The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants

The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants

Hasbro - Marvel Legends

Hasbro has been slowly chipping away at my Toy Biz Marvel Legends rosters for years now...too slowly in some cases.  Like the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.  I lacked a decent classic Magneto and Mystique for too long.  And Toad?  Sure he's a D-lister, but his last figure was way back at the dawn of the 6-inch Toy Biz effort.

And that effort kinda sucks.  He lacked the "modern" articulation that other figures in that first wave had, and the damn toad is glued to his hand!  Still, the sculpt isn't all that bad, and his costume is classic enough... but he's still a sore spot on the roster for some.  He became quite expensive and elusive after his release, but I recently picked one up in-package for $30 at a local comic convention.  I told the vendor, "Look, Hasbro is gonna remake him soon, right?  Then no one is gonna want him."  True, but who knows when that is gonna be.  I wanted him now, so I ponied up the money.  No regrets.

At least the swamp base is nice!

The female sculpts were pretty terrible in the Toy Biz days, and their Mystique was no exception.  This upgrade was a no-brainer for me.  Especially considering she comes with an alternate, Rogue-transformation head and a Lilandra head for disguise or a full blown custom, using the Legends Silver Sable body.  I think she looks a bit like Nicole Kidman in her prime.

Hasbro's previous Scarlet Witch made us forget about gangly, teen SW from Toy Biz.  But then they went and outdid themselves for this "family" box set with Magneto and Quicksilver.  This has to be one of their best headsculpts ever (somewhere between model Kathy Ireland and Catherine Mary Stewart from Night of the Comet/Last Starfighter).  I like the shiny pink undertights better than the exposed skin, and she comes with some new power effects.

Quicksilver was also an easy call.  Hasbro's first attempt was just plain awful.  He's not one of my favorite characters (especially in the MCU...please stay dead forever), but the figure is decent and he can join the baddies, as brief as his tenure with them was.

Magneto takes the gold here.  The Toy Biz figure used an ill-fitting Iron Man body as it's base, and I missed Hasbro's first classic attempt due to poor distribution.  This one is the end all, be all.  He comes with an alternate, standard head, but I'm probably gonna keep this pupil-less, Jim Lee snarl for all time.  The helmet-less jheri curl head from his modern costume release fits for that Animated Series look...but I still prefer the Toy Biz Classics head, modded to fit.

I also upgraded Juggernaut...well, sort of.  This one isn't a huge departure from the last one, but he is in more classic colors and comes with a battle-damaged look.  I also like the no-pupils look for him.  He came in a two-pack with a classic Colossus (another welcome improvement.)

 

So, along with Toad, Hasbro still has Pyro, Avalance, and classic Sabertooth to tackle.  I don't mind the TB Pyro, but Avalanche is a bit off.  TB Sabertooth is gonna be hard to beat...it was definitely one of their best sculpts and one of the few to stand the test of time.  Though others may disagree, I don't need a replacement Blob.  He was a fantastic build-a-figure from Hasbro's early, dark days and I think he looks great.  I am good to call this classic line-up complete for now.  With the arrival of a new Jean Grey, I look forward to having a complete X-Men team to wage battle with them.