Rejoice, for I bring you tidings of great gladness from your lord and savior, Thanos! At his best, the Black Order of the films is finally complete! Bow down in subjugation, mortal wretches.
-Ebony Maw
Thank you, Ebony Maw, for that warm introduction. And he’s right; the film version of Thanos’s Black Order gets wrapped up courtesy of this Marvel Legends Walmart Exclusive two-pack. After a rocky initial offering online at Toy Fair time that sold out quickly, followed by a second listing online that caused problems for a number of customers (like this one), the much-anticipated Loki and Corvus Glaive two-pack started making its way into brick-and-mortar Walmart stores in the past few weeks.
Distribution on these is a bit of a crap shoot. The two Walmarts closest to me just outside of Indianapolis have been empty more than once, but there were plenty at one inside the city near the westside. I understand they’ve been fairly plentiful in California and the Chicago area, but again, your mileage may vary. Initial eBay prices were quite crazy, and some of them are still marked way too high, but with a bit of effort or connections with friends, you can probably find one for the regular price of $39.99.
Let’s start with the non-Odinson . . .
Loki: Why the figure is essentially very similar to the Loki from the Thor: Ragnarok assortment, there are a couple of good tweaks. Notably, the left hand is sculpted to be able to hold the included Tesseract; this, of course, mirrors the scene from Avengers: Infinity War wherein Loki is forced to offer the Infinity Stone up to Thanos. This is a solid Loki figurre, and the Hiddleston likeness is strong. I also like the cape (those that prefer their Loki capeless might find that this is a good cape for the Silver Sable/Lilandra head project we’ve mentioned before). I wouldn’t have necessarily gotten this figure on its own, as there are a couple of good Lokis out there and the classic comic version is due soon, but it’s a good figure, and one that will have a good home on my MCU shelves.
Corvus Glaive: This guy is totally why I came to this particular party. The stab-happy child of Thanos and leader of the Black Order is, well, excellent. The team did a terrific job here, going the extra mile on details like the raised pattern impressions on the cape. This face sculpt is absolutely full of personality and menace, too. The build is slight, mimicking the figure’s comic and film counterpart. The hands are shaped appropriately to hold Glaive’s signature weapon as well. Corvus Glaive is a strong figure and well worthy of inclusion into your own person Marvel Legends land.
As promised, I’ve included pictures of the entire Black Order; I opted to use the Armored “Endgame” Thanos. I’m not afraid to say that these five figures are kind of an achievement. Two years ago, I would have laughed at the idea that Hasbro would manage to work this many Order characters into the line already; I was wrong. Again, this is the MCU Black Order; maybe we’ll get the other comic members, Supergiant and Black Swan, down the road, but I won’t hold my breath. Regardless, Hasbro did an incredible job with their renditions of these films. The figures have that weight and mass and look just creepy enough. Hats off to Hasbro for going with this idea and seeing it through.
Overall, I think the two-pack is definitely worth it. Glavie
is just great, and I like this version of Loki, too. Hopefully, the success of
this two-pack will allow Hasbro to continue taking risks with character choice
and be innovative in terms of exclusives.
Today’s the day, Earthlings. The surviving Avengers and their allies gather for their last stand against the Mad Titan, Thanos! And we celebrate with… extremely well-made action figures! The fine folks at Hasbro have provided us (for free, and for the purposes of review) the new assortment of Avengers Endgame Marvel Legends. Thank you, Hasbro, for sending these along! While I often break up full assortments, we’re going to dive right in with all seven figures and the very imposing armored Thanos build-a-figure.
Captain America: The sole figure without a BAF piece in the assortment, Cap comes with the most obvious accessory for Cap, his shield. The shield is a new take, however; the past few Cap figures have come with similar, if not the same, shields, while this one has a slightly different color palette and a raised texture. It’s a nice bit of detail. Also nicely detailed is Cap’s outfit, which should be familiar to viewers of the various Endgame trailers. The head sculpt here uses Cap’s mask, but I think that it’s also a good likeness of the Evans jawline as the same time. I was kind of lukewarm on the idea of the various Avengers in this outfit, but seeing this one out of the package kind of makes me want to pick up that Target exclusive two-pack of Hawkeye and Black Widow in these costumes with the extra heads (Ant-Man, Nebula, Iron Man). It’s well-done.
Ronin: The team kind of outdid themselves with this one. Ronin is an obsessively detailed figure with a number of cool touches. The outer hood is removable, but the figure looks good either way. The head looks great, with the paint apps on the eyes being particularly effective. There are lots of subtleties in the overall sculpt, and details from the comics, like the flourishes on the boots, are in evidence here. A functional scabbard is attached to the figure’s back. Additionally, the figure includes three more accessories: a longer katana, a smaller ninjatō, and a hand throwing shuriken. These are all well-made, with the two blades easily fitting into the figure’s hands. In the pictures, I sheathed the katana and swapped the left hand for the shuriken-throwing model to give you an idea of the effect. I really like what Hasbro did here. I have a feeling that, among individual sellers, this is going to be a really popular selection from this assortment.
Citizen V: I’ll drop all chill here: I’ve wanted a Citizen V figure since the first issue of Thunderbolts by Busiek and Bagley dropped in the ‘90s. And now that it’s here, it’s awesome. It feels like someone peeled Bagley’s art from the page and shook it until expanded into 3D. The cape in particular is super-cool; the design and sculpt have real weight to it. The saber is another in a seemingly endless line of cool accessories from Hasbro; it’s totally appropriate and looks great. It’s interested how the creative team was able to give the figure personality in spite of it not really have a face (due to the nature of the mask). But everything is there in the sculpt. I was shocked and delighted when the figure was announced, but seeing it out of the package? Still delighted.
Nighthawk: Here’s another from my long-time list. I was a big fan of the classic Defenders, so I’ve been waiting on the ML version of this guy for quite some time. I loved Citizen V’s cape, but Nighthawk’s cape/wing structure is the MVP of this assortment. The figure has so much presence. The claw details on both hands are really good as well. I know that he might seem a bit more obscure today, but Nighthawk was a mainstay of the Defenders of my youth, and I’m really glad that Hasbro saw their way to include the character. I haven’t figured out shelf-space for him yet exactly, but I take a picture of his future home of the Defenders shelf. Nice one, Hasbro.
Ebony Maw: Rejoice, because Hasbro has given to you this child of Thanos! That’s right; Thanos’s hype man, the telekinetic Ebony Maw, makes it into figure form a year after his Black Order siblings Cull Obsidian and Proxima Midnight. The Maw was a crucial part of Infinity War and turned out to be a much-requested character; apparently, he was always up the design team’s sleeve. Straight out? Ebony Maw is cool as hell. He’s much taller than I expected, and solid. The facial sculpt is excellent, as are the fingers; the left hand is made in a such a way that it actually allows the “hush” pose immortalized in the trailers. The costume details are exacting, as usual. When I open Corvus Glaive for next week’s column, I’ll do a shot of the Black Order and Thanos all together. For now, just now that this is a particularly strong entry in an already strong assortment.
Living Laser: First off, I’m always happy to see new villains added to the mix. Secondly, I’m glad that the Living Laser finally made it to the 6” scale, after being introduced to figure-life in the 3.75” expression. I have a bit of soft disappointment that he’s not in the original costume (or, at least the one he wore in Avengers #164 to #166, which is one of my all-time favorite Avengers stories; speaking on which, can we get THAT version of Count Nefaria?). Regardless of my personal preferences, I can say with some satisfaction that this is a good, solid figure. The paint ops are cool, and I like how the electric design elements into the arms sort of segue into the attachable energy accessories. Also, the color on this figure isn’t quite like the color of any other figure, which is sure to make it stand out on the shelf. Not my favorite of the group, but rather good, nonetheless.
Hercules: Damn, kids. This Hercules figure is GREAT. That expression is terrific. It’s the perfect combination of bemused self-satisfaction, mirth, and arrogance that you’d expect from the Lion of Olympus; additionally, the blue of the eyes just leaps off the sculpt. This is another figure with some heft to it, and that lends some extra dynamism to the posing. The accessories are another home run, with great mace and sword interpretations packed alongside an extra pair of hands (two open, two closed fists). The costume is the more modern version that Herc has sported for some time, notably recently in the Waid/Zub/Ewing sagas No Surrender and No Road Home. It’s a quantum leap from the Hercules released in 2007 (and that one wasn’t bad).
Thanos BAF: I should have saved that “damn.” This armored Thanos BAF is a wicked new version of the character. It’s pretty massive, and that face is ANGRY. Look how pissed this guy is! Contrast that with the borderline happy face from last year’s Infinity War BAF. That guy looked amused at his own villainy; this guy looks like he’s ready to kill heroes while stomping on puppies. The detail work is super-impressive, from the Infinity Gauntlet itself to the various notes on the armor. I’m not sure what the name of Thanos’s weapon is, but Good Lord, it’s huge. There was some question initially as to why you’d do another BAF Thanos already; the answer is that because they could make one that looks like this. THIS is an epic villain.
Listen up, all. Hasbro gave us all a very, very strong
offering with this set. There is dynamic character work across the board, the
accessories are on-point, and the BAF is just badass. It also has four
characters with no prior Marvel Legends representation at all (Living Laser, Citizen V, Nighthawk, Ebony
Maw), updates of two characters that received figures over a decade ago (Ronin
and Hercules), one fan favorite in a different costume (Cap), and a hugely
popular BAF villain, which is, of course, perfectly balanced. This is really
great work, and I’m sure it’s going to go over really well with fans.
SNEAK PEEK: Next week, I’m taking a look at the Wal-Mart Exclusive Marvel Legends Loki and Corvus Glaive two-pack! Here’s a quick picture of that to get you ready. Come on, readers; let’s talk. Post your comments and get in the conversation.
Welcome back to Super-Articulate! This week, Troy takes a look at the idea of “unfinished teams” and how DC Universe Classics tried (or didn’t try) to fill their holes. And how will this work once the DC figures move to their new home?
Last week, we took a look at DC Multiverse Vixen and two of the DC Series 6 Blind Bag figures from Imaginext. I’d planned to go in a different direction this week, but the shifting tides of internet orders and such put other stuff in my hands first. So we’ll stick to a general theme and hit another DC Multiverse entry and one more Series 6 Blind Bag.
DC Multiverse Kid Flash (Mattel): You can probably all guess my first comment, right? Variation on “It’s a damn shame that Mattel has been leveling up so much only to have the license depart at year’s end.” Today, we consider the New 52 Wally West (though it’s also the costume he wears in Rebirth with the Teen Titans. Just go with it.)
This one is another fine sculpt with good costume details.
The figure also comes with two sets of hands (fists, shown & flat hands).
As you can tell, the face and head came out nicely, including the lightning
bolt ear pieces.
However, this figure has an obvious flaw. I’m not sure if it’s across the entire production run or just this figure in particular, but the shoulders are a noticeable color mismatch from the rest of the arms and torso. It doesn’t kill my enjoyment of the figure, but it doesn’t withstand the close inspection that you can make of Vixen, The Ray, or Wonder Girl, for example.
Overall, this Kid Flash is a good figure, but that
distracting color problem denies it from greatness. It does look good on the
shelf with the other Titans, though.
Imaginext DC Super Heroes Series 6 Blind Bag Catman (Fisher-Price): Last time, we looked at Zan and Signal, this time up we’ve got Thomas Blake himself, Catman. Catman was a middling Batman villain until he received a mega-upgrade in Secret Six a decade ago from Gail Simone and Dale Eaglesham. Together with Deadshot and Bane, that gives you one half of an Imaginext Secret Six.
This one’s great. Funny expression, nice cloth cape, good paint opps, and the claws. The claw are pretty amazing, actually. The continual evolution of Imaginext sculpting is always impressive. Catman also comes with a briefcase (my son Connor believe that it contains the get-out-of-hell-free card from Gail’s classic story). We’ll stay on the lookout for the other three (Jayna, Dr. Fate, and Super Lex Luthor).
After a few straight weeks of Marvel Legends, it’s time to pivot back to DC. Mattel’s DC Multiverse distribution has been spotty in my area; you can find the Aquaman movie figures, but good luck with just about anything else right now. However, I did acquire a Vixen.
DC Multiverse Vixen:
This is another straight-up solid sculpting job from the folks at Mattel. What
I’m most impressed by is the fact that they were able to capture the look of
the hairstyle that Vixen wore in Justice
League of America (which was a fun book, now dead). I know I wasn’t the
only fan of that title, as a number of Multiverse figures were drawn from that
particular Rebirth run (Lobo, The Ray, the forthcoming Black Canary, Vixen). As
such, Vixen is sporting the costume from that run, as well. It’s just a figure
with overall good presentation.
Vixen comes with one accessory; in this case, it’s a
translucent purple eagle that’s mean to replicate the visual from the comics
when Vixen accesses one of her animal powers. Going with the bird makes sense
because it’s a power that she uses often and it’s small enough to be an easy
pack-in. I like the look of the accessory, although I would have liked a stand
or some kind of attachment with it.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I’m sad to see Multiverse go at the end of this year after it really got on track. It would have been nice to see this group of sculptors get to the JSA and the Legion after the fine work they’ve done on the League, the Titans, and the Batman family. Alas, it wasn’t meant to be.
Imaginext DC Super Heroes Blind Bag Series 6:One DC expression that Mattel gets to keep is the Fisher-Price housed Imaginext line. The current series went with some excellent and crazy choices. There’s Zan and Jayna (the Wonder Twins), Superman-armor Luthor, Dr. Fate, Catman, and The Signal (Duke Thomas). My boys and I have only found two so far, so we’ll go ahead and take a look at Zan and Signal.
The Signal is Duke Thomas, one of the Robins from the We Are Robin series. Duke became more involved in the official Bat Family and received his own individual costume and codename. Signal comes packed with a pair of ninja kama. Imaginext has really upped their sculpting game in the past few years, and the Signal is a good example of that. While the bodies are frequently basic with (admittedly great) paint jobs, the heads are increasingly unique. This has a good look overall and the vibrant yellow stands out.
Zan and Jayna are no-brainers for a line like this. Zan looks like a decent adaptation of his cartoon self; no real surprises. The best thing is his accessory. As you know, Zan can change into forms of water, and would regularly be carried by his bird-form sister in a bucket. So, of course, Zan comes with . . . the bucket. And the water has his face! Yes, they actually did that. Major kudos, Fisher-Price. Major.
The Imaginext line remains a terrific kids’ focus line, though I know more than a few adult collectors that like to display them as well. While this line-up seems to be a little bit harder to find, these two indicate that their commitment to DC is still in good form.
Every once in a while, there’s a consistent, ongoing call for a figure to get made. Since the beginning of Marvel Legends, one of the most relentlessly demanded figures has been Professor X in his hover chair. A Professor X in his conventional wheelchair was produced in 2005 as part of the Galactus wave, back when the line was made by Toy Biz. A movie version in the film chair was also produced early in the decade. In the 1990s toyline based largely on the animated series, we saw the only American mass market version of the Professor in the hover chair. But no longer! The brand-new Ultimate Riders Professor X in his hover chair is here. I could do this review in one word, and that is: DAMN.
Hasbro knocked this out of the park. I know I’ve been high on their work lately, but that’s because they’ve been delivering consistently. This particular item is a step above that. The accessories are clever (one is outright brilliant), the chair design is detailed and extremely well-made, and the figure is solid. It’s high-caliber work.
First off, check out the box. The hover chair is in two
pieces; it easily and cleanly fits together. Yes, there’s a seam on the back,
but if that’s your biggest gripe, it’s really minimal. The “hover stand” (of,
what? Compressed air? Energy? Doesn’t matter) gives the chair an elevated feel.
The chair pads fit in easily and sport some crazy detail for pieces that you
don’t see much of with the figure in place. The “blanket” helps keep the figure
in place. There’s the Cerebro helmet with a power effect, and finally, there’s
the Shadow King head.
I’ve praised these before, but I’ll do it again: creating
extra accessories and swappable body parts for value-adds that create “new”
characters is a brilliant idea. The Shadow King head goes perfectly with the
BAF Kingpin, and I’m keeping it there. (I have an early Kingpin. It’s fine.
Head stays. In fact, a major driver of my interest in the Kingpin BAF was the
fact that I’d be able to make him into the Shadow King; if you’re not familiar
with the character, look him up and watch Legion).
The hover chair itself is well-made, with a pair of sliding
panels revealing instruments underneath. It’s super-easy to slide the figure
in; you more or less “lock” him in place (though its not a true locking
mechanism) with the blanket. The chair is big, but not disruptively big on the
shelf.
The figure itself has a standard ML suit body, but they
killed it on the head and hands. Those crazy eyebrows look like the early Kirby
take on the character, and hand gesture positions are perfect. I photographed
the figure with the helmet and without. I’m going to display without, but I
think it looks decent; the effect isn’t as good as Psylocke’s psionic
butterfly, but it’s decent.
Professor X looks great on his own, but he really comes to
life when you put some of his X-Men around him. Here he is with the recent
Cyclops, Jean Grey, my favorite of the Wolverines (because he’s short) and that
dick Hank McCoy (what? I’m a big Cyclops fan, and he owes Scott a big apology).
Since I have a new Charlie to put with my modern X-Men, I moved the old Chuck
up to what I call my “First Appearance” shelf.
Overall, this is terrific work. The figure is available now. It reads “sold out” on Hasbro Pulse, but it’s popping in and out on Amazon (I got mine there for regular price; just be patient) and also showing up at Target and Wal-Mart, along with the Deadpool/Scooter box. GameStop lists them as arriving by the weekend, but your location’s stock may vary.
We’re living in Legendary times. That is, holy crap, the Marvel Legends just don’t stop. Even as I type, the Caliban wave is up for pre-order and the first Endgame assortment landed at Toys R US Canada. People that pre-ordered the Professor X and Deadpool Scooter Riders have been getting them, and they’re hitting outlets by the end of the month. And that doesn’t account for the Kingpin assortment or, the subject of today’s write-up, the M’Baku wave.
We’ll be looking at a complete M’Baku, but not a complete wave. I didn’t get the Klaue; I managed to get the BAF torso piece on eBay for $4.50 (plus shipping). I also saved on this wave by getting two of the figures from Walgreens via their $13.99 ML sale (that runs until the 30th, and the ML Mystique exclusive is available online for the sale price); I ordered another on Amazon for $4 less than the regular price, too. So I ended up with five of the six regular figures, plus M’Baku, and I saved at least $40 overall in the process.
A Tale of Two
Panthers:
This wave boasts two takes on T’Challa, one leaning on his
look from the beginning of the Black
Panther film, and the other a charged-up Vibranium look that’s labelled for
Infinity War. Alternate heads are
included with the “vibranium” figure, and both figures come with the same
unmasked T’Challa head. Both of these are solid work with a lot of detail
worked into the sculpting, particularly in the lines you find on the torsos.
The downside is that a lot of fans might pass on these since they’re similar to other releases. In all honestly, I almost passed too. However, weighing the high costs of the BAF arms online versus the costs of the figure, I actually saved money by grabbing one at Walgreens, spending less that I would have to obtain one of the auctioned arms. Not to get all Bob Ross here, but how you complete your collection is up to you. I like to get lots of things, but I like to save when I can. That said, these are both fine representations of the character, and they would be particularly good for someone that doesn’t have a T’Challa yet.
Hail to the Previous
King:
T’Chaka doesn’t have any accessories apart from the BAF piece, but damn, it’s a nice looking figure. The head sculpt and other pieces are definitely different than the other Panther figures. And the ceremonial garb is tremendously colored. It’s a striking figure and, despite the BP base, it doesn’t look quite like anything else in the line. I wish there would have been swappable heads (maybe the young and old T’Chakas), but it’s a damn nice looking character as it is.
Dora Milaje:
The Dora is the one I got on Amazon for just over $16. This is a terrific example of what Marvel Legends has been doing so well lately, and that’s creating extra pieces that allow you to transform figures or transition them into army-builders. The three heads here let you decide on the look of the Dora (the one that I used is clearly Ayo of “Move or you will be moved” fame). When you put this figure side by side with Okoye and Nakia, you can see that there are a lot of subtle differences (this article explains some of those notes, like the fact that Okoye’s gold elements are markings of rank). The included spear is different from Okoye’s; the rings, however, are the same. If you’re really into Black Panther and the Dora, this is a must have; I can actually see this one becoming rarer as people gobble up multiples for army-building. It looks great.
Erik Killmonger
(Tactical):
No slight on the previous figures, but THIS is the Killmonger I wanted. The tribal mask is fantastic and the detail on Killmonger’s costume, belting, and holsters is incredible. The likeness to Michael B. Jordan is pretty top shelf, too. Amazingly, this was a $13.99 Walgreens grab, and I save two more bucks with a coupon. Ridiculous. It’s been remarked on that elements of the design were inspired by, or at least resemble, Vegeta from DBZ, so I tossed an old Bandai Vegeta in one shot to give you the look. This is easily one of my two favorites from the wave. I could see Hasbro taking parts of this (notably the legs) and repurposing them for other military-flavored figures down the road. Man, it’s solid.
M’Baku Build-A-Figure:
Damn, kids. Can we just take a minute to praise Winston
Duke? The actors from Black Panther
have been widely celebrated, and Duke has been frequently remarked upon as a
fan-favorite, but it bears repeating. M’Baku (Man-Ape from the comics) could
have been a seriously, seriously
problematic character. But a combination of top-flight direction, script, and
performance made him a memorable break-out. Duke radiated charisma and
unexpected humor in the role; when he showed up in Avengers: Infinity War, the theatre where I was broke out into a
small cheer. I have to say: in a short amount of screen time, Duke transformed
M’Baku into a bigger and better character.
Which brings us to the BAF. I was disappointed in the first BP go-round that M’Baku wasn’t in the wave. I was not surprised at all to find that he was the BAF this time. And Hasbro did it up right. One of my other favorites in this group, the figure nails the likeness and some of the intricacies of the costume. I’ve written before that the designers are paying more attention to hair and fur elements in costumes, and that’s evident here. They also made the right call on the height; M’Baku’s at least a head taller than the “vibranium” Panther. The staff accessory was the most appropriate choice, too. This is really, really fine work.
A word on Klaue:
I like Andy Serkis. But the figure didn’t do a lot for me. I
may yet pick up a loose one on eBay someday, but it wasn’t a thing that I felt
like I HAD to have. And that’s okay. I lucked out with a cheap torso pick-up,
and this gives me the opportunity to invoke Ross again: get what YOU want.
Overall, this probably won’t turn out to be my favorite
assortment of the year. But it’s a really good effort and I feel like it
expands the universe of figures and my collection environment. That’s obviously
a big positive.
You may have noticed that a number of cast members of Buffy the Vampire Slayer have acknowledged the 22nd anniversary of the beginning of the show within the past week. Since I’ve been wanting to experiment with some more video content, I decided to combine those two things and put together a look back at the Moore/Moore Action Collectibles/M.A.C./Diamond Select Buffy and Angel lines. While I don’t own them all, a complete checklist can be found at FigureRealm.com (here and here).
Quick note: at one point I mention that there wasn’t a Kendra, but in fact there was; I do not have it. Hope you enjoy, and please join the conversation.
I know the title puts the Kingpin right up front, but we’re going to take a detour first. If you recall, last week we did a bit of a preview of the ML Target exclusive Captain Marvel (Starforce) figure. Today, we’ll start with a look at the actual figure.
Captain Marvel (Starforce): As I said before, the notion of exclusive figures that bring a value-add past a simple outfit swap is great. Granted, completists might want the green outfit, given its prominence in the film. But the inclusion of all the separate pieces (head, hands, scarf, bandolier, rifle) that allow you to convert the figure into Doctor Minn-Erva just really stands out. It enables Hasbro to essentially offer an extra character in the same package as a headliner character that the stores will want. Moves like this, along with things like the Shadow King and Lilandra heads, just elevate the line.
Now Comes the Days of the Kingpin . . .
When this assortment was announced, I was genuinely excited.
There are some characters here that I’ve wanted for years in ML form that
FINALLY made it in. There’s a fairly new villain that I was surprised to see
included. And of course, Mr. Fisk. Let’s go.
Silver Sable: FINALLY, indeed. This is a drop-dead excellent figure that should have been made years ago, but I’m glad that it happened on the back of the constantly improving sculpting that Hasbro brings to the line. This is top-notch.
Black Cat: I wasn’t quite as into this one because honestly, I was satisfied with the previous versions. However, I think this turned out great, and I’m glad to have it. A lot of attention was paid here to the hair and to the “fur” portions of the outfit. The whip is also nicely done, as is the wrapped segment arranged as a belt.
Night Thrasher: Back to the FINALLY portion of the program. It’s kind of mind-boggling that we never got the founder of the New Warriors before now. The accessories are great; while the staff portions pre-existing, the backpack and skateboard are new. The board even has working wheels. I took a shot with the original Nova and Vance Astro from the GOTG2 assortment because that’s as close to the original New Warriors as we have right now. I certainly hope that Speedball, Firestar, and Namorita are in the cards down the road.
Puma: I’ve always dug Puma. The ML line can only benefit from diverse characters like Thrasher and Thomas Fireheart here, and I genuinely like that hybrid human look. The figure nails it and gets the flourishes like the feather fetish and necklace right. The increased articulation present in most Legends works a great benefit in the figure, as it affords some very character-appropriate posing. Big winner, kids.
Red Goblin: I didn’t expect Red Goblin this soon; in fact, that might be some kind of page-to-Legend record. But man, they did another great job. And that tail! Honestly, it’s a little crazy that this exists already, but damn if they didn’t prove that it should exist just by making it exist. Well done.
Symbiote Spider-Man:I’ll
be honest; I’m pretty take it or leave it with this one. It’s kinda neat of its
own accord, and it looks good, but I doubt I would have gotten it were it not
for the BAF piece. Still, if you don’t have a black costume Spidey, this is a
solid get.
Spider-Man
(Six-Armed): I know that there were some early complaints about the torso
from some fans online, but I have to say that this looks quite good in person.
The arms are surprisingly poseable, given the torso size, and I’m glad that the
new torso sculpt also gives us the ability to have Doppelganger Spider-Man
later in the year. This version of Spidey wasn’t super-high on my list, but
it’s cool to see and it’s a worthy entry, given its place in the comic’s
history.
Before we get to the big guy, here’s a quick rundown of
which piece comes with whom:
Heads: Symbiote Spider-Man
Torso: Puma
Right Arm and cane: Black Cat
Left Arm: Silver Sable
Right Leg: Red Goblin
Left Leg: Night Thrasher
The Six-Armed Spidey does not include a BAF piece.
The Kingpin (BAF): I mean . . . just look. This thing is outstanding. The alternate heads were a fine idea (one smug, one angry), and it’s just . . . massive. I took a picture of the recent Defenders boxed set Daredevil for scale. It’s just awesome. And I’m looking forward to turning him into the Shadow King in the near future. Yeah, I’m a giant X-Men fan from way back, so that’s happening.
Overall, this is a pretty great assortment with strong character choices, pleasant surprises, and a whale of a BAF. These are available on Hasbro Pulse right now and should be hitting retail around you at any time.
How about you? Thoughts, questions, discussions? Let us
know.
So, I lied. Okay, not lied, but I did change the schedule. I have in-hand the Kingpin assortment, but didn’t have time to take on the whole thing. I’m pushing that to next week. What I also got, which is relevant to your interests, is the new Walgreens exclusive Marvel Legends Mystique. Let’s talk.
Mystique: First
and best thing, the ML Mystiques are arriving at Walgreens locations across the
country and in solid numbers. And the bonus? There’s a sale on (which appears
to be chain-wide) with Marvel Legends for $13.99 until March 30th. That’s a
solid deal! I picked up mine and got a bonus $2 off at the register which we’d
apparently earned on our Walgreens card. So I had that going for me, which is
nice.
As to the figure itself, this is top-flight work. This is a
Great. Figure. I feel like the team really nailed the look of Mystique from the
Claremont-Byrne days. It’s also a not-so-coincidentally great time for the
figure to be released since a) she first appeared in the pages of the Carol
Danvers Ms. Marvel book in the 1970s,
and b) Mystique once again figures into the forthcoming X-Men: Dark Phoenix film.
The figure comes with three heads: regular, shapeshifting-into-Rogue, and Shi’ar Empress Lilandra. The head sculpts are superb, Lilandra in particular. There’s a popular trend forming already of collectors getting an extra Silver Sable and replacing the head with the Lilanadra for a completely “new” figure. Some have gone so far as to do the boil-and-pop method to remove the Sable belts and enhancements for a cleaner look; I’ve also seen spare capes (like the Black Knight cape) added. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with making Mystique Mystique; as Bob Ross said, it’s your painting.
If you have the original ML Mystique and you’re happy with
it, that is totally fine. If you missed that one, this one is just about
perfect. It’s a great pick-up no matter how you display it.
Target Captain Marvel (Starforce): The Target Exclusive ML Starforce Captain Marvel is available to order online right now. I am absolutely getting this one to turn it into Dr. Minn-Erva with the included head, hands, scarf, and other accessories. Doing the figure in this manner was a GREAT idea. I would have passed without the means to turn it into a secondary character. Mine isn’t due to arrive just yet, but I’ll have pictures when it does. For now, you can place your own order. If you have a Target Red Card, you can get 5% off if you use it when you place your order online.
Okay, kids, that’s all we’re doing this week. How do you
feel about Exclusive figures? It’s been my experience that the Walgreens
figures aren’t hard to find, but that the Walmart ones are a giant pain in the
ass. Target lands somewhere in the middle. Thoughts? Do you buy second copies
of a figure if you can turn them into a different character? Let’s talk.
