And there he is, X-Force Deadpool. Regular Deadpool will be taking over the slot at some point and while it’s supposed to be an even breakout, I still fear not being able to find him. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against X-Force Deadpool, apart from the fact that Hasbro released the other X-Force Marvel Legends in a pricey Con Exclusive and so he’s going to be alone on the shelf. It also just feels wrong to have the X-Force version on my shelf and not regular flavor Deadpool. Nonetheless, I’ll try not to let it sour my outlook.

Where was I? Oh, right, the packaging. I adore the character art that features Deadpool playing with a pair of action figures. One is himself, and the other is Doctor Doom and he’s popping the head off Doom. Priceless. Deadpool comes on a tray surrounded by his healthy arsenal of office tools and a figure stand. The only thing left to say is I can’t wait to see the red version in package.

Deadpool gets by with very little unique sculpting. His costume lets the black and grey paint do the talking. The head sculpt is a great representation of ‘Pool’s hood with sculpted seams running up the top and his nose and jawline detectable under the hood. Hasbro went with a furled brow and narrowed eyes. This isn’t flippant, “talking to the fourth wall about my love for Bea Arthur” Deadpool. This is “I’m going to slice open your torso and stick a grenade in your guts” Deadpool. Oddly enough, the other original sculpting that is distinctly Deadpool are his treaded shoes.

Of course, you also get Wade’s trademark weapons rig, which is a separate piece and easily removable. The belt, with sculpted pouches and iconic belt buckle, is black and the rest of the harness is grey with the red and black “X” in the center. The back of the rig holds his two katana sword scabbards, and both of the scabbards are removable from the rig. Deadpool also has a functional pistol holster strapped to the front of his right thigh. The rig fits well, although mine had some mold flashing on it, which had to be trimmed off.

Deadpool’s articulation is both excellent and frustrating at the same time. He sports a ton of points, all of which are quite serviceable. The neck is ball jointed, but also contains the extra hinge, which gives Wade a huge range of motion in his noggin. The arms are ball jointed at the shoulders, double hinged at the elbows, hinged again at the wrists, and feature swivels in the biceps and wrists. The legs are ball jointed at the hips, double hinged at the knees, hinged again at the ankles, and swivel at the hips and ankles. Lastly, his torso features the extra shoulder crunches, a swivel at the waist and an ab crunch at torso. That’s a lot of good articulation, so what’s frustrating? Those damn hip joints. Hasbro’s hip joints illicit a lot of scorn, but on the whole, they don’t bother me too much. But on a figure like Deadpool, where I want to put him into tons of crazy poses, I can feel the irritation. Every time you want to pose his legs, you need to swing the ball joint around to get it where it needs to be, and then position the rest of the leg. It’s serviceable, but very annoying. And don’t get me started on trying to line up the stripes on his outfit.

What would Deadpool be without his trademark arsenal? He comes with two firearms: A silver pistol and a black assault rifle. I’m not crazy about the little stubby pistol, but the rifle is excellent. He also comes with his two katana swords, and they are definitely the showpieces of the pack. They’re wonderfully sculpted and painted and fit into their scabbards. Alas, since Deadpool’s right hand is sculpted to hold his guns, it’s hard to get him to hold both of his swords at the same time. 6-inch scale chimichangas and Hot Pockets are not included.

A few little quibbles keep Deadpool from being perfect, but that shouldn’t stop fans from enjoying the hell out of him. He’s still an excellent figure, lots of fun to play around with, and he certainly captures the kick-ass side of Wade Wilson’s personality quite well. I’m certainly anxious to pick him up in his traditional red and black colors, and with this version in hand, I’m willing to concede that I’ll likely pay a premium for the regular ‘Pool if I have to.

And that wraps up Marvel Universe week, and actually it wraps up my work on FigureFan Zero for the rest of the year. I am taking tomorrow off to finish up all the automated content that will populate on the site throughout next week. There will be no new features next week, just a retrospective type deal that will allow me some much needed rest, although I will likely be working on content for the following week from time to time. Have a great weekend, everyone!