Review of Juggernaut, Space Venom, Dormammu action figures
Marvel Legends Build A Figure

Introduction

When Marvel Legends first started including Build A Figure pieces with every character, you were tiny and the BAF's were big. All these years later, they might be smaller...and you might be bigger...but they're still as welcome as ever.

I've been collecting the parts from various waves for the last three BAF figures, and thought I'd combine all of them into a single review tonight.  For your consideration, there's Juggernaut, from the X-men wave a few months ago; Space Venom, from the more recent Spider-Man wave; and Dormammu, from the very recent Doctor Strange series.

I can't believe anyone is unfamiliar with the BAF concept at this point, but if you are, here it is in a nutshell: each individual figure in a wave of characters comes with a piece or pieces of an additional character.  Buy all the necessary figures in that wave, and you can build the additional character yourself, hence the name 'build a figure', or BAF for short.

The figures that you needed to pick up to build these guys will run you around $20 each, and are currently available at most major toy retailers.

Packaging - ****
I included a Packaging score here, although technically these don't have their own package. Their arms, legs, torsos, etc merely come packed in with the other figures.  It therefore makes sense to simply translate the score for those packages here, and because the Hasbro Marvel Legend packs are attractive, informative, AND collector friendly, they get high marks from me.

Sculpting - Space Venom, Dormammu ***1/2; Juggernaut ****
All three of these look terrific.  In the end, it comes down to minor issues that are largely aesthetic.

As BAF's, these guys are all bigger than the average bear, and run between 8 and 9".

Juggernaut is my favorite, at least in this category, thanks to the detail sculpt work on the helmet, eyes and grimace. They did a nice job getting the damaged iron appearance on the helm, belt and cuffs, and the sculpted teeth look great. The body doesn't have a lot of sculpt detail however, and you'll recognize some of these body parts from past releases.

Space Venom is my least favorite, although he still gets great marks.  Chalk this one up to my less than enthusiastic opinion on the overall design of the character, which isn't really fair to the toy. Venom is a character, that for me, is completely dependent on his cool, ever changing, highly threatening portrait. Slap a sharply defined helmet design on his body, and you lose me. But hey, the sculpted claw hands look great, and he has some nice bulk.

Dormammu is somewhere in between.  I love the fiery head sculpt, and the claw-like hands look great. The armored suit looks good, and there's some nice subtle texture work. This is a figure that we got as a multi-pack SDCC exclusive earlier, and it's nice to have another way for collectors to add him to the display.

Paint - Juggernaut ***; Space Venom, Dormammu ***1/2;
The overall paint quality has gone up quite a bit on the last few waves of Marvel Legends, and that has translated to the included BAF pieces.

Space Venom is the most impressive in this area for a couple reasons. First, there's quite a bit of work involved with the white color, upping the odds for a problem. And second, white on black is a notoriously difficult combination, with the edges very hard to keep clean and sharp. They've done an admirable job here, with only the slightest blip here and there.

Dormammu isn't quite as complex in this category, but he's quite clean as well.  I really like the use of the translucent flames, and this color scheme - different from the SDCC version - works well overall. I'm particularly happy with the red metallic flake paint on the front of the skirt, which is a cool addition that works well with this character.

Juggernaut has s few minor issues, most notable in those same teeth I liked so much in the previous category. The sculpt might be great, but there's a fair amount of slop and glop as well.

Articulation - Dormammu ***; Juggernaut ***1/2; Space Venom ****
These might be BAF's, but they are still Marvel Legends, and that means plenty of joints.

The ball necks work best on Space Venom and Dormammu of course, since the helmet on Juggernaut is pretty restrictive.  Rotating hinge shoulders and wrists work great all around, but the single pin elbows on Juggernaut are less useful, thanks to those big muscles. The chest, waist, hips, and knees are pretty much identical, but poor Dormammu is far less posable from the waist down, thanks to the restrictive 'skirt'.

He also has a the top half of the boots that get in the way a bit - not a lot, but a bit - with the ankle articulation.  Neither Venom or Juggie has that problem, and the range of movement in their ankles, including the side to side rocker movement, is amazing.

Accessories - Juggernaut, Space Venom Bupkis; Dormammu ***
This is an odd category. You might assume "Michael gave him a bupkis!  That's going to hurt his Overall!", but no, that's not the case...in this particular instance. The reason is simple - as BAF's, these guys already ARE accessories to other figures, and the expectation is that they won't have any of their own. So a Bupkis here is really an average score, and has no positive or negative effect on the Overall.

Any positive score here - anything over a Bupkis - is a positive to the Overall, even one or two stars. Again, that's because they aren't supposed to have their own accessories, and getting anything is a big plus.

Dormammu gets not one but two extras - flaming skulls. These are re-used Ghost Rider skulls, and they are identical to each other, but they're still a great addition. I love the color and the way the translucent plastic seems to illuminate even in room light.

Fun Factor - ****
Marvel Legends are really the only decent true action figures out there right now.  Once upon a time, Mattel had their DC Universe Classics, but the more recent Multiverse stuff simply can't compete.  Hasbro's other reasonably well done line, Star Wars Black, falls short on articulation and even sculpting, far too often. The only real competition is the collector driven Masters of the Universe Classics, and those are coming to an end. The tighter joints, stronger plastic, and better paint operations have put Marvel Legends clearly in the driver seat.

Value - ***
This is a weird category for a BAF.  You don't buy a BAF, you buy the 6 or 7 figures that have the BAF pieces and build it. That's why it's called a BAF. You can then look at this one of two ways - you've spent $120 - $140 on the BAF...OR...you haven't spent anything, because you got them with other figures you already wanted.

I'm sticking with the same slightly above average value score here that I gave the figures that were purchased to get these. My reasoning is simple - if I consider paying $20 to get a Marvel Legend figure a slightly better than average value, then I must feel the same way about getting the BAF parts that come with it.

Things to Watch Out For -
Not a thing. Nice sturdy plastic; solid, well made joints; it's all good.

Overall - ***1/2
Another group of great BAF's from Hasbro.  The Marvel Legends line has really upped it's game over the last 18 months, and the quality improvements shine through. These are great toys, and picking a few up for the kids in your life is a wonderful way to introduce them to some of the other Marvel Universe characters that haven't yet made it to the big screen.

Score Recap (out of ****):
Packaging - ****
Sculpting - Space Venom, Dormammu ***1/2; Juggernaut ****
Paint - Juggernaut ***; Space Venom, Dormammu ***1/2;
Articulation - Dormammu ***; Juggernaut ***1/2; Space Venom ****
Accessories - Juggernaut, Space Venom Bupkis; Dormammu ***
Fun Factor - ****
Value - ***
Overall - ***1/2

Where to Buy 
The waves that contain these three are popping up at regular mass market retailers in pretty good quantities right now, so check your local Target or Toys R Us. Remember, you have to usually buy the entire wave of 6 - 7 figures to complete one of these Build A Figure characters. Online options include these site sponsors:

- Entertainment Earth has the singles for $21, and the set of 8 (for Dormammu) for $160. Other waves are also available.

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
I just covered the two halves of the Dormammu wave, including movie Strange, Mordo, Nico, and Iron Fist, and Astral Strange, Brother Voodoo, comic Doctor Strange, and Enchantress. Before that was the back half of the Space Venom wave, including Miles Morales, Silk, and Electro. The first half of that wave included Hobgoblin, Peter Parker Spider-Man, and Spider-Girl. Before that I had the Juggernaut wave with one review of Cable, Havoc, Kitty Pryde and Phoenix here, and the other half with Rogue, Deadpool, Wolverine, and Iceman here. Before that I ad the back half of the Giant Man wave (with Giant Man, Captain America, Iron Man, and Nuke), but in between I've looked at one of the 12" figures under the banner - Spider-Man - as well as the new full scale prop replica Captain America's Shield.

I covered the first half of the Giant Man wave as well, including Red Guardian, Black Panther, and Nick Fury. Just before that I covered Red Skull (BAF), Taskmaster, Sharon Carter, and Demolition Man. The other half of that wave included Captain America, Mockingbird, Whirlwind, and Cottonmouth.

There are a TON of additional Marvel Legends reviews before that, so you should hit the Search Reviews page to find those, and in case any other applicable reviews were done after this one was published.

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