Hot off the tail of Hasbro’s Fantastic Four themed series of Marvel Legends comes the third standard series of superarticulated figures from the Marvel Comics Universe. I’ve been pretty critical of Hasbro’s handling of the Marvel license so far, but this 3rd wave is actually starting to shape up. We’re still seeing flat, unpainted plastic and a reduction in functional articulation, but Hasbro’s style is sort of starting to grow on me. Marvel Girl and Black Knight both really shine as figures in this assortment even though they both rely heavily on Hasbro-style swivel joints. If Series 3 is any indication of things to come, then I’m feeling much better about Hasbro’s handling of the line. It seems like maybe the growing pains are over, and the company is finally starting to hit their stride with this fantastic toy line. Expand the post to see pics and reviews of Captain America, Bucky, Black Knight, Marvel Girl, Cyclops, X3 Colossus, Danger, Hydra Soldier, and the Brood Queen build-a-figure.

---

BLACK KNIGHT
Sweet! I was a little troubled when I saw promo pics of this figure, since he suffers from the Hasbro swivel-style joint at both the elbow and the knee. But somehow, it works for him. I guess being an armored figure helps hide the fact that his anatomy is grotesquely distorted. His shield is cool, and his shiny sword is pretty awesome. And he actually poses and displays really well. A paint wash here or there and maybe a little silver dry-brushing on his armor would make this figure a real stand-out.

---

BUCKY
Yikes. Um… Well… Okay, here are the facts. Bucky reuses the same body that ToyBiz sculpted for the Patriot figure in the Young Avengers Box Set. But, he gets an all-new howdy-doody head and a weirdly oversized collar. They also slapped on some boots from the TB Taskmaster figure that add to Bucky’s overall height, making him tower above Captain America (and most other figures in the series). So, he’s funky looking, out of scale, and just… awkward. I don’t really have much else to say about this figure. It’s Bucky…

---

CAPTAIN AMERICA
We’ve seen several versions of ole Cap throughout the Marvel Legends line, but this is our first “classic Cap”. He’s not quite a First Appearance figure, but he’s definitely got that ’40s comics cheeseball look going on. The figure is well made, and is an authentic representation of how Captain America was depicted in comics back in the day. His articulation is solid, but he has undersized ball hips and his pelvis is kinda tiny. It makes him look out of proportion. Not bad overall, though.

---

COLOSSUS
And here we have yet another X-Men movie figure. I’m not sure why we’re still getting figures for this movie in Marvel Legends a year and a half after it hit theatres, but… here he is. He’s a nice representation of the character - well made, nicely articulated. His ankles are a bit hindered by his sculpted pant cuffs, but it’s not that big a deal. If you like movie figures, you’ll love him. If not, he’s a pass. (Edit: You may notice that my Colossus has two right feet. Never forget to inspect your figures in the store before you purchase. Just because it’s by Hasbro doesn’t mean that quality control isn’t still an issue!)

---

CYCLOPS
Nice. I (and many other fans) are eagerly awaiting the action figure completion of the Astonishing X-men team and this version of Cyclops gets us one step closer. He’s a darn good figure, maybe just a little undersized for someone of Cyke’s stature, but he has excellent articulation, a nice sculpt, and decent paint detail. He could easily fit in with ToyBiz’ Marvel Legends. He’s that darn good! Way to go, Hasbro!

---

DANGER
Here’s another X-character to come from the Astonishing X-men book - Danger. She’s essentially the X-men’s training room gone crazy in robot form. This figure isn’t bad. From her sprawling wings to her nifty shoulder design, she’s got the look and the articulation I expect from figures in this line. Just a little metallic paint would have really helped her greatly, but I realize details like that just aren’t something Hasbro’s capable of working into production. Nevertheless, I like Danger and recommend picking her up to anyone who’s on the fence about this figure.

---

HYDRA SOLDIER
The Hydra Soldier excited fans because it marks the first “army builder” in the Marvel Legends line - meaning, the Hydra Soldier is just one of any number of grunts/henchmen/underlings for the insidious Hydra organization. So, conceivably, you could buy a whole roomfull if you wanted to. The only problem is… the figure kinda sucks. He’s way too big, and doesn’t really fit in with the rest of the figures in this series. Plus, his articulation suffers greatly from him getting stuck with the swivel knees and elbows. His arm sculpt doesn’t allow for his elbows to bend much at all, so he can’t really hold his guns in any kind of realistic or dynamic position. He does have ball hips, but they’re limited by his rubber “skirt”. Then he’s got the weird swivel knees and ankle hinges that have no side-to-side movement. He works great as a statue but fails as a superarticulated action figure. I won’t be amassing any Hydra armies any time soon.

---

MARVEL GIRL
Look at me, saving the best for last! I don’t know if my infatuation with this figure stems more from my connection to the comic character, or just from the fact that it’s the first Marvel Legend to be rocking a mini-skirt, but there’s something about Ms. Rachel Grey-Summers that I find just devilishly cute. Hasbro nailed her head sculpt - she’s got the adorable elfish features she’s been sporting in recent comic artwork along with the big hoop earrings and the chopped bangs. She also comes with a couple of accessories - two nifty ‘energy effects’ that fit nicely into her open hand and around her fist. Pretty cool. And while I’m not in love with her articulation, it doesn’t bother me too much. Rachel’s no acrobat, so I don’t really miss the double-knees or elbows here. Also, Hasbro has improved the engineering of the single swivel joints on this figure, carving out the sculpt at the back of her knees and the inside of her elbow to give that single joint a far greater range of motion. She has essentially the same articulation model as the Hydra Soldier, but she’s much more poseable than he is just because her joints don’t ram into each other when you try to flex them. If Hasbro could find a way to work out the blocky, knobby knees, I’d be 100% satisfied with this figure. Nicely done.

---

BROOD QUEEN
Oh, right. The build-a-figure! I really couldn’t care less about the Brood Queen as a comic character. She certainly wasn’t a “must have” for my collection. But the figure itself is really nicely done. It’s full of articulation, the sculpt is amazing, and Hasbro did a fantastic job with the paint detail by airbrushing lots of color gradients and shadows all over the figure to really make the sculpt pop. It’s not my favorite BAF, but it really might be the best build-a-figure Hasbro’s done yet. Much much better than the diminutive, unpainted Ronan toy we got in the Fantastic Four series. Good stuff.

---

GROUP SHOT

Tags: black knight, brood queen, bucky, captain america, colossus, cyclops, danger, hasbro, hydra soldier, marvel girl, marvel legends

Trackback Post