Thor - Marvel Now (Marvel Legends)

With the upcoming Avengers movie and the demands by fans for collectibles and other products from this exciting and big superhero mash-up, I think it is nice to get an action figure that we can relate to, ...like Thor. But will this Marvel Legends Thor show us some great improvement just as these great muscles around his arm? That we need to see! We need to see if this action figure of the Marvel Now version of Thor is living in the "now".

Marvel Legends Marvel NOW Thor

Being part of the Infinite Series Odin/King Thor Series, the Marvel Now Thor comes with a leg BAF piece and King Thor's sword inside this windowed box. Right then and there (without opening the box), you can see that this Thor looks almost identical to the Modern Thor from the Terrax BAF Series and I thought this isn't a good sign because he might have the same articulation as the first one we got three years ago.

And my assumptions were right- this is another ML Thor figure that doesn't have ankle pivots and double-jointed elbows. With the dawn of the Hasbro's ankle pivots/rockers that really helped get us some dynamic poses with our figures, we still see some of these old ways. They didn't update anything with this Thor but paint job and the sculpt of his head and arms. He still got that double-jointed knees that leaves an ugly gap every time you bend them.

To do a quick "comparison review", the skin colour on the ML Marvel Now Thor is lighter than the ML Modern Thor. Their Mjolnirs are interchangeable since they very much look alike but their arms to which these hammers can go are very different. Now Thor's arms are a lot bigger than that of Modern Thor's. Obviously, their head and face sculpts are different with the Modern Thor looking like he's younger.

I wish they have the same skin colour that way it doesn't look odd when I interchange their heads. Now Thor's helm features these iron wings at the sides and an extra cloth at the back which looked a lot cooler. His helm and his hammer has that dry brushing to make them look worn and battle-torn. However, I didn't like the fact they didn't do it around his chainmail pants. No shading or whatsoever around his belt, arms and chest.

Now Thor has this big red cape much like with our Modern Thor and still has that little gimmick around his belt where you can sling up his hammer for storage but I think I'll be fine with just him holding it.

I wouldn't say I recommend the Marvel Legends Marvel Now Thor nor I would say not to pick him. This is the closest rendition we got of this version and he would probably look appealing to a Marvel Now fan. The height is still unacceptable in my opinion. Standing at about 7.8 inches tall (almost 8 inches), he is too big for a Thor- almost the same height with the Marvel Legends Hulk. Hasbro needs to downscale him a bit! I'll probably give him a 7.5 out of 10 if I have to rate this figure.

Machine Man (Marvel Legends)

Machine Man is probably the only superhero (...yes, he's a good guy) I know with a villainy look. He got this bulging red eyes and this snake-like extendable arms that may give everyone around him the creeps. But whether a superhero or not, he seems... cool and honestly, this is the first time I've heard about this man... or I mean, android. I've never heard of a Marvel character with abilities that can probably be in direct competition with Inspector Gadget not 'til I got this action figure. With his bendable arms, the Machine Man figure can probably give us a few clues on how we would want a Doc Ock to have if Hasbro could give us a new one.

Machine Man comes with a decent amount of accessories plus a Build-A-Figure piece in the form of King Thor's big arms. This figure has two pairs of hands- one that has the clenched fists and another with the opened grips. All hands can be connected to these two bendable cable-like tubes. The tubes as well can be attached together. Attach a fist at the very end and you got a Machine Man doing a more distant punch!

The only complain I have about these bendable tubes are its paint details. The action figure is painted with solid colours with a touch of gloss for that reflective look. There are a few silver strips around his legs, arms and shoulders that gives Machine Man a bit of style.

The eyes are protruding and I don't know if that's comic book-accurate, but I think (I hope I'm wrong) his eyes are just red (kinda like Cyclops') and big but not like that of a bug. Machine Man is using the ML Modern Hawkeye body mold, and it's the right fit with its medium structure that houses a good amount of articulation.

With this standard Marvel Legends articulation, this guy can hit almost any kind of pose. It allows plenty of natural poses which is important for this character since he is believed to be an agile android. I got no complains but praise for its poseability.

The Marvel Legends Machine Man is one of the few surprises that entered this Wave or, if I rephrase it- he is the least expected character of all those Marvel characters we were hoping for to become action figures. Although, I had fun with this Machine Man figure because of his unique playability. And if you're a "completionist", then you'll probably want him as part of your collection. Overall, this action figure is gratifying and I would recommend it.

Sentry (Marvel Legends)

Marvel Legends Sentry

Here's another Legends action figure which was presumed "lost" after Hasbro didn't decide to release him as a running change for Hyperion couple of years ago. Almost equally as bad as with our Classic Hawkeye, Sentry's situation was mind-boggling; featured at two consecutive SDCC events but never showed up in our shelves. But hey hey hey, now he's here and he looked exactly like the Sentry I've seen in all those photos. Taller than your average ML figure, Sentry is muscular with this Hyperion body structure, and I kind of liked it even though I got a feeling that his muscles were never been this bulky in the comics. Perhaps when you're the "Superman of Marvel", you gotta have these kinds of muscles!













Sentry comes with Odin's arms as you can see inside this windowed package. The package still has the same Infinite Series-style to it having an artwork at each side and a bio of Sentry at the back as well as photos of the figures you get from this Wave. Along with Machine Man, a guy to which Sentry wasn't originally partnered with, they are the "Avenging Allies"!

I remember it was called "Conquering Heroes" when Sentry was suppose to be with Hyperion but all that has changed. One thing that didn't change and as I've mentioned earlier is that he's using the Hyperion body mold as well as one part of his cape. Unlike that of Hyperion's, Sentry doesn't have the part that cover his shoulders and I don't mind that as long as it is done intelligently. However, this lame design by just having the cape pegged below the back of his shoulders looked awful and it felt like playing that game called "Pin The Tail On The Cow".

But as long as Sentry is facing forward, he should look good on display. The head and face sculpt on the figure is decent. I like that they gave him that windswept look to his hair along with that stern look over his face. What's interesting though is that his right hand is partially opened, which is weird because I've never seen him holding unto anything. So what I did was, I stole Hyperion's right hand and replace Sentry's to make it look right with two of his hands already clenched.

I can't say anything bad about the paint job. He got a little bit of shading going on around his torso with the lighter orange blending well on the yellow paint, and a solid blue paint to his boots. This time Hasbro made less paint application issues unlike some their figures I've seen.

The belt is removable and I don't know why it needs to, but it's fun to goof around with it by putting it around his shoulder like a wrestler's title belt or give it to another figure and have him/her wear it.

The articulation is something you're probably familiar with right now. Unfortunately even with the ball-peg on his neck, Sentry cannot execute a much pronounce flying pose because of that solid stiff hair but the rest of the hinges and joints are fully functional without the limitations.

Simply better than the ML Toy Biz Sentry (from the Giant Man BAF Wave), this new Sentry created by Hasbro is something I would rather want to be in my collection. Even with that big issue with his cape, it's still forgivable because overall, he looked nice at front. I would totally recommend this figure if you're thinking of completing your New Avengers or Dark Avengers team.

Captain Marvel (Marvel Legends)

Captain Marvel is another Marvel comic book character who will have her own standalone film, and in addition, will be part of MCU's "Phase 3" together with the Doctor Strange and Black Panther movies. Around November of 2018 will be the release of her film. As to why we have a Marvel Legends Captain Marvel this early, that I got no clue. And as to why we got another Carol Danvers figure (as Captain Marvel), the fact that we already had the Ms. Marvel (a.k.a. Warbird) version of her 3 months back remains a mystery! Perhaps I'm just not used to of getting another version of a character too soon. Moreover and though not as surprising as the Machine Man figure, I was a little surprised she is introduced into this Series.

Marvel Legends Captain Marvel (Carol Danvers)

Nevertheless, she's a good action figure but though I wouldn't say- perfect! The figure has a few flaws. Not surprisingly, Hasbro used the Ms. Marvel body mold which is by the way, the only body mold that perfectly fits with Captain Marvel or any of Carol's alter ego.

Speaking of "alternating egos", Captain Marvel has two swappable alternate heads- masked and unmasked. She also has this accessory which we've seen from the Build-A-Figure Jubilee, which is, I think a bit lame on Hasbro's part to reuse a completely identical energy effect from a character to another character. This translucent soft plastic fits nice and tight around either one of her fists but it could have been a lot better and accurate if it is yellow instead of pink like this one.

The head and face sculpt on both heads are done well. Between the two heads, I like the "masked version" better because she looked badass! One of the many things Captain Marvel is renowned for. While the masked head got that mohawk exposed from underneath her helm, the unmasked version got this sort of Son Goku-type anime look to it (as it turns out). That's probably the reason why I prefer the masked one especially when I put her on display.

Her belt-sash is made of hard plastic which seem to be a nuisance when you get her to do a flying pose; moving along her slim waist and torso like an abacus. I find this to be not well executed because they could have used a soft plastic to keep it from not moving.

Paint application is the major weakness in this figure and she suffered the same fate as with our ML Ms. Marvel. There are paint smudges all over her shoulders and the way they painted the eyes (on the unmasked version) are not consistent. She has a bit of a lazy eye if you stare at her face closely.

You got the standard issue Marvel Legends Moonstone or Black Cat-type of articulation. When you peg in the unmasked head, she can't look up to more than 90 degrees to do a well executed dynamic pose, but with the masked head- that's not a problem. Nothing is added or changed to this Captain Marvel body structure articulation-wise.

Replacing Ms. Marvel head with a Captain Marvel head to her body is possible and it's not actually quite bad looking! But I assume, it's kind of not of the ordinary to see her look like this. She stands at 6.5 inches tall to the tip of her hair. She is not too short nor too tall (like the Scarlet Witch dwarfing the men) and I believe this body type should be the standard scale for all ML "maidens". Getting a Captain Marvel figure from Hasbro is something of a surprise and personally, not the figure that I would like to enter into our collection since we already had a Ms. Marvel.

Scarlet Witch (Marvel Legends)

No other superhero or super-heroine could ever manipulate bad luck to his/her favor better than the mutant Avenger, Scarlet Witch. She can control probabilities! Her powers could get you to bite your own tongue, trip with your own shoelaces or get stranded in a heavy traffic jam. With all that being said, she's well good enough to be featured here for my Friday the 13th post. Scarlet Witch will soon appear in the Avengers: Age of Ultron movie, whose character will be played by Elizabeth Olsen who looked nowhere near to this action figure let alone the height. I'm a little pained that the movie didn't find a way to somehow infuse her signature suit, but I guess we'll see it someday.

Marvel Legends Scarlet Witch

The Marvel Legends Scarlet Witch figure is part of the Infinite Series Odin Build-A-Figure Wave that comes with The Allfather's cape and head. What really made my day with this figure is that we will finally get to throw away and get rid of that hideous Toy Biz Scarlet Witch with passion. She is simply the much better looking figure!

The figure is inside this collector-friendly windowed box that you can utilize for storage. And at the back of the package, you can see Scarlet Witch and Captain Marvel being part of this "Maidens of Might" theme in which each of them carries a Build-A-Figure cape and head with the Captain Marvel figure carrying the pieces for King Thor.

The Scarlet Witch is using the ML Storm or the ML Medusa body structure, which have always been notorious for its insane height which doesn't look in-scaled with our "short men" as well as its slim high heels and toes that deny this figure from standing. Head and facial sculpt are done beautifully with Scarlet Witch's bangs curled over her headdress and the stern look that could be Wanda Maximoff translated into plastic.

The paint job, however, tells not a lot of stories. We see these red and pink colour scheme around her suit much like the one we always see in the comics. There are a few smudges and paint defects on mine but they are barely noticeable.

Her signature cape is removable which may not be an important deal since we don't want her to be displayed without it! But what really made me very happy about is her "magic effects" that adds playability to this action figure. These pink halo-like plastic embodying her hexes can be installed by fastening it between her hands and wrists.

The magic effect accessories don't impede with the articulation of the hands, which is good! Speaking of which, there are no added joints or hinges that separates this figure with the rest. The amount of articulation is the same as with our ML Storm and so there is no need to re-visit that with her.

To conclude my review on the Marvel Legends Infinite Series Scarlet Witch, I must say... get her! If you have been collecting these figures for a long time now, then you probably know that the Toy Biz version sucks. Regardless of her "height issue", I'd still recommend Hasbro's version since she looked simply gorgeous and good for display.

Iron Fist (Marvel Legends)

Marvel Legends Iron Fist

The Iron Fist's primary assets are his martial arts skills and his indestructible hands, and you gotta love the way Hasbro has added emphasis to this guy's hands. Too much emphasis that it appeared to be swollen. I don't know if I'm the only one seeing this but Danny's hands are too big to be part of his lean muscular arms, and I'm not really liking it. But even with all the "hand issues", Hasbro made a 6-inch scale Iron Fist that surpassed the one from Toy Biz in terms of the overall looks. He is obviously the better Iron Fist!















Being part of the Marvel Legends Odin Build-A-Figure Wave along with Hawkeye, this White Iron Fist comes with Odin's or King Thor's left leg. He also comes with four pairs of swappable hands that you can peg easily into his wrists. The hands are well sculpted albeit rather not perfect. Iron Fist got the judo-chop hands, clawing hands, the "claw of the crane" hands (I guess that's what they're called), and the clenched fists.

Having all these types of hands, Iron Fist can execute almost any kung fu moves! And with this ancient style of martial arts, comes an ancient type of body mold that I thought Hasbro won't probably use... but there it is. The Daken (the Dark Wolverine) body mold from the Return of Marvel Legends Wave 2 has returned and this time, it got the new Marvel Legends ankle pivot.

What I like about this body mold, articulation-wise are the shoulder blade joints that allow his shoulders to move forward and back. What I don't like, however is it still uses the ball-hinged hips which doesn't really work as beautiful as the T-jointed hips. Also, this body got this big depression at the ab crunch section thus ruining the sculpt. The good thing is this guy is almost as poseable as the Toy Biz Iron Fist.

The main highlight and the only part that impressed me with this figure are the colour scheme and paint application, apparently because for me, the White Iron Fist, with his gold and white suit looked a lot awesome than the Green Iron Fist or the Red one. A few colour shadings of baby blues can be seen throughout his shoulders and torso, and the mask has that black paint surrounding the eyes; applied over his bandana.

The little piece of soft plastic that's hanging from his gold bandana got no articulation unfortunately. The extra piece of plastic with it's windswept effect that's hanging from his belt is also not articulated, which would have been nice if it is. Since Hasbro provided this figure with several accessories, it would have been nicer if they have included some flame effects that goes along with his hands. That would have at least mask Iron Fist's oversized hands which I've mentioned earlier.

Even though with all his issues, I'm very happy that we've got another Marvel Legends Iron Fist with his current suit, and thank Hasbro for doing it. His hands and the reuse of the Daken body mold may be a letdown, but it still blows the Toy Biz Iron Fist out of the water.