Avengers: Endgame

Avengers:  Endgame

Hasbro Marvel Legends

So, is anyone else going to admit that they are going to Endgame out of obligation?  For seeing something you’ve invested hours, years into for better or worse?  Is the sum of the whole truly greater than the parts?  MEH.  I just saw a “live-action” Mr. Mind...get the @$%& out of the way, Thanos!  And take ScarJo and lamewad Hawkeye with you!  Maybe the fact that this wave is a more balanced mix of comic book and MCU variations means that it’s all cooling down and even Hasbro is looking to wrap things up?

Let’s get the MCU figures out of the way...starting with Ebony Maw.  He’s a great figure which,
thankfully isn't too far of an interpretation from his comic look.  You get a completely new and unique sculpt with this guy.   His articulation is pretty good...able to move his tall, lanky frame into lots of poses.  He’s way more detailed and solid feeling than Proxima Midnight from the Infinity War wave. They are keepers solely because Thanos needs some minions.  Sadly, the Black Order ends with those two on my shelf.  The Infinity War wave 2 had too many MCU characters for me to care about assembling Cull Obsidian, and they’ve making you buy another movie Loki to get Corvus Glaive.  Lame.

The next MCU figure is Ronin...ugh Hawkeye.  I can’t believe I bought a movie Hawkeye figure.  Luckily, I got to these fast enough to be able to put him on EBay and get some money back on the Thanos part investment!  So long, sucker!

Finally we come to Quantum Suit Captain America.  He didn’t come with a BAF part, so I left him at the store.  Psych!  

Now let’s get to the comic goodness!  Nighthawk is one that I’m not all that familiar with.  Sorry, I don’t think he even had a Marvel Universe trading card.  I know that he’s a reformed bad guy and that he later becomes a Defenders mainstay, so that’s gotta count for something (double to discredit that Netflix garbage.)  I dig the costume, even if it makes him look a little more “DC.”  Must be the cape...and something about a “Hawk” making his debut a year earlier...hmm...

The Living Laser may not be in his classic costume (it is a little doofy, tbh), be we have another Mandarin Minion to beat on Iron Man!  His simple, translucent body works for his gimmick.  He comes with some white “electricity” effects that Hasbro is getting some mileage out of (Storm, Magneto, Laser so far.). Man, sorry for complaining about the overuse of the circular, bubbly magic/power effect that you pulled on us in every color of the rainbow!

Citizen V was the one I looked forward to the most here.  More Thunderbolts, please!  Good to see some more Baron Zemo love.  It’s too bad the MCU made him just “some mundane looking guy” and killed him off at the end of Civil War...guess the the Thunderbolts concept (bad guys masquerading as good) would take too much time to pull off anyway.  Ah, well...I wonder if his saber will be reused with a new Nightcrawler figure in the future?

Hercules is the surprise winner of the wave.  I was never a big fan of him in the comics (his inclusion in the world of modern superheroes was a little confusing to me), but I do have some issues of the short-lived “Champions” comics.  I’ve got Angel, Iceman, Black Widow, Ghost Rider, and now Herc...just need a Swarm figure, Hasbro, and I can die happy.  Herc has a unique sculp (I believe), two awesome weapons that can be sheathed on his back, and alternate punching hands.  The cheesy smile on the figures face fits its existence to a T.  It’s not his most classic look (some forum members are complaining too much about the pants), but the color shame is true.  Everything here works, and he sure is fun to pose and play with.

The bonus, Build-a-Figure for this wave is armored Thanos.  Yes....the one we asked for since he was teased onscreen waaay back in phase one.  Only, it’s not that armored figure...instead of true blue and gold, we get a rather dull looking bronze and gold.  WTF?!  I definitely foresee a greedy Hasbro double-dipped re-release/exclusive of the one we wanted all along somewhere in the near future.  I gave him a dark blue paint wash to bring out some line detail and tarnish him up a bit.














He has also been criticized for some size discrepancies compared to his earlier, non-armored self.  He should at least be bulkier in the torso and shoulders if wearing another layer of clothes, not smaller.  Unless, of course, he used the Gauntlet to slim down a bit between movies.  He also lacks a waist swivel and upper arm swivel, which is pretty common on most Legends.  This, partnered with the color scheme, makes the whole figure look and feel a bit cheap unfortunately.

Ah well, I did pry the helmet part off the nogging so I could do a head swap/unmasked display option with the Infinity Wars figure.  Fun, even if the purple skins don't match! And it’s not all that bad considering this is Hasbro’s first baf within a baf.  Or should I say bav...Thanos Copter Build-a-Vehicle!  Yes, you get one set of copter blades with this figure.  Like most MCU adaptations, it looks like the vehicle will have a more realistic look to...wait a minute...you say that it’s NOT copter blades, but some sort of double-bladed weapon for Thanos?!  SINCE WHEN DOES THANOS NEED A WEAPON OTHER THAN THE INFINITY GAUNTLET?!?!    Especially after the filmmakers dismissed his need for armor the first time round because he had the god-power weapon?!  Gah...I am so ready for the MCU to close shop.  Wishful thinking?  If only...*SNAP!*

Hydra Supreme Captain America and Arnim Zola

Hydra Supreme Captain America and Arnim Zola

Marvel Legends - Hasbro

The ranks of Hydra expands on my toy shelf with two new additions...well, sort of.  Arnim Zola is a retool/repaint/rerelease of an older Hasbro Legends build-a-figure that I never completed, so it's new to me.  And Hydra Supreme is Captain America...well, an alternate version of Cap.  Splitting hairs...they both look spiffy in their new duds!

Zola's modern look retains most of his color scheme, minus the orange.  I would prefer a classic paint job as one of the first comics I remember getting was Captain America #277.  Man, those colors pop on those characters...it's hard to accept any less (plus fur on my Zemo, please.)  They included an alternate classic head and his remote control (repaint) if you do want to switch it up, but I do have to say I like the new "turret-head-with-Dalek-eye" look.  And, while nothing can displace Jack Kirby, I also dig the modern "screaming-manic" face in the torso.  

There were some weird debates about this "ape arms" in on the nerd toy boards that almost approached Thing "teeth-no teeth" levels of nonsense.  Vary art depictions validated the figure, while some continued to gripe.  I love that he's a stocky, robo-man with ape arms.  Along with the tiny head, he reminds me of the old Death Hug Dean figure from the Tick.

Hydra Supreme Cap is a (mostly) new figure.  I think some parts of the arms might be Iron Man reuse?  In any case, its appropriate for the armor.  Everything here looks great.  There are some cool, armory grooves and lines here and there, and the chain-mailish legs are fantastic...Hasbro has yet to deliver a regular Cap with sculpted mail!  

There are only two gripes with this figure.  One is that I wish it came with an unmasked Steve Rogers head.  I mean, it's not like they haven't already made one before.  The other is that, while the shield does clip to the arm just fine, there's no peg hole in the back of the figure to store it on his back!  C'mon, isn't that standard on Cap figures?  Heck, they put holes on the backs of characters that don't ever carry things!

This is a great set if you missed out on Zola the first time out.  Even if you didn't, I think it would be hard to pass up this evil Cap.  At $40 for the set, that's a bargain for a full build-a-figure. And, besides who doesn't need more army builder figures? Hail Hydra!

Secret Wars Captain America

Secret Wars Captain America

Hasbro Marvel Legends

"When Captain America throws his mighty shield..."  Duck!  Because Vibranium will knock a lot more than just teeth loose!  I got this figure as an Amazon add-on item for about $4.  The costume is a modern take that I have no reference to (although it does look quite spiffy), but what drew me to the figure was the accessories.  This is the first Cap to have an alternate, shield-throwing effect hand!  

The shield also pegs into his back and can be clipped to his wrist when not flying through the air to KO Nazi weirdos.

Not my ideal look for Captain America (gotta stick with the classic colors and wings coming off the head), but for $4 he's more than worth it.  The paint apps are shiny and clean and, again, the shield gimmick puts him over the top.