Legends (Armadillo Wave): Miles Morales and Armadillo Build-A-Figure by Hasbro

It’s another Marvel Monday and I am at the tail end of opening the Spider-Man themed Armadillo Wave! So, let’s put this wave to bed today with a look at the last packaged figure, Miles Morales, and then we’ll cobble together the Armadillo BAF and check him out!

Miles is a GamerVerse figure, and we’ve seen this style of packaging deco before. It has a spiffy white top to set it apart from the regular comic and MCU releases. I believe Miles here is from the follow-up or pseudo-sequel or something to do with the PS4 Spider-Man game. God, I sound so freaking old when talking about video games now. That’s probably because I’ve been spending more time on my Atari consoles than my PS4. And I STILL have not played the PS4 Spider-Man game, but it’s over there on the shelf, waiting to be unwrapped, installed, update my system, update the game, than download the patch, and by then I realize my controller isn’t charged and I go back to playing Dreamcast or NES or anything else that’s more plug-and-play and doesn’t require a 30 hour investment in time. But hey… let’s look open Miles!

Well, this is without a doubt, the best Spidey suit we got in this wave. That may seem like a back-handed compliment, but I really do like this design a lot and Hasbro did a nice job giving it the figure treatment. There’s some very cool texturing on the suit, as well as some sculpted panel lining which makes it feel like it would be right at home as an MCU version. Even the detail on the gloves is excellent! The crimson deco on the chest, back, and shoulders really pops against the black suit and all of it is incorporated into the sculpt. The texturing is bound to mess with the paint application a bit, but here we didn’t do too badly.

You get two head sculpts here, one masked and one unmasked. The masked head is very good with some fairly sharp webbing. There’s a little slop around the white eye lenses of the mask, but you have to punch in pretty close to see it.

The unmasked head is also solid, with just a few things holding it back. I really dig the facial features and I’d say this could work just as well as a comic figure as a video game figure. On the downside, I could have done without the mold line running across the top of the hair. I definitely prefer when Hasbro casts the hair separately and attaches it to the head as opposed to the head and hair being all one piece. Also, the head sits really weird on the neck, like it’s jutting forward too much. It looks a lot better when viewed from dead on and neither of these things are enough to really ruin the figure for me.

The articulation is identical to the previous two Spider-Man figures in this wave, so I won’t go through it all. But, are we going to talk hands again? You betcha! If you’ve checked out my other reviews of this assortment, you know it’s all been about the hands. And Miles FINALLY gives us the crawling hands with the splayed fingers that should have been included with the Integrated Suit Spidey. He also comes with fists and thwippy hands, as well as one more set…

Translucent glowy electro hands! I’m guessing these are supposed to convey his Venom Strike ability in the game? Again, I haven’t played the it, but it sure looks like these are representing a bio-electrical discharge of some sort. I freaking love these! They look really cool on the figure and make for a nice contrast against the black suit.

I didn’t have a lot of interest in Miles going in to this review, but he’s definitely one of the better figures in this assortment. The suit looks great and he’s fun to mess around with. He also gives me the last BAF part I need, so let’s move on to Armadillo.

Armadillo is built from a total of six pieces, scattered across the wave. Technically seven, if you count his removable back piece, but that came attached to the back and not separately. With seven figures in the assortment, you could have skipped the Integrated Suit Spidey and still got all the pieces. Personally, I would have rather skipped Black & Gold Suit Spidey, but I imagine Hasbro was well aware of that. Putting him together is the standard formula of popping the arms, legs, and head into the torso and everything was a pretty easy fit.

I can’t say I’m a huge fan of Armadillo is a character. His back story and motivations are about as cliche as you can get. BUT, I sure do love the way he looks and I absolutely love this figure! He really is a perfect candidate for BAF treatment, as he’s big and burly, and his armored shell pieces look fantastic. The way his armor plates are sculpted give the figure a lot of depth, and these are are textred very nicely. He’s also sporting some vicious looking claws on his fingers and toes. You get all the usual articulation with these beefy BAFs, and while he may not have a great range of motion in those elbows, everything else is pretty good. Speaking of elbows, the right elbow on my figure is seized, which means this big boi is going to have to take a boil bath in a big pot!

And how about that head sculpt! Clearly, this is not the kind of Armadillo that gets bounced off your front bumper at 2am. I love the way the armadillo plates form a helmet leaving only his face exposed. The expression is pure nightmare fuel, with those soulless white eyes and the wall of gritting teeth. Every line and crease in his anger-stricken face is chiseled to perfection. And herein is one of the things that makes Marvel Legends so much fun. Hasbro can take a character I’m not even really vested in and still make me excited to own that character as an action figure.

Ultimately, I’m a bit lukewarm on this wave. I didn’t like any of the two Spidey Suits from No Way Home, and while the Black & Gold figure is pure garbage, the Integrated Suit figure isn’t that bad. Morlun was kind of OK and MCU Doctor Strange is probably the best version of MCU Strange we’ve had yet. Shriek is a great figure, but not the version I wanted, and while I would have rather had younger J. Jonah from the Raimi Spider-Man films, I’ll happily take this one instead. And in the end, I will say that collecting this wave was well worth it to get the Armadillo BAF, because he’s great and I got most of these figures on deep discount anyway. Not exactly a ringing endorsement, but there we are! On the next few Marvel Mondays I’m going to be checking out some boxed sets and stand alones, before jumping into another Wave.

Aug 29 2022

Marvel Legends (The Watcher Wave): The Watcher Build-A-Figure by Hasbro

It’s that time again! Time to try to figure out where I put all the BAF parts for a wave that were accumulated over the span of the last five weeks! Actually, I was smart this time and put them aside with all the figures so I could do the obligatory group shot at the end. But, before we take a quick look at The Watcher BAF, it’s story time! I was originally going to skip this wave entirely because I wasn’t into the Disney+ What If? series and Diamond Select had their own Watcher figure coming out. I pre-ordered it, but my pre-order was summarily cancelled because apparently the company that took my pre-order likes to take pre-orders for product they aren’t going to be able to fill. I won’t call them out by name, because I’m above such pettiness, but let’s just say that its a company that sells Entertainment products to people who live on Earth.

And so, here we are checking out The Watcher BAF! Yes, this bulbous headed bastard is the main reason I bought this wave, and I can’t say I’m sorry I did. Now, this particular figure is based on his appearance in the What If? series, so I guess you could say he’s an MCU Watcher, but the design is certainly close enough that he could pass for a modern comic appearance. The Diamond Select figure was a more classic comic look, which I still would have preferred, but as far as consolation prizes go, this guy is not at all bad.

The assembly here was a tad different than the usual plug four limbs and a head into a body deal we usually get with these BAFs. Sure, you still had four limbs and a head, but the body came an an upper and lower piece, with the skirt piece getting sandwiched between them. There is also the piece of his costume which extends up behind his head, which plugs into the back. Still, Hasbro was able to bundle all the parts over just six figures, as Zombie Cap didn’t include one at all. The physical assembly was a real pain in the ass, because the bottom of the torso took a ridiculous amount of force to get it to plug into the top. I seriously thought I was going to break the thing, but eventually the peg popped in securely. The arms were also really tough to get plugged in, but we got there in the end.

I really dig this guy’s robes, even if the lower portion renders all the articulation in his legs completely useless. You can make minor adjustments to get him to stand, but it seems like a waste to have given him full knee and hip articulation. Maybe these pieces will be recycled at some point, but it seems unlikely. You do get full articulation in the arms, although the wizard robe cuff on the right arm looks funny unless you have the arm positioned so the cuff is falling about the arm downward and not defying gravity. Still, the blue and gold combo looks nice, especially when accompanied by The Watcher’s orange skin.

The head sculpt is excellent, even if this Watcher’s head isn’t quite as bulbous as I would have liked. I mean, his noggin is big, but not as creepily disproportionate to the body as good old Jack Kirby’s version, and I do prefer the more classic look. Still, the sculpted definition of the face here is just beautifully done, and combined with that judgmental pout and those empty eyes, I think this head sculpt is quite a work of art.

And that’s really all I have to say about this guy. I think he’s a great figure, but I still wouldn’t mind picking up the Diamond Select release, as this guy doesn’t quite scratch that itch for having a classic Watcher on my shelf. And since it does seem to be popping up here and there online at or close to retail, I’d say there’s a good chance that you might see that figure reviewed here at some point in the near future.

All in all, it was an interesting trip through this assortment, as this is one of the first times I completed a Marvel Legends wave that I had so little interest in, just to get all the BAF pieces. But with that having been said, most of these figures surprised me in some way or another, and when all is said and done, I think Sylvie is the only one of the bunch that I genuinely have no use for. Nebula and Star-Lord are fun, Zombie Hunter Spidey is actually a great little Spider-Man figure, especially if you toss away the Cloak. Zombie Cap and Strange Supreme are both awesome, and Captain Carter may be my favorite of the assortment. There are some great sculpts on display here, and the running theme of this assortment has been the bright and vibrant colors on most of the figures. I was pleasantly surprised by these!

Apr 19 2021

Marvel Legends (80th Anniversary): Colossus Vs Juggernaut by Hasbro


I’m back from a 4-day staycation where I holed up inside my lair, had groceries delivered to my door, played a lot of video games, and opened a bunch of toys. Yeah, it was a good time! But now it’s Monday and in order to offset the horror of going back to work, I’m going to check out another Marvel 80-Years set from Marvel Legends! Oh look! It’s more X-Men!!!

This set is either a cheap shot or a godsend, depending on whether or not you completed the Juggernaut Build-A-Figure from about five years back. If you did, then you’re pretty much double-dipping to get a proper Classic Colossus. If you didn’t, then this set saves you from having to donate a kidney to get the Cain Marko BAF. I’m from the former group, as the Juggernaut Wave was so damn solid that I pre-ordered the whole shebang so I wouldn’t miss any. That’s not to say that this version of Juggsy is entirely the same figure, but I don’t want to get ahead of myself, so let’s start with Colossus!

We last saw Piotr in Marvel Legends back around 2017 in the Warlock Wave. That was an excellent figure, but it was a more modern look for the character and I’m an old fart that almost always prefers the Classic. Needless to say I was thrilled to see this gorgeous bastard get released… and I do mean gorgeous! The sculpt is excellent, but it’s the paint job that really makes this figure sing to me. The bright red and yellow of the costume contrasts beautifully with some of the snappiest silver paint I’ve seen Hasbro use in a while. Sculpting includes the segmented lines on his metal skin, the extended fronts on the tops of the boots, and the upturned points on the shoulders. He sports an X-branded belt and some wrist bracers, all of which are sculpted separately from the rest of the figure. A lick of gold paint on the belt really ties everything together perfectly.

The head sculpt is superb, with sharp facial features including a solid jawline, prominent brow, and texture-less hair. The expression is fairly neutral, although it definitely looks like Piotr means business. The same gorgeous silver paint used for the body is also seen here and it really brings out all the contours in the portrait.

Colossus is a big boy, but he still sports most of the usual points of articulation seen in this line. In fact, the only real departure here is in the elbows, where he has only single hinges in place of the usual double-hinges we usually see on the Legends dudes. It’s worth noting that the scrumptious silver paint had some of the joints on my figure frozen, so I had to do a little gentle, and some not-so gentle, persuasion to get his left elbow moving. The same was true for the hinges in all four hands. Yup, you get two sets of hands with the figure: Fists and grabby hands. If I’m being honest, this set was almost worth the price of admission for Colossus alone, but a lot of people are probably just as interested in Juggernaut!

And I doubt those people will be disappointed with this bruiser! There probably aren’t a lot of characters you could pack in with Colossus that makes him look small, but Juggsy is sure one of them. I won’t spend a lot of time on this figure, as I already reviewed the BAF. From the neck down, the sculpt is exactly the same as the the Build-A-Figure, and that sure ain’t a bad thing, as Marko remains one of my favorite BAFs to date. A careful eye will see that the belt has been omitted this time around, which does give BAF owners a bit of exclusivity to their figures. It also gives this figure a cleaner look, which we’ll soon see is in keeping with the new helmet. The coloring, on the other hand has been changed. The paint around the abs is more or less the same, the boots maybe a bit lighter, but what was dark brown on the BAF is now much lighter reddish-brown here. I can’t really say whether I like it better or worse, it’s just different.

This version of Juggernaut comes with an extra pair of hands, so you get the fists that came with the BAF and a pair of open hands. The left hand is pretty relaxed while the right hand can be made to grab other figures. It actually fits pretty well around one of Colossus’ arms to pick him up, but I wouldn’t want to do it too much and risk rubbing that beautiful paint.

The head sculpt is entirely new, and that includes both the helmet and the face within. The helmet this time is smooth and not all pock-marked like the BAF’s was. Again, it’s just personal opinion as to whether it’s better or worse. As I mentioned earlier, I think they were going for a cleaner, more classic Comic look here, hence the lack of belt and smoother helmet. The holes for the eyes and mouth are a bit smaller here and there are some bolts sculpted around the bottom edge of the helmet.

What’s really cool here is you get a separate head with a removable shattered helmet, and this really made it less painful to me to have to buy another Legends Juggernaut. The portrait is great, although there is a little mold flashing on my Marko’s chin that needs to be shaved off. Otherwise, the face is painted up with bruising around the right eye and his bottom lip, showing off the injuries he received when his helmet was shattered.

The damaged helmet adds a little more sculpted texture in the way of scrapes and gashes to the left side, while the right side is completely blown out revealing the bare metal underneath the brown paint. Yeah, the sculpted damage is a little odd in the way that it’s bent outward and not inward, making it look like the result of an explosion inside rather than force from outside, but it still looks pretty damn cool. Inside the top of the helmet, there are some sculpted guides to help it sit firmly on the head and line up the one remaining eye hole with the left eye of the head.

No buts about it, this is one fantastic box of plastic! Did Classic Colossus deserve his own solo release? Of course he did. But if this is the way Hasbro has to make it cost effective to release characters, I’m totally fine with that. They clearly made an effort to change things up on Juggernaut to make him stand out over the Build-A-Figure, to the point where I genuinely didn’t mind adding another one to my collection. And considering what the BAF was selling for on the secondary market (at least for a little while), it’s nice to see this set put a version of that figure in circulation again. This set has been off the shelves for a bit, but it with some online retailers taking pre-orders again, it looks like Hasbro is putting it back into circulation.

Mar 15 2021

Marve Legends (Strong Guy Wave): Strong Guy Build-A-Figure by Hasbro

Well, last week turned out to be a bust with me being too busy to get back here again with more content after Marvel Monday. But it’s a new week, and that means new opportunities to carve out some time and get some more reviews done. As promised, I’m back for this Marvel Monday to wrap up the Strong Guy Wave with the titular Build-A-Figure himself. Let’s plunge into some more X-Factor love and check out Guido!

There were seven figures in this wave, and since your average BAF only requires six pieces, that means one figure often ships without a part. However, in this case everyone brought something to the party! The extra piece comes from Strong Guy’s massive torso requiring a back piece. So no skipping out on figures here, you have to buy those Deadpools. YOU HAVE TO!!! Still, there’s nothing tricky about hammering this guy together and all the connection points fit well and are super sturdy. And that wasn’t a problem for me, because not only did I love every figure in this wave, but I’ve been hotly anticipating getting Strong Guy into my collection for a while now. And man, he does not disappoint!

Guido sports an appropriately disproportionate body, which is seriously pumped on the top half, like we’re talking Juggernaut levels of pumpitude, and relatively normal sized legs with tiny feet. Yeah, he’s freakish looking, but I’m not about to call him out on it! Much of the body is painted blue to depict an under suit, with the massive yellow vest making up his upper torso, complete with a giant X-Force disk on the left side of his chest, a sculpted zipper running across the right side of his chest, and a slightly popped collar. His already massive shoulders are further reinforced by segmented silver armor plates, perfect for taking down walls or tackling foes into oblivion. More yellow is added to the mix in the form of his belt and X-Undies, his massive gauntlets, and dainty ankle cuffs. Actually, they’re normal-sized, but they look dainty on him. Hasbro did an absolutely splendid job on the costume here! He carries just enough sculpted detail to give him that singular cartoony look, and that eye-pleasing one-two punch of deep blue and vibrant yellow never goes out of style!

As for Guido’s tiny head, well Hasbro probably didn’t have a lot of trouble packing this portrait with personality, thanks to Strong Guy’s distinctive mug. His bald pate is punctuated with a little curl of white hair sprouting right in the middle of his head. His pince-nez goggles are painted silver with the lenses painted in red matte, and his beaming smile advertises a full boat of slightly yellowed teeth. A prominent, dimpled chin and pair of tiny ears rounds out Guido’s melon quite nicely. This is a great head sculpt and it makes me smile every time I look at it.

Despite his wonky proportions, Strong Guy manages to pack in all the usual points of articulation I’m used to seeing in these Build-A-Figures. The massive arms have rotating hinges in his shoulders, elbows, and wrists. His legs have ball joints up in the hips, swivels in the thighs, double-hinges in the knees, and both hinges and lateral rockers in the ankles. His upper chest is set on a ball joint, as is his neck. While I knew this guy was going to be fun to play around with, I had expected high levels of frustration getting him to stand, but much to my surprise, them little feets support his upper bulk quite well. Indeed, there were only a few poses where I had a tough time getting him to stand. Not bad for what should be such an obviously unbalanced figure.

Strong Guy was a perfect fit for the Build-A-Figure treatment, and even as a hotly anticipated character of mine, he does not disappoint. This is what BAFs are all about… big, beefy hunks of plastic that simply wouldn’t work in a single Legends package unless released as some kind of Deluxe. Even when displayed at the back of an X-Men shelf, amidst a sea of blue and yellow uniforms, Strong Guy stands out. He’s simply a fun and wildly creative design that makes for a perfect action figure. I suspect he’s going to be my desk buddy for a while before he joins his friends.

And that’s finally another Wave of Marvel Legends in the bag, and a mighty solid assortment at that. With some great character additions including Maverick, Tom Cassidy, Sunspot, and wait… Thunderbird??? Awwww SHIT! If only I had put Warpath in that group shot instead of grabbing his brother Thunderbird by mistake. What can I say, other than it’s been a long working weekend, and I was too tired to dig out all the figures and do a re-shoot. And for the record, that’s twice in one review, because I meant to have Forge in that other group shot, but grabbed Bishop instead. Sheesh, I’m clearly getting out of practice. Anywho… Shiklah certainly wasn’t on my short list, or my long list for that matter, but she’s such a great looking figure, who cares! Pirate Deadpool is fun, and while I didn’t think I was going to care at all about Deadpool in his X-Men colors, truth be told I think that figure turned out great and I dig it quite a bit. Since I’m between Waves now, next week I’m free to review whatever I want. And since I opened them for a shot in this review, I do believe I’ll be checking out the Havok and Polaris two-pack.

Sep 1 2020

Marvel Legends (Crimson Dynamo Wave): Crimson Dynamo Build-A-Figure by Hasbro

I’m extending Marvel Monday out one more day so I can wrap up this look at the Crimson Dynamo Wave Build-A-Figure today. That’s right! As if opening the last figure in a wave of Marvel Legends wasn’t reward enough, Hasbro lets us cobble together a brand new figure for our efforts. It’s like the cherry on top of a plastic sundae! This time, it’s the Crimson Dynamo from what is coincidently called the Crimson Dynamo Wave! Wow… funny how that worked out! This brute is composed of a whopping nine pieces scattered throughout all but one figure in this assortment. Pieces include the arms, legs, head, torso, two shoulder pieces, and a back plate.

Crimson Dynamo is of course the moniker given to the Soviet Union’s equivalent of the Iron Man armor. Like Stark’s armor, the USSR’s version has turned up in various styles, sizes, and configurations, but unlike Iron Man, the Crimson Dynamo has been manned by various Soviet agents. I think the last time I encountered this bruiser in plastic form was as part of Hasbro’s 3 3/4-inch Iron Man as Dmitri Bukharin. This time we’re getting the more imposing and more recent Gennady Gavrilov’s suit, and boy was this a great choice! It’s big and bulky and the design has that certain primitive but imposing retro design.

The suit is composed of a silver base, which looks like it’s been fitted with maroon armored pieces. The arms and torso have that segmented metal look that I love so much and instantly calls to mind Collosus from the X-Men. The chunkier maroon bits have some organic curves and some sparing panel lines. The result is a detailed suit that doesn’t look too busy. Still, some wonderful details included the ribbed ankles that look like they’re supposed to be made of a more flexible material, the reinforced fronts of the boots for kicking Western Capitalist ass, and those powerful hands that look like they could make short work of one of Stark’s armors if he were to get it in his clutches. Possibly my favorite thing here is the translucent green tubes in the wrists that look like they’re supposed to be some kind of cooling rods for the janky reactor that powers this behemoth. It’s all just so damn cool!

The helmet fits in with the more primitive look of the Soviet design. It’s got what looks like a giant boiler plate mounted ot the front of it with a grill for a mouth and a simple slit for a visor. The giant armored shoulders have bolts jutting out of the front and the surface is sculpted with cracks and fissures. There’s a dual exhaust protruding from the right shoulder, and the Soviet Star in the center of his chest is painted with an almost flourescent glow that matches the paint used for the visor. Spectacular!

As always, Hasbro doesn’t skimp on the articulation for these big figures, although the sheer bulk of this figure’s design does give some of those joints a little less range of motion. But that’s not to say this guy isn’t a heck of a lot of fun to play with. The legs have rotating hinges in the hips and ankles, double hinges in the knees, and swivels up in the thighs. The arms have rotating hinges in the shoulders and wrists, swivels in the biceps, and single hinges in the elbows. There’s a ball joint under the chest, and the neck is ball jointed. I like that they gave him one hand sculpted into a fist and the other grasping, as they work with a number of different poses.

While I would still love to see some of the other Crimson Dynamo armors get the Marvel Legends treatment, I’m very pleased that Hasbro chose to do this one as a Build-A-Figure. It’s such a damned cool design and it makes for an impressive display piece on the shelf next to the likes of Iron Monger and the SHIELD Mandroid. And boy would it be cool to one day see a version of this guy turn up in the MCU. Although, to be fair, I’ve been really tempering my expectations of what we’re going to be seeing out of the Marvel Cinematic Universe after Black Widow.

And that’s a wrap for this wave. It was an overall excellent assortment of figures. The Black Widow film was well represented, but we also got some great comic-based figures as well. I’m sure Crossbones was a welcome addition to anyone who missed out on the old Thunderbolts SDCC set and I think we were long overdue for a comic-based WInter Soldier. But seriously, Hasbro, we need a WWII-era Bucky Barnes now. I’d say that Spymaster is easily the odd-man out in this wave, and that’s not because he’s a bad figure, but aesthetically he really doesn’t fit with the rest of the crowd. For next week’s Marvel Monday, I’m going to detour out of Marvel Legends, but when I return for a new assortment, I’ll be checking out the Sugar Man Wave!

Apr 15 2020

Marvel Legends (Wendigo Wave): Wendigo Build-A-Figure by Hasbro

Marvel Monday is spilling over to Wednesday this week, folks, as I’m back to cobble together another Build-A-Figure after finally opening all the figures in the Wendigo Wave. And what a wave it was! Guardian, Nightcrawler, X-Force Wolverine, Boom-Boom, Mr SInister, and No Legs… er, I mean… Cannonball! And borrowing a piece that came with each of these figures allows me to build the Wendigo! It’s kind of like a big white furry Voltron! And he’s not only a giant snowbeast, but also a cautionary tale about what not to do when you get peckish out in the Canadian wilderness. This guy is pretty simple to build and comprised of the usual six pieces: Head, body, arms, and legs. And I’ll form the tail!!! Nope, tail is already attached.

And once he’s popped together he is one beautiful beast! Wendigo does borrow some parts that Hasbro used on the Sasquatch Build-A-Figure, which certainly makes sense as they are both giant, lumbering, shaggy behemoths. And to be fair, Hasbro utilized a lot of new sculpting that they probably could have gotten away without doing. The furry groinular area, for example, is sculpted to hang down at more of a point than we saw with Sasquatch, and there are other subtle re-touches beyond what’s used to cover their junk. The entire body is sculpted with some light hair texture, but it gets particularly heavy around his lower legs, forearms, and his shoulders and back. Also, unlike Sasquatch, Wendigo’s got a long curving tail, which for some reason I find extremely unnerving. It’s part monkey, part cat, all horror! As expected, a lot of the coloring on this beast is white, but there are some hits of blue here and there, which break up what would be an otherwise monotone figure. He also has some gray on his hands and feet.

The head sculpt is pure nightmare fuel. I mean, holy shit! If I saw this thing in real life I’m pretty sure I’d piss my pants. I’m not even ashamed to admit it. The somewhat ape-like face features what looks like a normal head of human hair with his two pointed ears piercing through it on the sides. There’s some additional shag sculpted onto his cheeks and chin and it looks absolutely fantastic. The deep-set beady red eyes are darkened around the sockets and under his broad nose is a gaping maw filled with horrific looking yellow teeth, some of which are stained with blood.

Articulation here is identical to what we saw with Sasquatch, so I’ll just refer you back to that review. I will say that while the articulation is excellent, my figure has some trouble staying together and that’s not something that I usually find with these BAF’s. The biggest offender is the head, which will pop out pretty regularly. The arms, come second. They don’t come out all the time when I’m posing him, but it doesn’t feel like there’s a lot holding them in place and it doesn’t take much for them to pop out.

Besides being an excellent enemy for my Hulk or Wolverine to go up against, this figure is plenty versatile as just a big abominable snow creature. I can easily see using him with my Mythic Legions, or hell if I want to really make him seem big I can have some of my arctic GI JOE‘s fight him. Either way, he’s a beautiful BAF and a very nice bonus for collecting a damn fine assortment of figures. And that’s another wave of Legends in the bag. Next week, I’ll probably take a look at an exclusive or a one-off or something before diving into another wave. And who knows? I might even have time to come back and sneak in a third review this week on Friday.

Mar 10 2020

Marvel Legends (Caliban Wave): Caliban Build-A-Figure by Hasbro

What’s this? Marvel Monday on Tuesday? Yeah, this happens from time to time when I want to put a wave to bed and tack on a review of the BAF after the last figure in the assortment. To be fair, I really could have just posted a Double Feature yesterday, because I’m not sure that today’s content warrants a day all to himself. Not to slight the character selection here, because we are indeed checking out Mutant-sniffer extraordinare Caliban, but as you’ll soon see, it isn’t going to take a lot of time to discuss what he’s all about. Also, apologies for the pictures. I tried a new background so as not to wash out his white and I am not at all happy with the end results. And with that ringing endorsement out of the way, let’s check out Caliban!

There’s nothing crazy here when it comes to building him. Caliban is comprised of six parts (legs, limbs, torso, and head), each acquired in part by buying Blink, Weapon X Wolverine, Forge, Skullbuster, Jubilee, and Gambit. Yup, Beast is in the wave too, but you don’t need him to build Caliban. Honestly, there isn’t a figure in this wave that I bought solely for the BAF part, nor was there a figure I would have passed on if not for building Caliban. Granted, that’s usually the case for me, because I’m all about the universe building, but it’s worth pointing out that I thought this was a solid wave.

So, obviously this is Apocalypse Horseman Caliban because he’s a big boy! I have no doubt we’ve seen this BAF body before, as it’s pretty generic, but I’m not placing it off the top of my head. Suffice it to say it’s a giant slab of plastic muscle with some veins sculpted in here and there. He’s got heavy wrist bracers, grabby monster mitts, and his feet look like Ninja tabi boots. There’s not a lot new and original going on here from the neck down, other than the coloring. And the coloring is nice. The white pearlescent plastic exposed on the legs, shoulders and upper torso sure is pretty and the deep maroon paint for the rest of the body suit compliments it well. The bracers are dark gray and you get some blue and white necrotic skin for his big claws. The paint lines on my figure are pretty sharp and all in all I got no complaints.

The head sculpt is nothing short of fantastic, featuring some amazing attention to detail in the facial features. Caliban is captured in full scream with his mouth open and exposing his fanged teeth and a fully realized tongue. The deep set yellow beady eyes are placed under a prominent brow ridge, which sweeps up to the sides to form what look like horns. The paint is the same great stuff used for the hands and it has a slight gloss to it, giving the skin a rather disgusting, moist finish. Hasbro has done some epic head sculpts in this line, and Caliban ranks up there with the best of them.

The articulation holds no surprises. Hasbro usually manages to pack a lot of great poseability into these big and beefy BAFs, and Caliban is no exception to that rule. The legs have ball joints at the hips, double-hinged knees, swivels at the thighs and lower legs, and the ankles have hinges and lateral rockers. The torso has a swivel in the waist, an ab-crunch hinge under the chest, and the neck is both hinged and ball jointed. The arms have rotating hinges in the shoulders and wrists, swivels in the biceps, and single hinges in the elbows. Not bad!

And that closes the book on another solid wave of figures and a pretty damn cool Build-A-Figure. Hasbro keeps pouring on the X-Men love over and over again, wave after wave, and I’ve got no problem with it. They have a lot of lost time to make up for, and they’re doing just that. Personally, I would have preferred a regular version of Caliban before getting this one, but that’s fine. I’m sure they’ll get around to him eventually.

Next week, I’m going to look at a one-off exclusive and then after that I’ll probably jump back into the Wendigo Wave to wrap that one up.

 

Nov 5 2019

Marvel Legends (Lizard Wave): Lizard Build-A-Figure by Hasbro

These days, every time I complete a wave of Marvel Legends feels like a major victory. And when I say complete, I mean digging them out of my Pile of Shame™, opening them up, and having a look at them here at FFZ. The Lizard was one of my most anticipated BAFs in a while, not only because he’s an important addition to Spidey’s rogue gallery, but also because there’s so much potential there to make a great action figure. Even more so with him being a Build-A-Figure. And with how difficult it was for me to complete this wave, slapping this guy together feels all the sweeter. So, did Hasbro step up to the challenge on this one?

Oh, hell YES!!! Curt Connors is comprised of your usual five BAF parts (legs, arms, torso, head), plus one extra being the tail. And once cobbled together, he looks absolutely amazing! His hunched over, reptilian body includes elongated arms, which end in grasping claws that are just itching to grab hold of another figure, and legs that mirror the configuration of the hind legs of a dog, giving him a wonderful Were-Lizard profile. Every bit of his skin is textured with fine scaling, and the paintwork on the skin features some beautiful gradient shades of green. The remnants of his lab coat hang on his frame, sculpted mostly as a separate piece of soft plastic with the sleeves sculpted onto the arms. The tattered plastic garment features various holes and tears exposing his green hide, and the lower parts discolored, no doubt from being dragged through the sewers. His torn black shirt and purple trousers also show a lot of lizard skin peeking through.

The portrait here is pure magic, with a heavy T-Rex vibe to the facial structure, particularly in those ridges over the beady little eyes. The face features the same awesome textured scales as the rest of the body and some more of that beautiful coloring, with the lower jaw a much lighter olive green. The jaw is articulated so Dr. Connor can open up and really show off those rows of ferocious teeth and his long whip of a tongue protrudes out and down to below his waistline. This head sculpt is nothing less than a work of art!

Because of his unusual anatomy, Lizard features a few extra points of articulation. but the basics are still all there. The arms have rotating hinges in the shoulders and wrists, swivels in the biceps, and double hinges in the elbows. The legs have rotating hinges in the hips, swivels in the thighs and double-hinges in the knees. He also has hinges further down at those ankles and hinges in those secondary ankles, where his feet touch the ground. There’s an ab-crunch hinge in the torso, his neck is ball jointed, and his jaw is hinged. Finally, he has a ball joint where his tail connects to the body and two hinges further on down. If I had to nitpick something here, it’s that the hinges make the tail bend at sharp angles, which looks unnatural. They are, however, very helpful at keeping him standing when posed, so I’d say it’s an OK trade-off to getting a bendy tail.

I’ve already recounted how difficult it was for me to complete this wave, with Mysterio and Lasher available to me only through third-parties at scalper prices. Each of those figures set me back close to $50, and if this wave was built around any other BAF, I probably wouldn’t have bothered. In this case, however, I’m sure as hell glad I did. The Lizard BAF is nothing less than superb, and he is easily among my favorite Build-A-Figures to show up in the modern Legends line. Everything from the sculpt, paint, and design all came together so perfectly. He looks amazing and he’s loads of fun to play with, and he’ll assume a place of honor among my Spidey rogues gallery for sure! This one was a long journey, but the destination was well worth it!