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Marvel
Legends Movie Daredevil
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Today's guest review is from the ever popular
Coheteboy, and he's covering the new Marvel Legends III Daredevil, based on
the film. Take it away!
While Marvel
Legends Series III was already reviewed back in January, a certain figure
slipped through the radar. Daredevil was not advertised on the
packaging of other Marvel Legends but a small ad within the comic did
mention that a movie Daredevil was also available.
Ben Affleck (c'mon, you know you love him) plays the character of Daredevil
in the film of the same name, released February 14th. What's
interesting is how there are legions of Movie Hulk figures hogging the pegs
for a movie that isn't out for a few months but not an ounce of anything for
Daredevil. It's also quite a wonder why Daredevil was slapped into the
Marvel Legends line, which until now, only featured comic book versions of
our heroes. But now that the film adaptation of Daredevil is now in
theaters, what better time is there to take a look at the figure? And
if you haven't seen the film, go on and check it out. You may or may
not like it, but this reviewer thought it was good one.
MWC Note - I did
a review of the film here as well.
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Packaging - ***1/2
The clam shell packages of Marvel Legends has remained the same, which is
always good for continuity. It protects the figure well and also gives
a clear view of what you're purchasing. This has been extremely
helpful since I've been able to pass up figures that had horrible paint
applications.
Sculpting - ***
The sculpt of Affleck's
Daredevil is uncanny. This is really nicely done by Toybiz.
Given that signature Affleck pout also adds to the resemblance.
There's not a lot of detail in the sculpt where you're used to. For a
costume such as this, there should be a lot more wrinkles and details here
and there. The current look is very flat and somewhat disappointing.
But since the actor is captured nicely, it came away from falling into the
lousy ranks of the X-Men movie figures.
Paint - ***
Not much to say about the paint ops since Daredevil is pretty red
throughout. There's a wash making some of the red come out a tad
darker but overall, it's still very flat. But this might be due to
painting over an average body sculpt. On the plus side, the skin tones
on the chin is actually pretty impressive, but I don't recall Ben having
such a severe 4 o'clock shadow.
Articulation - ***
In contrast to the other Marvel Legends line, this ISN'T as articulated as
you can get in a 6" figure. There's 25 points total, which is
still high, but a lot of these joints are useless without other points to
balance them out. There's a ball jointed neck (with very limited
range), standard shoulders, single jointed elbows and knees, double jointed
wrists, waist, cut hips, ankles, hands, double jointed heels and toes.
The fingers of the hands are articulated to hold his nunchukus or feel the
walls for direction.
What's disappointing is the lack of ball jointed shoulders, double jointed
hips, and cut thighs. Because of the lack of those joints, many of the
given joints in the lower leg are unnecessary. For example, his legs
only go one direction, but his feet can point in any direction. Same
goes with the arms, only going forwards and backwards. For a character
that's running around at great speeds and dodging bullets, there needs to be
a lot more articulation to keep this Daredevil from being too stiff.
But what can you do... 25 points is still good for the money.
Accessories - ***
There are only three accessories - nunchukus (that fit inside a pouch
along his legs), a stained glass window/cathedral base (repaint of
Spider-Man Classics Series 2 Daredevil base), and the comic book.
The comic is a reprint of the original and is always welcome to reintroduce
yourself to the character. It would have actually been nice had they
included a small portion of the movie adaptation graphic novel.
The base, that is better seen attached to the wall, is simply a repaint of
the first base. This time painted brown.
The nunchukus is the ONLY weapon included with the daredevil. And
while it is very cool that it uses real metal for the chains, it would have
been nice had they provided more accessories from the film. Even a
removable mask would have been pretty nice. But these are all minor
quibbles since I'm becoming too spoiled of a toy collector.
Value - ***1/2
Marvel Legends are selling for under $7 at Wal-Mart, Target, and Toys'R'Us
(unless they raised the price) and $7.99 at KB Toys, where this one was
picked up. A decently articulated 6" figure, decently sculpted,
with a few accessories, for $8... still hard to go wrong with that.
Unless you absolutely hated the movie and hate Ben Affleck simultaneously.
Overall - ***
As an avid collector of all the Marvel Legends, I know what Toy Biz is
capable of and I know what they WERE capable of. This Daredevil more
or less falls under the category of what ToyBiz was capable of PRIOR to
Marvel Legends or Spider-Man Classics. The head sculpt is nicely done
and there are an equal amount of accessories as any other figure, but the
lack of articulation, lack of accessories, and reused base makes this figure
a straight up three stars. Definitely better than Toad but can't
compare to the likes of Human Torch, Namor, or the first Daredevil release.
But, I was a fan of the film, and this is a near perfect likeness so this is
the closest to owning official movie merchandise to Daredevil. It's
definitely worth picking up, even if I sounded overly harsh.
Where to Buy:
I picked him up at KB Toys for $7.99, and everyone else should follow
suit if not already.
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On-line:
- Amazon.com
has the set of five figures including Thor, Magneto, Wolverine, Daredevil
and Ghost Rider for only $37 plus shipping. That won't be much
different than buying the set at the store once you figure in sales tax!
- Aisle Sniper was selling the
Wolverine and Daredevil combo, but the website says sold out right
now. You might want to call to see if they have any in.
- Big Bad Toy Store
was one of the very first on-line sites to get series 3 in, but they don't
have the Daredevil listed. Another one you might want to call.
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Figure from the collection of Michael Crawford.
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