Marvel Legends Cyclops

This figure is no longer new to the market, but it's new to me...it's the Jim Lee-style Cyclops figure!

Here's a look at him from the front and back. At first I was "meh" on this figure because it's kind of plain without any shadows or interesting paint apps, but the sculpt itself is so perfect, I'm glad I finally got him.

You can really appreciate how much an upgrade this figure is until you compare him to an earlier version. I've been displaying the Astonishing X-Men version of Cyclops with my X-Men for a few years. I love that costume design, but the sculpt never had wowed me. Look at them side-by-side.

 

As you can see, the new Cyclops is a lot taller, which fits more with the character's portrayal in the comics. plus, in comparison, the old Cyclops has weirdly large feet!  Never noticed that before.

I can't have a Cyclops post without including his long-time love, Jean Grey. I'm still displaying the old Toybiz Phoenix figure. There have been several very nice toys of her that have come out in the past couple of years, but I honestly still love this one. The body sculpt is kind of simple, compared to modern female figures, but I really like her head sculpt. 

One guy who was not thrilled to see a new, improved Cyclops was Logan. Oh well. Maybe it's time for Logan to get a bit of an upgrade?? There's a new Wolverine coming out this year that I plan to check out. 

 

In conclusion, this figure is a really nice upgrade to my previous Cyclops and I'm happy to have him in my collection. Some paint application shadows would have been nice, but it's still a great figure.

Marvel Legends Rocket Raccoon (GotG Vol. 2)

Here he is, the new and improved Rocket Raccoon action figure from Hasbro's Marvel Legends line. This Rocket is based on his appearance in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and is a VAST improvement over the first movie's figure.

Rocket comes with 2 guns, 2 alternate heads, baby Groot, and the build-a-figure torso of Mantis (not shown).

 When the 2nd movie came out, I wasn't planning on buying new figures, but the new versions were just SO much better! I also upgraded my StarLord and Gamora. I hope to add pics of them soon.

Rocket is small (about 2.5") but somes with lots of articulation, details, and attitude.

Rocket comes with a tiny 1" Baby Groot in his Ravager suit. He doesn't have any articulation, but who cares? He's so darn cute!

Here's a comparison between the new and old figures. The older figure stands a bit taller and features his orange suit from the first movie, which I kind of prefer, along with a large gun, which I also prefer. However, everything else is better on the new figure. More details, better likeness, more attitude, more articulation! 

The orange Rocket just looks, bored and unintelligent. It looks like someone dressed up a sedated raccoon and made him stand up somehow. The blue Rocket looks mean and smart and ready to hurt someone. This is the Rocket I know and love!

Check back soon for pics of the whole Guardians team assembled featuring the newer version of Star Lord, Rocket, and Gamora!

Marvel Legends Invisible Woman

Just a quick post here to show off my new Walgreens-Exclusive Marvel Legends Invisible Woman. Hasbro's Legends figures continue to improve and while the cost is 3x as much as the original series from Toybiz, the quality is worth it.

This figure features Sue Storm, aka Invisible Woman, aka Mrs. Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four. I didn't used to be a big fan of the F4, but an excellent Marvel Knights 4 comic series changed all that. For that series, and for the high quality of this figure, I had to add her to my shelf.

Female action figures used to be hideous, and not that long ago. Their faces were manish, their arms & legs were twigs, their waists were creepy thin, and their pelvis looked like they were wearing depends under their spandex. Hasbro has fixed all of those problems. This figure is beautifully sculpted. Yes, she is on the thin side to be realistic, but keep in mind she's a superhero. Most dudes I know don't look much like Thor either.

Enough words, check out the pics!

Sue comes with a H.E.R.B.I.E. robot and stand. The clear stand in the photo below came with Legends figures I've bought in the past. I don't remember who.

This picture is a little dark, but you can see how nicely she is sculpted.

If I remember the story right, during the 80's Marvel didn't have the rights to use the Human Torch in their F4 cartoon, for some reason. As a solution, they came up with H.E.R.B.I.E. I don't have much affection for the robot, but he looks cool and will be a nice addition to the collection, assuming Walgreens continues to offer the team.

Here is my new Sue next to my old Sue. The Sue on the right is from the Fantastic Four movie figure line and is based on the likeness of Jessica Alba. When she came out, this was one of the best female superhero figures to date, but compared to the latest version, she looks skinny, small, and awkward.

I'm very pleased with my new Invisible Woman. I was trying to talk myself out of getting her when I saw the preview photos online, but after seeing her in stores, it was a done deal. I'm in the process of selling my old F4 figures and will be buying the new ones as they come out. So far Hasbro/Walgreens have offered Namor and Sue, and Johnny (Human Torch) will be coming out later this summer. I'm hoping the Thing and Mr. Fantastic will follow.

Marvel Legends Namor

 

Today I picked up the Walgreens Exclusive Marvel Legends Namor figure. I was able to find him after only checking 2 Walgreens. This is the 3rd Namor figure made in the Marvel Legends line. The first once came out in Series 2, I believe, and featured a more classic look to the character, though he was wearing a similar suit as this one. That figure was well made, though his arm posing range was limited and his legs seemed too skinny. I eventually sold mine. A few years ago, another one was released with a Fantastic Four ML series. That one was very skinny, had a small head, and weird paint applications and I never wanted him.  This Namor features an excellent sculpt, detailed paint apps (featuring metallic teal paint!), and top notch articulation.

Though it's an exclusive figure, the packaging puts Namor in the Civil War series. The packaging features very slick artwork and photography.  I'm a big fan of the current packaging style Hasbro is using. 

Namor comes with a large trident (a repainting of the recent BAF Odin figure's staff) and two alternate "swimming" hands.  The trident features very nice metallic paint, but since it was originally made for the larger Odin figure, it doesn't fit well in his hands. I forced it into his hands for this photo shoot, but I'm worried about damaging his thumbs, so I won't be using it when I display him.

 

Namor's alternate hands are great for creating swimming poses for the underwater king. There are action figure stands made that can create a flying or swimming effect for your figures, but I don't have them handy, so I just posed him and held him up. The effect works pretty great with the extra hands.

Now for some up-close pictures. Hasbro is doing a FANTASTIC job with their sculpting these days. I love the smug look on Namor's face, the wrinkles on his collar, the metallic scales on his suit.  Just a really well done figure all around. The only problem I noticed was that on some of the figures I had to choose from, the paint on his eyes came out a little weird. Luckily I had 6 to choose from, so I left with the best one. Check out this sculpting excellence.

I always like to show my new figures interacting with characters they know from the comics. This first one features Namor about to make-out with his long time obsession, Sue Storm (aka Invisible Woman).  My Reed Richards figure wasn't so excited to see this guy come home from Walgreens, btw.

Namor has been in several teams over the years. As one of Marvel's first heroes, he was part of Captain America's "Invaders" team that fought the Axis Powers during World War II. The team consisted of Namor, Captain America, and the Human Torch. Here is a rare photo I found of the team.

In the 60's and 70's he was also a part of the original Defenders team. In my opinion, this is one of the most random teams in the history of Marvel, but hey, I like all the characters in it, so whatever.

Lastly, I had to compare Namor to his DC counterpart, Aquaman. While both figures are very well done, I think the sculpting, design, paint, and overall "cool guy look" awards all go to Namor. Sorry Arthur.

Thanks for checking out my review of the Marvel Legends Namor figure. I'm very impressed with him and highly recommend him to Marvel fans and Legends collectors alike. Just be sure to get one with well-painted eyes, if you have more than one to choose from in the store.

Sideshow Wolverine Statue

 

 Today I was surprised by an amazing gift from my cousin, a Wolverine statue from Sideshow Collectibles! While I have an extensive action figure collection, I only own 3 statues and none of them as dynamic as this one. I can't find my ruler, but he stands around 20" tall, including base and is covered in detailed textures and painstakingly applied paint applications.  This statue is probably the finest item in my geek collection.  Check it out!

The statue comes with an easy-to-change alternate unmasked head.  Both are excellently sculpted, but I prefer the mask-on version.  Still, look at these details!

The unmasked head looks especially cool from the side.

The last thing I want to point out is the base. He's standing on top of a broken japanese-style bridge with 4 arrows sticking in the wood around him. There's snow on the ground and on the bridge. I love the texture and paint details on the wood and the painted shadows on the snow. It really sells the whole scene. Fantastic work.

 

Amazing job by the Sideshow team. I'm super excited about this new addition to my collection. Thanks for checking out my review.

Marvel Legends Falcon

The Marvel Legends Falcon figure, based on his appearance in Captain America: Civil War, was not really on my radar, simply because I thought he was too rare to get my hands on without paying and arm and a leg, and I wasn't willing to do that. Luckily, my local comic book shop ended up getting one and I was able to pick him up for the same $25 price tag they sell all their new Legends for.  Sold!

Falcon comes with his trademark wings and his sidekick/remote controlled bird, Redwing. The wings attach to the little backpack that then attached to Falcon's back. The backpack holds on fine, but one of my wings was a bit warped coming out of the package and only one of the 2 pegs wants to hold at a time. Most of the time, the wings stay up fine, but it occasionally that one wing will droop a bit.  Not idea, but worth the hassle to keep fixing.

 

The figure is based on the likeness of actor, Anthony Mackey, and Hasbro has done a very good job capturing him.

The biggest down side to this figures is that his hands are clearly sculpted to hold guns, but he doesn't come with any.  Just remake the ones that Widow came with and it would have been fine. No need to sculpt new ones.

Anyway, here's Falcon with his Civil War team.

 

Only missing Bucky here. I'll try to pick him up soon.

I have Falcon hanging above and in front of my Avengers shelf.