Hasbro Marvel Legends Series 1
The reign of ToyBiz is no more and Hasbro has officially taken over the Marvel Legends superarticulated action figure
line. While some ‘growing pains’ are to be expected, we’re all really hopeful that Hasbro will be able to pick up right where ToyBiz left off with maintaining Marvel Legends as the premiere mass-market action figure line for sculpt detail, paint application, character selection, and, of course, articulation! The first series gives us Planet Hulk, Hercules, Banshee, Emma Frost, Ultimate Iron Man, and X-Men 3 Movie Beast. Collect all six to complete the Annihilus build-a-figure. Expand the post for pics and reviews.
PLANET HULK
Planet Hulk is a pretty darn awesome Marvel Legends figure. He has the big, beefy, gnarly sculpt that you’d expect from a Hulk figure, but the deep grooves and wicked detail in his face really just takes his grittiness to a new level. He very much looks like the exiled, battle-hardened gladiator of his new home deep in space. He also get cool accessories - a helmet, shoulder sash/armor piece, and a big tower shield. I’m not really sure why someone as powerful as the Hulk would need body armor, but who cares?! He looks cool in it! Planet Hulk also has a variant (or production error) with both arms in all green eliminating the painted on silver arm armor. Whichever one you might happen to find on the pegs, I highly recommend you pick it up!
VARIANT:
HERCULES
Hercules has gotten a lot of comparisons to the Burger King mascot thanks to his huge grin and day-glo orange spray-on tan, but both of those attributes are fitting of the character! Hercules is the second most impressive figure in this series next to Planet Hulk. He has a big, detailed sculpt with excellent articulation. He also gets an accessory in his trusty mace. This is a really nice figure and a welcome addition to my Avengers display.
EMMA FROST
Hasbro missed the mark with Emma, which is a shame because she was a very highly requested character from fans. The poor White Queen lacks any of her trademark curves and has a rather skinny, scrawny sculpt that definitely doesn’t capture her requisite sexiness. Moreover, her face is just… a wreck. It looks like her head got scrunched in some kind of vice or press. Eek. Unless you really love the character or just want to complete the BAF, this figure is a pass.
BANSHEE
Banshee’s not as bad as Emma, but he’s not great either. The pros are his cool cloth glider wings and his solid articulation. The cons are his ugly, exaggerated screaming face sculpt, his lack of paint detail, and his awkward proportions. Banshee is really short and has disproportionately long ‘monkey-arms’. Or maybe he just has stubby legs. Either way, Hasbro goofed on this one. Plus, he’s missing his trademark collar. That was a pretty egregious oversight on Hasbro’s part. Oh well.
ULTIMATE IRON MAN
I don’t care for Ultimates figures. I prefer nothing but standard ‘Earth 616′ Marvel figures, but I realize that the Ultimates universe has a big fan base so I understand including this version of Iron Man. It’s actually a really well-made figure. The articulation is great and the removable helmet is a nice touch. He even has a bit of a dirty wash on his gray plastic to give him a weathered, battled look. His only flaw really is his unmasked head. The sculpt is a little off. Tony looks kind of a like a pale Asian man with a bad bowl haircut under there. But, there’s really no reason to display with his helmet off anyway, so it’s all fine to me.
BEAST
I hate movie figures. I especially hate movie figures when they’re released long after the movie hit theaters and they’re just sort of stuck in the middle of a Marvel Legends series all out of place. Apart from my dislike for the character, Beast is pretty well made. He captures Kelsey Grammer’s costumed likeness pretty well and has decent articulation. Side-to-side ankle tilt would have been nice, but it’s not a dealbreaker. His jacket is removable, and he has a nice airbrushing to accent the detail in his fur sculpt. He makes a nice addition to your X-Men movie figures display, if you’re into that sort of thing.
ANNIHILUS
By way of a BAF, Annihilus is pretty awesome. He’s kind of small (smaller than Hercules or Planet Hulk) but his detail, artic, and huge wingspan make up for it. There were two version of Annihilus from different production runs - some with more of pinkish hue and others more purplish. I think I got the pink. But, I’m colorblind so I don’t really know!
GROUP SHOT
The gang’s all here!
Tags: banshee, beast, emma frost, hasbro marvel legends, hercules, planet hulk, ultimate iron man
You know that this wave was made by toybz before the license was handed over to hasbro right? Only thing hasbro is responsible for is paint.
That’s really not true…
ToyBiz/Marvel Toys did the sculpts. Hasbro handled all aspects of manufacturing - that includes articulation and paint. (and the drop of accessories on planet hulk).
The elbrows were all Hasbro, all the way!