Tag Archives: BAF

Marvel Legends Spider-Man Wave Space Knight Venom Build-a-Figure (BAF) Action Figure Toy Review

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The Marvel Legends Spider-Man wave Space Knight Venom Build-a-Figure BAF Action Figure Toy Review.

Buy Space Knight Venom Wave Figures

  • Peter Parker Spider-Man – http://amzn.to/2B1HzFX
  • Electro – http://amzn.to/2BJUjNS

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Toy Review: Marvel Legends | Mandroid

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Today’s review is the Marvel Legends Infinite Series Captain America The Winter Soldier Mandroid Build-a-Figure (BAF). This is the whole reason I bought all the other figures in the line. Perhaps not the whole reason, but it’s a pretty big reason. This figure is really cool.

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Figures in the Series

Figure Details

Check out this quick video of the Mandoid coming together

Articulation – ★★★★☆

This is a big, bulky figure, which is what I like in a Build-a-Figure. So the articulation you’d expect would be a little lacking. There are some issues, but for the most part, the issues are very minor.

Total POA’s = 27

  • Arms – There are 5 joints per arm.
    • Shoulders: Ball Joint as well as a Pin/Hinge Joint. I really like both of these joints. They are well done and give Mandroid a lot of range of motion. The one thing I don’t like is that they actually limited how high his shoulders can rise through the joint itself. The sculpt of the figure could have gone higher as there is no interference. Had there been a bicep joint, this wouldn’t have mattered. Note, there is no bicep joint which would have been helpful.
    • Elbow: A single Pin/Hinge joint as well as a Peg Joint at the top of the elbow. The bend is pretty limited due to the bulk of the figure, but it’s not really a major detractor from this figure. You’re still going to get him into a lot of really cool shots. He’s not a punching type of figure so he’s not a close range fighter.
    • Wrist: Peg Joint but there’s little to no motion there. It’s nice to have, but they really didn’t need to put it there. The tiny nuanced angles you get aren’t that great.
  • Legs – There are 7 joints in each leg/hip/ankle area.
    • Hips: T-Jointed Ball Joint provides a lot of forward and even more backward motion. This allows you to get your Mandroid into some really nice action poses. For a large bulky figure, this is really amazing.
    • Thigh: Peg Joint that fits right over the ball at the hips really nicely. Great range of motion.
    • Knees: Double Pin/Hinge joints in the knees allows for about a 90 degree bend. Nothing more expected here.
    • Ankles: Each ankle has 3 joints. Peg Joint at the top of the ball in the ankle. There is a Pin/Hinge joint as well and an ankle rocker. They really went all out on this one.
  • Body – There is one joint in the body area. I believe this is a double ball joint in the torso just above the waist. This joint provides really good ab crunch for a robot as well as backward motion. I like the waist twist you get as well and there is a little bit of side to side motion as well. Very well done.
  • Head: A single Ball Joint that might have been ok, except the fit is so tight and the had sits so low, once you get the head on, it’s really hard to get your fingers in there to move the head. This is the biggest negative of the figure.

NOTE: The machine gun mounted on Mandroids shoulder can twist from side to side.

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Mold – ★★★★★

I love this figure. The sculpt work is so well done. This thing has so many nice little details. It’s really a beautifully sculpted figure. The only issue really is how they did the head and head articulation.

I really like the weapons on his arms. They are really cool.

Paint – ★★☆☆☆

What paint? With such a great sculpt of this figure, a great coat of paint would really go a long way to complete this figure. They really didn’t do anything. Yes, there are some yellow/gold accents on the weapons and the eye visor has the same yellow, otherwise the only paint I can see is the S.H.I.E.L.D. emblem on the chest. It’s nicely done, but looks a hair out of place due to the lack of paint everywhere else.

It seems Hasbro was trying to save some money on paint apps on this figure. It’s a real shame because even an ok paint job would have really made this thing one of their top BAF’s.

Accessories – ★★★★☆

When it comes to a Build-a-Figure, I don’t really expect much for accessories, but if you do get some, that’s even better. I sort of consider the shoulder mounted machine gun to be a bit of an accessory. Since you can take it off and display the figure without it. I really like the look of this gun. It’s simple yet looks nice. A little more paint would have been nice, but it’s still really nice.

Packaging – ★★★★☆

This figure comes as individual pieces you assemble from all the other figures in the line. I like the packaging from this line, so this guy gets a 4 star rating.

Overall Rating – ★★★★☆

This figure is really cool. A better paint job would have put him at 5 stars, but he’s still worth getting. There’s plenty of really cool figures in the wave that I recommend building this figure yourself rather than going on Ebay to find it complete.

Do you have any of these figures? If so, do you have a review to share? Please share in the comments or link to your review.

Toy Review: Marvel Legends | Groot

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This month I’m reviewing the Marvel Legends Infinite Series Groot Build-a-Figure (BAF). I was really excited to finally complete this BAF. This is my first completed BAF so my expectations were really high. Did this figure live up to my own built up hype?

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Figures in the Series

  • Character: Groot
  • Manufacturer: Hasbro
  • Series: Infinite Series Groot
  • Dimensions: 8.75″
  • Recommended: Ages 6+
  • MSRP: $?.?? Paid: $0.00 (Build-a-Figure)

Check out my BAF Assembly video of Groot below

Articulation – ★★★★☆

Bigger figures seem to have poor articulation, but overall, this Groot figure has really good articulation. He’s tall, but not real bulky which helps the articulation quite a bit. He’s really fun to pose, which is a good sign his articulation is quite good.

Total POA’s = 28

  • Arms – There are 7 joints per arm.
    • Shoulders: Ball Joint as well as a Pin/Hinge Joint that allows for a really good amount of movement. His arms can raise above his shoulders which is really nice to get those towering poses of Groot.
    • Bicep: Peg Joint allows for full 360 rotation. This joint is near the top of the bicep, just below the shoulder.
    • Elbow: Double Pin/Hinge joint allows for a really good amount of bend in the elbow. You can almost fold his arm in half which is great.
    • Wrist: Peg Joint as well as a Pin/Hinge joint in the wrist. The hinge in the wrist is a little limited if you’re trying to move the hand up, down is quite good.
  • Legs – There are 6 joints in each leg/hip/ankle area.
    • Hips: Ball Joint as well as a Pin/Hinge joint allows you to get Groots legs to move forward and back, but you really need to do some creative movements to get him there. You’ll also need to use his knee rotation to get him into some action poses. This isn’t too bad considering the sculpt of his legs does allow you to rotate the legs without making him look too odd.
    • Knees: Single Pin/Hinge joints as well as a Peg Joint in the knees. Particularly the Peg joint is critical to getting those action poses. You can get about a 75-80 degree bend in the knee.
    • Ankles: Each ankle has 2 joints. Pin/Hinge Joints can move the feet really far back but moving forward for action poses is quite limited. There is also an ankle rocker which is surprisingly really good.
  • Body – There is a double Ball Joint in the mid torso area. This joint provides a decent ab crunch and back arch. You also get torso swivel with this but you aren’t going to be able to get Groot to lean much from side to side. I’m ok with this since Groot is a stiff character anyway.
  • Head: A single Ball Joint in the neck area gives you side to side action. Groot can tilt his head really nicely and look up quite a bit. The biggest issue is he can’t really look down. Since he’s taller than all the figures in his series, it seems he should be able to look down to interact with them. This is the biggest fail on the articulation.

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Mold – ★★★★☆

Hasbro really did a great job with the sculpt work on this figure. The detail work of the figure all around is spectacular. The highlight for me is the head sculpt. They really nailed the look to the movie Groot.

I have two complaints. The first being in the torso articulation. When you bend Groot forward, they did not continue the nice sculpt work on the back articulation, so you see a nice smooth surface. You get the same when you bend him back, though it’s not as noticeable. My other complaint is the ankles could have moved forward more had they trimmed just a little bit of the plastic away from the bottom of the leg where the ankle joint is.

Oh, I remember a third gripe. That’s really with how they positioned the ball joint hole on the head. As others who have reviewed this figure have noted, had the ball joint hole been positioned back further, you’d then have gotten articulation down so Groot could actually look down on his team of Guardians.

Overall, however, I think those negatives really only warrant a single star lost as the rest of the sculpt was superb.

Paint – ★★★☆☆

There’s not a lot of paint. Mostly, the figure is just molded brown plastic, but there are some really nice paint apps throughout the figure, I just felt they really could have made this figure amazing had they just added a little more. The green highlights you find on the chest, face, and forearms are really nice. They just seemed to miss areas of the rest of the body which simply makes it look like they didn’t finish. There’s none on the lower torso in front, but there is some in the back. The legs have no green, which one would think being closer to the ground, there might be more moss/mold down there. Dirtying up his feet might have helped too.

Overall, the pain app is the weakest part of this figure, but that’s not to say I’m too disappointed at all. It just could have been a little better.

Accessories – ★☆☆☆☆

Groot doesn’t come with any accessories, though I don’t know what you’d give him. He doesn’t really need any, though it might have been cool to have gotten a baby Groot to go with him, but overall, I’m still quite happy with this figure, so yes, a single star, but I’m not going to count that against him at all.

Packaging – N/A

Since Groot is a Build-a-Figure (BAF) he comes in packaging with other figures so there’s really nothing to discuss here.

Overall Rating – ★★★★☆

I love this figure, even with the few gripes I had. I have certainly seem some better Groot figures, namely the new GOTG comic version that was just recently released. That one has an amazing head sculpt, though I think the rest is using the same mold as this movie Groot. If you’re a GOTG fan, you really should get this figure. I can’t say the series is worth buying, so perhaps just see if you can buy a completed Groot, or get the parts on Ebay. I wouldn’t pay more than $30 for the figure though so don’t get taken for a ride on this one. You can find pretty much all the figures pretty easily. The most expensive one will be Drax and he’s still not too bad.

Do you have any of these figures? If so, do you have a review to share? Please share in the comments or link to your review.

Toy Review: Marvel Legends | Rocket Raccoon

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This month I’m reviewing the Marvel Legends Infinite Series Guardians of the Galaxy Rocket Raccoon. I honestly had no intention of ever buying this figure, but then I decided I really wanted the Groot BAF, so I had to pony up and get this little figure. Let’s take a look at how disappointing he really is.

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Articulation – ★★☆☆☆

Everybody says the articulation on this figure is abysmal, and I have to agree, to a degree. I can’t take all of his stars away, because there are a couple things I actually don’t mind on this figure.

Total POA’s = 13

  • Arms – There are 5 joints per arm. That’s right, 77% of all articulation is in Rockets arms.
    • Shoulders: Ball Joint as well as a Pin/Hinge joint. They actually executed the shoulder joints quite well, especially for such a small figure. He can’t raise his arm up in the air very high due to the sculpt of his molded backpack straps, but it’s still pretty good.
    • Elbow: Peg Joint just above the Pin/Hinge joint in the elbow. This is very important if you’re going to try to get Rocket to hold his gun. Which you’re going to want to do because he does look pretty cool holding it.
    • Wrist: Peg Joint that allows for full 360 degree turn.
  • Body – A single waist swivel using a what I believe to be a single ball joint allows for full 360 degree turn. It also allows you to have just a little tilt, unless you pull (ever so gently) the two body pieces apart a bit to create a little more room, then you can get a little more lean and tilt capabilities.
  • Head: Ball joint in the neck allows for only side to side motion. No tilt or up and down action. You can try pulling the head away from the body a little, and that’ll give you just a little extra downward motion.
  • Tail: Peg Joint gives you a full 360 degree rotation of the tail, though his feet are so poorly molded, you’re going to need his tail in the down position all the time so he can use it to balance.

You are not mistaken, there are zero leg, hip, and ankle joints on this figure.

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Mold – ★★★☆☆

I wish I had a half star character, because I really think the mold isn’t the worst in the world, but it doesn’t deserve 4 stars. The body to me, is pretty nice looking. There’s lots of nice detail in the flight suit he’s wearing and the fur detail work they did is really nice.

The face could have used a lot of work. In the movie, Rocket is a snarky little ball of fur. He’s very expressive in the movie, and yet, the face sculpt is really boring. He’s not smiling, smirking, growling, or anything. They could have even made him look smug and that would have helped. Instead, he’s just got a blank animal like stare. I bet Hasbro pulled the head off some “Wildlife Creatures” line of toys and said, “Hey, here’s a raccoon, let’s cut his head off and see if we can use it for Rocket Raccoon.” And they did! Yeah, the head looks like a real life raccoon.

Moving on, I think the lower body is decent, though articulation would have been nice. The feet, are horrible. They aren’t even flat. I think they didn’t even try to pose this figure when they designed it.

Paint – ★★★★☆

Paint work on the figure is actually pretty good. It’s clean, and looks nice. I would have liked to see a little more shading of some sort (I’m no paint expert). My favorite part is the backpack. This was painted very well and looks really good.

Accessories – ★★★☆☆

When you have a cruddy figure like this Rocket Raccoon, you gotta salvage the piece with accessories. The problem is they only made it half-way. They gave Rocket a pretty cool gun that I’ve not seen before. It’s a goldish color and has some really nice mold detail. The paint/color on the gun is pretty bland. It’s all one color. Some definition colors to make the thing look a little more realistic would have been nice.

The other accessory we got with Rocket, is something not even for him. I have no idea what this weapon is called, but it’s pretty cool. It’s pretty much the same size (or bigger) than Rocket himself and it is for Star-Lord, whom I’ve already reviewed. Take a look at the picture below to see it in action. This is by far the coolest part of this whole package minus the BAF Upper torso and Head of Groot you get.

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Packaging – ★★★★☆

Rocket comes in the standard Marvel Legends Infinite Series packaging which I really like.

Overall Rating – ★★★☆☆

Overall, I should have given Rocket a 2.5 star rating, but again, I don’t have half star characters. I’m going to have to find something that’ll work for that. Anyway, this figure is definately one you should pass on unless you really want the Groot BAF or you really really like Rocket Raccoon and you want all the figures ever made of him. Or buy him because you want the super cool weapon for your Star-Lord figure, though I’m sure you could find all of those things on Ebay too. Overall, I’m satisfied with the figure, but only because I watched and read a lot of reviews on the figure before I bought it, so I knew exactly what I was getting myself into. That’s the problem with doing the Build-A-Figures. You’re gonna have to get one or two figures you’re not so keen on it appears, in order to get the cool figure. Anyway, I hope this was helpful.

Do you have any of these figures? If so, do you have a review to share? Please share in the comments or link to your review.

Toy Review: Marvel Legends | Nova

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Today’s review is the Marvel Legends Infinite Series Guardians of the Galaxy Nova. This was the figure in this series that I really got excited about. I love pretty much everything Nova, so I had to have this figure. Based on some reviews from other toy reviewers such as AnthonysCustoms and  ShartimusPrime whose reviews are some of the best I’ve found on Youtube I knew I couldn’t go wrong with this guy.

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  • Character: Nova
  • Manufacturer: Hasbro
  • Series: Infinite Series
  • Dimensions: 6“
  • Weight: 5.6 oz
  • Recommended: Ages 6+
  • MSRP: $19.95 Paid: $16.65
  • Part Number/SKU: A7908000 
  • Buy it on Amazon

Articulation – ★★★★☆

The articulation of this figure is on par with what we got on the Iron Man figure in this series. In fact, much of the design is quite similar, though there are some definite differences, not so much in the articulation of this figure. Overall, the articulation of this figure is pretty good. Let’s take a deeper look.

Total POA’s = 32

  • Arms – There are 8 joints per arm.
    • Shoulders: Ball Joint as well as a Pin/Hinge Joint that allows for a decent amount of movement back and forth, as well as out. The should plates are also hinged which allows those plates to move as you move the shoulders.
    • Bicep: Peg Joint allows for full 360 rotation.
    • Elbow: Double Pin/Hinge joint allows for a really good amount of bend in the elbow.
    • Wrist: Peg Joint as well as a Pin/Hinge joint in the wrist.
  • Legs – There are 6 joints in each leg/hip/ankle area.
    • Hips: Ball Joint allows a pretty decent amount of forward motion, but not much for backward motion. The outward motion is decent though.
    • Thigh: Peg Joint which is a standard cut joint. This joint, like many other figures with similar legs can be a little awkward looking depending on how the mold of the two leg pieces meets. Not a huge issue though.
    • Knees: Double Pin/Hinge joints in the knees allows for a really good amount of flexibility in Nova’s knees.
    • Ankles: Each ankle has 2 joints. Pin/Hinge Joints that allow for a wide range of backward rotation of the ankle but forward motion is a little limited. There is also an ankle rocker joint.
  • Body – There are 2 joints in the body area
    • Hinge Joint allows a decent amount of forward chest/ab crunch, but the backward motion is pretty limited. It’s difficult to even get one click back.
    • Peg Joint in the waist allows for full rotation of the upper body.
  • Head: There are 2 joints in the head/neck area
    • Ping/Hinge joint allows for a decent amount of forward/backward tilt of the head, though it would be nice to have a little more backward motion.
    • Ball Joint allows for full 360 turn of the head, but tilt capabilities are pretty limited.

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Mold – ★★★★★

I love the mold of this figure. I think the details they put into this figure are phenomenal and I couldn’t have asked for more. The fact they molded the chest blasters and didn’t just paint them is much appreciated.

The only gripe I really have is that the forward action of the foot is pretty limited. Other than that, this figure is pretty close to perfect to me.

Paint – ★★★★

They didn’t use a lot of paint, as most of the figure is simply a molded blue plastic which I really like. The blue is a really nice translucent color which gives a bit of the allusion of stars and space. The paint work they did do is the gold throughout the figure. On my figure they did a really good job. The lines are pretty crisp and the gold color is really nice.

Overall I really like the paint on this figure. Even his face was painted really well.

Accessories – ★★☆☆☆

Nova comes with no accessories. I’m not really sure what he could/should have come with, but something would have been nice. Perhaps an alternate head or at least a removable helmet would have been really cool.

Packaging – ★★★★☆

Standard Marvel Legends Infinite Series packaging which is great.

Overall Rating – ★★★★★

I’m partial to Nova, so I love this figure. But in the end, based on what I’ve seen in past Nova figures, this figure really is awesome. I don’t have those other figures, and I’m glad I didn’t waste my money on those. This figure really is worthy of the 5 stars. Even if you’re not a big Nova fan, you need this figure. It’s that awesome.

Do you have any of these figures? If so, do you have a review to share? Please share in the comments or link to your review.

Toy Review: Marvel Legends | Drax

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This month I’m reviewing the Marvel Legends Infinite Series Guardians of the Galaxy Drax the Destroyer. In my quest to get the Groot figure, it was inevitable that I’d have to pick this figure up. I kept putting it off because the figure was so much more expensive than the others. Finally i saw it on eBay for what i would consider a decent price. Let’s see just how bad or good this figure really is.

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  • Character: Nova
  • Manufacturer: Hasbro
  • Series: Infinite Series
  • Dimensions: 6“
  • Weight: 6.4 oz
  • Recommended: Ages 6+
  • MSRP: $19.95 Paid: $27.95 (This one’s harder to find)
  • Part Number/SKU: A7907000 
  • Buy it on Amazon

Articulation – ★★★★☆

I really quite happy with the articulation on this figure. Overall, the articulation of Drax is pretty solid. I don’t have a whole lot to complain about. Let’s take a closer look at his articulation.

Total POA’s = 30

  • Arms – There are 7 joints per arm.
    • Shoulders: Ball joint with a Pin/Hinge joint allows for a wide range of motion of the shoulder. The joints fit quite well into his shoulder sockets as well which is great.
    • Bicep: Peg Joint allows for full 360 rotation. This joint is molded well to look fairly natural.
    • Elbow: Double Pin/Hinge joint allows for a decent amount of bend in the elbow. Since Drax is a bulkier guy, his arms can’t bend nearly as far as Spider-Man can. This is expected, however, so I’m not concerned about it. He can still pose his arms and look natural doing it.
    • Wrist: Peg Joint as well as a Pin/Hinge joint in the wrist. They did a great job with the mold of the forearm and wrist so you get a really wide range of motion out of these joints.
  • Legs – There are 6 joints in each leg/hip/ankle area.
    • Hips: Ball Joint allows for a decent amount of forward motion, though backward motion is somewhat limited. Not too bad, but it’s not what I’d like. The outward motion is quite good, however. One issue I have, and this may strictly be my figure, the hip joints are a little loose and there is no ratcheting in them. Thus, getting Drax to hold his pose can be a little harder than with some other figures. In the end, this isn’t too bad, I simply see this as a potential future issue, should I over use the figure and he gets looser.
    • Thigh: Peg Joint allows for a large amount of rotation. This is a standard cut joint, but because of the thigh shape being fairly uniform throughout, you’re not going to notice much for flat spots when you twist it.
    • Knees: Double Pin/Hinge joints in the knees allows Drax to get into a fair number of action poses. He is still a little bulky for the joints, so you’re not going to get him into any Spider-Man poses, but you wouldn’t want to do that anyway. There is a slight ratchet to these joints which is very helpful.
    • Ankles: Each ankle has 2 joints. Pin/Hinge Joints that allow for a wide range of forward/backward rotation of the ankle. There is also a rocker joint of some type in the ankle which is great for action poses.
  • Body – There are 2 joints in the body area
    • Abs: Hinge Joint allows for a huge amount of forward chest/ab crunch which is so awesome. Backwards motion is limited to about 1 click back which is a little disappointing, but, since Drax doesn’t fly, it may not be a big deal.
    • Hips: Peg Joint in the waist allows for full rotation of the upper body.
  • Head: There are 2 joints in the head/neck area
    • Pin/Hinge joint allows for a really good amount of forward/backward tilt of the head. Drax is able to look way up into the air compared to a lot of other figures and he can look nearly straight down which is the most I’ve seen on any of my figures thus far.
    • Ball Joint which doesn’t give nearly as much tilt as I’d like. This isn’t a huge concern considering the amount of forward/backward motion the Pin/Hinge joint provides, but when Drax is looking straight ahead, it’d be nice to be able to cock his head left or right a bit.

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Mold – ★★★★☆

Hasbro did a solid job on this figure. He looks very similar to Dave Bautista from the movie. Obviously, it’s not 100% accurate, but it’s pretty darn close. Starting with the Head, like I said, they got Dave’s likeness quite close on this figure. I really like the molded tattoos. The mold work was great for his upper body torso and arms, though the on thing I don’t like is where the hand meets the forearm. If you turn his hand just right, you get a bit of an odd joint. It’s not a big deal, but it can look a little odd to me. Otherwise the upper body is really well done.

The legs are even stronger than the upper body in terms of mold detail. Drax’ pants have some great detail work as do his boots. I especially like the sheathes on each leg.

Paint – ★★★☆☆

Paint was the weakest aspect of this figure. It’s not that it’s not good. I do like the paint work, but it just could have been a little better. The upper body is green. No shading or anything. I like the paint work they did for the tattoos, but I would have liked to see more than just the single green color.

Same with his pants. A little extra detail in the pants would have gone a long way.

The other issue I’m noticing is there is some paint bleed in the pants and boots. Not to mention, there was no detail paint done on his boots. So the buckles etc are all black. If they had added just a little paint to those then his boots really would have popped. Not a horrible thing, but enough to drop this figure 2 stars in terms of paint.

Accessories – ★★★★☆

Drax comes with the two daggers he had in the movie. They are molded really well and fit in his hands really well. Probably the best fit of the entire series in terms of weapons. I even like the paint on these as there is a little dry brush work with some black which gives these little daggers a good amount of character.

Packaging – ★★★★☆

As noted before, I really like the Marvel Legends packaging. There isn’t much more to say here.

Overall Rating – ★★★★☆

I couldn’t give Drax 5 stars namely because of the paint issues I had, but beyond that, this is a really awesome figure. Articulation alone he is one of the better figures I’ve got. I’ll be using him in so many different poses. I highly recommend buying this figure. Even if you’re not a huge Guardians of the Galaxy or Drax fan. This is a solid figure from Hasbro that you’ll be happy with.

Do you have any of these figures? If so, do you have a review to share? Please share in the comments or link to your review.

Toy Review: Marvel Legends | Superior Spider-Man

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This month I’m reviewing the Marvel Legends Infinite Series The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Superior Spider-Man. I love the Superior Spider-Man story arc so I was super stoked when Walmart threw this guy on clearance online. Getting him out of the packaging, he’s a decent figure, but not perfect by any means. Let’s get to it.

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Articulation – ★★★★☆

Superior Spider-Man has all the same articulation points as The Amazing Spider-Man in this series, but the articulation isn’t nearly as flexible in some areas as is the other figure. Not so bad that it makes a huge difference, but when you’re posing them together, I find this figure just a little less fun to pose.

Total POA’s = 32

  • Arms – There are 8 joints per arm.
    • Shoulders: Butterfly Joint in the shoulder as well as a Ball Joint and a Pin/Hinge joint. The Butterfly joint on this figure is much better as it hides the ugliness from the Amazing Spider-Man figure in this series. I will say, the joints are quite tight on mine, so getting that hinge joint to move can be a bit challenging.
    • Bicep: Peg Joint allows for full 360 rotation. The mold on this joint could have been done a little better as the bicep area of the arm seems to be larger than the shoulder, which anatomically isn’t likely to be very accurate.
    • Elbow: Double Pin/Hinge joint allows for a pretty good amount of bend in the elbow, though because of the bulk of the arms, these joints are probably the most hindered which is why he lost a star. I really didn’t feel bulking up his arms was needed since the Superior Spider-Man isn’t really a different body in the comics, just a different mind (read the comics to see who I’m talking about if you don’t already know).
    • Wrist: Peg Joint as well as a Pin/Hinge joint in the wrist. Nothing too bad to say about these joints. They allow for the classic Spidey web slinging poses which is critical to any Spider-Man figure.
  • Legs – There are 6 joints in each leg/hip/ankle area.
    • Hips: Ball Joint allows for a pretty decent amount of forward motion but backward is hindered considerably by the butt mold (ha ha, butt mold). The outward motion is a little limited as well, but I believe if you do some creative positioning you can make it work with some of the other joints.
    • Thigh: Peg Joint allows for a large amount of rotation. This is a standard cut joint, but due to the mold of the thigh, there are some poses in which you’ll see a bit of an awkward seam in the joint. Nothing too horrible since the all black paint will minimize this look.
    • Knees: Double Pin/Hinge joints in the knees allows Spider-Man to get into some of his iconic crouch poses though because of his added bulk, these poses will be a little harder for you to get, but you should be able to get most of them with a little work.
    • Ankles: Each ankle has 2 joints. Pin/Hinge Joints that allow for a wide range of backward rotation of the ankle, but the forward action is pretty minimal which would have been great to have had a little more (a lot more really). There is also an ankle rocker joint which is perfect for all the crazy acrobatic poses you’re going to want to try to put Spider-Man in.
  • Body – There are 2 joints in the body area
    • Hinge Joint allows for a little more ab crunch than The Amazing Spider-Man which is so awesome. I think some of those poses I wished I could have done with my other figure will be possible with this one. Backward motion is limited to one click back, but it goes pretty far on that one click. Almost too far, as it starts looking a little weird (not anatomically correct weird).
    • Peg Joint in the waist allows for full rotation of the upper body.
  • Head: There are 2 joints in the head/neck area
    • Ping/Hinge joint allows for a really good amount of backward motion, but the forward motion does not go nearly as far as I’d like. Not horrible though.
    • Ball Joint allows for a wide range of side to side motion, but the tilt action is pretty limited due to the head sculpt.

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Mold – ★★★★☆

Parts of the mold of this figure are really cool. I really like the head sculpt of this figure and I think his shoulders and upper body look great. There’s pretty decent detail work in some areas and in others, it’s just so-so.

My biggest gripe with this figure is the bulk of his arms. I really don’t understand why his biceps and forearms needed to be bulkier than the Amazing Spider-Man in this series. The other mold gripe I have is in the butt mold (there it is again). It doesn’t look bad, but it just hinders the backward motion too much for my liking.

I already mentioned the cut joint in the hips. This isn’t a real big deal, but it does look a little odd.

Overall, the mold was pretty good, with the exception of a few issue noted. I didn’t feel those issues warranted more than a star and I’m still happy I have this figure.

Paint – ★★★☆☆

I almost took 3 stars away from this figure, but I just couldn’t do that to the Superior Spider-Man. I still really love this figure, but the paint for me is the weakest part of this figure.

Starting with the head, I don’t understand the brown eyes. He doesn’t have brown eyes on his mask in the comic, so I don’t know why they did that. That’s just a little weird. The web work on the chest and back is pretty well done, though there are some spots where the red is bleeding through the black which looks a little sloppy.

Where I have my biggest complaints are in the arms, legs, and feet. I understand the use of black, and I like it. Afterall, in the comic, he doesn’t really have the blue, it just, there’s not a lot of character to the black. It’s just, black. Perhaps if there was a little bit of the molded texture like we get in the Amazing Spider-Man figure then it could break up the black color. Perhaps some mattt black with a little smoother black. That, technically is a mold issue, and I should have brought it up there, but since they didn’t do it, I had to put the gripe in the paint area of my review.

I mentioned the feet and for good reason. First, there is no texture or molding whatsoever (again, this part belongs in Mold). Then the paint application they chose makes it look like Spidey is wearing womens slippers. What is that all about?

Accessories – ★★★☆☆

For some reason I really feel we should have gotten an alternate head with this figure. Something like an unmasked version would have been great. What we did get was 2 sets of hands. A set of web slinging hands and a set of gripping hands. I like the web slinging hands. they’re molded and painted really well as I think they’re re-used from the Amazing Spider-Man figure. The gripping hands are a little funky. First, we didn’t get anything for him to grip, so what’s the point? Second, it looks like he’s giving the thumbs up all the time, which doesn’t really fit with the characters personality too much.

Packaging – ★★★★☆

The figure comes in the standard Marvel Legends Infinite Series packaging which I really like. One thing I did notice that I haven’t noticed on my others is there is a nice web graphic on the inside of the packaging that I’m not sure they have graphics like this on other figure packaging. Maybe they do, but I’m not interested enough to go look through my empty boxes.

Overall Rating – ★★★☆☆

Overall this is a solid figure. He’s got good articulation and decent mold and paint. There are enough things I didn’t think were that awesome that I think it warranted losing at least one star. If I could find a half star character I’d have given him 3.5 stars in the graphic because I think that’s what he deserves. If you’re a Superior Spider-Man fan like I am, then this is a must have. If you’re a Spider-Man fan, I’d say get the Amazing Spider-Man first, but you should probably get this one too. They’re both pretty cheap right now, if you can find them in stock.

Do you have any of these figures? If so, do you have a review to share? Please share in the comments or link to your review.

Toy Review: Marvel Legends | The Amazing Spider-Man 2

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I’ve decided to change up the Tuesday Toy Review. Originally I was doing reviews weekly. A couple things have come to light that have made me decide weekly is far too often. First, I doubt I’ll be able to afford the purchasing of action figures on a weekly basis. Second, it takes a long time to actually do my reviews as I like to think they’re quite in depth. Finally, there aren’t really that many people that read the reviews, they’re really just for me, and since I don’t need them that much, I’m going to simply go to a monthly review. Also, I’m finding, I prefer watching toy reviews on youtube, so, I think I’m going to look into doing my own video reviews. I just need to figure out how I can do it.

This month I’m reviewing the Marvel Legends Infinite Series Amazing Spider-Man 2. I’ve been looking for a good Spider-Man figure to add to my collection, but I wasn’t planning on buying one anytime soon unless I could get a good deal. That deal came in the form of a Walmart online sale that I just couldn’t pass up.

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Articulation – ★★★★★

Total POA’s = 32

Inline with the majority of the other Marvel Legends figures I’ve purchased, this Spider-Man figure is top notch articulation wise. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 figure based on the movie has a staggering 32 POA’s which thus far, is the highest number I’ve seen on any of my figures. Now, points of articulation are great, but that doesn’t mean the figure is the best figure there is does it? Maybe not, but it sure does help this figure out considerably. I expect a Spider-Man figure to be flexible enough to create some of the iconic poses we see him in in the movies and comics and this figure does not disappoint. Let’s take a look.

  • Arms – There are 7 joints per arm.
    • Shoulders: Ball Joint as well as a Butterfly Joint that allows for a decent amount of movement to open the chest. The butterfly joint isn’t the prettiest, but it certainly is effective.
    • Bicep: Peg Joint allows for full 360 rotation. This joint is molded pretty well to look pretty natural. It’s not the old school cut joint that when turned you see a strange flat spot.
    • Elbow: Double Pin/Hinge joint allows for a really good amount of bend in the elbow. You can almost fold his arm in half which is great.
    • Wrist: Peg Joint as well as a Pin/Hinge joint in the wrist. The hinge joint is critical if you want the classic Spider-man web shooting look. The two joints here easily meet that requirement.
  • Legs – There are 7 joints in each leg/hip/ankle area.
    • Hips: Ball Joint allows a pretty decent amount of forward and backward motion. The outward motion is a little limited, but I believe if you do some creative positioning you can make it work with some of the other joints.
    • Thigh: Peg Joint allows for a large amount of rotation. This is a standard cut joint, but because of the thigh shape being fairly uniform throughout, you’re not going to notice much for flat spots when you twist it.
    • Knees: Double Pin/Hinge joints in the knees allows Spider-Man to get into some of his iconic crouch poses you see him do in the comics and movies.
    • Ankles: Each ankle has 2 joints. Pin/Hinge Joints that allow for a wide range of forward/backward rotation of the ankle. There is also a rocker joint of some type in the ankle which is perfect for all the crazy acrobatic poses you’re going to want to put Spider-Man in.
  • Body – There are 2 joints in the body area
    • Hinge Joint allows a decent amount of forward chest/ab crunch, though I wish he would bend one more click so he could touch the ground while still crouching.
    • Peg Joint in the waist allows for full rotation of the upper body.
  • Head: There are 2 joints in the head/neck area
    • Ping/Hinge joint allows for a decent amount of forward/backward tilt of the head, though it would be nice to have a little more backward motion. This is hindered by the mold of Spidey’s head.
    • Ball Joint allows for a wide range of tilt in the head as well as side to side motion.

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Mold – ★★★★☆

The Marvel Legends figures are really starting to grow on me. They don’t always have the awesome mold like the Marvel Selects do, but they are getting much better and this figure is definitely a great figure. I especially like the texture they added to the legs. It really gives the figure a great feel.

I’m pretty much happy with everything about this figure, except the butterfly shoulders do make the figure look a little odd in certain positions. Not a huge issue, especially if you avoid those poses.

Paint – ★★★★☆

The paint is pretty standard Spidey blue and red. They did a really good job on it though. I didn’t notice any major flaws or scratches to the paint. I really like the paint work they did on his head. Overall, the paint is a solid 4 stars.

Accessories – ★★★☆☆

The Amazing Spider-Man figure comes with 2 sets of hands. One set is a standard fist for each hand and the second set is a set of web slinging hands. When I display mine, I’m using one of each. I think this makes the most sense and looks great when I put Spidey in a crouched pose.

This is a Build-a-Figure pack and he is part of the Ultimate Green Goblin series so we get the right arm of the Ultimate Green Goblin BAF. I’d consider buying the whole set, but there are a couple figures in the set that really don’t look that great and I’ve got a whole slew of other figures I’d rather get, so I may have a right arm laying around with a flame piece that I’ve got absolutely nothing to do with.

Packaging – ★★★★☆

I’ve come to like the newer Marvel Legends packaging. It’s a pretty solid package with decent graphics and a fairly small footprint. The only real gripe I do have with this packaging is that the package doesn’t stand up completely straight, but that’s really not that big a deal. The package protects the figure very well and still allows you to see the figure while it’s on the shelf. This allows those of you who don’t unbox, to still see what you just bought.

Overall Rating – ★★★★☆

This may not be the best Spider-Man figure out there, but for the pittance I spent on it, this was one of the best deals I’ve gotten thus far. Now that I have him, even if I paid full price (would be $19.99) I think it’d be worth it. I have my new Amazing Spider-Man helping my Marvel Select Thor battle my Marvel Select Juggernaut right now and he looks awesome. I’d definitely recommend getting this figure if you need a Spider-Man at a decent price. The deal I got may come back around again somewhere.

Do you have any of these figures? If so, do you have a review to share? Please share in the comments or link to your review.