Tag Archives: marvel legends

Jun 21 2021

Marvel Legends (3 3/4-inch) Retro Collection: Wave One by Hasbro


As promised last Monday, I’m taking a break from my cruise through the Legends Tri-Sentinel Wave to have a look at Hasbro’s new Retro 3 3/4-inch figures. Because The Great Lord Galactus knows I really need another Marvel line to collect, right? Well, these are similar to the ReAction figures I collect, in that I bought them to keep carded. But, I did buy a four doubles out of the six for openers, so we will at least be getting a feel for a few of them out of the package and in hand.


And yes, technically, these are Marvel Legends, it says so right on the card, which seems really weird to me. It’s doubly confusing when you consider that Hasbro is already doing a sub-line of Retro-Carded 6-inch Marvel Legends. So what the hell are these? Well, they’re retro-style 5-POA figures designed with old 80’s Kenner-style figures in mind. It’s kind of a What if Kenner did Marvel? Hasbro really did their own thing with the presentation, since they probably didn’t want to copy the look of their competitor Mattel’s Secret Wars line from the 80’s, or the chunked out proportions of Toy Biz’s 90’s line. The first wave is comprised of six figures, and there doesn’t seem to be a lot of rhyme or reason to the character selection here. As expected, these packages are not collector friendly, but at least the figures are set on trays inside the bubbles, which keeps them from rattling around in there. Also, I’ll note that these cards are made of some pretty sturdy and seemingly durable cardboard, and all the ones I bought online came unpunched, which is pretty cool. Let’s have a look at each one, starting with the two I didn’t get as openers.

Magneto represents the X-Men, and I thought him a strange choice for the first wave, but that doesn’t make him any less welcome. The card features the Uncanny X-Men logo at the top left with Magneto’s character art dominating most of the right side. Everything is just about perfect here, especially the coloring. The figure looks like a solid effort. He’s sporting his traditional red and purple costume, just as it’s depicted in the card art, and the paintwork seems pretty clean. Articulation for all of these figures conforms to the usual standard 5-POA, which includes a T-crotch, swivels in the shoulders, and a rotating head. I do find it interesting that they didn’t drive the Kenner homage all the way home by giving him a vinyl cape, but I’d certainly argue the sculpted plastic cape looks better.

I’ll show off the back of the card for Magneto and then leave it at that, since they’re all pretty much the same. You get a character card that can be clipped out and saved along with the figure. You also get a single sentence blurb about the character. I was hoping this was going to be a little more descriptive, but it’s just the same thing in multiple languages. The bottom third or so of the card is just jumbles of legalese. Man, I miss the days when toy packaging didn’t have to be littered with all this crap!

Next up is The Incredible Hulk, and this is the second of the two figures that I have yet to get an opener of, but I’m still looking. Hulk is bigger than the others, but not crazy big. He seems fairly size-appropriate, but best of all, they were able to do him without having to make a bigger card, or throw off the uniformity of the presentation. The Incredible Hulk logo features the brick pattern in the lettering, and the character art is fabulous. I also really dig the deep blue backdrop and the action lines fanning out to the borders. It’s exciting and colorful, and everything a comic book superhero action figure package should be! As for the figure, I think this is a really strong sculpt, especially the portrait. They did a nice job sculpting his muscles, and the vibrant purple paint on his pants looks snappy!

Third out of the gate is Captain America, and here’s where I start to have doubles to open! If pressed, I’d say this is probably my favorite card in the wave, or at least maybe tied for first. The character art is just fabulous, and I love that they have him throwing his shield right out of the card and into the viewers face! It’s exciting, and the star spangled deco is absolutely perfect! If I had one little gripe, it would be the color of the bubble’s backdrop. The blue matches Cap’s outfit and the figure sort of blends in a little too much. But that’s me really nit-picking.

Out of the package, Cap looks and feels great in hand. If you’ve handled any of those Funko ReAction figures, you’ll be happy to know that the quality of the plastic here is just so much better. And while Cap maintains a bit of a simple style to him, there’s still plenty of fresh sculpting to be found in the buccaneer boots, and flared gauntlets. The portrait looks great, and the paint lines are fairly sharp for a figure in this size and style. Cap happens to be the only figure in this wave that comes with an accessory, because…. well you can’t have Cap without his shield. The shield has a clip to attach it to either of his wrists and he looks good holding it. There’s a hole on his back, but no peg to attach the shield, which is a tad disappointing. Still, a great figure that will be sitting on my desk for a long time to come.

The fourth figure is a bit of an odd choice for this initial wave, and it’s Ms. Marvel herself, Carol Danvers, wearing her Warbird outfit. I really love the character art on the card, but I thought it was a little odd that they went with The Avengers logo and don’t actually refer to her as Ms. Marvel on the card. It’s kind of weird, but not a deal-breaker to me. I’ll concede that I would have preferred her red, blue, and gold outfit, but I dig this one too.

Out of the package, she’s looking fine! This figure relies a little more on paint than for her costume than the previous ones, but I think they did a fine job. The fronts of her boots are a little uneven, but the lightening bolt on her chest looks sharp! I also love that they sculpted her waist scarf as a separate piece and it’s worn by the figure, kind of like an accessory, but not really. The portrait here is really good as well, with her domino mask actually part of the sculpt.

The fifth and penultimate figure in the wave is Johnny Storm from The Fantastic Four, and this one had me super excited, because I can’t wait to hang a full set of Marvel’s first family in this retro-style on my wall. The card includes The Fantastic Four logo over the NY City-Scape with The Human Torch in full flame on! They even did his flamed “4” logo in the sky behind him. Excellent!

I didn’t think this would be an easy figure to do in this style, but Hasbro absolutely nailed it! Johnny is cast in translucent orange plastic with some yellow flames sculpted onto his legs, arms, and head. The effect is quite striking, especially when it’s properly lit up. Dare I say it? Hot damn, I love everything about this figure! Sue Storm is coming up in the third wave, and I do hope they finish up the Fantastic Four sooner rather than later!

Last, but certainly not least is your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, and if you haven’t guessed it Spidey is tied with Cap as my favorite figure in this wave. The card art features The Amazing Spider-Man logo set against the backdrop of the city with Spidey himself swinging right out of the card at you and framed by webbing.

Out of the package, this figure just pops like magic. The combination of blue and red is a feast for the eyes and the web pattern looks great. I also dig that they have his arms spread a bit and gave him two thwippy hands. Like Captain America, I just want to carry Spidey here around all day in my pocket at work, so he can have adventures on the desk when I’m bored to tears in meetings. I am really excited to see all of Spidey’s villains turn up in this series. Electro is actually part of Wave Two. Now bring on Gobby!

I’m really interested to see how this line does at retail, but I’m definitely hooked. I’m a sucker for the retro style, and there’s something to be said for these clean sculpts over the somewhat wonky results of the highly articulated Marvel Universe figures. I didn’t have time to dig out any of those to do comparisons, but it’s something I might look at doing in the future. Am I going to be buying doubles of this entire line. Nah, highly unlikely. I’ll mainly be collecting these to keep carded, pop into clamshells, and hang on the wall. But at about ten bucks a pop, I may go for doubles of the ones that I like the most! I already have a set of Wave Two, and maybe I’ll wrap up a look at these next week. Then again I’ve also got a new Marvel Hot Toys figure that I’d like to spend some time with. I guess we’ll see what I have time for!


Jun 14 2021

Marvel Legends (Tri-Sentinel Wave): Wolverine and Cyclops by Hasbro

Howdy, Toyhounds! This week I’ve got Marvel Monday right back where it belongs… on a Monday. I had a fairly relaxed weekend and plenty of time to open some toys, so let’s jump right in with two more figures from the House of X-inspired assortment of Marvel Legends X-Men figures! Last time I had a look at Professor X and Magneto and I came away a little lukewarm, if I’m being honest. Let’s see how we make out with Wolverine and Cyclops!

Once again I really dig the packaging this time around. The boxes are perfectly branded to the books, complete with the futuristic X-Men logo on the front and the characters’ names in the Krakoan language beneath it. The figures themselves also look quite stunning against the backdrop of the red and white illustrated panel behind the clear tray. And if you lift your eyes to the top, you can see that when all is said and done we’ll be building a Tri-Sentinel, although Wolverine does not come with a BAF part. Let’s go ahead and start with him!

Wow, do I love this figure! The design takes the classic coloring of Wolverine’s brown suit and mixes it up with the tactical accents of his X-Force suit, and the result is something rather spectacular. Now I’m not saying I prefer brown and mustard to blue and yellow, but I still dig it a whole lot. Gone are the flared boots and in their place rugged combat boots with matching heavy gauntlets. I’m pretty sure this figure just recycles all the body sculpt from the Wendigo Wave Wolverine, which in turn borrowed a lot from the Juggernaut Wave Wolverine. Damn, I’m really terrible about keeping all these Wolverines straight! There sure have been a lot of them!

At least the belt looks new! It’s a simple brown belt with a leather-like texture and a red and yellow X-branded buckle. The belt is sculpted separately but fits the waist quite snugly and stays in place. Also worth mentioning are the beefy battle claws! We’ve seen some rather frail and anemic claws on Wolverines in the past, but these are just great. They’re nice and straight, not too bendy. Sure, you only get the one pair of popped-claw fists, but that’s all I need!

Only one set of hands, but two heads! You get a younger Wolverine portrait with Logan grinning a broad and toothy grin. I dig this portrait a lot as it looks like Wolverine is smiling as he’s imagining what he’s going to do with his adversary’s entrails, but he’s not letting anyone else in on the joke. The paint around his skin and the cowl could have been a little tighter here, but the sculpt is top notch stuff. Just look at how deep the eyes are set! Awesome!

And you also get future Wolverine where he’s sporting a beard and looking a lot more grim, dour, and crotchety. Hey, Mother Mold… Come get your damn Sentinels off my lawn, bub! Everything I said about the paint and sculpt on the previous head rings true here. The paint around the cowl could have been a little sharper, but everything else is fab. They didn’t go nuts on the beard, but I think it looks good. And yeah, this is likely the head I will be using to display on the figure most of the time.

Here at FFZ we recognize that Legends Wolverine Fatigue or LWF is a real syndrome, but it’s just not one that I happen to suffer from. Wolverine always makes for a fun figure, especially since he’s always got those extra shoulder crunches. Whenever I get a new one, he usually hangs on my desk for a while before getting retired to a shelf or tote. I just love playing with them, and this figure is no different! Let’s move on to Cyclops!

Cyclops’ costume got a rework in this book as well and while I wasn’t especially impressed by it in the comic panels, I have to say I’m really liking the way it turned out on this figure. The dark body suit has very little in the way of sculpted detail, but those bright blue stripes look really spiffy. Cyclops is also sporting a pair of silver arm bracers and an X-branded belt with some pouches. I never really think of Scott as a pouch kinda guy, but the belt looks good and I guess he has to carry around his smug self-righteousness somewhere. The tiny snaps on the brown pouches are painted silver and the buckle is red and silver. Like Wolverine, Cyclops only comes with one set of hands: A right fist and a left visor activating hand. Which brings us to…

A pretty solid head sculpt! There’s nothing crazy going on here, but the lower half of his face looks great. Unlike Wolverine, there are sharp lines between his face and the cowl, and the visor looks like it might be sculpted separately from the head.

Cyclops comes with a second head with gritting teeth, some effect parts around the corners of the visor, and a slot for the really big effect beam. I dig the way this looks, and despite being pretty substantial, Scott can still stand just fine with it inserted into his head. Pretty damn cool!

I really wasn’t expecting too much out of this pair, but once I got them opened and in hand, I fell in love with them pretty fast. Neither is my favorite look for the characters, but they do make for some cool variations. And besides, it’s nice to have figures from one of the best Marvel books that I’ve read in quite a while. Yeah, that’s not exactly high praise, considering my stance on Marvel’s offerings these days, but it was meant as a compliment! As for next week’s Marvel Monday, I may be taking a slight detour of the 3 3/4-inch variety before getting back to the Legends and the rest of this wave…

Jun 9 2021

Marvel Legends (Tri-Sentinel Wave): Magneto and Professor X by Hasbro

That’s right… Welcome to Marvel Monday on a Wednesday! As I’m fond of pointing out in some of my Marvel Legends reviews, I stopped being a regular reader of Marvel Comics a while back when they decided to stop focusing on things like decent art, good stories, and respect for established characters. As always, there are exceptions to the rule, and I did poke my head in a couple years back to read Jonathan Hickman’s House of X because… well it was Jonathan Hickman and the art looked pretty good. I enjoyed it enough to eventually pick up the collected hardcover edition, and naturally I was pretty thrilled to see the book getting a full wave of Legends. Enough so that I pre-ordered this one, instead of hunting them down individually. So here we go, embarking on this wave with the two heavy hitters first… Magneto and Xavier!

House of X is full of all the standard Hickman-isms that I’ve grown to love. You get high concept stuff about evolution, the rise and fall of empires, secret knowledge, time travel, and lots of great nuggets of world-building, sometimes leaked between the pages of the actual story. I get that some people don’t dig his style of story telling, but I do. It keeps me invested in the story and getting the most out of it means my reading has to be less passive and more aggressive. The package branding looks great and even includes the characters’ name scrawled in the Krakoan language! I really wanted to keep these boxes, but in the end, space is too much of a limited commodity around here so into the bin they went! Let’s start with Professor X…

Cards on the table, Xavier’s appearance creeped me the hell out in this story. He’s out of his wheelchair sporting a lanky body in a tight body suit with the latest version of Cerebro worn pretty much all the time and covering most of his head. The combination of lanky body and giant head piece makes him look like some kind of cyborg-meat-lollypop and I just find it unsettling. And yeah, considering what Xavier gets up to in this book, that’s probably exactly what the look was going for. And while this figure conveys that look pretty well, it also means there’s really not a lot to it at all. From the neck down you get a completely generic black buck with no paint apps or detail at all.

At least they used one of the more articulated bodies, complete with those lateral crunches in the shoulders. You also get an extra pair of gesturing hands: One regular pointing hand and one “I’m pointing at my head because I’m concentrating” hand. On the downside, the joints on my figure are extremely soft and gummy, especially in the knees. It took me a bit of time to straighten them out enough so he would stand.

And while Hasbro banked a ton of time and effort on the body sculpt, the Cerebro head sculpt is quite excellent! The bulbous silver head piece includes a mess of wires and gizmos on the back, and a giant blue X-branded visor on the front.

You also get a head without Cerebro and with some psionic effects radiating from Xavier’s head. It’s a nice bonus to add some value, but it doesn’t do a lot for me. Ultimately, this figure accomplishes what it needs to do, but unless you’re a big fan of this story, I’m not sure it’s going to be worthy of a pick up. Sure, Cerebro looks awesome, but the rest of the figure is so drab and generic. I’m happy to have it, but I’m curious to see if it’ll be a peg-warmer around these parts. Moving on to Magneto…

Unlike Professor X, Magneto retains a lot of his classic costume design in this story, but he trades in his darker colors for a white-and-black outfit. And just as Xavier saved Hasbro the cost of a lot of new sculpting, much of Magneto here is just a repaint. I was, however, surprised to see some new stuff here. The boots and wrist bracers are different from the previous Magneto releases, and he also has a new belt with an X-branded buckle and some pouches. The cape, however, is a straight repaint from the his appearance in the three-pack with Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver.

I was expecting the head sculpt to be a straight repaint from that three-pack version as well, but it looks like it’s been reworked here. His Barbute-style helmet has been reshaped in a few areas, but unfortunately the paint on mine is pretty sloppy. It’s not too bad when viewed with the naked eye, but the closer you get, the worse it looks.

Magneto does not come with any effect parts or an un-helmeted head, but he does come with three pairs of hands, which I thought was oddly excessive. The token fists and power-casting hands are to be expected, but the third pair of accessory-holding hands seems pointless, since he comes with nothing to hold. Whatever the case, I found this figure to be a lot more photogenic and fun to play around with than Professor X. Sure, his look is a lot less imaginative than Xavier’s, but as an action figure, Magneto gets the nod as the better figure.

I was extremely excited for this wave, but I’ll confess that it feels to be off to a rocky start. I want to like the Professor X figure a whole lot more than I do. I can’t fault the design, as it looks just like his appearance in the book, but it just doesn’t make for a great figure. Magneto, on the other hand, at least isn’t a total quick-and-dirty repaint, and I’ve found that I like this look for him a lot. Next week, I’ll keep the reviews on this wave rolling along. I doubled up today because I knew I didn’t have a whole lot to say about these two, and I’m not sure if next week I’ll tackle another two figures or just focus on one!

May 17 2021

Marvel Legends (Mr. Hyde Wave): A.I. Tony Stark by Hasbro

Last week turned into a shit-show with work, so I wasn’t able to make it back with Friday content. The first half of this week is going to be no better, but I’ve managed to eek out a little bit of time for Marvel Monday. I needed to find something quick and easy, and the figure calling out to me from my pile of backlog was this very recent release of A.I. Tony Stark, a figure that I absolutely love for what it isn’t even meant to be!

Behold, the first, and probably last, figure that I’ll be reviewing in the Mr. Hyde Wave! I actually really do want that Hyde Build-A-Figure, but I have zero interest in the Shang-Chi movie, and I’m sure as heck not buying all those figures for the BAF parts. Based on how they’re clogging the pegs at Target here, I may get the opportunity to scoop them up on clearance for the BAF, but for now I’m sadly writing Mr. Hyde off. And while we’re on the subject… Why is A.I. Tony Stark even in this wave? It’s kind of weird because we’re actually getting Riri Williams in another wave, so why not put them in the same assortment?

And speaking of Riri… I’ll go ahead and clarify that I bought this figure as beautiful classic Iron Man and not as A.I. Stark from Invincible Ironman, a book which is a prime example of why I don’t read Marvel these days. I tried the first couple issues to see if I was missing anything, but it was pretty damned insufferable. But don’t get me started on that… look! Look at this beautiful figure! The smooth contours, the sexy curves, the immaculate look. There’s no complex panel lines or impossible sequences of shifting plates! Oh, I still dig Tales of Suspense Iron Man, but to me, this was the look I was first introduced to, and for me it will always remain his most iconic design.

We got a Classic Iron Man back as part of the 80th Anniversary releases, and this one looks to be a lot of the same figure. I’m ashamed to say that I have that one, but still haven’t gotten around to opening it. That previous release has extra effect parts, two variant helmets, and an unmasked Stark head, but what it doesn’t have is this lovely ketchup-and-mustard paint deco. Yeah, they went for gold instead of yellow on that one, and it’s certainly a great looking figure, but I’m always going to favor the yellow here. Besides the one-two punch of condiment colored deco, you also get the baby-blue arc reactor and a little more of the same on those upturned restraining-bolt-looking nipples! This figure is quite simply a feast for my eyes and takes me back to my childhood.

The helmet sculpt is excellent, with the face plate being sculpted separately from the rest of the helmet. That not only makes it look like it could come off, but it adds some wonderful depth to the eyes and mouth, which are painted as part of the head beneath it.

The A.I. Stark head is pretty nifty for what it is, basically a previous Stark head sculpt cast in translucent blue plastic. I don’t know that I’ll get any use out of it, but given MCU Stark’s pension for using armor as puppets, I kind of dig that I can use this head to retcon that into this suit design.

You do get a couple of repulsor blast effect parts, also cast in translucent blue plastic. These are actually four pieces, with the projection being separate from the blast. Naturally, you also get two extra hands to work with the effect parts. My only gripe here is the repulsor hands aren’t hinged at the wrists, which feels kind of cheap on Hasbro’s part. But, whatever!

The 80th Anniversary Iron Man can be a bit pricey these days, so if you missed it, this release should be a welcome one. It’s not as complete as that one when it comes to extras, but I can’t fault the figure for that, because it’s based on a very specific version of Tony from a modern book. And hey, if you happen to be a fan of Invincible Iron Man, then you’ll definitely want to pick this one up to go with your upcoming Riri Williams. Not judging! As for skipping this wave, I fear that may be happening a bit more frequently in the years ahead. I know that Hasbro has an Eternals wave coming down the pipe, and I’ll likely be skipping those too. Unless, they decide to mix them up with comic versions, and then I’ll be all over those!

May 10 2021

Marvel Legends (Dude Thor Wave): Iron Patiot by Hasbro

Today’s Marvel Monday figure may seem like I dug deep into the backlog, but I actually just got him last week. The only figures from the “Dude Thor” Wave that turned up in my area were the Cap and Iron Man, and I decided that I didn’t really need another MCU Cap or Iron Man in my collection. I also wasn’t really all that interested in this Build-A-Figure either. As for the rest of the Wave, they were going for well over retail when I could find them online, and so I decided I was just going to sit out this Wave entirely. It was possibly the first time I skipped any Marvel Legends releases.

Well, fast forward to a month ago and pre-orders for Iron Patriot started showing up on some online retailers. Not the whole Wave, mind you, just Iron Patriot. Now, I don’t know if this was found stock or an actual re-issue, but I didn’t ask questions. Instead, I plunked down my pre-order and I’m so very glad that I did. So, I’m just going to go ahead and say it. I think this may be the most gorgeous Marvel Legends figure yet. If not, it’s certainly in my Top 5!

I mean, just look at this amazing amalgamation of piece of plastic! After Iron Man 2, I certainly didn’t expect Iron Patriot to show up again in the MCU, so it was a pretty cool surprise when Rhodey rearmed for the final battle. The Endgame Iron Patriot Armor shares some parts and design elements from the War Machine armor, which is reflected in this figure. There are a lot of common threads in the design, but they aren’t all recycled parts. As a result, this one feels pretty fresh! And while I was a big fan of the War Machine figure from the Banner Hulk Wave, I think I’m even more smitten with this one!

For starters, I love the bulked up look of this suit. Iron Man is all about better and better tech with a lot of the suits getting slimmer and more advanced, to the point where they are almost like a second skin for Tony. That’s not War Machine! This guy is literally a walking tank and he looks it! I particularly dig the larger upper body and those big forearms. I’d also swear I see some nods to MechWarrior design in the torso. About the only thing I’m not so keen on here is the redesign of the feet, which are smaller. Maybe they’ve been redesigned with flight in mind, but I think they should be big and clunky like we saw on War Machine. But enough with the negativity… back to gushing! I can’t deny a big part of what makes me tear up with joy here is the coloring. There’s something to be said for the cold and utilitarian military black and gray of the original War Machine, but when you recolor in this drop dead gorgeous metallic red, silver, and blue, I just lose my shit, because the result is so damn beautiful! To me, the quality of the coloring here is just above and beyond for a $20 mass produced figure.

Of course, Iron Patriot is sporting some major weaponry, even when he isn’t powered all the way up. His forearms feature static machine gun barrels, which are a lot more elegant than what we saw on War Machine. He also has rocket launchers mounted on each of his outer thighs. These are actually removable in case you want to display him with them retracted, but they don’t really get in the way so I prefer to leave them armed. On a side note, the articulation here is pretty decent, in that he can make some nice wide stances and point them guns in any direction. With that having been said, the bulky nature of his armor means that his range of motion in some of those articulation points aren’t as good as what we’re used to seeing in Legends. But I have no complaints!

If you really want to gear up Iron Patriot for battle, he comes with two sets of additional weapons to attach. These include additional guns and rocket packs, which position over his shoulders. In the movie, through the magic of CG, these deploy from inside his suit, but here they simply peg into holes in his back. They’re each separate pieces so you can deploy one set or the other, or one of each, or whatever you like. These added weapon pods are ridiculously awesome and stay put pretty well too! I’m just not sure how he fires those without falling over.

While I’d eventually still like to pick up Heimdall and Valkyrie from this Wave, Iron Patriot here was the one figure in this assortment that I wanted the most. And I’m damn glad to have had a second chance without having to pay double or triple. He is an absolutely gorgeous figure and a worthy addition to my collection, even if this particular Stark Armor didn’t have a big presence in the film.

May 3 2021

Marvel Legends: M.O.D.O.K. by Hasbro

Many years ago, when I sold off my Toy Biz Marvel Legends figures, I had planned to keep some of the Build-A-Figures, particularly MODOK and the Sentinel. But when I boxed them all up to ship them out, MODOK wound up in the box and I didn’t think it would be in good taste to ask for him back. Over the years, I worked on getting some of the BAF parts to put him back together, but here I am still two pieces short and now I can finally stop trying.

Behold, Deluxe MODOK!!! It sure took Hasbro long enough! And much to my surprise, he comes to us not as a Build-A-Figure, but as a boxed Deluxe. And I’m perfectly fine with that. The box shows the figure on the front as well as the flipside. I can’t begin to tell you how excited I am to finally have this guy in hand. It seems to me like MODOK has been played for laughs a lot lately (don’t get me started on the trailer for that Hulu series), but he seriously creeped me the heck out when I was a kid. He’s a horrible looking abomination with a messed up history of body horror, and I’ve grown to dig him a lot over the years. Besides, my AIM troops were in desperate need of a giant demented brain to lead them. Based on the slender package, I’m guessing there’s going to be some assembly required, so let’s bust him open and see what we got!

OK, so here’s why they didn’t go the BAF route. Even though MODOK requires a fair bit of assembly, Hasbro would be hard pressed getting some of these pieces into the regular Legends boxes. Heck, the back probably wouldn’t fit even if you left the figure out! Needless to say, I’m glad they went for a Deluxe release because they didn’t have to skimp on MODOK’s size, and they were even able to toss in an extra face plate. Anyway, putting him together is pretty straightforward. The pieces go together just fine, and he can easily be taken apart again in case you want to store him in his box.

Is is possible for something to be horrible and gorgeous at the same time? Today the answer to that question is a resounding YES! I am equally in awe of both how beautiful this figure turned out, and how creepy and off-putting MODOK’s giant mug is. The chair is cast in a rather sumptuous looking gold plastic, with plenty of deep-cut panel lines, vents, tiny sculpted rivets, and other bits and bobs. I particularly love the Kirby-style zig-zag circuit pattern that runs along the back! You get a control panel for his right hand and an articulated joystick for his left hand. There’s even a little painted oscilloscope screen with a green sound wave pattern painted onto it. Everything about the chair is just wonderfully executed!

MODOK’s undersized legs hang down from the front of the chair, and even though they aren’t very functional, Hasbro still endowed them with full articulation, including double hinges in the knees and hinges in the ankles. The arms are a little more useful and are also fully articulated. You also get two sets of hands: One pair has open hands, while the other features a right fist, and a left hand designed to clutch the joystick on the chair. I would have liked a pointing finger hand, but there’s already quite a bit in this set. His limbs are decked out in bright blue plastic, which really contrasts nicely with the gold of the chair. Meanwhile, the chair itself is suspended on a plastic beam of propulsion energy, cast in a translucent red and orange. It holds the figure quite well, and there’s a little room for tilt and adjustment.

And that brings us to this beautiful face and holy crap that’s some nightmare fuel. From his broad fish-lipped mouth to his tiny nose set directly between his pupil-less eyes and overpowering brow. I don’t know what it is about this guy, but if I saw him in real life, I’d most assuredly crap my pants. Naturally, he also has his headband, with more of that zig-zag Kirby-style circuit pattern and a large beam emitter so he can blast his foes with a beam of pure mental energy. This face is some of Hasbro’s finest work on the line. It can also be pulled off and substituted for a second face!

This second face has his mouth agape, showing off his giant teeth and a bit of the tongue inside. I think expression works for a few different moods. He can either be barking orders to his AIM troops or monologuing. It also kind of works as a surprised, “WHAT??? HOW DID THE AVENGERS FIND MY LAIR???” kind of vibe. Luckily it is easy to swap them in and out, and this may be one of those rare cases, where I actually do switch portraits every week or so, because they are both so damn good!

MODOK here is going to be tough to beat as my favorite Marvel Legends release of the year. The Toy Biz version was excellent, and this one still blows it away. Not confining him to the constraints of a Build-A-Figure was a smart way to go, and I really appreciate all the articulation they kept in his arms and legs. Of course, now I’m wishing I had loaded up a bit more on that AIM Soldier 2-pack, but at least I have a couple to display on each side of him.

Apr 26 2021

Marvel Legends (Retro Style): Silver Samurai by Hasbro

I’ve spent the last bunch of Marvel Mondays wandering through some of Hasbro’s 80 Year Anniversary releases, and it’s almost time to dig into another regular wave. But before that, let’s squeeze in at least one more! This one is actually a double dip, as it’s not only an 80 Year release, but also one of them Retro Carded figures!

I am by no means a completist when it comes to these Retro Carded figures. The inner turmoil over whether to open them or keep them carded takes too much of a toll on my frail booze-addled nerves. But, when it’s a first time release like Silver Samurai here, there’s no question I’m going to pick it up and tear into it. The package art harkens back to the old Toy Biz X-Men line, and even though I was already in college when that line was out, I still get the nostalgia feels from seeing these. The character art is nothing mind blowing, but the figure sure looks awesome on the card. I’ve had some luck in the past carefully razoring the bubble halfway around to slide the figure out without too much damage, but I still wound up tossing the card eventually.

As a character, Silver Samurai is almost as old as I am. I’ve actually got a couple years on him. Even still, I find that I haven’t encountered him all that often in my decades of Marvel meanderings, but I’m always pleased to see him turn up, mostly because I love his armor so damn much. He’s had run ins with all sorts of characters from Daredevil to Elektra and Spider-Man to Wolverine. And it turns out that he makes for a remarkably unique and beautiful action figure! I mean, just look at this guy, shining in all his silver glory!

I’m used to Hasbro using the Retro Carded waves for a lot of repacks and repaints, so it’s odd to me to see a figure like this, one that uses nearly all new tooling, to not get a regular boxed release. And yet here we are! Most of Kenuichio Harada’s armor is sculpted as part of the figure’s body, although the armored skirt and shoulder are attached separately, giving an already complex sculpt a bit more added depth. And boy do I love the detail on this armor. It takes a pretty traditional looking Samurai design and casts it in brilliant silver, complete with sculpted rivets, as well as the tiny ties and straps that are meant to keep it on. I particularly appreciate how Hasbro colored many of those straps white to distinguish them from the silver armor. It’s a little touch that they could have left out and I probably wouldn’t have noticed. It just shows that extra bit of care.

And speaking of colors, some of you may know by now that I’m quite the afficiando of premium silver paint on my action figures. Hasbro has been using some nice stuff lately, and it’s certainly on display here. Some of the pieces, like the shoulders and skirt have been left as plain gray-silver plastic, which contrasts nicely with the snappy silver painted parts. He also has the brilliant crimson Rising Sun emblazoned on his chest and a red orb on the crest of his helmet.

The head sculpt is every bit as good as the armored body, with the majestic helmet covering the top half of his face. The exposed lower half shows a down-turned mouth and a grim expression. The overlapping plates that make up the sides and back of the armor have more sculpted rivets, and his deep-set eyes are painted without pupils.

Silver Samurai comes with his two swords, which the package identifies as a Katana and Wakizashi. At first I was going to cry foul, as I thought they were the same length, but the Wakizashi blade is a tad shorter than the Katana, but not by much. The blades and Tsuba are left the same bare plastic color as the skirt and shoulders, and it’s a solid color, not that weird semi-translucent gray plastic Hasbro sometimes uses for accessories. The blades are soft, but don’t seem too prone to warping. The sculpted grips are painted black, and the belt includes a loop for each sword on the left hip.

Despite a big build and a full set of armor, Silver Samurai still has great articulation. All the usual points that I expect from my Legends dudes are represented here. He even has extra swivels in his lower legs. The shoulders aren’t as restrictive as I would have guessed, and the way the skirt is designed, he still enjoys a lot of range of motion in his hips. The joints all feel solid, and he is ridiculously fun to play around with. He is, however, not the best balanced figure out there, and I do sometimes have difficulties getting him to stand in the more extreme poses.

Silver Samurai is a prime example of me not needing to have a deep relationship with a character in order to love a figure. Indeed, I would imagine that even if I weren’t collecting Marvel Legends, I would have still picked up this figure if I encountered him on the pegs. He’s a great design, which Hasbro has nearly flawlessly recreated in action figure form. And since I was never able to find the Marvel Universe Wolverine/Silver Samurai Comic Pack, getting him in the 6-inch line feels like an extra treat!

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.

Apr 12 2021

Marvel Legends (80th Anniversary): Hulk Vs. Wolverine by Hasbro

Yeah, yeah. I don’t usually miss a Marvel Monday, but I sure did last week, eh? I have no real excuse, other than I was a lazy do-nothing shit on Easter, and just hung out with the cats stuffed my face with food and watched Star Trek all day. We’ll just call it an impromptu Holiday Vacation. So, picking up where I left off, I’ve been going through some of the Marvel 80 Years boxed sets and today I thought I’d roll out one of the big ones. Celebrating The Incredible Hulk #181, which introduced us to The Wolverine!

Alas, I was only two years old when this issue hit the news stands, and I was probably more occupied with not shitting myself than reading comics. Or reading anything. Indeed, I wouldn’t actually read this one until I was already well acquainted with Wolverine. Although, this one might have introduced me to Wendigo, but I can’t remember. The box is big and beefy and while it isn’t terribly flashy like some of the X-Men sets I’ve looked at recently, it doesn’t need to be. The figures in that big window do all the talking. Let’s start with The Hulk!

It’s crazy to think that with all the Marvel Legends figures that I have, this is the first comic-version of The Hulk in my Legends collection. Yup! There are three MCU versions of The Hulk up on my shelves, but dozens upon dozens of Iron Mans and Captain Americas, and Web Heads, but just this one lonely Hulk. But his singular look has remained pretty standard over the years, so I guess that makes sense. And nope, I don’t even have a Red or Gray Hulk either. But that’s OK, because this figure is so damn gorgeous, it’s all the Hulk I need!

In terms of sculpt, you just get acres and acres of muscle, which is a given because he’s THE FREAKING HULK! On top of all those muscles, you get some veins popping in his arms, and some nice detail in his giant feet. Most of the real detail in the sculpt here comes in his semi-shredded pants, which have actually survived the transition surprisingly well. Apart from some splitting here and there, they don’t fall to rags until below the knees. You also get the remnants of his shredded shirt, which did not survive nearly as well as his trousers. This piece is sculpted in rubbery plastic and pretty much just lays on his shoulders. I dig it a lot, but tend to cast it aside once I start playing around with this big boy. But as great as the sculpt is, I’ll confess it’s the colors on display here that just tickle my retinas and make me all giddy. The brilliant green mixes with the metallic purple sheen of his pants to create a feast for the eyes. Why are his pants metallic? I have no idea, but it was clearly the right call to make.

The portrait is nothing short of perfection. The face features a broad nose and beady but surprisingly life-like eyes, accompanied by a wall of teeth. The rage is literally drawn right on his face with deep lines, creases, and a wrinkled brow. Meanwhile, the sinews in the neck bulge to meet his strong slab a jawline. Egads, I adore this head sculpt. It’s absolutely phenomenal.

The articulation is right in line with what we’re used to seeing with the bigger figures and Build-A-Figures. You do only get single hinges in the elbows, but considering his bulky arms, that’s to be expected. Double hinges in the knees, however, do make him a rather agile giant. The big differences here is the addition of lateral hinges in the back of the shoulders, allowing him to shift his arms back more. Hulk comes packaged with one fist and one grabby hand, but you also get an extra of each so you can mix and match till your heart’s content. Let’s switch over to Wolverine!

Despite being introduced to him in the 80’s, the 90’s Jim Lee Wolverine has long since supplanted any early versions of Logan as my personal iconic image of the character. Now, with that having been said, I still love this early look. Not that it’s that different from the neck down. He’s still got the yellow suit with the blue boots, gauntlets, undies, and shoulder bands going on. He’s still got the tiger stripes and the red belt. But this just looks a bit more unpolished and savage to me. It’s very likely that opinion is colored by looking back on it from his future appearances, but it’s still a look that I can get behind. So much so, that even with the dozen or so Wolverines on my Legends shelf, I’d still rank this one pretty close to the top.

Of course, the biggest departure here is the head and this crazy proto-hood. It instantly reminds me of a luchadores mask, and that ain’t a bad thing. The brow-wings aren’t as pronounced and I kind of dig the “whiskers” that run from his nose down the sides of his mouth. The combination of eyes and teeth make him look absolutely bonkers in the sense that I’d instantly piss myself if he was coming after me. It’s both a great and historic look for old Logan and I’m very happy to finally have him in my collection.

Naturally, Wolverine comes with two sets of hands, one being regular fists and the other having popped claws. My figure’s claws aren’t all perpendicular with each other, and I’m afraid to straighten them too much because I don’t want to stress those tiny stems. But all in all, they aren’t bad. The articulation includes the shoulder crunches, which as far as I’m concerned are an absolute must for the character. Everything else is pretty standard stuff. While his elbows are double jointed, I still can’t get any more than about 90-degrees out of them, which is a tad disappointing, but when you’ve got bulging muscles like these, it goes with the territory. Otherwise, this figure is loads of fun to play with.

Can this set be both obvious and genius? I think it can! At least I can’t think of a better way to get my first comic-based Hulk onto my Legends shelf. And it was especially nice to not have to collect an entire wave to get him! Both of these figures are a direct hit for me, which is why I pre-ordered this one the moment it got solicited. Surprisingly, this set is still available at a number of retailers for about the original price it sold for, leaving the opportunity for anyone who slept on it to nab it without getting raked over the coals by secondary sellers.

Mar 29 2021

Marvel Legends (80th Anniversary): Quicksilver, Magneto, and Scarlet Witch by Hasbro

Before starting up another wave of Legends, I thought I’d tackle a few more of the Marvel 80th Anniversary boxed releases. Last time I checked out one Maximoff, this time I’m taking on two more, as well as their one-time (now retconned out) Papa! To the packaged shot!

This set is so gorgeous, and it’s really not doing anything all that special. Just take three great looking figures and spread them out above the X-Men logo and BAM! You’ve got some attractive presentation! But since I’m taking on three figures today, I’m not going to hang about talking about the packaging too much. Instead, let’s tear this baby open and we’ll just take the figures going from left to right. Starting with Quicksilver!

Unlike the other two figures here, this is Pietro’s first appearance in the modern Legends line and he’s looking great. I do love the look of this suit, even if it is achieved entirely through paint instead of original sculpting. And yup, they went with the blue suit over the green, and I’m totally fine with that. The blue and silver deco is very pleasing to the eye. In addition to the mostly blue body, you get pearlescent plastic for the boots, hands, and and a decent paint match for the rest of the gauntlets. He’s got some black undies, and a silver lightning bolt painted as a belt and shoulder strap. In terms of spray-on costumes, this is about as simple as it gets, but it works well and I’ve got no complaints! OK, there are a few minor chips in the lightning bolts, so I guess that’s one complaint.

The head sculpt is decent, but here I do have a few gripes. First, it looks a little chubby, but maybe that’s just me. More importantly, I wish they gave him his more iconic hair. I can’t tell if this hair is recycled and that’s why they didn’t, but it seems like a big oversight to me. Otherwise, the sculpt is well-defined and the paint is sharp!

Quicksilver only comes with a pair of swap out hands, with the fingers held tight and flat for running. I’m also happy that they used a more articulated buck, which includes not only the extra swivels in the lower legs, but also the lateral crunches in the shoulders. Otherwise, the joints are tight and this figure is a pleasure to mess around with. Moving on to Magneto!

We last saw Magneto a few years back as part of the Apocalypse Wave in his more modern costume, but this time Hasbro went for the classic look. I really liked that previous release, but I absolutely LOVE this one. This is my favorite look for the character and this figure pulls it off so well. The one-two punch of crimson red body suit with purple boots, gauntlets, belt, undies, and cape look swonderful, and I really dig the cut-outs on the boots and gloves. The cape is both majestic and cumbersome, and to be fair I’m not sure they could have pulled off one without the other. The heavy bolted piece that crosses above his chest isn’t enough to counterbalance all that plastic hanging behind him. Fortunately, the cape is long enough to help serve as a stand in a lot of poses.

Last time, Magneto came with both helmeted and un-helmeted heads, this time we get two helmeted heads with different expressions. The first is a fairly neutral expression, the second is full-on psycho relishing in his powers. The helmets are superb, and sculpted separately from the head to give it some nice depth. It’s also painted over in the same red and purple to match the rest of the costume. The purple paint on the trim could be a little tighter, but you have to get in pretty close to notice any issues. And while I love the face sculpts on both figures, the paint for the teeth on the second one could have been better. The teeth are brushed over with some white and the spaces between them are just left flesh colored.

Magneto comes with two sets of hands, fists and power wielding hands, and he comes with those ubiquitous energy funnels that we saw last time with Polaris and Havok. I hope whoever designed those babies is working on commission! Here they are translucent purple and they look really good! Moving on to our last stop, Scarlet Witch!

It’s been over five years since a comic version of Scarlet Witch turned up in the modern Legends line. That was such a great figure, I really had no desire to replace her. But Hasbro has come a long way since then and this new version is a vast improvement in a lot of ways. To be fair, this is a slightly different costume with different coloring, so whether this one is better or worse, may come down to personal taste. Here, Wanda is wearing a full pearlescent reddish-pink body suit with scarlet paint used for the boots, gloves, one-piece, and cape. The deco is more limited here, but it still looks quite striking. The cape plunges in the middle behind her neck, and fans out toward her feet. Perhaps one of the most obvious differences with this figure is the re-sizing. The previous Scarlett Witch is an absolute giant compared to this release.

But for me, the high point of this figure is the head sculpt, and WOW, what an amazing job Hasbro did on this one. There’s a quality to the sharpness of detail in the hair, contrasted with the soft features of her face that just blows me away. Her headpiece and hair look as if they are sculpted independently of one another, which makes for some wonderful complexity to the entire portrait. Her eyes are haunting, her lips are razor sharp, and I do believe this may be one of the best portraits Hasbro has turned out for any of their comic-based Legends. This is quite simply top-tier work.

Wanda comes with a pair of Hex Power effect parts, and imagine my surprise, they aren’t the energy funnels! Nope, in this case we just get some translucent red pieces that can be snaked around her wrists. After pointing out how many times Hasbro is using the other ones, I still have to admit I like them a bit more than these, but these are OK.

I can remember pre-ordering this set the moment it was solicited, and I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out. It’s great to finally get Quicksilver in this modern Legends line, and while we already had a Magneto and Scarlet Witch, the Magneto is the Classic look that I wanted, and Wanda is just a surprisingly vast improvement over a figure that I already liked quite a bit. This set just hits all the points with both essential character selection and excellent execution of the figures. I can’t recommend it enough! In retrospect, I wish I had tackled this set in three parts, because each figure could have used my full attention in their own review.