Friday 27 December 2013

Deadpool (Marvel Legends)

Marvel Legends Deadpool (Classic) - Wave 3
Finishing 2013 should end up with a loud BANG!, and nothing could ever accomplish that job than the merc with a mouth, Deadpool! Oooh yeah! We thought Hasbro already forgot about this guy and shove him under every collector's hopes and dreams... but he's here. Supposed to be released last Fall of 2012 together with Punisher and Doctor Doom of Wave 3, this classic crimson Deadpool is a variant to the X-Force Deadpool which is also from this Wave. For Hasbro, it is better late than never indeed but that was quite awhile of a wait!














This is the 4th Deadpool that Marvel Legends Hasbro released. They all use the same body mold and just being repainted for collectors to get the many versions of him but I would say this is the one Deadpool I'll consider as my "default" figure for Deadpool and happy about it.


Not too many Marvel Legends figures comes with a whole lot of colour shading but Deadpool had quite a few here in there that comes in contrast with his crimson-black colour scheme. There are dark colour shadings between the muscle folds as well as the side of his head. The only downside is his utility belt and the straps that hangs around his torso, which doesn't have enough details on it, paint-wise.


The body mold is obviously a reuse of the Marvel Legends Deadpool 2-Pack the came with the X-Force Warpath. The details are not really that bad. Deadpool obviously has this athletic body type; not too skinny nor too musclebound. Hasbro did an amazing job with the head sculpt. It captured the likeness of Deadpool with his signature mask and the extra cloth hanging at the back of the head. His hands are actually sculpted very differently; the right hand is a "trigger finger" while the other one is for holding his sword.


Speaking about swords, lets move on now to accessories. Deadpool comes with two types of guns- a hand gun and a modified assault rifle that has a bazooka. He can carry and hold his assault perfectly without even falling from his hands however, it doesn't have a holster or a hook for him to keep it around his waist. His handgun can be concealed at the side of his leg. Deadpool also has two katanas that each come with sheaths. These sheaths are removal and you can latch it at the back using Deadpool's straps.


The articulation would never disappoint. Although it's missing ankle pivots but it's not a huge issue. He got a ball-hinged neck that moves up and down and rotates 360. Ball-hinged shoulder plus a shoulder blade joint that lets him move his arms forward and to the center and also bicep swivel. He got double-jointed elbow, ball-hinged and swivel to wrists. Deadpool got an ab crunch and swivel around the torso. His hips are on a Y-joint with ball-hinges. Down to his legs, he got double-jointed knees, upper-thigh swivel and ball-hinges to the ankles.


Deadpool stands about 6.2 inches tall and fairly in good scale with any figures from this toyline. The Hasbro version of the classic Deadpool may not replace Series 6 Deadpool but it's still a good thing to have especially if you're not willing to pay like a hundred dollar to get the one from Toy Biz.


Thursday 19 December 2013

Namor (Marvel Legends)

Marvel Legends Namor (Series 2)
To be quite honest, I could never get myself to like this guy. Yeah, I know he is one of the toughest antiheroes in the Marvel universe but it's just something about that ego of his that makes me hate this character. I'm glad he only exists in fiction. Okay then... let's talk about the figure! Behold the Marvel Legends: Series 2 Namor. I believe it was 2002 that this figure was released but, man, I never expected this figure could compete with our more recent action figures we see today.















Nothing much can be said with regards to the paint work. Namor's vest and skin tight pants are all painted black. There are streaks of blue paint drawn and designed like fish scales over his vest. At the back of his feet you can see what appears to be a window! Interesting! Apparently, this looks like as if Namor wants to spread his little ankle-wings (or fins because he is fishboy) by making a couple of tiny windows which also exposes his flesh, but... is this really necessary? I would rather have them simple and neat with just black and white around these areas.


The sculpt on Namor is probably what gives him a more stunning look than the later Marvel Legends figures. This Johnny Bravo-esque type of body (big chest + chicken legs) may look kinda weird for people who are very particular with sculpt but for me, it's just a minor issue. I like how they added some creases over his pants. Namor got this well engraved insignia over his huge belt. You can see some great details over his muscles with all these folds and cuts. Last but not the least, the head and face sculpt captured that Namor we've always imagined with his sleeky hair and his 30-degree angled eyebrows.


Namor comes with two accessories namely his base stand and his trident. This "water" base stand is entirely made of translucent blue plastic almost like the Marvel Select Silver Surfer base but has some blue and white colour shading on it to have the look of an ocean whirlpool. Namor's trident is a complete... fail. Although I'm not too bothered by its flat bronze-like colour but the sculpting is ridiculously a work of an amateur. It's bent and crooked, and it will actually snap if you try straightening it up.


For an early 2000 action figure, the articulation is almost close to the newer Legends figures. His head is on a ball-joint and so it can rotate 360 and could look up and down. Mine has got a loose joint and it's very wobbly, and I'm kind of pissed off about it. Namor's arms got ball-hinges to the shoulders, swivel to the biceps and wrists, double-jointed elbows and Toy Biz's trademark finger articulation. He got no ab crunch like most Legends figures but has waist swivel behind his belt. His hips are on a T-joint with hinges at the sides that lets you raise his legs forward, back and to the sides. He got upper-thigh swivel, double-jointed knees, and hinged ankles with ankle pivots. Unfortunately, no ankle rotation.

"We're the kings of our own realm."

For most part, the sculpt and articulation of this figure are the true winners. This toyline has never failed to its loyal fans the articulation and the detail they always want. He stands at about 6.5 inches tall and in good scale with both old and new Legends figures. If you want to get a Namor for your Legends collection, I definitely recommend this one.


Friday 13 December 2013

Nightstorm Predator (NECA)

NECA Nightstorm Predator
What's awesome about the NECA Predator line is that there is always something new and interesting despite its lack of relation to the movies. Take this Nightstorm Predator here; who would have expected that this guy is inspired from the vintage classic Predator line by Kenner. At first, I wasn't able to tell. Probably because around Kenner's era of Predators, I wasn't into Predators yet nor into collecting the action figures, and so I wish I could show you on this blog what a classic Nightstorm Predator looks like.















Nonetheless, you can see that the artwork on its packaging is very retro, again, Kenner-inspired. While Nightstorm's skin colour is originally black, NECA's version is a darker blue which I think still makes it strikingly unique and awesome looking. This Egyptian-themed Predator is like a clash between the past and the present having Kenner's classic design and feature together with NECA's modern articulation and paint work.


Speaking of paint work, Nightstorm's armour is mostly covered in gold ranging from a glossier type to a matted finish type of gold. Also, it got bits of green, brown and gray dry brushing to make it look like it has gone through centuries of war. While it's blue skin made this Predator almost like a close cousin to the Navi, the black paint that gives rise to its bodily hair and blotches still put it in line with our typical Predator.


With some reference to other Predator body mold, apparently the head sculpt came from the NECA Berserker Predator from the Predators movie toyline series. The mandible jaws are pretty wide open along with its regular jaw. You can see some beautiful line work across every sides and corner on his armour. Nightstorm Predator got these huge long claws that measure almost the same in length as his arms. Another distinctive feature is... its boots! This Predator is actually wearing a pair of golden boots with its toenails partially exposed and it hinders a lot with the articulation, which I am going to discuss later.


Lets get on with accessories which are the best part of this figure. What amazed me is the removable mask, which is well detailed and even as you look at the back (or the inner side) you will also see all these alien-tech mechanisms sculpted with tremendous amount of details. Resembling that of a scarab beetle, the mask fits perfect around its forehead while these gaps around the jaw is purposely designed to avoid his retracted mandibles. Nightstorm Predator also comes with a spear, which also has an Egyptian theme on it with the addition of a skull spiked on top as its spinal cord hangs below. His shoulder cannon is also well-detailed and got a decent amount of articulation.


Comparing its articulation to the Boar Predator, Nightstorm's range of movement suffered greatly because of its overdeveloped body armour. Like most NECA Predators, Nightstorm has a ball-jointed neck lets its head slightly turn to the left or to the right but barely moves up and down. Its arms barely moves up because of the armour. It got single-jointed with rotation to the elbows as well as rotation to the wrists. It got diaphragm swivel, Y-jointed hip with swivel to the upper thighs, single-jointed with rotation at the knees and lower calf swivel. Nightstorm with its boots overlapping the joints cannot entirely move its ankles even if they are made of a soft pliable plastic, and this is the only problem I have with this figure.


Standing between 8 and 8.5 inches tall, the Nightstorm Predator is a taller figure to its predecessor especially once that mask is on. With its amazing details, overall, this Predator is superb and will get fans and collectors searching for it out in stores just to own this extremely one of a kind type of NECA Predator.


Wednesday 4 December 2013

Silver Surfer (Marvel Select)

Marvel Select Silver Surfer
There are three reasons why being a herald of Galactus is such a cool thing. One- butt-kicking powers, two- free trips anywhere in space, and three- a unique skin tan that may be an envy to anyone who just can't be happy of the way their skin colour looks. It feels awesome to see a 7-inch scale Marvel Select Silver Surfer, which I was hoping this toyline would create. Finally, the Power Cosmic is here! Just with this tight silver speedo alone, you can easily tell that this Silver Surfer is based off from the classics. And with his neat paint application and well detailed base stand, this figure is yet another marvellous display piece by Diamond Select Toys.













When I saw the preview about 4 or 5 months ago, I thought that the type of gray paint that they'll be using on Surfer is something like that of the Select Ultron which, at that time, I thought would be great but it was more than I expected. I think this glossy type of gray paint is the perfect choice. As reflective as this paint can be, any form of light just bounces back to your eyes; literally giving the silver on Silver Surfer. Even with such plain and simple paint work, this action figure may "outshine" any action figure in this toyline.


The overall sculpt on this figure is phenomenal. Well proportioned and balanced body lengths and muscle mass served a good role to Surfer's ideal body type- the swimmer's body type. Though not exactly the same as I would hope, his size is not too hefty nor too lean and didn't come short on the amount of muscular definition which I'm still satisfied of.


Every time I lay my eyes on Select base stands, I'm always at awe. You can see some great sculpt and paint shadings over this "moon rock". Also, this translucent blue plastic coiling and kind of swerving above it adds a unique touch on the base. Like that of Spawn's, Surfer can be displayed in two different ways using this base; you can have him just stand in the middle of the base (with its peg) or get him on a "flying pose" by inserting the surfboard at the end the swerve with his feet already attached.


Interestingly, part of Surfer's accessories is the Infinity Gauntlet. Yyup... Thanos' favourite toy. Though it may be completely unnecessary to give him such accessory but I'll probably do other fun stuff with this rather small version of the Gauntlet.


Other accessories includes two interchangeable hands; one is for holding his surfboard and the other one is for... umm... holding his surfboard tight. He also got two cosmic blast effects made of translucent plastic that can fit well around his judo-chop hands. Lastly and something you mustn't ignore is his surfboard! A perfectly oval-shaped silver surfboard from outer space which has two pegs to stabilize his feet.


Finally, we've come to articulation. Be reminded that this is a Marvel Select figure and the articulation may appal you if you're too particular about it. So his neck is on a ball-joint that lets his head turn side to side and lets him gaze up and down but very limited. He got ball-hinged shoulder, bicep swivel, single-jointed elbows, and wrists that are hinged and able to rotate on both arms. Waist swivel around his torso is good but the absence of a thigh swivel is just bad even with these hinges on his hips. Moving on, he got double-jointed knees and ankles that can move up and down, rotate and pivot.


Silver Surfer stands 7.1 inches tall to be exact; perfectly in scale with the Marvel Select Thanos or with some Marvel Select and Legends figures. We know that the way Select figures are scaled can be ridiculously inaccurate without any basis from facts. So just be prepared for a surprise- try size compare him to a Marvel Select Deadpool first. But the bottom line is- this is the best Silver Surfer action figure out there right now.


Thursday 28 November 2013

Emma Frost: Astonishing X-Men (Marvel Legends)

Marvel Legends Emma Frost
Last and definitely not the least Legends figure from the Wolverine Legends Wave (a.k.a. Puck Build-A-Figure Wave) that I'd like to show is none other than this gorgeous mind-manipulating siren, Emma Frost! This is the 2nd Emma Frost or White Queen we had from Hasbro; the first one that was released 5 years ago is just hideous and I think it's about time they should create a new one, and I'm glad they did. While still sporting the Astonishing X-Men "uniform", you can see a much better improvement on this Emma from the old Emma. With her and Rogue (who will be coming out next year) branded as the "Manipulators of Memories", she will indeed manipulate and mesmerize you... if you don't stop staring at her!












Again, there is no "X" logo painted or embossed on this X-Men figure just like freelance Wolverine. I don't know what's the deal here with Hasbro but this time, I cannot complain with the paint job cause it doesn't look like she has some smudges like we had with Cyclops. Although I got nothing really much to tell you about the paint details, but I like the choice of flesh tone they used on this figure; it almost seemed skin-like for that matter. You may not actually see the colour shading on her "beach blonde" hair on these photos but there are some fine light gray highlights running through it. Silver lipstick!- I like that, but the eyes look like it need some alignment.


Hasbro apparently used the Jean Grey body mold for Emma. They used the same pair of hands but replaced her feet. She got her high heels, which make her a bit taller than Jean. I like the detail over her chest- talking specifically about the indention and the shape that made up her brassiere. Moreover, the curves and the contour that formed her mind-blowing body is phenomenal. This newer Emma Frost is undeniably more voluptuous than old Emma from the Annihulus BAF Series.


What's missing with this Emma Frost is her signature white cape. Looking almost half naked may still give her that appeal but to fully present an accurate rendition of Emma, it would have been nice if she had it. I have to steal old Emma's cape and try to snug it right in, and unfortunately it looked kinda odd seeing this floating above her shoulders.


Remember; same body mold equals the same amount of articulation. Identically, she got what Jean Grey got. Her head movement is hindered by her hair though you can ply it out of the way. She can ball-hinged shoulders with no bicep swivel, single-jointed with rotation at the elbows, hinges and rotation at the wrists. She got diaphragm swivel that cuts around the edge of her bra. Ball-hinged hips, which I don't like. Upper thigh swivel, double-jointed knees, hinges to the ankles with rotation and ankle pivot for the leg part.


With her heels, she stands about 6.3 inches tall; just about a tiny bit taller than Cyclops who's also part of this Wave. Nevertheless, I think she is a must-own figure for me to complete my Astonishing X-Men team. The only problem I might be having is I won't be able to put her on display without an action figure stand. Pointy heels are not designed to stand! Overall, I like this figure; yet another improvement done by Hasbro.


Tuesday 26 November 2013

Cyclops: Astonishing X-Men (Marvel Legends)

Marvel Legends Astonishing Cyclops
The Wolverine Marvel Legends Wave has its ups and downs. I know it's still early for me to say this since I still haven't covered Emma Frost and the Build-A-Figure Puck, but after taking them all out from their packages, Astonishing Cyclops appeared to be the best thing that happened in this Wave. While Wolverine doesn't have the "X" logo and Sabretooth looks too macho, this guy here is simply a mirror image from his comic book counterpart, which I think, should be if you want to make action figures based off from comic books.



Also known as the Puck Build-A-Figure Series, Cyclops carries with him Puck's arms in the package. Thankfully, he doesn't come with that infamous Hasbro action figure stand, which already has taken some space in my collection box. From what I heard, we won't be able to see the running change which is the Phoenix Five Cyclops sooner or later this year but hopefully we will see it as a ComicCon exclusive in the future.


The rendition is accurate and quite astonishing. One thing I'm not too impressed about is the way Cyclops' yellow arm bracers are painted. Looking at all these smudges and scuffs make me wonder if there's anyway these guys from the "paint department" can go back to art class. It's also the same issue I had with freelance Wolverine and some Hasbro Marvel Legends figures. Notice that his yellow shin guards is a lot yellower than his arm bracers if you take a closer look, but overall, the paint job is decent.


Cyclops, in the comics, pretty much has an average height with an average physique, and what's more fitting than to use the Black Panther body mold or the Bucky Cap body mold to a Cyclops action figure. Repeatedly being used, I got no problem with this body mold. In fact, it is the perfect body mold for an average-sized superhero. The only part that is different in this figure is the orientation of his hands and fingers. While the right hand is simply clenched, the other one is on an "optic blast" pose... or whatever perverted pose that is going through your head. Zooming in at the head sculpt, I must say he looks very akin to Scott Summers; the width of his jaw and the sculpt on his visor is perfectly shaped.


About his articulation, there are no changes or anything distinctive that could at least make Cyclops different from those figures which have this body mold. The neck is on a ball-joint, shoulders are in a ball-hinged and has swivel to the biceps. He got double-jointed elbows and hinges to the wrist that allows a full rotation and flexion; very useful when you get him into the optic blast power pose. Ab crunch, waist swivel, T-jointed hip with upper thigh swivel, double-jointed knees, swivel to the mid-calves, ankle hinges and pivot are basically just there, which you probably should have skipped reading if you already knew about this body mold.


He stands at 6.2 inches tall and he is very much in scale with the rest of my Marvel Legends. If you're looking for a Cyclops to be part your of 6-inch action figure collection, you may get the Cyclops that comes with the Brood Queen Build-A-Figure piece but I suggest this newer version simply because it is the best!


Thursday 21 November 2013

Sabretooth (Marvel Legends)

Marvel Legends Sabretooth
Hasbro needs to be reminded that Sabretooth is not suppose to appear like a sexy body builder. It seems like on this one, they toned down his savagery. For all I know, he suppose to look like "the king of the jungle" or the Wolfman! This little grimmace over his face can no way scare a Jubilee in a dark alley. I don't know what Hasbro was thinking but apparently, they used the Luke Cage or the Hyperion body mold, which made this action figure incredibly macho and I still couldn't get my eyes to get used to it.















Sabretooth is part of the Wolverine Marvel Legends or Puck Build-A-Figure Series that comes with Puck's baby-sized head. He stands almost 7 inches tall and compared to the Marvel Select Sabretooth, right away you can tell that the Select is the better version between the two. I'm not saying that the sculpt on this figure is bad. I mean if you look at all the muscle folds, the bumps and the curves along with these creases around his costume, they are well proportioned and didn't come short on details.


However, this body mold is incompatible on Sabretooth. The body mold worked well with Luke Cage, but with Sabretooth? To me, he looked some kind of an exercise/fitness guru we see on TV. Both his hands are on a "claw-attack" mode, like that of Black Panther yet bigger... but don't have pointy claws, it's a shame! Moreover, he doesn't have that big white fur that goes at the back of the neck like the Select one, which could have added some good points to the sculpt. He has a decent head sculpt, though I think this modern look could get Wolverine more or less intimidated.


I like the lighter orange and brown colour scheme on this Marvel Legends Sabretooth, which for most part, reminds me of the original classic version. But like most Hasbro Marvel Legends, nothing on this paint would ever get you excited. The colours are flat with no paint variation or shading. The funny thing is Sabretooth has this weird brown nail polish, which could have been better with gloves and again, with the claws.


The amount of joints is equal to that of the Luke Cage Marvel Legends. The neck is ball-hinged that can let his head move at any direction. Ball-hinged shoulders that allows Sabretooth to raise his arms to the front, back and to the sides. He got swivel to the biceps, double-jointed elbows and ball-hinged wrists useful for his "claw-attack" pose. He got an ab crunch and waist swivel at the torso. Sabretooth got T-joints that allows him to kick. His legs have upper thigh swivel, double-jointed knees, calf swivel, hinged ankles and ankle pivot.


In the 6-inch category, I honestly recommend the Toy Biz Marvel Legends Sabretooth more likely than this Sabretooth, because this newer one doesn't really captured an accurate rendition of his features. The Marvel Legends Puck Series Sabretooth may be a good thing to have just for comparison or if you're a huge fan of this character, then I suggest this one should be part of your collection.


Sunday 17 November 2013

Wolverine (Marvel Legends)

Marvel Legends Wolverine
If there's one guy in the Marvel universe who I think, doesn't have any allegiance to any team or any type of super-duper boy band that exists out there, it is the Wolverine! No X-Men logo means- I don't give a damn where we wanna put him. X-Men or Avengers... or Alpha Flight? Purposely or not, I'm just glad Hasbro didn't bother putting it. I should start calling him the "freelance Wolverine" if this is what this action figure is all about. He may look like a variant from Wave 3 X-Force Wolverine but he is actually part of the Puck Build-A-Figure Series or the Wolverine Legends Series, which is probably a tie-in to that Wolverine movie released this summer.














I gotta say that the colour scheme is "very Wolverine". We know him by his traditional yellow and blue uniform even on this one, who doesn't have the team's logo. But honestly, I prefer the brown version over this one; yellow just look cartoonish and doesn't fit well with his persona. I like how the paint is applied with no runs and bleeds. Mine has minor scratches but it's not a big deal. However, the big deal for me are the joints that connect his hips to his legs; appearing like a blue strip everytime you spread the legs out. Another complaint I have are the claws, which should have been painted with grayish silver like the ones on X-Force Wolverine.


Though I'm not entirely satisfied with the paint job, but the sculpt on this action figure is the best out of any Wolverine-sculpt I've seen. Using the same body mold as the X-Force Wolvie (which I am glad they did), freelance Wolverine's short and stocky built gives an accurate rendition of the superhero. The claws are straight and very stiff, bringing justice to those flimsy Wolverine-claws we had from the previous ones.


Articulation-wise, Hasbro has given this action figure a generous amount of articulation. He has a ball-jointed neck that lets his move in a variety of angles. With a pair of "shoulder blade joints" added to his ball-hinged shoulders, his arms can hyper-extend to the front and back to give you a more dynamic "pouncing pose". He got double joints to the elbows, wrists are hinged and it rotates, the torso has swivel to the diaphragm and waist, and got a Y-jointed hip that has a weird diagonal movement when you raise the legs upward but can be remedied through those thigh cuts. He got double-jointed knees, mid-calf swivel, and hinged ankles with pivots.


Overall, he is a very poseable figure! In addition, the claws are removable and gives you dozens of option on how to display this rage-fuelled mutant. Freelance Wolverine comes with this infamous Hasbro action figure stand like the one with "high def" Doctor Doom that has pegs to help him stand on top of it.


Adding this Marvel Legends Wolverine to my collection helps me in my mission to complete the essential members of the X-Men team as well as with the Avengers. I could have purchased any 6-inch scale Toy Biz Wolverines that are still out there and would still look good once displayed, but this new Wolverine looks way better compared to his predecessors.


Tuesday 12 November 2013

Frost Giant (Marvel Universe)

Marvel Universe Frost Giant
The first ever Marvel Universe figure has finally arrived in this blog! Say hello to this big blue meanie... or we call him the Savage Frost Giant in the Thor lore. For someone who collects 6-inch Marvel Legends figures, this action figure won't disappoint because the scale is perfect. Now from what I heard, the body mold on this figure is from the Icons Series Thor by Hasbro, and it is hard to tell when you got a torso all covered with body armour with all these amazing details. Frost Giant is a two-pack special edition that comes with a 3.75-inch Loki as shown on these pictures. This character showed up in the first Thor movie appearing as a movie-version of himself and not entirely looking as a comic-version like this figure here.












The paint work on this figure is almost comparable to McFarlane's style. The first thing that sticks to your eyes is Frost Giant's chest plate and his furry shoulder covers and loin cloth that is filled with a lot of colour shading. War and winter is bestowed upon him; his chest plate looks worn and battle torn while the covers over his shoulder is painted with bits of silver dry brushing looking like he has been out from a snowstorm. Despite the decent amount of paint work on his arms and legs, the detail on the torsal area is overwhelming.


Overall, the sculpt on this figure is crafted very nice and smooth. He got that "elven ears" and nose ring sculpted over his head, which gives him the feature. Again with the chest plate and fur, the amount of sculpt on this area is... rich! Scratch marks and dents, and that fur-like appearance all worked well with this figure also with the straps around his legs.


Frost Giant comes with two different accessories. He got his battle helm made of a soft rubbery plastic that is painted and sculpted beautifully; almost looking like it's carved from a bone. You can also see it got a hole bored at the top of this skull-turned-helm which looked pretty badass. While the detail over his helm may get you amazed, the battle axe is a bit of a bummer. I must say though that is very well sculpted, but paint? The colours are just solid and flat.


The articulation on this figure adopted most of the articulation that the Icons Series Thor has. He got ball-jointed neck that lets his head move up and down, and turn 360. Ball-hinged shoulders that can move all the way up but hindered by his shoulder covers. He got single-jointed elbows, rotation at the wrist and has fingers that articulated individually at one hand where I usually place the axe because the fingers at his right hand is just hard and stiff to snug the handle in. Frost Giant got a ratchety ab crunch and swivel to the waist at the torso. His legs can move forward and back but is being limited by his loin cloth. He got double-jointed knees, hinged ankles but no rotation and pivot.


This Marvel Universe action figure stands at 12.5 inches tall and maybe about an inch shorter than our Marvel Legends Giant Man, which I must say an ideal height that could mix well especially to your average 6-inch scale Marvel Legends. In conclusion, I think this figure is truly awesome and you may include him into your collection if you're planning to get all of Thor's enemies.


Tuesday 5 November 2013

Thor (Marvel Legends)

Marvel Legends Thor
Here's an action figure that I should have reviewed a long time ago- better late than never I guess, but behold Hasbro's Marvel Legends Modern Thor! Released during the first Return of Marvel Legends Wave (or the Terrax Build-A-Figure Wave), this action figure was seen at the San Diego Comic Con 2011 as an exclusive then appeared on retail the following year. Gradually, I became to like this Thor because of how decent the paint job and sculpting, which is actually better than the ones from Toy Biz. With Thor: The Dark World coming this Friday, this review may considerably be in perfect timing.














I would like to start with the sculpt of this figure. His chain mail and cape is impressive. Though not as detailed as the Marvel Select Thor, the chain mail is indented to look more like "scales of metal" placed on top of each other. The cape is textured with a very nice wave effect that kind of flowing towards the side. Thor got this wide jaw and has this Nordic facial feature, which captured the exact same look from his latest version in the comics.


Paint-wise, some areas are painted with flat solid colours and areas with good paint shadings. I like how this gray and bluish glossy paint on his headgear and chain mail (respectively) is done; making it looked worn as well as these discs around each corner of his torso and at the ankles. The feathers at the side of his head needs a bit more shading but what I'm bummed about is this strap that sort of hanging around his waist that should have had some shading on it matching his belt. He got these gray circles painted over his loin cloth that are, for everyone's info, looking like the ones in those comics.


Thor comes with none other than his hammer... or Mjolnir. Also, there is a part of this piece that needs shading and that is the handle. Here you can see that it is just painted with solid brown but the head is painted generously with silver dry brushing with the added cracks sculpted around the sides. Like I said, he got a strap at his right hip where you can basically slip the handle into it something like a holster.


The articulation may not impress someone who is very particular with poseability. Although roughly, this Thor three or four more joints than Select version of Thor but still you can't seem to get him to pose far beyond that. Hindered by his stiff shoulder-level hair and his long cape, his head cannot aim up nor the torso to do a flying Thor pose. He got ball-hinged shoulders, bicep swivel, single-jointed elbows that bends and rotates and ball-hinged wrists that bends and rotates. To his torso, he got diaphragm swivel but no waist swivel! His hips is on a T-joint that lets the legs move forward and back but very limited because of his loin cloth. Thor got upper thigh swivel, double-jointed knees, and hinged-ankles that bends and rotates and no ankle pivot, which could have been a savior.


Compared to your average Marvel Legends figure, this he is at the larger end of the scale; standing almost as tall as the Build-A-Figure that comes with this Wave, but with the right camera angle you can get a decent photo for your Legends Avengers team using this Thor. Still, Hasbro should have down scaled him a little bit. I think this Thor looks a lot cooler and if you're a 6-inch scale collector like me, I'd recommend getting this one.