Thanos (Marvel Legends)

The Mad Titan I thought we will see in the second Avengers movie has arrived to Marvel Legends earlier than I thought. He still bares his traditional blue and gold colour scheme but had the features based-off from his Marvel Now outfit. In this new outfit, he looked incredibly awesome but if you're a fan of the Classic Thanos; then the Marvel Select version is the right one for you. Thanos is my number one favourite super-villain character, so both versions are great to have in my collection.

Marvel Legends Thanos

At the time when Toy Biz used to make all these Marvel Legends, a Thanos figure never actually came into fruition despite the popularity of the character. Thankfully, Hasbro finally made that happen but... there is a little bit of a challenge- he is a Build-A-Figure. One by one, you need to get all his body parts either from purchasing all the figures in this Wave or getting it with just itself on eBay to complete him.

This Build-A-Figure does not come with any accessories, which I would have admired if he comes with his significant trademark- the Infinity Gauntlet. He got this big shoulder guard that also covers his chest, which you can remove or put in place as it attaches loosely on to its peg holes. And every time you raise his arms, the shoulder guard gets displaced which makes posing (without looking funny) a little difficult.

I got no complain with the details over his sculpt. This new body mold might be the perfect structure for Thanos and I'm glad they did not use the "Hulk body mold" or other molds that preexisted. The only drawback to this Thanos is the paint job. The silver paint that runs along his legs are sloppily applied and doesn't seem to look like there are line works to it! If you look at his entire suit, the blue areas are glossier and shinier than the gold areas, which should have been the other way. If I have to look at it in another way, this figure is like paint-worked by an amateur customizer.

The figure executes a wider range of different poses than the Marvel Select Thanos, but considered not one of the super-poseable action figures created by Marvel Legends. His massive body made rooms for an ab crunch, waist rotation and T-jointed hips at the torso. He got a ball-hinged neck, hinged shoulders, rotation at the biceps and wrists, and only single-joints at the elbows. Rotation at the upper thighs, double-jointed knees and pivoting ankles are also integrated.

Since this is the first Thanos action figure we got on a 6-inch Marvel Legends scale, I definitely recommend if you want to fill that Thanos spot into your collection. He stands at about 7.5 inches tall, which makes him more in-scale and appropriate to use than the taller and bulkier Select Thanos. He may still look good on display despite all the gripes I had with his shoulder guard and paint application.

Hulk: Avengers: Age of Ultron (Marvel Legends)

The new Avengers Hulk got stretchy pants that expands every time Banner "hulk-out" and with that, he will never worry again of waking up to his "normal" self with half of his butt crack exposed and jeans shredded. That's what this textured and kind-of meshy pants is all about when I saw this action figure. Standing at about 7.5 inches tall, it's easy to assume that this is a Build-A-Figure. It's also the fact that we have already seen this body mold on the Ultimate Green Goblin, which is a Build-A-Figure! But no! This huge figure just fits right into a standard Marvel Legends Infinite Series Packaging.

Marvel Legends Avengers: AoU Hulk

There is not a lot of words I could say about the paint job of this figure. It is not as detailed as compared to my favourite Hulk figure of all time- the Marvel Legends Face-off Hulk. It's painted with flat colours of green, black and a couple of red strips along his pants. Even his toes are dreadfully painted with green, which is a complete laziness on Hasbro.

One thing I do praise with this figure is the head sculpt, which is done perfectly to copy the contours and expressions of the Avengers Hulk. I like it and I guess this is the main highlight with this figure. Sadly, he doesn't have any interchangeable heads that vary between being mad to becoming "Hulk-smash" mad. It would have been really nice if they showed some love by giving it some accessories just like the Iron Man and the Captain America figure.

The articulation is pretty decent although I would like to see a hip swivel and a couple rotations at the mid-calves. He can't aim his head up; obviously hindered by the hunch on his back, but amazingly this figure can pull some great-looking dynamic pose like what you've seen on these photos.

Having Iron Man, Captain America and Hulk in this second Wave Avengers: Age of Ultron action figures is an awesome way to start your toy collecting for the movie. I can't wait 'til we see the new version of the movie Hawkeye, Black Widow and Thor to come out as figures for they will complete the line up. It is highly recommended to purchase the Marvel Legends Avengers: AoU Hulk if you're fan of the movie that is coming up on May 1st.

Captain America: Avengers: Age of Ultron (Marvel Legends)

This Captain America is not prepared to lead! The big "A" that's suppose to be on his forehead is missing, which is a shame on Hasbro's part. However, the body mold that they utilized for this action figure is well-designed. So well-designed that it made it to my Top 10 figures of 2014, and that's why I'm not sure if I will praise this figure by Marvel Legends or not.

Marvel Legends Captain America (Avengers: AoU)

This is obviously a repaint of the ML Stealth Suit Captain America from last year. Everything is sculpted the same except for the new design on his chest that is nearly showing some likeness to his new suit in Avengers: Age of Ultron.

Hasbro still hasn't fixed that awfully colossal shield that doesn't fit in scale with this figure, but it is perfectly molded and sculpted without any disfigurement. The "straps" at the back of it makes the playability of this Captain America figure more interesting yet exciting along with his two swappable heads, and hands with fingers posed at different types.

The articulation is standard like what we've seen in most Marvel Legends figures and the amount of joints and hinges gives a dozen of ideas on how to pose him in action.

The Age of Ultron Captain America is a truly must-get action figure for those who are hoping to assemble their movie Avengers 2-team. Just watch out for any factory defects or missing "A's" that you might get lucky with.

Iron Man - Mark 43: Avengers: Age of Ultron (Marvel Legends)

Marvel Legends Iron Man Mk 43

With a big movie comes a flood of toys and merchandise! In less than a month, we will see all our favourite Avengers back in action including my personal favourite, Iron Man to the big screen. To further entice our appetite for some awesome superheroic spectacle, we are finally introduced to a Marvel Legends "Avengers Wave" that is closely tied-in to the movie. Unlike the first Wave (Odin/King Thor Wave) which showed up earlier this year, this second Wave of action figures features a movie Iron Man, Captain America and Hulk in their new outfits. But with this review, I would like to talk more about the new Mark 43 action figure and its Robert Downey Jr. alternate head.













This new style of packaging is still the same as with our past Infinite Series since it started, and finally! ...they reconfigured the base of this box so that it could stand easily once you place it on a flat surface.

The Mark 43 comes with Thanos' left leg which I will later on build together with another of his BAF pieces. The only accessory this new Iron Man has is an alternate head which appeared to be an unmasked version; showing off RDJ's face and not surprisingly, Hasbro didn't really got the face-sculpting right. Although at least, they perfectly captured the shape of his nose.

Without any interchangeable hands and with only the right hand doing his "repulsor-blast thingy" and the other hand clenched, this Iron Man action figure just screams for more hands! Hands to demonstrate his flying pose and/or hands that will able him to have two clenched fists when he fights. Hasbro is still inconsistent in providing their figures with some essential accessories.

Mark 43 can perfectly execute Iron Man's signature flying pose because of this ball-pegged neck that allows his head to aim up along with his diaphragm joint that makes it more pronounced. The articulation is not entirely impressive nor it is entirely horrendous. It is missing a waist swivel and a couple of rotations at the mid-calves. Furthermore, his shoulderguards are not hinged- it is made of this softer pliable material that may probably get damaged after any repetitive movements.

Compared to the Marvel Legends Mark 42 (Iron Man), they both look identical in terms of sculpting but their paint jobs are not the same. With a 180-degree turn of its colours, the Mark 43 is basically a repaint of the Mark 42. Now this is the Iron Man I know; having more red colours than gold that can be traced back to his original suit.

Overall, I couldn't say I'm impressed nor feel bad about this action figure. If only Hasbro added a few extra accessories then that hideous RDJ head sculpt is forgivable. He stands taller than the Bleeding Edge Iron Man at 6.6 inches but has a leaner body structure. The recommendation is high to those collectors who wants to set up their complete team of Avengers: Age of Ultron action figures in the future.

Odin the Allfather & King Thor (Marvel Legends)

This Marvel Legends Odin and King Thor is the perfect representation of a "like father like son" look. Having almost indistinguishable features, both of them got the same torso, legs and height... and probably age (as you could see in their face sculpts), which gives me that bit of confirmation that sons may look exactly like their fathers when they get old. With Odin and King Thor being the Build-A-Figures in this Wave and with the Allfather not having met Thor in his grandpa version in the comics, it only feels right to review these two gods as we look at their similarities and differences.

Marvel Legends Odin the Allfather and King Thor (BAF)

If you're a "completionist" and have already gotten all the action figures that came with the BAF pieces, then you should be able to assemble either Odin or King Thor. The one thing that bugs me with this Series is that I actually have to purchase two Hawkeyes, two Iron Fists, and two Marvel Now Thors to bring the two Asgardians standing next to each other for these photos. I believe it's just ludicrous that Hasbro had forced collectors to spend another 60 or 70 dollars just to complete the other Build-A-Figure, which is in my case- King Thor.

It is important to know that Odin's and King Thor's heads as well as their capes and weapons are swappable since they are easy to remove and in the same scale. They roughly stand between 7.4 to 7.6 inches. The Allfather (of course), with his helm giving him the height, stands a little taller than the king. Surprisingly, these two stand almost of the same height as the Marvel Now Thor! -which really made me wish Hasbro could have downscaled this Thor figure to make him look a lot ideal.

Both their articulations are very much the same and got the same amount of hinges and joints as with the Marvel Now Thor, which I reviewed a week ago. Their heads can only move at a limited range because of their shoulder-length hairs and beards... and that ram horn on Odin's. Over their shoulders, there are pairs of shoulder guards that can pivot and are removable. They have rotations at the elbows which I'm not a huge fan of. No waist rotation however, they got swivel at the diaphragm. Their hips are on T-joints in which the movements are hindered by its skirts. Double-jointed knees, hinged ankles with the ankle pivot are also fused to their legs.

One thing that also bothers me with their shoulder guards is they didn't entirely cover the shoulders, which made it odd to look at. Each have their own accessories. For the Allfather of course, he got his scepter which I wish has some details on it than just a plain bronze-coloured plastic. The king got a battle axe made with a soft pliable plastic, which is kind of interesting why they go with such material. While holding their weapons, you can pair them with a broadsword or Thor's hammer since their hands are both on gripping poses. King Thor has the metal arm while Odin does not.

As for the sculpt and paint jobs of these figures, both are equally and fairly done. I think the area where Hasbro needs to work on are the details over their heads. Odin's helm show not a lot of shadings. Thor, on the other hand doesn't have much details on his hair. To me, the colours look flat on their faces but the armour on their chests, shoulders and feet are quite the opposite. They are paint-washed with gray to make them look like they're worn. I think these are the main highlights of these figures.

You can also see that their capes are very much the same with the Marvel Now Thor, which is... okay I guess? These wavy capes have a windswept effect that are nicely sculpted. Even though we see these being reused, it still fits and doesn't make the figure look bad.

Overall, the Marvel Legends Odin and King Thor aren't bad figures once you get them on display but I really hoped Hasbro could have at least made a few extra effort on the details. Moreover, the articulation could have been better if they didn't use the Marvel Now Thor framework. Despite all the matter, it's a must-get figure since this is the first 6-inch scale Odin and King Thor action figure we got from Marvel Legends.

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.