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The Thing
Once a skilled fighter-pilot, Ben Grimm is now the Thing, a member of the world-famous Fantastic
Four. Bathed in cosmic radiation during a fateful trip into space with his three friends, Ben was transformed into a hideous
creature of craggy, orange stone with superhuman strength. Many find him unsightly, but Ben has maintained his sense of humor
and honor - because under that rocky exterior lies an ever-lovin' heart of gold! The Thing possesses superhuman strength,
endurance, and durability.
The first characteristic of this figure that I notice Right away is that it is extremely detailed. And I mean detailed!
All of the Thing's rocky
skin has small trenches and many line type thingies sculpted in. The figure is loaded with articulation: ball jointed neck,
ball jointed shoulders, additional movement behind the shoulders, elbows and knees, wrists, upper torso, waist, cut thighs,
heels, toes, and bendy fingers. I think that the bendy fingers were a great idea for the action figure because
you can position his hands in a closed fist or a open hand for grappling with his foes etc.. The figure came with a reprint
of The Fantastic Four number 263 (23 pages) Also included with the figure is a breakaway wall with 4 pieces. Over all this
is one of the best Marvel Legends figures released to date.
B+
Captain America
When, in
1941, a frail young patriot agreed to be a test case for an experimental "super-soldier" serum, he was transformed into Captain
America - the living symbol of freedom.
His body is now physically perfect, his courage unmatched and his fighting skills cannot be equaled. Cap joined WWII and helped
the allies win the war. After spending the decades following the war in suspended animation, he was revived by the Mighty
Avengers, a super hero group this charismatic born leader would eventually command.
This figure includes a reprint of Captain America number
109 and a base. The base is a bullet riddled wall and part of a tank. The tank has a small hole for an American flag that
is included with the figure. The figure's best attribute is the likeness; the face looks exactly like it does in the
comic books. Captain America has 34 points
of articulation at the shoulders, the biceps, the wrists, the fingers, the torso, the waist, the hips, the thighs, the calves,
the toes and double articulations at the neck, the elbows, the knees and the ankles. The shield included with this figure
has two elastic bands so that it can slip over cap's shoulders when not in use. The clip that snaps snugly onto his wrist
folds away for storage on the captain's back. Wrapping up, I strongly urge you to purchase this guy as he is my absolute favorite
action figure in my collection and well worth it if you can find him.
A
Beast
Hank McCoy not only possesses superhuman agility, strength, speed,
endurance and dexterity - he's also a world-renowned biochemist. As an X-Man, the blue-furred Beast has dedicated the totality
of his physical gifts and scientific genius to the creation of a better world for man and mutant! Beast also boasts the acrobatic
prowess of an accomplished circus aerialist and acrobat.
Beast was always such a weird character, but that says nothing about the figure... It has fantastic detailing like
the rest of the Marvel Legends, and has a cool base. It appears to be some type of railing on the stone part of a wall
perhaps; the railing part can come off and looks kind of cool posed with Beast holding it above his head. The package states
that the base is "wall mountable", but I think you would have a hard time getting it and Beast to stay on the wall. So I simply out the
base on my shelf and have Beast kind of sitting on the railing. The Beast has a whopping thirty nine (that’s 39
folks) points of articulation and as with the rest of the Marvel Legends figures, includes a comic book. This is in my opinion,
hands down, the BEST Beast figure ever produced.
B-
Silver Surfer
Desperate to deliver his home world from certain destruction, Norrin
Radd struck a deal with the fundamental force of nature known as Galactus. As the world-devourer's herald, he would search
the galaxy for his master's sustenance. Eventually breaking his bonds, the Silver Surfer now soars the cosmic waves unshackled
as the Lone Sentinel of the Spaceways!
There is really nothing spectacular about this figure, Except for the paint. It is very shiny and caused this figure
to jump off of the shelf at me. The Silver surfer has thirty eight points of articulation. The accessories are his
surf board and some weird person named Howard the Duck that I believe had an animated series at one time or something. The
interesting thing about how the way the Silver Surfer stands on the surfboard is by magnets; there is one in each foot and
a long strip on the board that he can stand on. The surfboard is connected to the "meteor base" by a short poseable black
rod. Howard the Duck has three points of articulation at the arms and head. I don't really know why Toy Biz decided to
include a "Howard the Duck" figure with the Silver Surfer. Anyways, to the grade...
C
 Sabertooth
Mortal enemy of the feral X-Man known as Wolverine, Sabretooth is a psychotic murder machine with
an accelerated healing factor, razor-sharp talons, hyper-keen senses... and an all consuming hunger for blood!
Sabertooth comes with a piece of mangled Sentinel section for a base. He also comes with the usual comic book. The
best part of Sabertooth is the articulation. It has the most ever from the Marvel Legends series with an astounding 44 points!
I really don't have time to list all of the separate articulations here, but believe me, they are well placed. This is my
favorite Sabertooth figure in my whole entire collection. It is even better than the Sabertooth figure from the original line,
if anyone has one of those. He looks very cool posed fighting my Movie figure of Wolverine. I had to do a bit of hunting for
this guy, but no where as near as much as I some times have to for figures. I would suggest picking up one if you see him.
B-
Wolverine
Little is known of his past, save that it was fraught with pain and
loss. Long ago, he trained as a samurai in Japan; later, he became Weapon X, an operative for the Canadian government. Today,
Logan is an X-Man - using his animal-keen senses, healing factor and razor-sharp claws to help protect a world that fears
and hate mutants! Wolverine is blessed with animal-keen senses that enable him to track people and objects with an impressive
degree of success. In addition, his accelerated healing factor allows him to survive wounds that would prove fatal to most
humans and mutants.
This Wolverine figure is from series 3. The base is a bunch of toppled crates upon two members of the Hellfire
club. The comic included with Wolverine is a decent read, and features Wolverine fighting a bunch of the Hellfire club. Anyway,
to the figure. It has a cool 33 points of articulation and has the original costume of Wolverine. The claws were bent
out of shape on all of the figures I saw at the store, and none of the figures had perfect paint jobs. I took the best one
of course. I managed to straighten out the claws with some warm water- I softened the claws under the warm water and
then straightened them the best I could. The paint job is not quite as easy to fix, however. The facial expression is very
nice, he doesn't look to angry- just the right amount. Wolverine's stubbly beard is visible on the portion of the face that
is not covered by the mask. I like the base that this figure came with. It has 4 pegs, one in between the opening in the pile
of crates, and the other three on the bottom with the collapsed Hellfire club members.
B-
1st Appearance Grey Hulk
Caught in the heart of a nuclear explosion, victim of gamma radiation
gone wild, Dr. Robert Bruce Banner now finds himself transformed during times of stress into the dark personification of his
repressed rage and fury - the most powerful man-like creature ever to walk the face of the Earth! The Hulk possesses superhuman
strength that increases as he becomes enraged, can leap vast distances and has demonstrated a powerful healing factor. The
Hulk is a living, breathing engine of destruction!
Marvel Legends series 9 was one of the most anticipated Marvel Legends series yet but there are a few things different
from the previous series. First off, Toy Biz decided to ditch the bases for Marvel Legends; which I am fine with as mine usually
ended up in a box anyway. Now all of the figures come with a part of Galactus, also a new feature. When you assemble all of
the 7 pieces you get a 16" Galactus, not a bad deal. 1st Appearance Grey Hulk has 34 points of articulation and his only accessory
is the left arm of Galactus. He doesn't have the traditional purple shorts that most people are used to, but the traditional
blue torn pants. He has a green wash over him which I really like, but most people don't seem to. This is an awesome Hulk toy; I highly recommend it to anyone!
A
Punisher
When his family was killed in the crossfire of a Mafia shootout,
Frank Castle put his military training to use - waging a one-man war on crime. A former U.S. Marine captain with a distinguished
combat record who has undergone SEAL (Sea Air Land), UDT (Underwater Demolition Team) and LRPA (Long Range Patrol) training,
Frank Castle is well-versed in the arts of warfare and hand-to-hand combat. As the Punisher, Castle reinvented himself as
the merciless scourge of the underworld. The mere mention of his name causes criminals everywhere to cringe in fear, because
they all know the Punisher plays for keeps - and someday, he may come gunning for them!
First off, I just want to clarify. This is the series 4 Punisher, not to be confused with the movie Punisher from series
6. Sorry about reviewing this guy so late, but I just found him Friday. Most Marvel Legends don't have accessories, but you
couldn't have a punisher toy without any guns. He has 2 guns, to be exact: A handgun and an assault rifle. I haven't
read a Punisher comic for ages, but the one included with him is a classic. His base is one of the best I have seen for awhile;
I don't really care for the sentinel and Galactus parts that they are including now- I usually don't buy the entire series
so a base is better in my books. The beard looks a little sloppy, but this is an old Marvel Legend so it is understandable.
I find that Punisher holds the handgun better in his right hand and the assault rifle better in his left. Oddly he comes packaged
with it the other way around. He only has 35 points of articulation but that is plenty, he doesn't really take too many
inhuman poses anyway. Punisher is recommended if you are a fan, but he is not a must-have.
B
Omega Red
The Russian mutant Arkady Rossovich was transformed into a
"super soldier" by the KGB, but he could not control his abilities and was placed into suspended animation. Recovered by agents
of the ninja clan known as the Hand, Omega Red soon clashed with the X-Men, particularly Wolverine. Omega Red secretes an
airborne toxin from his body that kills those in his immediate vicinity. Also, his arms are long coils made of carbonadium,
an alloy similar to adamantium.
Toy Biz has given us a sentinel piece. And once again I have no intention of buying the entire series just to get all
the pieces. Omega Red comes with the lower torso of the sentinel, two removable bendy carbonadium coils, a plastic stand,
and a reprint of X-Men number 7. The stand plugs into a hole on Omega Red's back, to help pose him in a more dynamic way.
Oddly, he only has 32 points of articulation. It seems Toy Biz has removed some of the more useless joints, (Like cut thighs,
hinged toes, separate index finger joint, etc.) which really doesn't make too much of a difference. I do think that
they made this figure a tad to big though; when you compare him to other Marvel Legends figures it is really noticeable. Omega
Red's hair is a soft, bendable plastic except for the pony tail - which is a solid piece. At first I thought that his knee
pads were too big, but I don't mind them now. There have really only been two Omega Red figures made so far, and this one
is better than the toy from the 90's; he is definitely recommended, and is a great figure to go up against Wolverine. Dinky
little plastic stands and a sentinel piece do not make up for having no base. Toy Biz should really consider selling the sentinel
separately. But at least you still get a nicely sculpted, decent action figure.
A-
Juggernaut
Cain Marko is a human
juggernaut. Once he begins moving in a certain direction, no power on Earth can stand in his way. Scientists would classify
him as an "irresistible force" - and when he gets a head of steam, there's no object he can't move. The Juggernaut possesses
untold power, mystical in nature, which enhances his strength and grants him an extraordinary degree of resistance to all
forms of injury. Once he begins moving in a certain direction, no force on Earth can stop him - only slow his pace. Sustained
by the Crimson Gem of Cyttorak, Cain Marko can survive indefinitely without food, water or oxygen. However, Juggernaut is
vulnerable to magical forces of sufficient strength. Without his helmet, constructed of an unknown mystical metal, he is susceptible
to psionic attack.
After months of searching for this figure, I finally caved and bought one online. Juggernaut arrived yesterday, and
WOW! This is by far the best Juggernaut to date, and possibly even the best Marvel Legend! He is monstrous - towering over
everyone else at 7.5 inches! Juggernaut has an amazing 40 points of articulation, which is pretty much as high as it gets. He comes with a reprint
of X-Men #13, a base, and a removable helmet. The comic is a great one, in which Juggernaut takes on all of the X-Men. As
usual, the base is wall-mountable but is slightly smaller than usual; I guess Toy Biz had to cut corners since this toy is
so huge. It is really just a reused base from Marvel Legends series one Hulk with some new mangled bars and a plaque
showing that it is (was) a wall from the Xavier institute. OK, now the helmet. It goes over Juggernaut's head nicely, but
there is a small 5 mm opening at the back. In other words, it doesn't completely fit right. But it won't fall off
and looks great.
Juggernaut has really huge arms, and only has one joint in the elbows. This is possibly another thing Toy Biz did to
save some money, and 2 joints don't really make much of a difference anyway. His huge feet anchor him to pretty much any surface,
so you don't have to worry about trying to cram him onto that tiny base. There is some bleeding of the paint on this figure,
on parts where Juggernaut's armor meets his skin especially. I don't mind the painted veins on his arms, it really helps to
bring them out. There is evidence of battle on Juggernaut's helmet and the metal bands on his arms especially. His side-combed
hair is slightly out of place, and his baby blue eyes are just right. Wow, this is a really heavy toy. If you play around
with him for awhile and then hold a different figure, it will feel like a feather. This is the way Juggernaut toys are meant
to be. All other figures made so far of him are put to shame by this one.
A+
Deadpool
Shrouded in stolen identites and clandestine secrets, the
Merc-With-A-Mouth is a man of mystery. Hero? Villain? Sociopath? You can try to define him, but you can't kill Deadpool! Artificially
engineered, Deadpool's superhuman healing factor allows im to survive seemingly fatal wounds and regenerate missing appendages.
A master marksman and swordsman, Deadpool wields various blades and guns. He also relies on a teleportation device to deliver
him from danger.
As I am sure you already know, this is one heck-spelled-with-two-L's of a Deadpool figure. It has an astounding 40
points of articulation, including a new interesting "click joint" waist. What I mean by this is that it kind of clicks
into the default position, which is nice. However, I do have a major issue with the rest of the articulation; The joints
seem very loose, even though I removed my figure from the package less than an hour ago he can barely stand on his own properly.
Another figure that had this problem was Sabretooth from series 5. This probably won't bother many other people, but is a
real annoyance to me.
Now back to the good stuff about this figure. He has an awesome arsenal of weapons, a plastic stand similar to the
ones included with the series 10 figures, a reprint of Deadpool number 4 (In which Deadpool takes on the Hulk), an interchangeable
unmasked head, and a little Doop figure. Deadpool's weapons are definitely my favorite part about the figure; he has two machine
guns, a pair of swords, a pair of Sais, and a handgun. The scabbard on his back sadly is not removable,
but can carry the swords and machine guns on it. There is a holster on Deadpool's left hip for the handgun, and a holster
on his right thigh for the Sais. He can hold all of his weapons
reasonably well, but I don't think they will stay in place if a child is playing with the figure. As for the removable head,
it pops on via a ball joint and looks pretty messed up; in other words perfect. Deadpool looks puny
compared to figures like Omega Red, but that is just Toy Biz being stupid making figures way too tall. Aside from some
articulation issues, this qualifies as one of the best Marvel Legends to date; a shame it is short packed. Check out
some pictures here.
A-
Angel
Before the battle between good and evil mutants escalated to the
brink of genetic war, carefree millionaire Warren Worthington III was the high-flying, heroic Angel. Warren Worthington is
a mutant who can fly by means of natural wings, which span 16 feet from tip to tip. Archangel's entire anatomy is adapted
for flight: his bones are hollow like a bird's, his body is virtually devoid of fat, he possesses greater proporionate muscle
strength than a normal human, his eyes can withstand high-speed winds, and a special membrane in his respiratory system allows
him to extract oxygen from the air at extreme velocities and altitudes.
Angel is only the second Sentinel Series figure I have reviewed so far, and he is likely to exceed most people's expectations.
He has a decent 36 points of articulation, which is an average Marvel Legends amount. Included with Angel is the same clear
plastic stand included with all other Sentinel Series figures, the left leg of the Sentinel, a reprint of X-Men #5, and two
wings. The wings are stunning; they measure about 8 inches long each, and even have detailed feathers sculpted in. The tips of the feathers
are black, which makes them look much better than the prototype figure. I could go on about the wings forever, so to sum up they are absolutely perfect.
This figure has a pretty basic paint job except for the wings, so there aren't many places where the paint could be
sloppy; just be sure to check the face on your figure before you buy. My figure was nearly perfect, except the paint on Angel's
left thigh looked a little hazy. One thing Toy Biz did was add a light blue hue to places of the white stripe down the middle
of the figure, which looks a little nicer than just plain white plastic. The articulation on this figure works fairly
well, but even without the wings this figure is impossible to stand on its own because of the weird angled legs. Angel is
probably one of the few figures from this series that actually needs the plastic stand. If the wings weren't this good, I
would probably give this figure a B-; but fortunately they are. Angel is definitely one to pick up, fan of the character or
not.
B+
Cyclops
Scott Summers, one of Professor Charles Xavier's first recruits,
is stalwart leader of the X-Men. Xavier took Scott into his "Institute for Gifted Children" in Westchester County, New York
when he discovered the young man's uncontrollable ability to release immensely destructive force beams from his eyes, and
bagan training the boy in the use of his incredible power. Scott firmly believes in the professor's dream of human and mutant
coesxistence. Cyclops possesses the mutant ability to project a beam of concussive force from his eyes. Unable to control
the blasts, Cyclops prevents the energy from escaping by wearing ruby-quartz lenses - the only substance able to diffuse his
awesome power.
I'm surprised Toy Biz didn't put Cyclops into a Marvel Legends series earlier, as he is a fairly main X-Man. This
figure only has 32 points of articulation, which seems a little low for Marvel Legends. This figure is mostly reused parts,
but what is newly sculpted looks decent. His face for example, looks almost perfect; and they even went as far as to sculpt in some stitched lines on the boots. I have heard
some people complaining about the large boot cuffs, but they really aren't that bad and after awhile you get used to them
anyways.
Cyclops comes with a plastic "flying stand", the Sentinel's left arm, and a reprint of Uncanny X-Men #201; which I
found to be a little boring. Definitely a poor choice in that area. As for paint, this is another pretty basic
character; so there isn't much to watch out for. Even my figure's face had almost perfect paint; a rare Marvel Legend miracle.
This Cyclops figure fits in pretty well with the newer costumed X-Men, but is a little too plain for my taste. If you want a Cycops however, this is
a pretty good one to get.
B-
Mr. Sinister
A Victorian-era scientist obsessed with evolution in all its forms,
Nathaniel Essex allowed the immortal warlord known as Apocalypse to augment his body and strip him of his humanity. Now, he
is Mr. Sinister - a master manipulator and expert geneticist working to create the most powerful mutant the world has ever
seen! A brilliant biologist and geneticist, Mr. Sinister is also immortal - granting him a unique perspective on human evolution.
Sinister can manipulate his molecular structure, thus altering his appearance and shape. Also, he possesses superhuman strength
and an accelerated healing factor.
Marvel Legends gave us a Mr. Sinister figure, a rare treat from Toy Biz. This is a really cool figure to have, since
you never really got to see Mr. Sinister very clearly in the comics as he was usually sitting around in the shadows. Mr. Sinister
has 40 points of articulation, with all the usual stuff; but also individually articulated fingers which is nice. This is
actually a very tall figure, about the same height as Juggernaut. According to the card back Mr. Sinister is 6' 3", so the figure should not be as big as it is. Perhaps Toy Biz made him
so big to make the figure look menacing or something.
Mr. Sinister comes with the right leg of the Sentinel, his removable cape, and a reprint of Uncanny X-Men #243. The
comic is pretty good, but they should have put more time into picking a good comic for this character. This figure’s
sculpt is beautiful, with horizontal lines sculpted in everywhere; but I do have one complaint about the paint. Instead of painting
around the collar of his shirt, they just painted right across; so his skin is blue around his shirt. This seems like a really amateur mistake on Toy Biz's part, but I didn't even notice
it until I removed the figure from the package. Everywhere else seems pretty good paint wise. The previous figure we had was before by no means bad, but now we have a Marvel Legends Mr. Sinister - and it is a fine addition to anyone's
collection.
A-
Sasquatch
Walter Langowski had it all. Professional football player. A Ph.D.
in physics. Millionaire status. He also had something else: thick orange fur, an ape-like physique, and clawed hands and feet.
Walter designed and constructed a device to generate gamma radiation bombardments similar to those which had created the Hulk.
He used this equipment on himself and was transformed ino a ten-foot tall, superhumanly powerful creature. Walter called his
bestial form "Sasquatch," the Canadian name for the legendary "Bigfoot" creature that he resembled. Once he learned how to
maintain his normal personality and intelligence as Sasquatch he joined Alpha Flight. Walter Langowski continues to be his
own successful experiment, a man changed into a superhuman Sasquatch with powers that can benefit all of mutantkind.
The Apocalypse series holds a few lesser known characters, but also a new Wolverine and a Bishop. I bought Sasquatch
first because he just looked so dang cool. Each hair is individually sculpted in, and it looks beautiful. The eyes and
mouth have a glossy shine to them, which adds a sense of realism to the figure as well. Sasquatch is a whopping 8.5 inches tall, towering over such monstrosities as Juggernaut and The Hulk.
Sasquatch has the usual Marvel Legends quality of paint, but it seems a little better than usual. This figure comes
with the right arm of Apocalypse and a reprint of Alpha Flight #10. The comic is a pretty good one, in which Sasquatch takes
on Fantastic Four villain Super Skrull. Apocalypse's arm has a bendy tube that attaches to the torso, just like in the comics.
Toy Biz managed to fit 42 points of articulation on this guy; allowing him to hold pretty much any pose you can think of. A lot of the articulation is cut joints hidden in the fur. I didn't even know who Sasquatch or Alpha Flight
was before I bought this figure and read the comic, but I still like the figure and enjoy putting it up against other Marvel Legends once in awhile.
B
MARVEL and all MARVEL character names and distinctive likeness(es) thereof is/are trademark(s) of Marvel
Characters, Inc. Copyright © 2003 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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