Review of Doctor Strange, Brother Voodoo, Enchantress, Astral Strange
Marvel Legends Action Figures

Introduction

It's time to wrap up the latest wave of Marvel Legends, just in time for the new Doctor Strange movie to hit theaters! I have my IMAX tickets, do you? What are you waiting for!

This final group includes the comic based Strange, as well as Brother Voodoo and Enchantress. From the movie, we have another Doctor Strange, but this time he's in an 'astral' state, done in funky milky white plastic. Of course, Dormammu is the Build A Figure, and I'll be wrapping things up soon with him, along with the Space Venom and Juggernaut, two other recent BAFs.

You can snag these guys at most mass market retailers, including Target and Toys R Us. You'll pay around $20 each, unless they happen to be on sale. Remember, these are the usual 1/12 scale, and are all in the 6 - 6 1/2" range.

Packaging - ****
Same package, different wave. I've already discussed my love for the collector friendly nature, and they do a decent job with character personalization. They also include a good wave inventory on the back that also shows which figure comes with which BAF piece. I'm not loving the multi-lingual aspect since it takes up valuable real estate, but it's a minor nit.

Sculpting - Enchantress, Astral Strange ***; Doctor Strange ***1/2; Brother Voodoo ****
Out of this set of four, my easy favorite is Brother Voodoo (Doctor Voodoo). This figure was previously available through the SDCC exclusive boxed set, which is also where Dormammu made his debut. I didn't buy that set, so this figure is a welcome addition.  The head sculpt looks great, and they've done an excellent job personalizing the base body to the character. I particularly like the skulls attached to his belt.

I'm also a fan of this comic based Doctor Strange sculpt, although it's nothing new.  We just got this head sculpt (and pretty much everything else) last year in another Marvel Legends wave, so I'm pretty surprised to see it again so soon. I can't really argue with the quality - I loved it then and it hasn't gotten worse - but for those that already have the previous release, this one is a harder sell.

The Astral Strange has the excellent sculpt that we saw with the regular movie Strange. However, the milky white plastic doesn't lend itself to showing off the details and accuracy, making it seem like a far less impressive figure than the normally painted release.

Finally, there's Enchantress. She has a decent face sculpt, but it's not quite as even and symmetrical as some of their more recent work. The detailing in the hair is good, and the soft locks don't restrict the articulation as much as I expected.  I'm not a huge fan of this base body though, with the lanky limbs and slightly weird proportions. It's not terrible, but it's not their best work.

Paint - Brother Voodoo, Astral Strange ***; Enchantress, Strange ***1/2
As I mentioned, the slightly translucent, milky white, sparkly plastic that the Astral Strange has been cast in makes for an interesting conversation piece, but it doesn't do a lot to show off the other aspects of the figure. It's a gimmick, and like most gimmicks, the novelty wears off pretty fast.

But it's Brother Voodoo that takes the biggest lumps in this category, thanks to the slop around his hair and costume. Considering the quality improvement we've seen with the majority of the recent waves, I was pretty surprised to see the poor definition on several of the cut lines, along with the bad hair line.

A plus for him is the partially translucent staff, done in blue this time. It helps sets him apart - slightly - from the previous release.

Both Enchantress and Strange pick up the slack however, looking more like other recent releases. Clean facial paint along with sharp detailing on the costume provides a much better overall impression.

Articulation - Enchantress, Strange, Voodoo ***; Astral Strange ***1/2
All the usual Marvel Legends articulation is here, and nothing has been short changed. As you might expect having collected the line for long enough now, the female figure doesn't have quite as many joints as the males, but Enchantress is still reasonably poseable.  As I mentioned earlier, a plus is the soft hair, which is less restrictive than I expected.

However, the pins and joints on Enchantress, Strange, and Voodoo all felt softer and weaker, more like Marvel Legends from a year ago than recent waves. Maybe it's just my imagination, but as I worked with them I was more worried about tearing a pin or snapping a joint, something that's been rare in the last three or four waves. I'm hoping it's just a fluke...or just in my head.

Accessories - Astral Strange **1/2; Strange, Enchantress, Voodoo ***
Everybody has their BAF piece, which snags them an automatic **1/2 here.  If you are building Dormammu, they're critical. If not, you couldn't possibly care less.

The astral version of Strange does have one other accessory - the removable necklace.  I couldn't get myself worked up enough over it to go that extra half star, however.

Strange and Enchantress have two astral energy swirly thingamabobs that are designed to go on their wrists.  That's great, except they are identical sculpts (only the translucent color is different) AND we've gotten them with other characters before, making them a repeat reuse. Strange's cape is removable, so you may end up counting it here as well, but since it's really the only thing to set him apart from the previous release, it becomes a pretty critical feature of the basic figure.

The only good extra this time is the staff that comes with Voodoo, which he also had in the boxed set. The bright blue translucent plastic looks great in just about any lighting.  His cape is removable as well, although you'll need to pop off his head to accomplish it.

Fun Factor - ***1/2
The softer joints on most of these makes them slightly less 'fun', adding in the worry of breakage or wilting over time.  Still, these remain the best overall action figures on the pegs right now, and kids fascinated with the new MCU characters will enjoy them.

Value - ***
I'm still very happy to be getting high quality figures for $20, but the re-use with most of these is getting a bit over the top.  The Doctor Strange and Voodoo are both straight up re-releases with only some minor alterations, and the Astral Strange is the same figure from the same wave, just cast in a different plastic.  I appreciate getting Voodoo, since I didn't buy the boxed set originally, but I can't pretend that the 'value' is quite as good.

Things to Watch Out For -
As I mentioned, the plastic seems a little softer - take care freeing things up if you have any stuck joints.

Overall - Enchantress, Astral Strange, Doctor Strange ***; Voodoo ***1/2
This is one of those situations where personal tastes end up making a slight effect on the Overall. You might assume from the previous categories that Doctor Strange would get ***1/2 and Voodoo would get ***. However, the fact that we already have 95% of this Doctor Strange hurts his Overall for me. You can argue that Voodoo is also a previous release, but at least that was an exclusive version that required you to buy a large multi-pack to get him. Now you have the chance to pick up just this character, and the quality is solid. Out of these four, he was my easy favorite.

The other three are decent enough, but nothing to get particularly excited over.  Their greatest value is in providing a BAF piece for Dormammu, which is never a sign of excellence.  They aren't bad figures, they just aren't great figures.

Score Recap (out of ****):
Packaging - ****
Sculpting - Enchantress, Astral Strange ***; Doctor Strange ***1/2; Brother Voodoo ****
Paint - Brother Voodoo, Astral Strange ***; Enchantress, Strange ***1/2
Articulation - Enchantress, Strange, Voodoo ***; Astral Strange ***1/2
Accessories - Astral Strange **1/2; Strange, Enchantress, Voodoo ***
Fun Factor - ***1/2
Value - ***
Overall - Enchantress, Astral Strange, Doctor Strange ***; Voodoo ***1/2

Where to Buy 
Online options include these site sponsors:

- Entertainment Earth has the singles for $21, and the set of 8 for $160.

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
I just covered the first half of this weave last week, including movie Strange, Mordo, Nico, and Iron Fist. Before that was the back half of the Space Venom wave, including Miles Morales, Silk, and Electro. The first half of that wave included Hobgoblin, Peter Parker Spider-Man, and Spider-Girl. Before that I had the Juggernaut wave with one review of Cable, Havoc, Kitty Pryde and Phoenix here, and the other half with Rogue, Deadpool, Wolverine, and Iceman here. Before that I ad the back half of the Giant Man wave (with Giant Man, Captain America, Iron Man, and Nuke), but in between I've looked at one of the 12" figures under the banner - Spider-Man - as well as the new full scale prop replica Captain America's Shield.

I covered the first half of the Giant Man wave as well, including Red Guardian, Black Panther, and Nick Fury. Just before that I covered Red Skull (BAF), Taskmaster, Sharon Carter, and Demolition Man. The other half of that wave included Captain America, Mockingbird, Whirlwind, and Cottonmouth.

I also have my look at another ML Spider-Man wave, including Absorbing Man, Ben Reilly, Spider-Gwen, and Venom in one half, and Speed Demon, Beetle, Jack O'Lantern, and Morbius in the other. Prior reviews include the terrific Hulbuster  BAF, the Blizzard, Vision, Valkyrie, War Machine, Thundra, Doctor Strange, and Iron Man.

I let the BAF's build up for awhile last 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.

There's a lot more Marvel Legends reviews than that, and you should also hit the Search Reviews page, to find them. Also, there's likely to be more applicable reviews done after this one was published.

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

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