X-Men vs. Sentinels

X-Men vs. Sentinels

Hasbro Marvel Legends

The 20th Century Fox/Disney deal may just have been finalized, but Hasbro had already talked some sense into the Mouse some years back to open the floodgates on X-Men figures.  And the rain just won’t stop!  After such a long drought, I’m drowning in them!  This a a look at a couple of waves and exclusives pieced together in one epic battle scene.

The Sentinels are rereleases from the Marvel Masterworks figures some years back, but this time in classic comic colors and packaged with a “Days of Future Past” Wolverine.  An Amazon exclusive, the set was priced a bit high for an old sculpt ($100), but I was able to hold out until a sale at Christmastime.  $50 was such a steal that I ordered two!  They join my two X-Men classics Sentinels (who I refer to as “Mark I” models) and my Toy Biz Legends BAF Sentinel (Mark II).  Five is always a decent number for army builders:  one leader, two on each side.

They are pretty heavy figures with decent enough articulation for their size.  I mean, it’s not like Sentinels ever did the splits in the comics or anything, so why do they need to here.  Usually they are seen walking like robots, flying with arms at their sides, or reaching out to catch mutants.  The figures can do all of that just fine.  The head movement is a little restricted with the light up features, but...

Oh, light and sound features!  The button on the chest activates a plethora of voice clips and sound effects while the face and eyes light up.  Cool, but they could have sacrificed this if it meant bringing the cost of the overall figure down.

The DOFP Wolverine is a decent pack-in, but there’s something off with that headsculpt.  Too squashy and the eyes too far apart?  I dunno...something odd about him.  The body is a retool from the Old Man Logan figure, but sports different texturing on the pants and details on the boots.  He has his comic-accurate leg holster.  Not sure about the gun, though...they try an get away with that laser pistol too often.

Seen fighting my army of Sentinels on the Ready Setz Urban Playset 2.0 are pieces of the Apocalypse wave (Tiger Stripe Wolverine, Multiple Man, Storm, Magneto, Psylocke, and Sabretooth), the Sauron wave (Bishop, X-23) and Walgreen’s exclusive Magik.  

Tiger Stripe Wolverine and Sabretooth are welcome upgrades from the Toy Biz days and essential if you love the Jim Lee/90’s toon look.  The sculpts and paint are fantastic.  Two complaints:  Wolverines head “fins” should bow out a bit more, and extra heads would have been nice.  How about a neutral Sabretooth face and...c’mon...how many Logan heads has Hasbro produced and reused already?

I’m not a huge Psylocke and Multiple Man fan, but they do look great in the ever-growing roster.  Psylocke’s outfit here has a more purple than blue sheen to it...not sure if that is a negative or positive...and the face sculpt, while decent, isn’t as close to the Jim Lee look as I would like.  Multiple Man is great, even if he does some with a repurposed jacket.  He also comes with two extra heads!  It’s like they assumed we would want some army building variants here!  Good on you, Hasbro!  Three of MM is enough for me, one for each expression.

Storm and Bishop might be my favorites of this bunch.  Punk Mohawk Storm!  The only thing better would be her Giant Sized X-Men costume, which we still do not have.  Bishop is just flat out perfect, page to figure.  I had the bald variant Toy Biz Bishop, who was always a bit oversized.  The noggins matched up okay, so I dremeled him out an alternate look.  Bishop can also used the translucent purple hands from Magneto to simulate his energy channeling power.















Magneto is pretty great, though I’m still waiting for the perfect, classic suit.  I’m not sure purple lighting bolts illustrate magnetic powers, bust its better than nothing I guess.  You do get his 90s Jerry Curl alt-head, which will come in handy when his classic replacement finally arrives.  It’s good, but not ass good as the X-Men Classics helmetless Mags head from Toy Biz.  Another simple dremel project...BAM!  Another style for the Master of Magnetism.

Magik is a Walgreen’s exclusive that comes with a lot of cool new (2 swords) and used (translucent red Ghost Rider skull, red Lockheed, blue lightning/flame effects) accessories.  Her mystically armored arm is appropriately spikey and looks great.  I would have preferred her in a classic X-Men/New Mutants outfit, but all black really works for showcasing her dark powers.  X-23 is the "new Wolverine" suit that I wish had come out before I bought the X-Force costume.  This one came with the foot blades and an alternate, unmasked head.  Sadly, quality control failed me here..the foot blades were so loose I just glued them in place and one of her hand blades was completely missing.  I had to customize the missing blade.  Sorry, Hasbro...one blemish on an overall great batch of figures here.

As far as characters and variety, Hasbro is absolutely crushing it.  All of these guys in one shot and I'm still behind on X-Men!  More to come, including the mentioned Apocalypse and Sauron BAFs, Professor X and the Shadow King, and even more Deadpool!  Surely you aren't tired of Deadpool, right?