

Wonder where my review of Marvel Legends has been?
Okay, so I don't review EVERY toy out there - thank goodness for guest
reviewers! Today we have a great guest review of the Marvel Legends
series 1. Take it away, Colin!
Colin here
again. Today I'm reviewing the long awaited Marvel Legends line from Toy
Biz. The first assortment consists of Captain America, The Toad, The Hulk, and two versions of Iron Man. One Iron Man is in the classic
yellow/red suit of the eighties while the other is
based on an older suit that was designed by Steve
Ditko.The only differences between the two suits of armor are
the color(gold rather than yellow) and the mask. The gold version is
a variant and is a bit harder to find.
|


|
Packaging- **
I am not impressed with the packaging. It is a large plastic bubble
in the vein of the Spider-Man Classics Line. The characters are featured
prominently and the display bases are very visible. The figure and
the base are in front of a reprint comic featuring the character. Art
on the actual card front is minimal due to the comic. The card has
the series on the upper right corner. On a sticker on the bubble is
the Marvel Legends logo as well as the character name and the number of
articulation points. The backs fare a little better with a brief bio
of the character and pictures of the figures in the series.
Sculpting-***1/2
These are the most accurate representations of superhero characters that
you will find. Between Toy Biz and DC Direct, we live in a golden age of
comic based toys. Some of the sculpts look a bit odd but that is because
there is so much articulation. The only places that I think look odd
are Hulk's head and Iron Man's hands. Hulk's hands are fully extended
but are supposed to have hinged finger articulation in future versions (a
proposed running change). The original was to have wires in the fingers
to allow them to hold a pose but that was scrapped due to kidlet safety.
I plan to add that to my Hulk as soon as time permits. Iron Man's
hands look great unless you want them to do anything besides fire repulsor
rays. Even the Toad, who was originally part of the Mutant Evolution
of X set is well sculpted although not as well articulated as the others.
The odd thing about Toad is that he has a toad sculpted into his left hand.
It is not removable.
Paint-***
The paint is very hit or miss. I had to look through several Captain
Americas, none of which were perfect. The most noticeable problem that
I saw was on the stomach. Most of the ones that I saw did not have
smooth paint there. You should also check the face for paint specks.
The other paint apps, including on the shield seemed fine on all that
I saw. On Iron Man, check the chest repulsor. Some of the ones
that I saw had small globs of paint there. All of the Hulks that I
saw were fine as was the single Toad.
Articulation-****
Yowza! This is the category in which this line really shines. While
the sculpting easily matches the better pieces from DC Direct, this is where
Toy Biz blows DCD out of the water. These are the figures that I wanted
throughout my youth. These range from 10 points(Toad) to better than
30(Cap and Iron Man). These have more than 10 times the articulation
of some DC Direct figures for less than half the price! The poses that the
more articulated characters will hold are practically endless. Hulk and Iron
Man have extra shoulder joints that allow for a greater range of motion on
the arms but look odd if seen from behind while the arms are swung forward.
While I have seen people complain on message boards, I consider this
a very minor cost for this kind of articulation. Be careful with Toad. A
cut joint on the right arm broke as I was posing it not 2 minutes after opening
it. I glued the arm back in place, thus reducing his points of articulation
by 1.
|
Accessories-***1/2
There are two categories of accessories here. One is the display base.
The other is the character specific article. The display bases
are very detailed and quite large and heavy considering the cost of the figure.
I don't really consider these as a part of the figure as they are not
necessary for display. All of them except for Toad's are wall mountable.
Toad's is a recycled base from Man-Spider in the Classic Spider-Man
line. It even still has Man-Spider's footprint on it. Iron Man's is
a Stark Industries satellite; Cap's is a wall and tank; Hulk's is a broken
wall. There are only two accessories between the four figures
discounting the bases. Captain America's shield and Iron Man's mask.
Cap's shield is perfect. It has a clip so that it is held snugly
on his wrist. There are elastic straps on the back of the shield so
that Captain America can carry the shield on his back. The clip folds
out of the way when the shield is worn this way. Iron Man's mask fits
very well. Underneath is Tony Stark's face. Both of these accessories
are well made and appropriate.
Value-****
These are a great value! I paied $6.99 at Toys R Us. At that
price and when compared to other figures out now, that's a great price.
It's amazing that these can cost $7 while much smaller figures(i.e.
Star Wars, Batman, Zoids) can cost as much or more and use fewer molds and
give you less plastic. Some stores charge upwards of $9 or $10. Take
away a star or two as you approach the ten dollar mark although even that
is chump change when compared to DC Direct figures(especially the deluxe
and boxed sets).
Overall-****
This is the way that toys ought to be made. The level of sculpting
and articulation have met the high level of quality set by the Classic Spider-Man
line. If you like superhero toys at all, buy these figures! They are
a very nice addition to the 6" scale selection of figures that are
all the rage now. This is a situation where the whole is greater than the
sum of its parts. While these figures are not perfect, their very minor
flaws are not enough to detract from the line as a whole. Personally, I think
that the variant Iron Man hurts the line. He's a good figure but limited
variants tend to really frustrate the casual collector who doesn't want to
or can't shell out big bucks for the limited figure to round out the set
as was the case with the yellow Daredevil and will probably be the case with
Dr. Doom in Marvel Legends series 2. It is rumored that there
will be two versions of Doom, the real Doom and a Doombot with the real Doom
being the variant. Unlike Iron Man, you are not supposed to know which
you have until you open the figure and remove the mask.
Where to Buy -
I found mine at Toys R Us for $6.99 although I have heard that some TRU stores
are charging $8.79. Target stores are supposed to have them as well.
I have not heard of K-Mart or Wal-Mart stores having them yet.
|
 Figure from the collection of Colin Gill. |