Tuesday 26 November 2013

Cyclops: Astonishing X-Men (Marvel Legends)

Marvel Legends Astonishing Cyclops
The Wolverine Marvel Legends Wave has its ups and downs. I know it's still early for me to say this since I still haven't covered Emma Frost and the Build-A-Figure Puck, but after taking them all out from their packages, Astonishing Cyclops appeared to be the best thing that happened in this Wave. While Wolverine doesn't have the "X" logo and Sabretooth looks too macho, this guy here is simply a mirror image from his comic book counterpart, which I think, should be if you want to make action figures based off from comic books.



Also known as the Puck Build-A-Figure Series, Cyclops carries with him Puck's arms in the package. Thankfully, he doesn't come with that infamous Hasbro action figure stand, which already has taken some space in my collection box. From what I heard, we won't be able to see the running change which is the Phoenix Five Cyclops sooner or later this year but hopefully we will see it as a ComicCon exclusive in the future.


The rendition is accurate and quite astonishing. One thing I'm not too impressed about is the way Cyclops' yellow arm bracers are painted. Looking at all these smudges and scuffs make me wonder if there's anyway these guys from the "paint department" can go back to art class. It's also the same issue I had with freelance Wolverine and some Hasbro Marvel Legends figures. Notice that his yellow shin guards is a lot yellower than his arm bracers if you take a closer look, but overall, the paint job is decent.


Cyclops, in the comics, pretty much has an average height with an average physique, and what's more fitting than to use the Black Panther body mold or the Bucky Cap body mold to a Cyclops action figure. Repeatedly being used, I got no problem with this body mold. In fact, it is the perfect body mold for an average-sized superhero. The only part that is different in this figure is the orientation of his hands and fingers. While the right hand is simply clenched, the other one is on an "optic blast" pose... or whatever perverted pose that is going through your head. Zooming in at the head sculpt, I must say he looks very akin to Scott Summers; the width of his jaw and the sculpt on his visor is perfectly shaped.


About his articulation, there are no changes or anything distinctive that could at least make Cyclops different from those figures which have this body mold. The neck is on a ball-joint, shoulders are in a ball-hinged and has swivel to the biceps. He got double-jointed elbows and hinges to the wrist that allows a full rotation and flexion; very useful when you get him into the optic blast power pose. Ab crunch, waist swivel, T-jointed hip with upper thigh swivel, double-jointed knees, swivel to the mid-calves, ankle hinges and pivot are basically just there, which you probably should have skipped reading if you already knew about this body mold.


He stands at 6.2 inches tall and he is very much in scale with the rest of my Marvel Legends. If you're looking for a Cyclops to be part your of 6-inch action figure collection, you may get the Cyclops that comes with the Brood Queen Build-A-Figure piece but I suggest this newer version simply because it is the best!


4 comments:

  1. Nice figure but not one of my favorite characters to be honest. Just something about old Cyc' i just never liked.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know a lot of people who either dislike him or care less about him. Don't know why but my theory is probably that his powers/skills are deemed less interesting to the fans or could be that he's just out shinned by guys like Wolverine, Deadpool or even Prof. X.

      Delete
  2. Share the same view as you on the smudges and sluggish paintwork. This ML line is starting to fade on me. With the same body mold showing up again and again, it is starting to look like a repaint with a difficult head sculpt. Maybe it's just me. Good review. Thanks for showing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I guess every toyline does the same by re-using body molds over and over again for efficiency and economic reasons. What really is a huge deal for me is the paint, sculpt and scale.

      Delete