Review of Blizzard, Vision, Valkyrie, War Machine action figures
Marvel Legends Hulkbuster wave part 2

Introduction

Last week I looked at the first half of the new Hulkbuster wave of Marvel Legends figures - Iron Man, Thundra, and Doctor Strange. Tonight I'm finishing up with a look at the final four - Vision, War Machine, Valkyrie and Blizzard. Buy all seven, and you get enough pieces to build the impressive Hulkbuster figure, who I'll be reviewing soon.

So who are these four?  If you don't know who War Machine is by this point, I'm not going to be able to help you. And for non-comic fans that have watched Age of Ultron, the basic premise for the Vision is pretty clear. This version is advertised as the Marvel Heroes look, based on the game.

And then there's Valkyrie, labeled under "Marvel's Defenders". Unlike Thundra, she really has been a member of the classic comic book team the Defenders. (Note - not being a long time fan of the Defenders, I'm only going by memory on Thundra and that could very well be flawed. Maybe she has been a Defender...but I know without a doubt that Valkyrie has.) She's an Asgardian, a one time love interest of Thor, and a member of the Avengers from time to time, making her an important woman in the Marvel Universe.

These are currently shipping to major retailers, and will run you around $18 - $20 each, similar to past waves.  Keep in mind that along with the usual suspects - Toys R Us, Target, Meijer - these are hitting Walgreens as well.

Packaging - ****
Yes, I like these packages. It starts with the character personalization, with specific graphics and text for each character. Okay, they pull a bit of a cheat with some by grouping two together, like Valkyrie and Thundra, but they do put a photo of each on the back with their name and some general bio info. They also provide a nice chart to show all the figures in the wave and which figure is necessary for which BAF piece. And of course, it's all done in a collector friendly package with no twisties, no tape, and no need for any real damage to remove the figure and accessories.

Sculpting - Vision ***; Valkyrie, War Machine, Blizzard ***1/2
I'm really liking this wave overall, although there are a few nits here and there that stand out as annoyances.

We got two strong female figures in this wave, both sporting the larger, taller, more muscular body. Of the two, I think Valkyrie wears it just a little bit better, and a part of that is due to the costume design and hair style.  The figure looks a bit less gangly, particularly in the torso and legs.  The sculpted hair looks good, although the stranding is a little thick. I love the way it flows back over one ear and down along the face on the other side, and this matches up with one raised eyebrow. She's also very pretty, prettier than Thundra, but in a very no nonsense way. She stands a solid 7 inches tall.

Vision is the only figure that I have an issue with in this category, and it's not with either his head sculpt or his body design.  The head looks good, and includes a sculpted edge on the stone at his forehead, as well as an appropriately stern, chiseled expression. There's no surprises with the body, as we've seen it more than once before (even in this wave), but he has a critical inclusion that's just not working for me - his cape. It attaches around his neck, and a post fits inside a hole on his back, keeping it snug. It's made from a very stiff plastic, and quite long, reaching all the way to the ground in a fully upright stance.  And therein lies the rub. Posing him in any other stance with the knees, chest, hips or ankles bent is a real trial, since the cape gets in the way and is not pliable. Add in a collar that lacks the flair normally associated with this character, and you may want to find a cloth replacement. Vision comes in at about 6 1/4".

War Machine suffers from the same issue as Iron man, at least for me.  I'm all War Machined out. The version we get here is a nicely sculpted look, including a well done Rhodes portrait, but even the sharply defined edges on the armor and the inclusion of the articulated cannon isn't enough to pop my bubble. He stands at 6 1/2" inches tall.

Finally, there's Blizzard, my favorite of the bunch. Which is somewhat ironic, because he's on a standard body without a lot of fancy sculpting or even paint. But I love the look of the pissed expression and missing mouth, and the basic body works perfectly for this character. As you'd expect, he comes in at the standard 6 1/4 inches.

Paint - Vision ***; Valkyrie, War Machine, Blizzard ***1/2
The paint work is generally clean and sharp across the wave, particularly considering the price point and nature of mass market product these days.

Vision is my least favorite once again, due to a bit more slop on the bright colors of his costume. The edges and lines between the greens and yellow are rough in some critical areas like the chest, and even the eyes and jewel aren't quite centered in their sculpted locations.

Valkyrie steps it up with a much better job on her face, particularly the eyes and eyebrows.  The basic colors and lines of the costume are clean, and the broader sweeping colors - like black - are consistent in finish and coverage. They even added a slight wash to the hair to add some depth and highlight to the sculpt.

War Machine has fairly clean lines, and I like the speckled look of the armor. The tiny tampo printing is super clean - consider the scale and you'll appreciate how well done the printing of his name on the chest really is. There's still a few areas where the silver could be cleaner, but these issues can be masked by the impression of wear and tear on the armor. I also know that collectors will complain about the wonky eyes on the Rhodey portrait, but I feel for Hasbro here.  Getting those painted inside that visor wasn't simple, and while the wide eyed, bright white look is a bit disconcerting in close ups, it works fine in hand where the small scale allows them to blend in better.

Blizzard is my favorite again, thanks to the cool, icy blue color topped by the snow white highlights. There are a few spots where the white blends into the blue with a soft edge rather than a hard cut line, but it looks more appropriate here, more natural.

Articulation - War Machine, Vision ***; Valkyrie ***1/2; Blizzard ****
There's all the articulation you get with any Marvel Legends figure, and most of these are uninhibited in their range of movement.

Of course, the War Machine armor causes the most restriction.  Areas like the rocker ankles or the rotating hinge hips simply can't move the way they can with a figure like Blizzard or Vision. He'll be less dynamic on the shelf, which is the price you pay for the armored appearance.

Speaking of Vision, he scores lower not because of the joints on his body or their ability to move, but because of that damn cape.  It doesn't do you a ton of good to have all that great lower body articulation if he can't use it while wearing the cape.  Of course you could skip the cape...but then he'd look a lot less like Vision.

Valkyrie like Thundra before her, takes a hit for the elbows, which are rotating hinges instead of pin or double pin. While this type of joint usually gives a good range of poses, these are designed with the hinge so tight that the lower arm cannot move forward as far as I'd like. Still, the terrific joints at the shoulders and wrists help make up for it, and overall the articulation is excellent. She does slightly better here than Thundra did because her hair sculpt is much less restrictive with the neck, allowing for a greater number of poses.

And once again, Blizzard kicks butt.  With the standard body completely free of any encumbrance, you should have no trouble finding plenty of natural, flowing poses for this guy. The rocker ankles allow the feet to stay flat on the ground in even deep stances, all the joints are tight so maintaining dynamic poses long term is possible, and even the neck itself allows for decent tilt and lean action, depending on the position.

Accessories - Blizzard **1/2; Valkyrie, Vision ***; War Machine ***1/2
As always, if a figure only comes with the Build A Figure piece, it gets a very average **1/2 score here. That's the case with Blizzard, who takes a back seat for the first time. He comes with a big important piece of the BAF, but if you don't want Hulkbuster, that's just land fill fodder for you.

Valkyrie includes a terrific looking sword, with a nicely sculpted hilt and clean paint. They could have added another operation or two - that hilt is pretty bare - but the silver of the blade itself is clean and sharp. It fits in either hand as well.

Vision has his cape, which is sorta, kinda an accessory.  It comes separate in the package, and he doesn't HAVE to wear it...but let's face it, he will. It fits tightly on his back and remains in place with normal handling.

War Machine wins this time, no doubt about it.  Along with the Hulkbuster head, he comes with his own second head.  This second portrait shows Rhodes under the mask, and pops on with no trouble. I've already discussed it in terms of sculpt and paint, but adding an extra portrait always gets a big boost in the Accessories category from me.

Fun Factor - ***1/2
These are great toys - no doubt about it. Hasbro was using a softer plastic for awhile which I found annoying, but it feels like they've stiffened it up a bit with these latest waves. That makes these a lot better for actual play, where they have to take more abuse and rough handling. Kids already know War Machine well, and they've gotten their movie introduction to the Vision. Adding in Blizzard and Valkyrie just might spark their interest in checking them out further at the local comic shop.

Value - **1/2
Most collector lines are running $18 - $20 these days, but we are seeing some slight decreases. Watch for a sale at Target or Toys R Us, and you just might snag these for a few bucks less.

There is a dark shadow here, however. If you only want the Hulkbuster (and when you see my review of this guy you'll see why that might be true), you'll have to buy 7 figures to get him. That could be $140 plus tax, no small amount of money.  I'll discuss that further when I review him in the near future.

Things to Watch Out For -
You'll always want to find the best paint you can on the shelf, so if there's more than one figure, take the time to look them over carefully before selecting.  Also, the collector friendly packaging I love so much makes it easy for sleazebags to swap out figures and parts, then return them to the store.  Make sure you're getting the figure and accessories you expect before you head to the check out.

Overall - Vision ***; the rest ***1/2
The Vision ended up my least favorite out of these four, but overall the entire wave of seven was above average.  Vision fell a little short thanks to that damn cape, along with a slightly less stellar paint job.

My favorite is pretty obvious - Blizzard. Even though he's the simplest of the set, he also exemplifies how it is possible to use a base body, clean paint, and minor sculpt changes to create an outstanding figure.

As I said, this wave was well above average overall.  The seven represented a nice mix of Marvel characters, they were generally well executed, and the BAF was outstanding.  More on that final point very soon!

Score Recap (out of ****):
Packaging - ****
Sculpting - Vision ***; Valkyrie, War Machine, Blizzard ***1/2
Paint - Vision ***; Valkyrie, War Machine, Blizzard ***1/2
Articulation - War Machine, Vision ***; Valkyrie ***1/2; Blizzard ****
Accessories - Blizzard **1/2; Valkyrie, Vision ***; War Machine ***1/2
Fun Factor - ***1/2
Value - **1/2
Overall - Vision ***; the rest ***1/2

Where to Buy 
I completed this set by visiting a couple different retailers, including a Walgreens. You can pick them up at stores like Target or Toys R Us for around $18 - $20, depending on sales. Online options include these site sponsors:

- Entertainment Earth has the wave of all 7 figures for $160.

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
I hit up the first half of this wave last week with a look at Iron Man, Doctor Strange and Thundra. I let the BAF's build up for awhile this year, and covered a whole bunch at once in this review. Prior to that, I covered the Rhino wave, including Kraven, Chameleon, Misty Knight and Ghost Rider and Scarlet Spider, Superior Venom and White Tiger,  the Ant-Man wave in part 1 with Giant Man, Bull Dozer and Grim Reaper, and part 2 with Ant-man, Wasp, and Tiger Shark. and the Avengers (Thanos) wave, in part 1 with Hulk, Hellcat, and Iron Man MK43, and part 2 with Captain America, Batroc and Spider-Woman. Before that is the 'Hobgoblin' series which I've started with part 1 here, and the 'Allfather' wave, including Captain Marvel, Sentry and Thor and Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, Machine Man and Iron Fist. I also checked out the Toys R Us exclusive three pack of Coulson, Fury and Maria Hill from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

You should also hit the Search Reviews page to find the ML reviews prior to those (there's a ton) and in case any other applicable reviews were done after this one was published.

Discussion:
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