Greetings, Toyhounds. I hope you all had a good weekend. Mine was spent hanging with the cats, drinking heavily, playing some video games, and eating a lot of garbage. When will I learn, eh? But now it’s Monday… that special day of each week where I tear into another Marvel Legends figure, slowly chipping away at the never ending deluge of this ridiculously prolific line. And just to show you how ridiculously prolific, today we’re looking at Shiklah, sharp-tongued Succubi, one-time Mayor of Monsteropolis, and Deadpool’s wife. Yes, we’ve got a figure of Deadpool’s wife. Just to clarify… T-Ray? Nope. Deadpool’s wife? Affirmative! I would have bet cash money on getting Weasel or Blind Al before this one.

It’s always nice to be able to relate to a Marvel figure based on a more modern character. I was still reading Marvel Comics in general, and the 2012 Gerry Duggan and Brian Posehn Deadpool series in particular, when Mr. and Mrs. Deadpool tied the knot. Looking back on it, it’s easy to see some of the rot creeping in, but all in all I was still enjoying this comic a lot and was totally oblivious to the dark days at Marvel Comics that lie ahead. That having been said, I sure as hell wasn’t asking for this figure. Was anybody asking for this figure? Well, let’s rip this package open and maybe before the end of this review, I’ll be happy Hasbro did this. Oh yeah, she also comes with the last piece I need to build the Strong Guy BAF and Jeff the Landshark.

I may not have asked for her, but Shiklah is still a damn great looking figure, sporting one of the costumes she wore in The Wedding of Deadpool, and subsequent appearances, but sadly not her hawt red wedding dress. Actually, to be fair this outfit look is a lot more interesting. Shiklah is decked out in what I can only describe as some kind of Gypsy-Goth fusion and I love it. She’s got a purple body suit with a subtle printed scrollwork pattern over it, along with black thigh-high high-heeled boots and black sleeves painted onto her arms. Yes, most of the costume is achieved with paint and printing, and it looks fantastic, especially with the gold leaf trim painted at the tops of her boots, sleeves, and chest. The colors on this one really sing beautifully, especially when contrasted with the mauve color of her skin.

In addition to the painted costume, Shiklah is also sporting some gold plastic cuffs on her wrists, a gold belt with red baubles that hangs on her hips, and a rather extravagant necklace, which matches her belt. All of these accessories are sculpted separately and worn by the figure and they look mighty nice. Also worth noting is her cloth cape. I guess you’d call it a cape, although it actually attaches with elastic to her wrists rather than around her neck. If you are a Gypsy Fashionista and know what this is called, by all means drop me a line. I’m at a loss trying to remember whether we’ve actually seen Hasbro use softgoods in a Marvel Legends figure before. It seems like they must have, but if so it’s obviously a rare thing, so that alone makes this figure pretty special. The gold circlets on the edge of the cape were actually gold disks hanging off of it in the comic, but this is a pretty good substitute for the scale. The cape looks best when she has her arms up or outstretched, otherwise it just kind of drags on the ground, but it’s still pretty spiffy.

I rarely ever have anything bad to say about Hasbro’s Marvel portraits, and this figure is no exception. I absolutely love this head sculpt.  Not only is it very expressive, with her sultry demon eyes and devilish smirk, but there’s just a lot going on here in terms of detail. She has a headband made of golden disks sculpted across her forehead as well as large gold disk earrings. Her hair mostly cascades down her back, but also has some strands framing each side of her face. Her mauve skin is complimented by purple lips and markings around here eyes that cascade down her cheeks almost like tears. And lastly, she has a gold bat hair clip. This is wonderful stuff!

Shiklah’s articulation is standard stuff for a Legends lady, and that means a lot of rotating hinges. You get them in the shoulders, elbows, wrists, and ankles. The knees are double-hinged, you get swivels in the thighs, there’s a ball joint under her chest, and the neck is both hinged and ball jointed. Her high heels can make it a little tricky to get her to stand, but I was surprised how often I was able to make it work without getting too frustrated. And while Shiklah doesn’t come with any accessories, it’s lots of fun to whoosh her cape around. But yeah, where’s her dragon, Hasbro? Where the hell is Bug? Was there no room in the package for a little plastic animal buddy?

Well, obviously there was! Because we also got Jeff in there. Now, I don’t want to beat up on Jeff because of what he isn’t, so let me just say that he’s a fantastic little bonus figure. And that’s coming from someone who has never read a single book he’s appeared in. Yeah, that shouldn’t be too surprising, since a little research tells me that he debuted in 2019 and I had kicked Marvel’s floppies to the curb and stopped reading sometime before that. Still, I was aware of him, as he got passed around from Bloodstone to Gwenpool to Deadpool. Of course, Jeff is a landshark, and by that I mean a shark with feet. Yup. He’s completely static, just a magnificently sculpted lump of plastic, but damn he’s cool.

I have to hope, that even collectors who have no interest in Shiklah as a character, will acknowledge that Hasbro poured the love into this figure and did a damn nice job on her. There are toy companies out there that wouldn’t invest the same attention to the head sculpt of one of their main characters, let alone a bit character like Shiklah here. And that’s why I freaking adore Marvel Legends. Anything is possible, and no matter how seemingly insignificant the character, it’s likely going to be crafted as if it’s the most important character in the whole franchise. My only gripe here is that Jeff should have been included with another figure, and Shiklah should have came with Bug, since this was really the only chance we were going to get the ugly little bastard. In the meantime, come on back next Monday and we’ll put this assortment to bed with a look at the Strong Guy Build-A-Figure!

Hey folks, sorry that this week got off track. I’ve made it no secret that Q4 is my crazy season for work, and on Sunday I found out that I had to head to a remote location and help them sort their shit out. Actually, it wasn’t that remote, but far enough that they offered to put me up in a hotel for a few days rather than do the commute. So the work has been grueling, but the room service and mini-bar has made up for it. I wish I could tell you that this was going to be the exception to the rule, but as we head further into Q4, it’s possible that my posting schedule will become more erratic. So today, I’m going ahead with the Marvel Monday review that I had almost ready for earlier in the week, and I’ll just hope things fall back in line for next week’s schedule! I was supposed to be sticking to exclusives and multi-packs for the next month or so, but then Pirate Deadpool here hit my doorstep and all bets were off. Because Pirate. And Deadpool. So, we’ll put a pin in all that other stuff and get back to it next week. I was just too excited to tear open this figure that I had to bump him to the front of the line.

If you need some sense of reference, this figure is based off of Daniel Way’s issue of Deadpool Vol 2 #14 from 2009. This one was published back when I was still reading Marvel, before they began their downward spiral into terrible stories for the sake of virtue signaling, but I have no recollection of actually reading it. To be fair, I was half a drunk back in those days, so it’s likely that’s why I have no memory of it. That’s OK. I don’t need a reason to have a Pirate Deadpool figure. So avast ya bilge-sucking land lubbers. Let’s free this scurvy dog from his packaging and see if he be shipshape.

To be fair, I was already in love with this figure before I even opened the package. Deadpool cuts a regal jib with his red pirating great coat, the top of which is part of the buck, while the bottom half is cast in soft plastic and worn like a skirt. The illusion works well, making it look like one plastic garment. There’s some white frilly finery encircling his midsection and gold painted fringe and buttons as well as a golden DP crest to the right of his chest. His arms have black paint up on the shoulders and biceps, and he has one sculpted gauntlet on his left hand, no doubt made of rich Corinthian leather for those lonely nights when he can’t get out to crack Jenny’s teacup and he needs to keelhaul his hornswaggle. If ya know what I mean.

In addition to his majestic naval coat, he’s got a black baldric worn over his right shoulder, and a tattered black cape with a white cravat in the center. The only thing that disappoints me with this costume is the way they did the two flintlocks that are stuffed into his belt. These are just sculpted as part of the belt, and while the grips are convincing, the barrels lack any real depth to make them look like actual accessories. Still, it isn’t a deal breaker for me.

The portrait features Deadpool’s normal mask with a white scarf tied around his head and a tattered black tri-cornered pirate hat, with the Jolly Roger printed on it. And of course, there’s one eye popped in the traditional Deadpool fashion. Sadly the hat is not removable, as I would have loved to have used one of the earlier unmasked Deadpool heads on this figure with the hat on top. Everything looks great, and it’s cool that Hasbro broke out some pearlescent paint just to do his eyeballs.

Deadpool comes with three weapons, the first of which is a proper flintlock pistol painted brown and silver. He can hold it in either hand, although the right hand’s trigger finger doesn’t work all that well with it, so ‘Pool has to practice proper trigger discipline, which is probably somewhat uncharacteristic for him. The flintlock is a great little piece, but it only drives home how fake the two on his belt look.

Captain Wade also comes with a pair of swords, one of which is a traditional pirate cutlass with a gold hilt and a silver blade. The other is his trademark katana sword. Both of these can be slid through loops in the belt to be worn under his coat. Or you can use one of the loops to hold his pistol. Most likely I’ll have him wearing his pistol and cutlass.

I have no frame of reference as to whether or not the general collecting populace is sick of Deadpool, but if I’m speaking for myself, that would be a negative. I’m always up for another Wade Wilson figure, especially when it’s something creative and fun like this one. It also makes me wish somebody out there would kickstart a line of 6-inch pirate figures, because I’d be all over that shit. Either way, this is another great addition to my Deadpool shelf and a super fun figure as well!

“ARRRR. When it comes to booty, X marks the spot!”

This week I’m back on track with Legends on this Marvel Monday, and since I’m still working on the archaeological dig that is my Toy Closet backlog, I just grabbed the first thing that fell and hit me on the back of the neck while I was rummaging around in there. Oh look, it’s Deadpool with a scooter! And damn, that hurt!

I’ve only looked at one of these Deluxe Riders so far, and that was Black Widow and her motorcycle. I liked it a lot, and I’m expecting good things here as well. The set comes in a large window box that shows the figure, the scooter, and the bevy of other accessories and extras within. It definitely looks like something special, and I enjoy how Hasbro laid out the tray with Deadpool chasing the scooter. Let’s start with a look at the Deadpool figure!

Obviously, we’ve seen a lot of Deadpool figures in the modern Legends line. Some may say too man, but I’d say those people are wrong. My casual eye tells me this is a mix of the Juggernaut Wave Poolsy and the Sasquatch Wave X-Force Pool. Most distinctively, he has the armored pieces on the shins and forearms from the former, and the simpler chest of the later. The armored pieces are now painted all black, so they still look a bit different from their original appearance. I’m not sure if Hasbro was going for a specific comic look here, but most likely I think they’re just trying to come up with new combinations so dopes like me can justify buying the character again and again. I’m going to skip articulation, since we’ve seen this buck so many times now, I’ll just be lazy and refer you back to one of the other reviews, conveniently linked above.

For the belt and harness, Hasbro dug deep, going all the way back to their original X-Force Pool release, all the way back from 2012! And that’s a figure that is now best forgotten. The harness itself is cast in silver plastic, the chest shield is left a simple red, but he’s got his patented Deadpool emblem on his belt buckle and the pouches on the belt are all painted in a deep brown to convey rich Corinthian leather. Yeah, the combo is a bit kit-bashy, but I’ll concede that it works well together.

The scabbards and swords are recycled from the Sasquatch/Juggernaut Wave figures, and they work quite well here. The blades and guards are now gold, which I presume was just to mix things up a bit. I’m not a huge fan of the cut-outs on the scabbards that allow the tips of the swords to show through, but I do like these swords a lot. And it’s a good thing, because this Pool comes with no guns. He does, however have the combat knife from the Juggernaut figure, which still fits into the sheath on his lower right leg. Also, the scabbards are removable from the harness, which is something you may want to do if you’re going to have him riding the scooter with Dogpool.

The head is new, and Hasbro is going for pure comic effect here. Deadpool has both eyes popped wide and you can see his mouth open through the sculpted hood. If you were jonesing for an astonished looking Deadpool portrait, you can look no more. I’d argue that this was a rather specific expression to go for when only including one portrait, but I’ve got so many Deadpool heads to choose from, I can always swap it out if I want. Ok, let’s talk scooter…

I can’t remember when or where Pool’s red scooter originated, but I was delighted to the nod to it in Deadpool 2. And this is a really decent recreation in the 6-inch scale. It’s simple, but it’s designed to fit the figure well enough and even features peg holes on the running boards to help Pool stay put. A little assembly is required here, specifically popping in the rear view mirrors and clipping on the horn. They can be taken off again to go back in the box, but I fear clipping and un-clipping the horn may result in a breakage down the line. The rest is pretty basic. The front wheel does turn with he handlebars, and there’s a kickstand to keep it upright. There’s a detailed speedometer, and you also get a sheet of stickers so you can customize it.

Also included in the box are Dogpool and Squirrelpool. These aren’t so much figures as they are just display pieces. Both of them feature rotating heads, but that’s the only articulation there. I was actually surprised that they worked that into the tiny Squirrelpool. These do feature some very nice detail. I love Dogpool’s helmet, and Squirrelpool has his tiny swords on his back. The paint is pretty sharp on these as well. Both are sculpted in a very specific poses to be riding on the back of the scooter, although Dogpool can just sit with his paws up, almost like he’s begging, and Squirrelpool can stand on the ground on all fours. Squirrelpool is designed with a peg in his tummy that pegs into the hole in Dogpool’s back. These can be a little unsightly if you choose not to display them on the scooter, but that’s kind of the whole point.

Before wrapping up, I’ll note that the set also comes with a Hydra Bob head, just in case you happen to have the Hydra Trooper or the Hydra two-pack. Sure, it’s basically just a smiling Hydra head, but still definitely a cool bonus!

I like this set. It’s fun and it adds just enough stuff so that I don’t mind buying another Deadpool to get it all. And I do appreciate that it is a new figure, albeit a kit-bashed one, rather than just a straight repack. Although it would have been a good way to get that original Juggernaut Wave Deadpool back into circulation, as it remains one of my favorite Legends figures to date. I love it so much I have two, or at least I did until I gave one to my nephew. I don’t think this set is a must-buy for most, but as a Pool fan, nobody had to twist my arm to buy it. I picked it up for about $35 and I got no complaints.

Real life continues to be a nightmare of a challenge for me and it definitely didn’t leave any time to write content for FFZ. This week I’ll be back to a light schedule, beyond that we’ll see how things go. Hopefully in a month or so, I can come back in full force. Obviously, I missed Marvel Monday, but with so many Legends left to open, I decided to just bump it to today. And since I technically missed two Marvel Mondays, let’s do two figures today. Time to check out some Deadpools!

One novelty Deadpool variant is fun, but packing two of them into one wave is a little much. And that’s coming from an unabashed Deadpool fan. I can only imagine how salty the non-fans are for having to buy these figures to complete their Sauron BAF. And surprisingly, neither of these saw the huge price drop at online retailers that I anticipated. On the flipside, these have been clogging the pegs in my local toy aisles for a while now. I guess we’ll start with Underpants Pool.

No-Pants-Pool lives up to his name as he’s fully-suited topside, but lacking a pair of trousers down yonder. I have to hand it to Hasbro, they really committed to this idea with a lot of new sculpting. It’s hard to believe we’ll see these legs turn up anywhere else, and as a couple of one-off parts, that makes it even more impressive. The arms and torso, we’ve seen before, but they are enhanced by the white boxer shorts with adorable pink hearts. We’ve seen the belt before, and that’s fine, as it’s a good sculpt and has the ‘Pool Logo painted onto the buckle. I have one gripe with the belt, but I’ll swing back to that in a bit. His nasty bare legs represent a medley of exposed muscles and sores. He’s got one nasty, sagging grey sock on his right foot and a pair of pink slippers on his tootsies.

One of the highlights of this figure is the new head, which has the mask drawn up over the nose to expose his shit-eating grin. Even if you don’t have a lot of use for this figure, it’s a nice consolation to get that head for one of the other ‘Pools in your collection. As always, the sculpt here is excellent, including wrinkles and stitch lines on the mask and a lot of detail in the skin and teeth. Very nice!

No-Pants-Pool comes with a pair of guns, a pistol and rifle, and these are the same sci-fi designs that we saw issued to Domino and Silver Sable. I like these a lot, and I’m happy to get them in black plastic. On the downside, the pistol isn’t compatible with the holster on the belt, so I would have rather just had a standard automatic pistol with this figure. Oh well, no big deal.

The articulation here is standard stuff. The legs feature ball jointed hips, double hinges in the knees, swivels up under the shorts, and both hinges rockers in the ankles. The arms have ball joints in the shoulders and wrists, swivels in the biceps, and double hinges in the elbows. There’s a swivel in the waist, an ab crunch hinge in the torso, and the neck is both hinged and ball jointed. Let’s move on to X-Pool.

Like any person, Deadpool craves inclusion, hence this self-made “X-MEN” costume. It sports the yellow spandex of the real X-Men outfits with some black with red trim. I dig the concept of this figure a lot more than the previous figure, but since this one is more or less a kit-bashed repaint, it isn’t nearly as impressive to me and I’m not going to spend a lot of time on it.

We’ve seen this buck before. If I’m not mistaken it’s mostly a reuse of the 90’s Deadpool right down to them shoulder crunches. The belt, sword rig, and swords are also recycled, this time from the recent X-Force Deadpool. There are extra bands on his wrists to make his hands look more like gauntlets, as well as similar rings around his legs to simulate the tops of his boots. All four of these pieces are held on by friction, so they are sometimes apt to slide around when playing with the figure.

X-Pool also comes with a rifle, and this too is recycled. We’ve even seen it included with Deadpool before. It’s a weird sci-fi design cast in soft rubbery black plastic, and definitely not one of my favorite weapons in the Legends arsenal.

Finally, you also get the head of Madcap, Deadpool’s sometime rival. It’s an amazing sculpt and includes a removable wide-brimmed purple hat. The inclusion makes for a great pose in the package, and I suppose you could always pop it on this figure as, what? Madcap impersonating Deadpool again? I don’t know. Hasbro seems to have adopted a weird pension for including heads with figures instead of releasing them with the actual figure.

When it comes down to it, I dig these figures, and I didn’t mind having to buy them to complete Sauron. I’m sure there are plenty of collectors out there who will feel otherwise, but I guess them’s the breaks when you’re collecting BAF parts. X-Pool definitely feels like the cheap cash-grab of the wave, but he’s still cool. As for No-Pants-Pool, well, it still amazes me how much work Hasbro put into him. I’m kind of hoping that Hasbro is all ‘Pooled out for a while, although I still have to pick up that one with the scooter and Dogpool. Oh yeah, today’s reviews also puts me only one figure away from completing Sauron, so if I get a chance to do any reviews next week, I’ll likely throw randomness to the wind and open up Omega Red so I can finish it up.

It’s time again for Marvel Monday and today I stuck my true-believing meat-hooks into a big box of unopened Legends figures and pulled forth none other than Lady Deadpool! The fates were good to me, as she’s the first figure I’m opening from the Sauron Wave, a Build-A-Figure that I am rather anxious to put together! Definitely more anxious than I am for this figure.

The Sauron Wave gives us a mix of Deadpool and X-Men characters, and I can tell right away from the back of the box that this one is going to be all about highs and lows, but with one figure kind of hanging out in the middle. That figure just happens to be Wanda Wilson. But let’s set aside my feelings about the rest of the wave’s assortment and instead focus on Lady-D. I didn’t want to like Deadpool Corps. Even to someone like me, who adores The ‘Pool, the concept of tossing a bunch of Deadpools, from across the multi-verse, together seemed like way too much pandering. Eventually I begrudgingly read it, and I begrudgingly loved it, and I begrudgingly bought the hardcovers. It was fun and stupid and sometimes that’s all I’m looking for out of my funnybooks. And with that context in mind, let’s check out Wanda!

Hey, it’s a basic female buck in Deadpool colors! Well of course it is, what else would I be expecting? The red is very red, the black is very black, and the paint lines are very… well, they could have been a lot sharper. Normally I’m not a huge stickler about this, but when the bulk of the costume comes from the paint, I’d like some crisp lines. Indeed, from the neck down, the only original sculpting on this figure comes in the form of her attached gear, all sculpted in soft brown plastic. This includes patches strapped to each of her thighs, a belt-o-pouches around her waist, and a shoulder rig, with a modest two-pouches, positioned under her right armpit. The sculpts have some nice detail, the belt buckle is painted in a silver and black variation of the old Pool emblem, and my only real complaint here is that the thigh straps are held up only by friction, so they have a habit of sliding down her legs. I’ll likely just end up securing them each with a drop of glue.

The head sculpt is surprisingly expressive, with Lady-D’s eyes narrowed and the shape of her furled brow clearly transmitted through her mask. She looks like she’s either trying to make outs something far off on the horizon, or trying to comprehend the stupidity of the person she’s about to kill. The stitch lines around the black areas are sculpted in, but what really saves this noggin from being ordinary is the wonderful stream of hair that spills out of her hood and coils its’ way down her back. It looks great and it’s really the one thing about this figure that stands out as special.

Accessories include her twin katanas, each with red painted grips. These are nice swords, but I wish they had painted the blades silver instead of leaving them as flat, gray plastic. Her grip on them can be a little loose, but they will usually stay in her hands. The only real downside here is that she doesn’t have any scabbards on her back to wear them. I was extremely disappointed by this omission.

As for articulation, well no surprises here. Like most of the Marvel Legends gals, Wanda doesn’t get the double-hinged elbow treatment, nor does she get any bicep swivels. Instead her sword-swingers get rotating hinges in the shoulders, elbows, and wrists. The legs have ball jointed hips, double-hinged knees, swivels int he thighs, and both hinges and lateral rockers in the ankles. The torso has a ball joint under the chest and there’s both a hinge and ball joint in the neck.

Wanda comes with one more accessory, and that’s Headpool! And this little floating zombie noggin is the sole reason I’m not complaining about there being no guns in the package. The sculpt here is excellent and the paint is surprisingly tight for such a tiny accessory. Headpool also comes with a clear plastic stand, but it sits pretty low. In all the pictures, I put the stand up on a shot glass before painting them out of the pictures. So don’t expect Headpool to float that high up without some assistance.

Lady Deadpool is a fun and decent-looking figure, but not one that I was really jonesing to own. That doesn’t mean I’m not happy to have her, just that there are plenty of other characters I would have wanted first. To me, Lady-D is more a gimmick or a gag than an actual character. I think she may have been better served being put out in a box set like they did with the 4-inch version a few years back. But like I mentioned earlier, she’s certainly not ranking in at the bottom of this wave, but for that dubious distinction, we’ll have to wait for a future Marvel Monday.