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.

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:

- 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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