Review of Deadpool
Marvel Legends action figure

Introduction

There are many great philosophical questions - How many roads must a man walk down? How many seas must a white dove sail? And how many Deadpools are enough for an action figure collector? Apparently the answer to all these questions is 42.

It certainly seems that way for the last question at least. Deadpool has always been a relatively popular character with comic book fans, but his huge success on the big screen a few years ago has caused the number of collectibles based off him to skyrocket.  You can find him in every scale, from 6" to 18", in every style from standard all plastic action figure to fancy mixed media, and in every price range from low end to middle ground to ridiculously expensive.

With the second movie hitting soon - yea! - Hasbro has themed their latest Marvel Legends release round him. Once again mixing movie and comic characters, this wave includes a Deadpool (reviewed tonight) as well as Cable, Deathlok, an X-Force Deadpool, X-23, Paladin, and Domino. Buy six of these (everyone other than tonight's Deadpool), and you get the pieces to build Sasquatch.

These are hitting major retailers right now, and will run you around $20 each.

Packaging - ***
You're getting the same standard Marvel Legends packaging with this series.  The BAF announcement is nice and obvious, and the package itself is collector friendly. The sparseness of this particular figure is quite apparent with the large window, bu the inclusion of the full wave line up on the back, complete with which BAF part comes with which figure, is always a big plus.

Sculpting - ***1/2
As I mentioned, this is a more movie themed Deadpool. There's also plenty of 90's vibe, including some Liefeld influence too. Not having seen the movie yet, I can't say how close of a match it is, and whether things like the huge honkin' scabbards or belt design are accurate, but the overall suit style matches pretty well, and if you have a kid looking for a movie version, this one is superior to the usual movie line. The shape of the eye patches and many of the costume details - like the shoulders and wrists - are a pretty good match. There are missing features though, like the seams in the mask, and some of the costume pieces are painted, rather than sculpted.

The head sculpt is a little small, but the detail work is nice, and they've given him one squinted eye. It works with most poses and adds some personality, but a second Ryan Reynold's portrait would have been a huge boost.

I don't love the huge scabbards on the back of his shoulder harness, but it's part of the downside with figures in this scale. At least when they are cheaper figures like this - Mezco did a much more realistic, in scale set on their Deadpool, but you pay dearly for that sort of quality.

Texturing and detail work is quite good on the costume pieces, and the sculpt does not interfere with the articulation. This guy comes in just a hair over 6" tall, and should fit in pretty well with the rest of the Marvel Legends on your shelf.

Paint - ***1/2
The paint work mirrors the movie even more than the sculpt, with the black shoulders, sides, chest, and various bands clearly based on his on screen look. Of course, that's also because the movie mirrors some of the early design elements from the comic.

The paint work is very clean, particularly for a figure at this price point. The edges between the black and red sections are sharp and neat in most areas, even around the eyes. Silver highlights, like the buckles and rivets on the harness, look very good in hand.

My one complaint is the belts (waist and leg), where the plastic color is unbroken. A wash would have really helped add realism as well as highlight the sculpts.

Articulation - ****
This is a Marvel Legends figure - great articulation is a given.

The neck could have a little more mobility, but that's the only joint out of the many - neck, shoulders, biceps, elbows, wrists, ab-crunch, waist, hips, knees, calves, thighs, and ankles - that is in any way restricted or less mobile than usual.

These shoulders are particularly worth noting. This particular base body has been used plenty of times of course, and it sports the shoulders with not just the cut bicep and rotating hinge, but the secondary joint in the torso that allows a much greater movement of the arms across the chest. Two handed sword poses are possible, and the arms can be positioned in a much more natural, fluid way overall.

The ankles are also worth noting, thanks to some great rocker movement. You should have no trouble keeping the feet flat on the ground even in deep stances, and I was impressed by the amount of forward and backward movement in the feet as well.

Accessories - *1/2
Unfortunately, poor Deadpool got the very short end of the stick in this category.

A figure in a BaF wave that has only the BaF piece always gets a **1/2 from me. Deadpool doesn't have a BaF piece, and is the only one of the seven figures that is not necessary to build Sasquatch.

What he does have is two identical swords, which slip into the scabbards on his back. The hands work well enough with them, although they are also sculpted to work with guns. And there are no guns. How do you have a Deadpool figure without ANY guns?  Here's your answer.

Fun Factor - ***
Throw in a couple guns and I'd go another half star here. With the limited accessories, the poses become more limited, which is not something you should ever say with a figure with this much articulation.

Value - **
Twenty bucks is the going rate for most Marvel Legends figures, but with so few accessories, no BaF piece, and the re-use factor (this is pretty much the same base body as the X-Force variation in this wave), you have a much harder time justifying the price.

Things to Watch Out For -
Not a thing. He's a sturdy figure that should be able to handle most play situations, and can certainly hold up to normal handling and posing.

Overall - ***
Do you need another Deadpool? Do you have 42 yet?  This is a nice Marvel Legends representation, getting close to the movie look (especially for kids - the quality here blows away the average movie specific line from Hasbro or Mattel), with excellent articulation and posability. On the downside, it has very little to offer in the way of weapons, which with a character like Deadpool seems incongruous. A few guns would have been great, but a Ryan Reynolds head would have put this guy over the top.

This whole wave seems a bit weird to me, particularly because of the re-release of Sasquatch. Once upon a time, this was the sort of character that was part of the wave...back when the BAF was huge. Now he's the BAF? I suppose it's better to get him that way than not at all, and this newer version has some decent bulk.

Score Recap (out of ****):
Packaging - ***
Sculpting - ***1/2
Paint - ***1/2
Articulation - ****
Accessories - *1/2
Fun Factor - ***
Value - **
Overall - ***

Where to Buy 
These have just started popping up at retailers like Target or Meijer where you can expect to pay around $18 - $20 each. Online options include these site sponsors:

- Entertainment Earth has them for $22 each.

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
Let's focus on Deadpool, a character that's gotten a lot of love the last few years. There's the X-Force, X-Men, and regular One:12 Collective versions, the 12" Hasbro Marvel Legends release, the huge 1/4 scale NECA version, the high end Hot Toys movie version, the almost as high end Sideshow sixth scale comic version, as well as several other Marvel Legends releases.

You should also hit the Search Reviews page, in case any other applicable reviews were done after this one was published.

Discussion:
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