|
Packaging - ***1/2
There's two aspects of these packages
that set them apart on the mass market pegs. First, they
are collector friendly, to some degree. It's possible to slit
the bubble in such a way as to remove the tray and still put
it
back later. It's not perfect, but it's better than the normal 'just
tear it off the cardback' choice.
Second, there's a ton of
personalization with these, all the way to the die cut cardback of that
specific character. This sort of specificity costs quite a bit more
than the average cardback, where simple stickers are all that change,
and this gives the MOCers an even better looking display.
Sculpting - ***1/2
All three of these figures are very well sculpted, with lots of nice
details. All have proper costume wrinkles and folds, and all have
sculpts that work well with the articulation.
Dark
Wolverine is a little shorter than the others, as you'd expect. He has
only two claws per hand, and these are made from a very soft plastic.
They have a cool bone texture as well, with a finely dimpled surface.
He has a wise ass expression, befitting the character, and I love how
the folded down hood is another piece around his neck.
Piledriver
is much bigger, coming in at 7 1/2" (a full inch over the average of
about 6 1/2"), and has the volume to back it up. He has that grin on
his face that says "I'm a big dude that loves smashing things", and the
detail work in the mask and hair is excellent.
Drax is not a fun
loving guy, and his expression shows it. He's all deadly business, with
a determined look. There's an additional cool - but non removable -
blade sculpted on his right arm, with sculpted straps holding it in
place.
All three figures stand great on
their own, and all have hands properly sculpted to work with their
weapons.
Paint - ***1/2
The
paint work is solid across all three, although there's a few sloppy
lines and errant marks. They are far and few between though, and the
overall paint quality is well above most other action figure lines at
my local store. I wish that the many licensed movies ended up with
figures that had this good of paint work. Maybe the license costs end
up cutting into the money available for the paint ops...
You may
notice some difference in the colors on the arms and torsos, especially
with Drax. That's particularly true with greens when photographed under
bright light, but in person with the human eye it's not noticeable.
Articulation - ***1/2
I still prefer the DCUC articulation, even though there are fewer
joints, but all three of these are very posable..
The
neck joint is the usual pseudo-ball joint that Hasbro has used for
years. It's not really a ball, but rather a disc and post, similar to
many knees and elbows. That means the head can tilt forward and back,
but side to side tilting is much more difficult.
The
ball shoulders and hips (pin/disc style) work great, and there are cut
biceps and thighs to go along. All three of these have double
pin knees, but only Drax and Wolvie have double pin elbows.
Wolvie
also has pin wrists, but Drax and Piledriver have only cut
joints
above the wrists. The ankles on Drax are a bit restricted by the pants,
but both Wolverine and Piledriver have ankles with full range of
movement, including a bit of a swivel action that allows them to be a
little flatter on the floor in deeper stances. And don't forget the cut
waists and ab-crunches which work well.
For the most part, the
articulation is tight
and solid. There were a few pins - mostly ankles and knees - that felt
a little weak, but it was a minor issue.
I'm still not a huge fan of
these ball jointed hips, because it is very difficult to get natural,
flowing stances out of them. It's possible, but it takes quite a bit
more effort than with the unique hinge hips that we see on the DCUC
line.
Accessories - Drax, Piledriver
***; Wolverine **1/2
In
a previous review, I gave figures only ** stars for having only a BAF
piece, but in my recent DCUC review I upped that to **1/2, and it seems
only fair that I bump it up for Wolverine too. Yes, he only comes with
a limb for Zola, making him the least outfitted of the three.
Piledriver
comes with his huge wrecking ball (fitting, don't you think?) on a
chain. The entire thing is sculpted plastic - no metal here - but it
can be held in one or both hands pretty well.
Drax comes with not
one but two deadly looking blades. These fit in his hands nicely, or
they can slip into the sheaths on the back of his belt. They look great
in his hands, where you'll probably keep them most of the time.
Fun Factor - ***1/2
While
I don't like these quite as much as DCUC as toys, they are awfully
close. It's the funky hips that are a bit too annoying for posing and
standing that hold them back from a perfect score for me, but you may
not find these as frustrating.
Value - **
These are
costing as much as $20 a pop (that's what I paid at Toys R Us), and
that's about $4 - $5 each. This is another category where right now the
DCUC figures have a slight edge, but it's also going to depend on the
retailer.
Things to Watch Out For -
Not a thing.
Overall - ***1/2
When Hasbro announced they were bringing
Marvel Legends back after a long hiatus, I feared that they'd find some
new and creative ways of cheaping out. Thankfully, that's not the case,
and instead, the first two waves are as good or even better in quality
as the previous final waves.
None of these characters are
high on
my list as needs, but that's not necessarily true for you. Nice to know
that for fans of these various Marvel oddballs, their respective action
figures turned out great.
Now I'm off to find a Madame -
either one will do!
Score Recap:
Packaging - ***1/2
Sculpting - ***1/2
Paint - ***1/2
Articulation - ***1/2
Accessories - Drax, Piledriver ***; Wolverine **1/2
Fun Factor - ***1/2
Value - **
Overall - ***1/2
Where to Buy -
Your first best is the local Toys R
Us, Target or Meijers store, where these run $16 - $20, depending on
the retailer. I found them at Toys R Us myself, and they were a
whopping $20 each. Online options include:
- Entertainment Earth has the set
of for $125.
- Big
Bad Toy Store has the set of 7 for $120.
Related
Links -
Other Marvel Legends reviews include:
- just last week, I covered part 1 of this wave.
- I recently covered the Terrax
BAF wave, in part 1
and part 2.
- prior to that, the last series
I remember reviewing was the Red Hulk set, in part 1 and part 2.
- Then there was the last wave
of 'icons', the
larger scale Legends.
- before that, there was the
Foom/Hulk wave, broken into one
review here and another
here.
- I never did look at the third
wave of Hasbro ML's, but I did cover wave
2 and series 1, first at MROTW
and then at QSE.
- you’ll want to check out my
review of the other
four figures.
- Hasbro released several of the
12″ Marvel Legends Icons, including Punisher
and Doom, and my favorite, Thor.
And if you still pine for the
days Toybiz -
- in the 12″ Icons line, there’s
Spider-man
and Beast, Wolverine
and Venom.
- The Face Offs series 1 (with
Hulk/Leader in one
review and the other two sets in another)
and series
2 both had guest reviews.
- there’s the guest review of
the Fearsome
Foes of Spider-man boxed set, Urban
Legends box set, X-men
Legends boxed set, and the Fantastic
Four boxed set, along with my review of the Monsters
boxed set.
- The previous Sentinel
BAF was guest reviewed.
-
prior to that there was Wal-mart
series, series 13,
series 12,
series 9
(including Galactus), series 8 Captain
Marvel and Doc Ock,
series 7 Vision,
series 6 Juggernaut,
Wolverine
and Deadpool,
series 5 Blade,
Nick Fury,
Sabertooth and Colossus, along with series 5 Red Skull,
Silver Surfer and Mr. Fantastic, series 4 Goliath,
Punisher,
Beast,
Gambit, and Elektra,
series 3 Daredevil
and then the rest
of the series, series 2 Thing
and Namor,
and finally, from three and a half years ago, the series 1
review.
Discussion:
Want to chat about this
review? Try out one of these terrific
forums where I'll be
discussing it!
Enjoyed this review? Be sure to head back to the main page to find
thousands more just like it!
KEEP
SCROLLING DOWN FOR MORE
PHOTOS!
|