Apr 5 2014

Marvel Legends Infinite: Captain America (Marvel NOW) by Hasbro

Hey look! A Bonus Saturday Feature! I saw Winter Soldier yesterday and loved the hell out of it. I’d gush on and on about it here, but since we’re here to talk about Comic Book cap and not Movie Cap it seems like it wouldn’t be appropriate. Nonetheless, I still wanted to express my Captain America love in some way so I decided to dig into the Marvel Legends Infinite bag again. I’ve already featured two of the three movie based figures from the Legends line, but since I’ve yet to find Black Widow, that’s why we’re moving on to the comic based figures. Let’s start with Cap…

The packaging is pretty much the same as what we’ve already seen in this wave. Since there’s not much new to talk about here, I’ll take this opportunity to say how much I love Hasbro for mixing the comic figures in with the movies. It’s a clever way to sneak the more collector orientated comic figures onto the pegs of retailers who always seem willing to lay out cash for movie toys that almost always tank horribly. On the flipside, you all know I’ve been a huge supporter of Legends since its return, but the Targets around here still have pegs crammed with Klaw and Hope Summers from the first wave. I could understand why they would be leery about seeing more comic figures coming in the door. So when Mr. Walmart Buyer sees Marvel NOW Cap or Baron Zemo he doesn’t see a comic book figure, all he sees is a figure with a multi-million dollar movie marketing campaign behind it. Is that how it really happens? I have no idea, but I’d like to think so.

I’m a big fan of Cap’s current look in the comics and this figure brings it home. Granted, Cap’s costume isn’t a huge departure from past traditional versions. You do get the grey padding under his arms and the grey kneepads. It’s not really a traditional part of the costume’s color palate, but I don’t think it detracts from his iconic look. If anything, these parts add a certain amount of tactical design to the outfit that makes it as real as a guy running around in a red, white, and blue costume could without losing that comic flare. I especially dig the sculpted honeycomb pattern on the top part of his costume. It just adds character to the suit. The portrait on this figure isn’t anything special, but it gets the job done. Of course, the coloring here really backs up the sculpt beautifully. The vibrant red and blue and the striking white is a celebration of bright comic book brilliance. I love it!

Articulation here is mostly great. The arms are ball jointed at the shoulders, have double hinges in the elbows, swivels in the biceps and both swivels and hinges in the wrists. The legs are ball jointed at the hips, have swivels in the thighs and boots, and double hinges in the knees. The ankles have both hinges and rockers. He has a ball joint and hinge in the neck and an ab-crunch in the torso. I’ll note that the muscled arms tend to restrict the elbow hinges and the shoulders don’t quite go as high as I would like without rotating the whole joint 90 degrees. Also, the absence of a waist swivel is rather baffling. Still, the joints are very solid. There aren’t any of those soft rubbery hinges. He’s a damn fun figure to play around with.

Naturally, Cap comes with his trusty shield, and this time it’s a return to the clip and peg style that we got with earlier Legends Cap figures. In fact, without grabbing one of my old figures to compare, I’m pretty sure we’ve seen this same shield plenty of times already. I tend to like this one because it can store on his back, although it does ride rather high over his shoulders, it’s still nice to have the option to put it there. I also like having the peg as Cap can grab it and adopt a throwing posture. And of course the clip works perfectly.

Everything about this figure delights me. I realize some collectors may be getting Captain America fatigue by now, but then those collectors are likely just filthy anti-patriotic communists who secretly want to murder Americans in their sleep. Sure, we’ve had a crazy number of Caps since Marvel Legends returned, but you’ll hear no complaints from me. Cap ranks among my favorite Marvel characters and I’m always happy to get a figure that is accurate to how the character appears in the current run of books. It also doesn’t hurt that I love this modern look and the figure pulls it off brilliantly. This Cap figure has secured a place in the front ranks of my Marvel Legends shelves.

Mar 31 2014

Marvel Legends Infinite: Winter Soldier by Hasbro

Last week I checked out Captain America in one of his new costumes from the upcoming Winter Soldier movie. OMG, I’M VERY EXCITED TO SEE THIS MOVIE AND IT’S ALMOST HERE!!! Ahem, today I thought we’d take a look at the Winter Soldier himself and then I can start digging into the comic-based figures in this wave. Despite getting billed in the very title of the movie, the trailers and marketing hasn’t exactly been saturated with this character. It seemed like only the first trailer really played him up. Maybe Disney is trying to keep it on the down low to spare any non-comic book readers a potential spoiler about who Winter Soldier actually is. Ah, but enough speculation… this figure is our first thorough look at the way the character will appear in the film, so let’s dig right in.

There’s the new Infinite packaging that Hasbro is using for both this film and the Amazing Spider-Man 2. Two movies from two different studios and both are getting the same branding in the toy aisle. How often does that happen? Anyway, this hybrid window box is happy either sitting on the shelf or hanging on a peg and is totally collector friendly giving us the best of both worlds. Oddly enough, the flaps on mine weren’t even taped and I bought it online.

And there’s Winter Soldier in all his blockbuster film glory, or at least that’s what Hasbro would have us believe. There’s something about this figure that doesn’t jibe all that well with what we’ve seen of the character in the trailers and I think it’s the coloring. The figure sports a lot of brown and the film costume looks mostly black to me. Also, the big screen version of the character has a much shinier artificial arm, whereas the figure’s arm is more of a dull matte metal finish. It’s rare that I start out talking about a figure’s coloring, but to me It’s this guy’s biggest stumbling block.

And that’s because the sculpt here is actually quite good. The tactical vest and pants are packed with little details all the way down to the stitching and texturing. He has tiny bullets sculpted into his right arm bracer, all painted copper, and his artificial arm features both sculpted and painted panel lining. The shoulder rig is removable and his belt is sculpted from a separate piece and hangs well on his hips. There are even a couple of non-removable combat knives sculpted into the belt.

As with the last Cap figure I looked at, Winter Soldier comes with two heads. The one that comes on the figure is masked, I find the inclusion of the goggles on this sculpt to be a bit letdown. I like the look of the character with the mask and his eyes showing, and that’s the way he’s been pictured in most of the clips. For whatever reason, the goggled look doesn’t do it for me. Removable goggles? That would have been a good way to go. Personal preferences aside, this head is still a quality sculpt.

The other portrait, however, doesn’t fare so well. It’s a really soft sculpt, particularly when compared to some of the excellent noggins we’ve been seeing in the Marvel Legends line. But more importantly, I have no idea what’s going on with the paint. Is it military style grease paint? Is it supposed to mimic his domino mask from the comics? Is he cosplaying Rocket Raccoon? I don’t know, but I’m not a fan. The few stills that I could find of the character with the paint on had it confined to his eyes like a mask, but here on the figure, it’s all over the place. Neither head really seems to nail the look of the character on screen and in the end choosing which portrait to display on this figure will be choosing the lesser of two evils.

The articulation here is identical to what we saw with Stealth Suit Cap. The arms are ball jointed at the shoulders, have double-hinged elbows, swivels in the biceps and hinges and swivels in the wrists. The legs are ball jointed at the hips, double-hinged in the knees, swivels in the thighs and tops of the boots, and hinges and rockers in the ankles. Winter Soldier, can swivel at the waist, has an ab-crunch hinge, and both a hinge and ball joint in the neck. The points of articulation here are all great but the hinges are a lot softer than I would have liked.

Let’s move on to accessories, because I bet Winter Soldier comes with some bad ass weapons and… OMG, WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?

Grrr… The figure comes with this ridiculous looking bright red and black sci-fi looking rifle… and that’s it. Despite the fact that the figures hands are sculpted for pistols, he doesn’t come with any. He also can’t hold this stupid rifle for shit. And why would he want to? Talk about a missed opportunity. Luckily I have the Marvel Legends Punisher. He can lend this guy some tasteful firepower.

I don’t hate this figure, it’s got some good stuff going for it, but it’s far from what I was hoping for. He looks good enough on the shelf, but a lot about him just feels off. The brown doesn’t look right, I’m not terribly happy with either head sculpt, and the weapon sucks. I’m not unhappy I bought it, but with Cap being such a great figure, this one just disappoints.

Mar 24 2014

Marvel Legends Infinite: Captain America (Stealth Suit) by Hasbro

OH MY GOD, I AM SO EXCITED FOR THE WINTER SOLDIER MOVEI!!! I was already crazy excited for this flick but then Disney went and released that 4-minute clip and now I want it even more. It’s no surprise that I was going to be hunting the accompanying Marvel Legends figures and that’s been no easy feat. The pegs here are choked with WW2 Caps, a repack of a figure that I already own, and the prices online for the rest have been pretty crazy. But after a little bit of persistence and diligence, I did manage to pick up most of them at a decent price and now I only have to hunt the elusive Black Widow to finish my Mandroid BAF and then the AIM and Hydra soldiers. Seeing as how much I’m jonesing for the movie, I thought I might as well start with Cap in the Stealth Suit that he wears in the movie.

Behold the new packaging for Marvel Legends Infinite! Despite being tied in to the Winter Soldier movie, it’s the same style package we saw when I featured two of the Amazing Spider-Man 2 figures. It’s a big departure from the very comic bookish look of last year’s cardbacks, but I still really dig it a lot. It’s totally collector friendly and the conceptual art on the side panels looks great. And just look at how packed it is in there! You couldn’t fit anything else on that tray. Let’s rip him open and take a look!

Straight up, I have to say that I love the design of this costume. It may not be as colorful or exciting as the First Avenger or Avengers costumes, but it is a fitting tribute to the costume worn by Steve Rogers when he returned to comics and declined to recover the Captain America identity from Bucky Barnes. It also looks absolutely bitching on the big screen and not too shabby on this figure. There’s a very tactical feel to the outfit, both literally and figuratively. Every tiny bit of this guy is detailed or textured in some way, although you have to get in close to really appreciate it all. The belt is a separate sculpted piece and fits snugly around Cap’s waist. The paintwork compliments the sculpt quite nicely, particularly the silver used on the chest. There’s even a tiny American Flag and “Rogers” on his left shoulder and a SHIELD emblem on his right shoulder.

You get two portraits with this figure, one masked and one unmasked and swapping them is as easy as popping them on and off the ball joint. The masked head shares all the impressive detail of the figure’s body. There are a few minor paint issues, like a bit of blue slop on his right ear and a little rubbing to the silver A on his helmet, but nothing too bad. The alternate unmasked portrait is also an excellent sculpt, although the Evans likeness isn’t quite all the way there. Close, but not quite. Still, I’d say it works pretty damn fine for a comic inspired Steve Rogers.

The articulation here is about what I’ve come to expect from this line. The neck features both a ball joint and hinge, the torso has an ab-crunch hinge, and Cap can swivel at the waist. The arms have ball jointed shoulders, swivels in the biceps, double-hinged elbows, and his wrists have swivels and hinges. The legs are ball jointed at the hips, have swivels in the thighs, double-hinges in the knees, swivels again at the tops of the boots, and the ankles have hinges and rockers. Not bad at all. Cap is a sturdy and well balanced figure and when you couple that with the great articulation, you get a figure that is lots of fun to play around with.

While Cap comes with two fists attached, you also get an extra pair of hands. The right hand has the fingers straight out as if he’s either saluting or about to karate chop an unsuspecting Hydra agent. The left hand has a pointing finger so he can direct the Howling Commandos on where to attack next. What’s missing? A hand capable of clutching his shield would have been nice, perhaps instead of the right fist.

Speaking of his shield, Cap comes with his stealth shield, which nixes the red and dulls the silver giving it a somewhat darker appearance. This is a repaint of the same shield issued with the old First Avenger 6-inch Cap, a figure which was also repacked into this wave. That’s good and bad. I do really like the realistic straps on the reverse side and the way they fit the figure’s arm, however, there’s no way that the figure can wear it on his back. Anytime a Cap figure can’t wear his shield on his back, it seems like a fundamental design oversight to me.

This new line of Legends has an MSRP of $20 in many stores and that’s not too bad considering the extra head and hands, not to mention the BAF Mandroid right leg. but the prices online have been fluctuating like crazy. I’ve seen this version of Cap going for as much as $25, but I was able to get him when he dipped down to $17.99. I’m certainly content with that. He really is an excellent figure and my guess is he’ll spend at least a couple of days on my desk so I can fiddle about with him before finally relegating him to one of my Marvel Legends shelves.

Feb 28 2014

Marvel Legends Infinite: Superior Spider-Man by Hasbro

I’m continuing to cherry-pick this wave of Spider-Man figures, and while I started out a week ago by looking at the Amazing Spider-Man 2 figure, Superior Spider-Man was the figure I wanted the most. Dan Slott got me back into reading the Amazing Spider-Man on a regular basis. It wasn’t always my favorite comic, but it kept me coming back and I was glad it did, because it would eventually set up the events that lead to what has been one of my favorite comics in recent years: Superior Spider-Man. With a decidedly groan-worthy and clichéd premise of body swapping, in this case between Doc Ock and Peter Parker, Superior Spider-Man is wonderfully written and takes the premise in directions that make it feel like a totally original idea. It’s also one of the only comics I’m reading right now, where I couldn’t wait for the trade releases so I’ve been reading them digitally as they come out and getting the trades later for my bookshelf. And that brings us to today’s figure!

There’s the new Marvel Legends Infinite packaging and I’m still digging it quite a bit. It’s technically a window box so it’s totally collector friendly, but it’s compact enough to hang easily on a peg like the old Legends packages while still taking up less room. Spider-Man is positioned in his tray beside the BAF part and his extra pair of hands.

When Doc Ock took over as Spider-Man in Peter’s body, the suit was redesigned to reflect the new mind at the helm. Spidey’s new suit deco went from blue and red to black and red and with an emphasis on the black over the web pattern. The chest emblem also got a lot bigger and more intimidating. Hasbro’s new figure recreates the overall new deco pretty well. Unlike the Amazing Spider-Man figure from this wave, this figure doesn’t suffer from unpainted joint syndrome. It also doesn’t make any use of texturing either, giving the figure a cleaner look. The buck used here is very similar to the one used for the Amazing Spider-Man figure. He’s maybe a bit more muscular, but the height is about the same, and he scales much better with my other Marvel Legends than the Big Time Spidey, Future Foundation Spidey, or Scarlet Spider figures.

That having been said, the figure stumbles on a few little points. The head sculpt looks good, although the paint for the eyes is a strange choice. It’s either dark brown or dingy copper when it really should just be white or maybe pearlescent. The other missed opportunity is in the feet. In the comics, the Superior Spidey costume features Japanese style tabi boots, whereas the figure’s feet are just flat and don’t feature the split in the toes. Neither of these points ruins the figure for me, but they still seem like obvious details that shouldn’t have been missed.

As with the last Spidey figure I looked at from this wave, Superior Spidey includes an extra pair of thwipping hands. Oddly enough, the figure comes with a pair of griping hands that look like they were designed to hold weapons. I presume these were reused from another figure, but I would have much preferred fists and I doubt I’ll ever display the figure with this set of mitts. The thwipping hands even feature tiny barbs sculpted into the extended figures.

If you read my piece on the Amazing Spider-Man figure, than you’ll already be familiar with the articulation here as the two figures feature identical points. The shoulders feature ball joints as well as hinged crunches. The arms have swivels in the biceps, double-hinged elbows, and hinges and swivels in the wrists. The legs are ball jointed at the hips, have swivels in the thighs, double-hinged knees, and both hinges and lateral rockers in the ankles. Spidey can swivel at the waist, has a hinged ab crunch, and both a ball joint and hinge in the neck.

As much as I love the Superior Spider-Man comic, this isn’t my favorite Spidey Suit design, but it certainly fits the change in direction of the comic. It’s more sinister, but not overtly so. A major force in the comic is the ambiguity of Ock’s role as Spidey and the suit properly reflects that. That having been said, it’s always a beautiful thing when we can get a figure based on the character as he is currently appearing in the comics. It’s doubly sweet when it’s a comic as good as Superior Spider-Man. Oddly enough, this figure seems to be one of the more common and less desirable figures in the wave so he’s readily available at a lot of online retailers below the usual $20 that these figures have been commanding on the pegs. I’ve got one more figure in this wave that I’m actively gunning for and that’s Black Cat and I’m going to wind up paying through the nose for her, but I guess the money I save not buying the rest of this wave will help defray the costs.

Feb 11 2014

Marvel Legends Infinite: Amazing Spider-Man by Hasbro

It seems like forever since I last looked at a Marvel Legends figure. For 2014, the line has been rebranded as “Infinite” and will be tied in to the Marvel movies. The first two assortments to hit the pegs are “Amazing Spider-Man 2” and “Captain America: Winter Soldier.” In the case of the Spider-Man figures, I’m going to be really picky about which ones I buy and not worry about the Build-A-Figure. I wasn’t a big fan of the first movie and I doubt I’ll even go see this one in the theaters. I can’t get into any the re-designed bad guys and it feels like they’re making the same mistake as Spider-Man 3 and overloading it with too many villains. What I do like, however, is Spidey’s costume in the new movie, so I was more than happy to pick up the figure.

The new branding includes a totally new package design. Gone are the comic bookish cards and bubbles and in their place a compact little window box that is actually collector friendly. Spider-Man comes with the Green Goblin BAF parts to his right and his swappable hands to his left. As much as I liked the fun and outrageous stylings of the other Legends packaging, I think these new boxes are an improvement. It’s worth noting that the packages are more or less the same style for the Cap movie figures. Sure, it’s all Marvel, but I find it really odd to have one cohesively branded line of figures based on two different movies from two different production companies. Infinite has to be a first in that regard.

So, first off I need to say how much I love this new buck. It’s not perfect. I think the hip joints are way too broad and pretty ugly, but finally we get a Legends Spider-Man that feels like he’s properly scaled. Stand this one next to the buck Hasbro used for the Big Time Spidey, Future Foundation Spidey, and Scarlet Spider, and it really exposes the sizing issues with those other figures.

Spidey’s costume utilizes a surprising amount of fresh sculpting to convey all that delicious detail in the new costume. The entire web pattern is part of the actual sculpt and a good deal of it is panel lined as well. The blue parts of the costume are also textured in that basketball grip style that is all the rage with a lot of Super Hero costumes these days. Suffice it to say there’s very precious little space on this figure that isn’t in some way sculpted or painted. That having been said, it’s a shame that the pins in the elbowss didn’t make the cut. The red pins against the blue part of the costume is at least on the inside of his arms, but you’ll still see it when posing him.

In addition to continuing the sculpted webbing, the figure’s portrait is dominated by two huge eyes. It’s one of the things I love the most about the costume design in general and this figure in particular. My only gripe here is that the eyes are painted with a pearlescent white and I thought the costume’s eyes were still going to be gold. I haven’t really had a good look at the costume yet, so I may be totally off base there. Either way, it’s a very comic book style portrait and I totally dig it.

The articulation here features just about everything that I could want. The shoulders have the extra hinged crunches in addition to the hinged ball joints, there are swivels in the biceps, the elbows are double-hinged, and the hands have swivels and hinges. The legs have those big, dopey ball jointed hips, swivels in the thighs, double-hinged knees, another set of swivels in the lower legs, hinges in the ankles, and lateral rockers. Nice! The torso swivels at the waist, features an ab crunch hinge just below the chest, and the neck is ball jointed and hinged. Even with all this articulation, the figure feels remarkably solid, well-balanced, and stands on his own beautifully.

While Spidey comes packaged with fists, he actually comes with a replacement set of “thwipping” hands. I can’t remember the last time I got swappable hands in a Legends figure, so this was a nice surprise. You also get the right arm for the Green Goblin BAF and an effect part for the same. The Goblin looks like a cool figure, but unless I can find figures like Electro for really cheap, I won’t be getting all the parts to build him.

All in all, I’m really pleased with this figure. If you can keep from staring at Spidey’s crotch area, than I think this figure does very little wrong. The coloring and sculpt are quite good and the articulation and balance makes him lots and lots of fun to play around with. On the downside, Hasbro seems to be upping the price of these figures to $20 at most retailers. You can still find some of the more common releases for less online, I got this one for $15, but that also means that the chase figures will likely go for a lot more. I did pick up one other figure in this assortment, so at some point next week we’ll check out Superior Spider-Man.

Nov 5 2013

Marvel Legends: Hyperion and Hit Monkey by Hasbro

Today I’m finally getting around to wrapping up the triumvirate of Marvel Legends figures needed to build Hit Monkey. We’ve looked at Protector and Red She-Hulk, so now it’s time to give Hyperion his due. As a character, Hyperion has existed in many versions across the multiverse, and as much as I’m enjoying the current run of Hickman’s Avengers, I’m both perplexed and happy that Hasbro chose to do his more classic look over his current appearance. A buddy of mine told me this is close to his appearance on the current Avengers Assemble cartoon, but I wouldn’t know, as I’m still boycotting that show over the outrageous cancellation of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. Yeah… take that Disney! Feel the wrath of my lone boycott in your pocketbook! I’ll be waiting patiently for an apology and a return of my beloved show when your damn mouse is begging on the street with a tin cup.

Oh, look, it’s another variant figure package in which we will likely never see the variant figure. Hyperion shares the same card with Sentry, or at least he does so hypothetically, since I’ll only believe that figure will be produced when I see it on the pegs. It seems like Sentry wasn’t done all that long ago in the Legends line, but I don’t have him on my shelf, so I’d welcome another release should it ever happen. Either way, Hyperion looks great on the card and he shares the tray with a couple of monkey arms and a pair of automatic pistols. Let’s get him out of the package…

Have I mentioned how glad I am that Hasbro went with this version of the character? I don’t mind his darker Marvel Now look, but this right here is far more appealing to me in action figure form. It has that colorful Golden Age style goodness baked right in. It’s a nice powerful buck that suits him quite well, although it looks familiar as I’m pretty sure my Wrecking Crew are comprised from some of these parts. There’s not a lot of unique sculpting on this guy as he gets by with a painted costume. The red is vibrant and beautiful, the gold, I would have liked to match the yellow in his boots, and there are a few minor flubs, but overall it looks Ok.

I’ve gone on record many times about how much I dig many of the head sculpts Hasbro is turning out for this line and Hyperion is no different. He’s a bit pissed and severe, but it’s a portrait that is absolutely brimming with personality. I’d set it up there with some of the best work we’ve seen out of this line this year.

The only thing that really mars this figure for me is the execution of the cape. It’s sculpted in two parts and pegs into two places. The bulk of the cape looks fine, it’s the top piece that just kind of hovers over his right shoulder. It seems like they should have just glued the cape into place, particularly the shoulder clasp. I might even go ahead and do it myself.

Hyperion sports some great articulation. The arms are ball jointed at the shoulders, double hinged at the elbows, swivel at the biceps, and have swivels and hinges in the wrists. The legs are ball jointed at the hips, double hinged at the knees, hinged at the ankles with additional rockers, and swivel at the thighs and boots. His neck is ball jointed, he can swivel at the waist, and he has a nice ratcheting joint for an ab-crunch. He’s a solid figure and loads of fun to pose.

Hyperion is a very cool figure and definitely another win for Hasbro’s Marvel Legends line. When I think back to the dark days when they first acquired the line from Toy Biz, it continues to astound me just how much they turned this bus around. But wait, we’re not done yet. We still have to talk about a certain monkey. Hit Monkey was a pretty obscure character until some foul-mouthed little girl named Chloe played him in a movie and now nerds everywhere seem to love him. Wait… what? Let me double check my facts on that and get back to you. Most people seem to attribute Hit Monkey’s debut to the pages of Deadpool, but I’m pretty sure Hit Monkey got his own one-shot book before gracing the pages of The ‘Pool. Either way, he’s the creation of Daniel Way, so the two are practically brothers.

Whether you know the character or not, it’s hard to deny the charm of this little guy. He’s a monkey… in a suit… wearing sunglasses… and dual wielding a pair of pistols. He’s hilarious and cool and I would imagine that if I never picked up a Marvel comic in my life, let alone one with Hit Monkey in it, I’d still want this guy on my shelf. The paint and sculpt for the head are very well done and the jacket is a soft plastic vest-like piece with the arms sculpted to look like sleeves. His guns are great and he can hold them in both his hands quite well, which is more than I could say for Protector or Fantomex.

Hit Monkey has great articulation for a little guy. You get ball joints in the neck, shoulders, hips, wrists, and ankles. His elbows and knees are hinged. His legs have swivels in the thighs and he has another swivel in the waist. My only gripe here is that it’s really tough to get the ball joints in the shoulders to peg in securely. Mine still pop out from time to time when I’m playing with him.

So, yeah… Hit Monkey is an entertaining enough character, and I’m glad he got a figure, even if I’m not sure this was necessarily the best way to do it. I still prefer Hasbro save the BAF slots for figures that are too big or complex to fit in the single release price point. You could argue Hit Monkey falls in the opposite end of that spectrum, but they could just as easily slapped him in a box set… maybe with that red and black Deadpool variant that we still haven’t seen released around these parts. Just saying.

And yeah, technically I’m still not done with this wave, as I’ve yet to pick up the X-Force Wolverine. I haven’t found him on the pegs yet and I haven’t been going out of my way to hunt him down. But I’d be willing to bet you’ll see him turn up here eventually. If nothing else I need him to keep my X-Force Deadpool company.

Oct 23 2013

Marvel Legends: Red She-Hulk by Hasbro

I am currently not reading any Hulk books, let alone the current Red She-Hulk book, so the doings of Red She-Hulk is rather lost on me at the moment. That’s not to say I won’t pick some up in a collection when I get through my current stacks. I bring it up only because I tend to prefer my She-Hulks to be green and named Jen, not Betty or Lyra. Nonetheless, those are the two characters holding this slot in the Hit Monkey wave. But familiarity with the character or not, besides having the monkey parts I need, this looks like a great figure, so let’s check her out.

Yup, this package is all about variants that never happen. Betty shares a card with a hypothetical Lyra “Savage” She-Hulk release. At least this one makes a little more sense than the Protector/Iron Fist card, but it doesn’t make me any happier about it. And “Marvel’s Hulkettes?” Ugh, really, Hasbro? Please, don’t. She-Hulk comes packaged next to the torso and legs of Hit Monkey as well as her Savage Sword. This package is pissing me off, so let’s get rid of it.

Yeah, like I said, I don’t have to be reading her book to see that this is one great looking figure. In addition to some new sculpting, She-Hulk makes use of the newer female Legends body and that’s a wonderful thing. The plastic feels great, with no soft or mushy hinges. The joints are tight and the figure has a nice balance, which makes her fun to fiddle around with and pose. Her costume is simple enough and comprised of a black and purple one piece with a plunging neckline to show off her hulkettes. Ugh, you see, Hasbro? You’ve got me doing it now! I really like the red plastic used for her skin, and believe me when I say it’s far more vibrant in person than in my poorly lit photos.

While the boots are just painted on, our girl does have some original sculpts for her fingerless gloves. One is fisted and one is sculpted to hold her accessory. I’ll argue that both should have been sculpted to hold her sword, but then again, what’s a hulk figure without a fist for smashing?

The portrait here is excellent in that she’s quite beautiful, and I really dig her huge sculpted mane of hair. On the flip side, it seems like maybe the expression could have been angrier? I don’t know, having not read the book I could be off base there, but from what little I know, this head sculpt looks like it might have suited Jen Walters better than Red She-Hulk. Either way, it is a damn fine sculpt.

Red She-Hulk sports some excellent articulation. The arms are ball jointed at the shoulders, swivel at the biceps, have hinged elbows, and swivels and hinges in the wrists. The legs are ball jointed at the hips, swivel at the thighs, have double hinged knees, and hinges in the ankles. Her head is ball jointed and she has a ball joint just under her chest. The only problem with articulation here is that her hair limits her neck ball joint to the point where you can’t really get her to look up.

As already mentioned, Betty comes with her Savage Sword. I don’t know much about it except that it was designed by Tony Stark and blessed by Odin, so it must be pretty bad ass. It’s a very nice accessory and includes some metallic red paint to match her skin, because even She-Hulks have to accessorize.

One of the great treats of lines like Marvel Legends and DC Universe Classics is when a great figure motivates me to seek out the character in their fiction. I really love the way this figure turned out and it very well may get me to seek out some Savage She-Hulk books. Sometimes you need to suck it up and buy a figure you don’t want for those BAF parts, but this clearly is not one of those cases. And yes, it would be cool if the Lyra variant actually sees the light of day, but I’m not going to hold my breath. Even if it does, Hasbro is likely to do something crazy with it and make it part of a Previews Exclusive like they did with that wave of Wolverine Legends.

Oct 19 2013

Marvel Legends: Protector by Hasbro

Yes, it’s time for more Marvel Legends! So as some of you noted, I skipped over most of the Hit Monkey wave to get to the Rocket Raccoon Wave. It’s partly because I didn’t see any good deals on a full set like I did with the more recent one. It’s also partly because I wasn’t as keen on the character selection for this wave. In fact, I found the variants to be more interesting than the stock figures, and we all know that Hasbro has been dropping the ball on these running change variants to the point where I honestly don’t even know why they bother. I know the red Deadpool and a couple others have begun turning up in European and Australian markets, but Hasbro has all but admitted that many of the other variants have yet to be even produced. I can’t tell you how much this pisses me off, but I’ll save that rage to fuel my binge drinking this weekend. Anyway, I looked at Ultimates Cap from this wave a while back, but I only now managed to pick up the three figures in this wave that have the parts to build Hit Monkey. Today we’re looking at Protector. This should go pretty quick.

There’s the packaging. Oh, look, it’s one of those variant cards. Protector shares his with Iron Fist, which means there is absolutely no mention of who this guy is on the package… anywhere. Warriors of the Mind? Oooook! Hasbro, you can probably get away with that with some characters, but I’m not sure that Protector is one of them. It’s also becoming increasingly annoying when you seem to have so little interest in actually producing and distributing these variants and when the common one is usually the lesser desired of the two. And look, it’s Iron Fist that’s on the back of the card, not Protector. JESUS, HASBRO!! WHY DO YOU DO THIS TO US??? Oh wait, I already did that rant a few seconds ago. Suffice it to say, I would have rather had Iron Fist. Moving on…

The new Marvel Legends hasn’t been afraid to deliver on the black & white character costumes. First we had Future Foundation Spidey, next we had Fantomex, and now Protector. No matter how I spread these guys out on the shelf, they look like they’re supposed to be some kind of color-deficient Team Up. But color (or lack thereof) is not the only thing these guys have in common. Hasbro, if you’re going to do three figures with a deco this close, you may want to avoid reusing parts between them because it really makes it obvious. Protector uses Fantomex’s belt and holster rig as well as his pistols. He also uses Spidey’s legs and upper arms, and what appears to be a resculpt of his torso. Hell, Protector also share’s Fantomex’s hands, including the unfortunate left hand that can’t hold his gun for shit.

The portrait is pretty good, although not one of the better ones the new Legends line has turned out. True, there’s only so much you can do with half a face. For a moment, I thought it might be a re-sculpt of Legends Yellow Jacket, but when I compared the two figures that hunch didn’t pan out.

That’s not to say the figure is necessarily bad. I do actually dig him and since he shares so much with the Spider-Man figure, he does sport the same excellent articulation, right down to the shoulder crunches. That makes Protector a very fun figure to fiddle with and pose. Had Hasbro given him a better set of pistols and a better left hand, he’s actually rate a lot higher with me.

In addition to the recycled pistols, now cast in black, Protector comes with Hit Monkey’s head and weapons. We’ll get to those when I open the last figure and I actually build him.

Of the three figures in this wave with the BAF parts, Protector is the one that interested me the most, mainly because he’s turned up in my reading the most. I dig the Kree and I dig Time Travel stories, and so Noh-Varr carries the day. That doesn’t mean he’s going to be my favorite figure in this assortment. Truth be told, I can’t say as I had a burning desire to have Protector on my Legends shelf, and the execution of the figure is decent enough, but marred by some obvious and in some cases unfortunate recycling of parts. Still, god knows, I had to buy a lot worse to get a build a figure part in the past. That having been said, if it weren’t for the included monkey bits, I’m not sure I would have bothered to hunt him down like I had to.

Sep 28 2013

Marvel Legends: Hawkeye and Rocket Raccoon by Hasbro

I started this week with Marvel Legends, so I might as well end it that way. Hawkeye is the last carded figure in this wave that I have yet to cover, and I’m long overdue putting this assortment to bed. I usually look at the Build-A-Figures in a separate feature, but Rocket Raccoon is a pretty small and simple figure, so I’ll tack him on at the end.

Here’s the Marvel Legend’s packaging. Hard to believe this stuff has been out for so long already. I still dig the presentation here a lot, but the character art seems to be taking a dive on the recent release. The art for Hawkeye makes him look more like a Sigma Six character to me, rather than Marvel’s famous master archer. Oh well, it’s all getting chucked in the garbage anyway. Hawkeye fills out his bubble quite nicely, particularly with his compound bow and quiver situated on either side of him. You’ll note that he comes with no raccoon parts.

Obviously, this figure references the modern version of Hawkeye. I’ve seen a lot of hating on this design, but I have absolutely no problem with it at all. It definitely leans more toward the feature film Hawkeye than the Classic version of the character we all know and love, but change isn’t always a bad thing. Hawkeye is built on a slight muscular buck, which gets by mostly using the paintwork in order to define his costume. In fact, apart from the new head sculpt, the only new sculpting here is in the belt and shoulder harness, which are separate pieces. The bulk of the buck is black with some really snappy metallic purple paint for the chest and boots. His gloves and arm bracers are painted on as well.

As for the head sculpt, I really like the portrait on this figure. Maybe there’s a little Jeremy Renner in there, and maybe it’s intentional. Either way, I just dig the quality of what Hasbro did here. The hair and glasses are particularly well done. Why does an archer wear sunglasses? Duh! They’re special anti-glare specs with a built in LCD display by developed by Stark Industries to further enhance his already uncanny marksmanship skills. All that was complete bullshit, but I like the sound of it!

Hawkeye features a great level of articulation. The arms are ball jointed at the shoulders, double hinged at the elbows, swivel at the biceps and have both hinges and swivels in the wrists. The legs are ball jointed at the hips, have swivels in the thighs and boots, double hinges in the knees, and the ankles are hinged and have slight rockers. His torso features an ab crunch hinge, a swivel at the waist, and his neck is both hinged and ball jointed. The figure does suffer a bit from soft hinges in the elbows and knees, making posing him feel tad mushy at times.

Obviously, Hawkeye comes with his bow and quiver. The quiver pegs into the hole on his back. The bow is my only real issue with this figure. It looks great, but it’s kind of hard to get him to grip it well. It doesn’t look like there’s any specific area where he is supposed to grip it. Obviously, I know jack shit about compound bows, so I’m sure it’s just my ignorance at work here. I’m just glad they didn’t sculpt it with an arrow already nocked.

Soft joints aside, Hawkeye is probably my second favorite figure out of this batch, right behind Wrecker. I don’t mind the modern look of the character and I think this figure pulls it off brilliantly. What’s more he is lots of fun to play around with and I think he looks great posed alongside Steve Rogers, Black Panther and Modern Age Thor. Hopefully we’ll get that Legends scale Black Widow soon.

And, as promised, here’s a quick look at the BAF, Rocket Raccoon. You only needed to buy three figures (Jean Grey, Black Panther, and Wrecker) in this wave to build him. His parts consist of a head, two arms, a body, a tail, and his gun. The figure is quite similar to the tiny Rocket that came with the Marvel Universe Guardians of the Galaxy boxed set. His articulation is limited to ball joints at the shoulders, neck, and tail… and a hinged mouth!!! All in all, he’s very well sculpted and a nice looking piece. He also displays quite well next to Drax, but in the end he just makes me want a comic accurate Legends scale Star-Lord all the more.

Phew, and that finally puts an end to this wave of Marvel Legends. All in all, I think this was a solid wave. Even Scarlet Spider, my least favorite in the bunch isn’t a bad figure if you take away the scaling issues. Anyway, with these guys behind me, now I can start going back and picking up the rest of the Hit Monkey wave. I’ll likely be doing that one figure at a time, so it may take a while.

Sep 23 2013

Marvel Legends: Jean Grey by Hasbro

I’m pressing on with my look at the Rocket Raccoon wave of Hasbro’s Marvel Legends. Today it’s all about Jean Grey. Back in the 90’s when I was an X-Men whore, I couldn’t get enough of this character. That fondness has dulled a bit, along with my X-Men fetish, but that doesn’t mean I’m not happy to add her to my Legends shelf… especially since this is the long awaited Jim Lee version. Forgive me if today is brief and incoherent, but I’m coming to you all with absolutely no sleep in the last 28 hours… Yay!

Here’s the Marvel Legends packaging and I don’t have a lot new to say about it. Word is that Hasbro was planning three variants as running changes for this figure, but only the one version of Jean appears on the card art. Jean comes packaged beside a raccoon body and tail! Let’s get Jean out of the package and we’ll set the raccoon parts aside for a later feature…

Wow, am I torn on this figure so let me start there. When I first got her open, I went round and round in my head over the buck used here. After seeing the magnificent female buck used for the Thunderbolts ladies, this one seems scrawny and ill-proportioned by comparison. But then I flipped through some of my old X-Men comics and I’m thinking… No, if we’re going by the art, the body used here actually works. I’ll come back to some of my issues with the buck when I talk articulation.

Jean looks pretty good. There isn’t a ton of original sculpting here. You get pouches sculpted into her thighs, bracers on her wrists, and the shoulder pads, all of which look fine. The combination of yellow plastic and yellow paint looks great. Hasbro, why can’t you use this yellow plastic for your Bumblebee figures? And the pearlescent blue used for the other half of her deco really makes the figure pop. It just goes to show you there’s a right time and place for this swirly plastic. I hated it on Ultron, but I loved it on Iron Monger, and I love it here too. The subtle metallic paint on the thigh pouches is a pretty nice little touch.

The head sculpt is OK. I am not crazy about her eyes. They’re narrow and they look like she just woke up. The rest of it, however, is fine. The copious hair looks great and I dig the way her hood is executed. It all conspires with the long neck to make for a very iconic looking figure. Her hands are sculpted with one in a fist and one in a “I’m using telekinesis on you” manner. The open hand seems a tad big, but it’s not something that ruins the figure for me.

Ok, so here’s the breakdown on articulation. The arms have ball joints in the shoulders, hinges in the knees, and swivels in the wrists. The legs feature those crazy ball joints in the hips, swivels at the hips, double hinged knees, and hinges and rockers in the ankles. Her torso features a ball joint and her neck is ball jointed. There’s obviously some stuff missing here, and the biggest offender for me is the lack of bicep swivels. Hasbro, bicep swivels in a six-inch scale figure should be mandatory now… even if it is a female! I also find the lack of hinge in the neck rather conspicuous. She’s also very top heavy, which makes her not a lot of fun to play around with because she just keeps falling over. Thankfully, I have a lot of stands from a previous Legends wave.

It may not sound like it, but I dig this figure well enough. Since it’s rebirth, Legends for me has had three main categories. There have been a good number of Triple-A releases, there have been a larger number of adequate releases, and just a few total duds. Jean falls squarely in the adequate releases. She looks fine standing on my shelf amidst the other figures, but unlike the top tier releases, I don’t want to have her on my desk to play with. If I was still a huge fan of the character, I suppose I would be a tad disappointed, but there’s nothing terribly wrong with her either.

FigureFan Zero

Action Figure Reviews, Toys & Collectibles…

Tag Archives: marvel legends