Packaging - ***1/2
I continue to be a fan of the
current Marvel Legends packages.
I like the comic book graphics down the right side, as well
as
the short personalized bio on the back of the card. You can
see
what the regular figures look like, and it's easy to pick out one
series from another on the peg.
I even tried opening this one
without doing too much damage, to see if it was still fairly collector
friendly (at least for a cardback/bubble style package). I was able to
slit the tape down the one side of the bubble, cut along the bottom,
and pull the tray out without damaging the glued sections of the
bubble. Therefore, if you decided to put it back for hanging on the
wall, it would be possible.
Sculpting
- ***
While none of
these characters are awful, I have to say that none of them really
popped my cork either. While some of the work was interesting, much of
it was soft, and there were far too many mold lines (my current pet
peeve) present across the board.
Of the three, Union Jack is
easily my favorite. The body is pretty standard, and I'm not esctatic
about the mold lines or the neck sculpted so far forward, but you can
get some great looks out of him nonetheless. His hands are
designed to work with the weapons, and he stands 6 inches tall.
Silver
Surfer is number two for me, and I mean that in the nicest possible
way. Not having read the story line, I'm not sure I understand the
point of the loincloth (did he sprout genitals when he lost his
powers?), but the rest of the armor looks good. The sculpting
on
it is a bit soft, with many of the details barely there, but at least
it's a unique look for the character. Again, his hands are sculpted to
work with the included accessories, and he stands just a smidge over 6
inches tall.
I
liked Warlock better when I first got him, but the longer I looked at
him, the more problems I noticed. He has some whopping big chipmunk
cheeks, the left gauntlet makes his hand look huge and out of scale,
and the almost complete lack of detailing on his body and costume make
him one of the less visually interesting figures. He clocks in at 6
1/2"
inches tall.
Paint - ***
Much like the sculpt, the paint is decent and acceptable, but not
exceptional.
As
usual, many of the pieces are cast in the color plastic rather than
painted, but there's still enough paint here to have their share of
issues. Of the three, Union Jack is my favorite again, with
the
nice traditional red, white and blue scheme. There's some sloppy cut
lines, and a few errant spots, but in person it's a reasonable mass
market job.
Silver Surfer does have a pretty
consistent silver,
and that's always a tough color to get right. There could have been
quite a bit more small detail work on his armor, but what's here is
fairly clean. While these might not be amazing paint ops, at least they
aren't as bad as some we've seen recently - and that's good, since
rising costs usually hit paint quality first.
Last up is Warlock,
and part of the issue is quality (there's some sloppy cut lines between
the various colors of his suit, as well as some missing details) and
part is just the goofy suit. This particular Halloween colored outfit
isn't really the best look for the character, and while they could have
improved the quality overall a bit, it still wouldn't have been my
favorite paint job. Maybe if they'd gone with a color that was more red
(like Hulk) and less orange.
Articulation- Surfer, Jack
***1/2; Warlock ***
All
three of the regular figures have that Hasbro Marvel Legend style and
level of articulation that most folks either love or hate.
There's
the ball jointed shoulders and hips, with the joints on both sides of
the balll/disc for Surfer and Jack. Adam has no joint on the
leg
side, but makes up for it a little by having a cut calf joint.
There's
double pin elbows and knees on Surfer and Jack, but Adam has the newer
pin/post elbows and knees, which give them lots of mobility...but make
them look even weirder than usual.
The necks on all three are the
usual disc style, so they can turn and move forward and back, but no
tilting. The neck joint doesn't do a lot to help Jack's sculpted neck,
but you can work around it.
Everyone has pin and post
wrists, as
well as cut waists and pin and post ankles. Warlock's are the slightly
redesigned style though, and again, they should have stuck with the
older style.
Jack and Surfer have the normal
ab-crunch joint,
while Warlock went with the more ball jointed style of chest joint.
Once again, I prefer the original.
I like the older style ML
articulation of Jack and Silver Surfer, and I think the newer designed
joints used on Warlock are far less attractive, and even less useful.
Accessories
- Surfer ***1/2; Jack ***; Warlock **1/2
Obviously,
each figure comes with one piece of the Red Hulk figure. Union Jack has
the torso, while Silver Surfer and Adam Warlock each have a leg.
Even
without the BAF pieces though, there's a reasonably decent selection of
extras this time. Warlock gets the lowest score because he
only
has one, but it's a well done version of his staff. Some
additional paint ops would have been nice, but that's a minor nit.
Jack
comes with two - a revolver and a knife. While these are
fairly
small, they do fit nicely in their intended spots on his belt. He can
hold them fairly well too, but I used the included rubber bands while I
was doing the shoot. They went with the very, very soft
plastic
for these, so don't be surprised if you need to reshape them a bit
after you've taken them out of the package.
Finally, there's the
Surfer. Remember, this is a guy without much power, so he
makes
up for it this time with a few handy weapons. There's the
sword
that fits nicely in the holder on his back, as well as a large
bronze/brass mace. These look great wielded in his hands.
He also has his surf board, but
it's equipped with straps for his arm this time, to be held as a shield.
Red Hulk - ***1/2
Even
though we've gotten way too many Hulk figures this summer, the Red Hulk
BAF is still my favorite part of this overall wave. I've never read the
series, so I'm not completely familiar with all the ins and outs, but
even then he looks pretty damn sweet.
He has the usual
articulation - peg/disc neck, ball jointed shoulders and hips, single
pin elbows and knees, pin/post wrists and ankles, cut waist, and
ab-crunch chest - and all the joints are tight and sturdy.
He
looks like he has the same hair stylist as several Street Fighter
characters too, and with the scale being approximtely right, he could
fit in nicely with the old SOTA line.
The Red Hulk isn't exactly a
huge Build a Figure, but he does stand 8 inches tall.
Fun Factor - ***1/2
While
the articulation is a bit wonky here and there, and kids might not
recognize anyone other than the Surfer, these are still some very fun
action figures. Accessories help too, but the figures hold poses well
and look good doing it - always a big plus.
Value - *1/2
I don't care how you want to slice it - these
aren't $15 action figures. And while the Red Hulk is a good looking
BAF, he's not got the size and heft to make folks feel like they are
getting a bargain. It looks like that with the Ares wave, the Marvel
Legends figures will be back down closer to a ten spot each, putting
them in a much more palatable price range, especially for those looking
to pick up the full wave.
Things To Watch Out For
-
Paint is always the top priority when you're picking these off the peg.
Once they are freed from their plastic prisons, I didn't have any
additional issues.
Overall - Union Jack,
Silver Surfer ***; Warlock **1/2
All
six of the figures in this wave are fairly mediocre, although I do
think Spiral is one of the more attractive female figures they've had
in a Marvel Legends line in quite some time. Of the set, Union Jack is
my favorite, and his old school style of articulation will allow him to
fit in extremely well with all the past Marvel Legends waves, including
those from Toybiz.
But at $15 a pop, this is a very
overpriced
series. The Red Hulk is certainly the best part of the
series,
although only you can decide if you've been Hulked out at this point.
Score Recap:
Packaging - ***1/2
Sculpting - ***
Paint - ***
Articulation - Union Jack, Silver Surfer ***1/2; Warlock ***
Accessories
- Surfer ***1/2; Jack ***; Warlock **1/2
Red Hulk - ***1/2
Fun Factor - ***1/2
Value - *1/2
Overall - Union Jack, Silver Surfer ***;
Warlock **1/2
Where to Buy -
Obviously, your best bet right now is Target, where they are an
exclusive. Or you can search ebay using
the sponsor MyAuctionLinks.com.
Related
Links -
I've covered quite a few
Marvel Legends over the years:
- as I said, I covered the first
half of this wave about a two weeks ago.
- then there was the Foom/Hulk
wave, broken into one review
here and another
here.
- I never did look at the third
wave of Hasbro ML's, but I did cover wave
2 and series 1, first at MROTW
and then here at QSE.
- you’ll want to check out my
review of the other
four figures at MROTW.
- Hasbro has also released
several of the 12″ Marvel Legends Icons, including Punisher
and Doom, and my favorite, Thor.
And if you still pine for the days Toybiz -
- in the 12″ Icons line, there’s
Spider-man
and Beast, Wolverine
and Venom.
- The Face Offs series 1 (with
Hulk/Leader in one
review and the other two sets in another)
and series
2 both had guest reviews.
- there’s the guest review of
the Fearsome
Foes of Spider-man boxed set, Urban
Legends box set, X-men
Legends boxed set, and the Fantastic
Four boxed set, along with my review of the Monsters
boxed set.
- The previous Sentinel
BAF was guest reviewed.
-
then there’s the various series reviews, including the Wal-mart
series, series 13,
series 12,
series 9
(including Galactus), series 8 Captain
Marvel and Doc Ock,
series 7 Vision,
series 6 Juggernaut,
Wolverine
and Deadpool,
series 5 Blade,
Nick Fury,
Sabertooth and Colossus, along with series 5 Red Skull,
Silver Surfer and Mr. Fantastic, series 4 Goliath,
Punisher,
Beast,
Gambit, and Elektra,
series 3 Daredevil
and then the rest
of the series, series 2 Thing
and Namor,
and finally, from three and a half years ago, the series 1
review.
Discussion:
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