Deadpool (Marvel Legends)

Marvel Legends Deadpool (Classic) - Wave 3

Finishing 2013 should end up with a loud BANG!, and nothing could ever accomplish that job than the merc with a mouth, Deadpool! Oooh yeah! We thought Hasbro already forgot about this guy and shove him under every collector's hopes and dreams... but he's here. Supposed to be released last Fall of 2012 together with Punisher and Doctor Doom of Wave 3, this classic crimson Deadpool is a variant to the X-Force Deadpool which is also from this Wave. For Hasbro, it is better late than never indeed but that was quite awhile of a wait!














This is the 4th Deadpool that Marvel Legends Hasbro released. They all use the same body mold and just being repainted for collectors to get the many versions of him but I would say this is the one Deadpool I'll consider as my "default" figure for Deadpool and happy about it.

Not too many Marvel Legends figures comes with a whole lot of colour shading but Deadpool had quite a few here in there that comes in contrast with his crimson-black colour scheme. There are dark colour shadings between the muscle folds as well as the side of his head. The only downside is his utility belt and the straps that hangs around his torso, which doesn't have enough details on it, paint-wise.

The body mold is obviously a reuse of the Marvel Legends Deadpool 2-Pack the came with the X-Force Warpath. The details are not really that bad. Deadpool obviously has this athletic body type; not too skinny nor too musclebound. Hasbro did an amazing job with the head sculpt. It captured the likeness of Deadpool with his signature mask and the extra cloth hanging at the back of the head. His hands are actually sculpted very differently; the right hand is a "trigger finger" while the other one is for holding his sword.

Speaking about swords, lets move on now to accessories. Deadpool comes with two types of guns- a hand gun and a modified assault rifle that has a bazooka. He can carry and hold his assault perfectly without even falling from his hands however, it doesn't have a holster or a hook for him to keep it around his waist. His handgun can be concealed at the side of his leg. Deadpool also has two katanas that each come with sheaths. These sheaths are removal and you can latch it at the back using Deadpool's straps.

The articulation would never disappoint. Although it's missing ankle pivots but it's not a huge issue. He got a ball-hinged neck that moves up and down and rotates 360. Ball-hinged shoulder plus a shoulder blade joint that lets him move his arms forward and to the center and also bicep swivel. He got double-jointed elbow, ball-hinged and swivel to wrists. Deadpool got an ab crunch and swivel around the torso. His hips are on a Y-joint with ball-hinges. Down to his legs, he got double-jointed knees, upper-thigh swivel and ball-hinges to the ankles.

Deadpool stands about 6.2 inches tall and fairly in good scale with any figures from this toyline. The Hasbro version of the classic Deadpool may not replace Series 6 Deadpool but it's still a good thing to have especially if you're not willing to pay like a hundred dollar to get the one from Toy Biz.

Namor (Marvel Legends)

Marvel Legends Namor (Series 2)

To be quite honest, I could never get myself to like this guy. Yeah, I know he is one of the toughest antiheroes in the Marvel universe but it's just something about that ego of his that makes me hate this character. I'm glad he only exists in fiction. Okay then... let's talk about the figure! Behold the Marvel Legends: Series 2 Namor. I believe it was 2002 that this figure was released but, man, I never expected this figure could compete with our more recent action figures we see today.















Nothing much can be said with regards to the paint work. Namor's vest and skin tight pants are all painted black. There are streaks of blue paint drawn and designed like fish scales over his vest. At the back of his feet you can see what appears to be a window! Interesting! Apparently, this looks like as if Namor wants to spread his little ankle-wings (or fins because he is fishboy) by making a couple of tiny windows which also exposes his flesh, but... is this really necessary? I would rather have them simple and neat with just black and white around these areas.

The sculpt on Namor is probably what gives him a more stunning look than the later Marvel Legends figures. This Johnny Bravo-esque type of body (big chest + chicken legs) may look kinda weird for people who are very particular with sculpt but for me, it's just a minor issue. I like how they added some creases over his pants. Namor got this well engraved insignia over his huge belt. You can see some great details over his muscles with all these folds and cuts. Last but not the least, the head and face sculpt captured that Namor we've always imagined with his sleeky hair and his 30-degree angled eyebrows.

Namor comes with two accessories namely his base stand and his trident. This "water" base stand is entirely made of translucent blue plastic almost like the Marvel Select Silver Surfer base but has some blue and white colour shading on it to have the look of an ocean whirlpool. Namor's trident is a complete... fail. Although I'm not too bothered by its flat bronze-like colour but the sculpting is ridiculously a work of an amateur. It's bent and crooked, and it will actually snap if you try straightening it up.

For an early 2000 action figure, the articulation is almost close to the newer Legends figures. His head is on a ball-joint and so it can rotate 360 and could look up and down. Mine has got a loose joint and it's very wobbly, and I'm kind of pissed off about it. Namor's arms got ball-hinges to the shoulders, swivel to the biceps and wrists, double-jointed elbows and Toy Biz's trademark finger articulation. He got no ab crunch like most Legends figures but has waist swivel behind his belt. His hips are on a T-joint with hinges at the sides that lets you raise his legs forward, back and to the sides. He got upper-thigh swivel, double-jointed knees, and hinged ankles with ankle pivots. Unfortunately, no ankle rotation.

"We're the kings of our own realm."

For most part, the sculpt and articulation of this figure are the true winners. This toyline has never failed to its loyal fans the articulation and the detail they always want. He stands at about 6.5 inches tall and in good scale with both old and new Legends figures. If you want to get a Namor for your Legends collection, I definitely recommend this one.

Nightstorm Predator (NECA)

NECA Nightstorm Predator

What's awesome about the NECA Predator line is that there is always something new and interesting despite its lack of relation to the movies. Take this Nightstorm Predator here; who would have expected that this guy is inspired from the vintage classic Predator line by Kenner. At first, I wasn't able to tell. Probably because around Kenner's era of Predators, I wasn't into Predators yet nor into collecting the action figures, and so I wish I could show you on this blog what a classic Nightstorm Predator looks like.















Nonetheless, you can see that the artwork on its packaging is very retro, again, Kenner-inspired. While Nightstorm's skin colour is originally black, NECA's version is a darker blue which I think still makes it strikingly unique and awesome looking. This Egyptian-themed Predator is like a clash between the past and the present having Kenner's classic design and feature together with NECA's modern articulation and paint work.

Speaking of paint work, Nightstorm's armour is mostly covered in gold ranging from a glossier type to a matted finish type of gold. Also, it got bits of green, brown and gray dry brushing to make it look like it has gone through centuries of war. While it's blue skin made this Predator almost like a close cousin to the Navi, the black paint that gives rise to its bodily hair and blotches still put it in line with our typical Predator.

With some reference to other Predator body mold, apparently the head sculpt came from the NECA Berserker Predator from the Predators movie toyline series. The mandible jaws are pretty wide open along with its regular jaw. You can see some beautiful line work across every sides and corner on his armour. Nightstorm Predator got these huge long claws that measure almost the same in length as his arms. Another distinctive feature is... its boots! This Predator is actually wearing a pair of golden boots with its toenails partially exposed and it hinders a lot with the articulation, which I am going to discuss later.

Lets get on with accessories which are the best part of this figure. What amazed me is the removable mask, which is well detailed and even as you look at the back (or the inner side) you will also see all these alien-tech mechanisms sculpted with tremendous amount of details. Resembling that of a scarab beetle, the mask fits perfect around its forehead while these gaps around the jaw is purposely designed to avoid his retracted mandibles. Nightstorm Predator also comes with a spear, which also has an Egyptian theme on it with the addition of a skull spiked on top as its spinal cord hangs below. His shoulder cannon is also well-detailed and got a decent amount of articulation.

Comparing its articulation to the Boar Predator, Nightstorm's range of movement suffered greatly because of its overdeveloped body armour. Like most NECA Predators, Nightstorm has a ball-jointed neck lets its head slightly turn to the left or to the right but barely moves up and down. Its arms barely moves up because of the armour. It got single-jointed with rotation to the elbows as well as rotation to the wrists. It got diaphragm swivel, Y-jointed hip with swivel to the upper thighs, single-jointed with rotation at the knees and lower calf swivel. Nightstorm with its boots overlapping the joints cannot entirely move its ankles even if they are made of a soft pliable plastic, and this is the only problem I have with this figure.

Standing between 8 and 8.5 inches tall, the Nightstorm Predator is a taller figure to its predecessor especially once that mask is on. With its amazing details, overall, this Predator is superb and will get fans and collectors searching for it out in stores just to own this extremely one of a kind type of NECA Predator.

Silver Surfer (Marvel Select)

Marvel Select Silver Surfer

There are three reasons why being a herald of Galactus is such a cool thing. One- butt-kicking powers, two- free trips anywhere in space, and three- a unique skin tan that may be an envy to anyone who just can't be happy of the way their skin colour looks. It feels awesome to see a 7-inch scale Marvel Select Silver Surfer, which I was hoping this toyline would create. Finally, the Power Cosmic is here! Just with this tight silver speedo alone, you can easily tell that this Silver Surfer is based off from the classics. And with his neat paint application and well detailed base stand, this figure is yet another marvellous display piece by Diamond Select Toys.













When I saw the preview about 4 or 5 months ago, I thought that the type of gray paint that they'll be using on Surfer is something like that of the Select Ultron which, at that time, I thought would be great but it was more than I expected. I think this glossy type of gray paint is the perfect choice. As reflective as this paint can be, any form of light just bounces back to your eyes; literally giving the silver on Silver Surfer. Even with such plain and simple paint work, this action figure may "outshine" any action figure in this toyline.

The overall sculpt on this figure is phenomenal. Well proportioned and balanced body lengths and muscle mass served a good role to Surfer's ideal body type- the swimmer's body type. Though not exactly the same as I would hope, his size is not too hefty nor too lean and didn't come short on the amount of muscular definition which I'm still satisfied of.

Every time I lay my eyes on Select base stands, I'm always at awe. You can see some great sculpt and paint shadings over this "moon rock". Also, this translucent blue plastic coiling and kind of swerving above it adds a unique touch on the base. Like that of Spawn's, Surfer can be displayed in two different ways using this base; you can have him just stand in the middle of the base (with its peg) or get him on a "flying pose" by inserting the surfboard at the end the swerve with his feet already attached.

Interestingly, part of Surfer's accessories is the Infinity Gauntlet. Yyup... Thanos' favourite toy. Though it may be completely unnecessary to give him such accessory but I'll probably do other fun stuff with this rather small version of the Gauntlet.

Other accessories includes two interchangeable hands; one is for holding his surfboard and the other one is for... umm... holding his surfboard tight. He also got two cosmic blast effects made of translucent plastic that can fit well around his judo-chop hands. Lastly and something you mustn't ignore is his surfboard! A perfectly oval-shaped silver surfboard from outer space which has two pegs to stabilize his feet.

Finally, we've come to articulation. Be reminded that this is a Marvel Select figure and the articulation may appal you if you're too particular about it. So his neck is on a ball-joint that lets his head turn side to side and lets him gaze up and down but very limited. He got ball-hinged shoulder, bicep swivel, single-jointed elbows, and wrists that are hinged and able to rotate on both arms. Waist swivel around his torso is good but the absence of a thigh swivel is just bad even with these hinges on his hips. Moving on, he got double-jointed knees and ankles that can move up and down, rotate and pivot.

Silver Surfer stands 7.1 inches tall to be exact; perfectly in scale with the Marvel Select Thanos or with some Marvel Select and Legends figures. We know that the way Select figures are scaled can be ridiculously inaccurate without any basis from facts. So just be prepared for a surprise- try size compare him to a Marvel Select Deadpool first. But the bottom line is- this is the best Silver Surfer action figure out there right now.