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Introduction
Time to check out a couple more in the recent Marvel Legends Avengers Infinity War wave 2, or as I prefer, the Cull Obsidian wave. Obsidian is the BAF, and I'll check him out next week with the final two in the wave, Captain America and Black Widow.
Last week I looked at the two figures based on the recent film, Ant-Man and the Wasp.
Tonight, I'll cover the two comic themed characters in the wave, the Black Knight and Malekith. These guys are popping up at mass retailers
right now, and will run you around $20 each.
Packaging - ***1/2
Nothing extraordinary here, but the usual collector friendly package is still quite nice. You can pick out the new wave on the pegs mixed in with
the old, you can clearly see the figure and accessories through the big window, and you can figure out which figure has which BAF piece thanks to
the legend on the back. And yes, I was lazy and used the same package photo as last week.
Sculpting - Malekith ***1/2; Black Knight ****
The Black Knight comes with three heads, and you can go with any one of them for a terrific look. One head has the full helmet covering his entire
face, looking very King Arthur. The second has a tiny helm, while the third has a medium sized helmet with cool Viking-esque wings. I'm going with
the full helmet, but which ever you choose you won't be disappointed.
His sculpted costume looks great as well, with some good texturing on the chain mail, and a nice flow to the cape and tunic. There's a loop on the belt for the sword, and the detailing is quite nice.
Malekith has his own bits of armor and belts, but they are a little less detailed, with softer textures. I like the grinning expression, and I'm quite impressed with the detail on the teeth (remember, these are 1/12 scale, just over 6" tall), but the hair sculpt is a bit soft. Still, they did a nice job using the standard body with some extra bits to get his costume look, and the portrait is great.
Paint - Malekith ***; Knight ****
Not much to complain about here, and both figures have plenty of paint operations to judge.
Malekith is the more colorful of the two, with his long blonde hair and two tone face. The red costume has some finger print or dirt marks in a few spots, but the edges between colors are generally clean and sharp. The teeth are particularly impressive again, as is the line down the center of the face. I wish there was a wash on the belt to bring out a little more of the detail, but overall it's above average work for this scale.
The Black Knight is even more impressive, with some really nice work on all three helmets. The bronze color is neat and clean, with sharp edges,
and the eyes are straight and even. The red piping and chest symbol look great, and the darker belt shows off the detail work a bit better.
Articulation - ***1/2
These are Marvel Legends, and they have the usual excellent articulation.
Both have ball jointed necks of course, but Malekith's is quite obstructed by the long hair. The heads on the Black Knight swap easily but stay in place when posing.
The rotating hinge shoulders, cut biceps, double pin elbows, and rotating hinge wrists all work great on both figures, allowing for some nice arm poses with the weapons. The gauntlets on the Black Knight can get in the way of super deep elbow bends, but it's a minor nit.
Both have the cut waist and chest crunch, as well as rotating hinge hips, cut thighs, cut calves, double pin knees, and rotating hinge/rocker ankles. The ankles work great, even on the Black Knight, allowing for deep stances with the feet flat on the ground.
Overall, the joints are tight and sturdy, and the plastic isn't quite as soft as we saw with the Ant-Man and Wasp.
Accessories - Malekith ***; Knight ****
Both figures have the BAF piece for the Cull Obsidian figure. Regular readers know that gets them an automatic **1/2 to start in this category.
Malekith adds in a very cool, very large weapon, which he can handle in one or two handed poses. The sculpt is good, and while the paint operations are few, it's a great looking blade.
I already mentioned that the Black Knight comes with two additional head sculpts. That's always a big plus in my book, but he also has his cool sword. He can carry it on his belt, or swing it around in any one or two handed pose.
Fun Factor - ****
Great articulation, great accessories - while kids might not know who these characters are at first, they do provide some excellent bad guy/good guy
fodder to battle with the movie themed characters. And who knows, maybe it will incent them to pick up a comic book?
Value - **1/2
At $20 each, these are going for the market average for 1/12 action figures aimed largely at kids. The quality is as good or better than others on
the market, making them a solid average value. Regular readers know that a score of **1/2 here means the price tag on this figure won't affect my
Overall up or down, since you're pretty much getting what you're paying for.
Things to Watch Out For -
Not a thing.
Overall - Malekith ***1/2; Black Knight ****
I'm not a huge fan of either of these characters, but I have to say that Hasbro did a great job on both. I haven't picked up a lot of Marvel
Legends in the last few months, but I broke down with this wave largely because of these two. Sure, the movie characters look great, but it was
getting nice versions of these guys that finally sold me.
Score Recap (out of ****):
Packaging - ***1/2
Sculpting - Malekith ***1/2; Black Knight ****
Paint - Malekith ***; Black Knight ****
Articulation - ***1/2
Accessories - Malekith ***; Black Knight ****
Fun Factor - ****
Value - **1/2
Overall - Malekith ***1/2; Black Knight ****
Where to Buy
Stores like Target should be getting these on the peg soon if they already haven't in your area. Online options include these site sponsors:
- Entertainment Earth has a case of eight figures for $170 and free shipping.
Related Links -
As I said, I just covered the Ant-Man and Wasp from this wave last week. I've covered a ton of
previous Marvel Legends as well, so you should also hit the Search Reviews page
to find them or in case any other applicable reviews were done after this one was published.
Discussion:
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This product was purchased for the review by the reviewer. Photos and text by Michael Crawford.
