The paint work is mostly well done with just a little slop here and there (primarily the fingers), but the paint on the face is enough to convince me that Hasbro is ready to take Marvel Legends more seriously than they once did. In addition to that, the straps, buttons, and ornate detailing on the gloves and belt are all painted well. I’d still like to see something done to add a little texture to that large surface area on his chest, but it’s a minor quibble. Visually, the figure is very satisfying. The problems happen when you open him up.
My first problem with this figure is that it’s getting a little too Mattel up in here. The pieces in-between the joints – inside the double-hinged elbows and knees, inside the ball ankles and wrists are extremely soft plastic. It’s almost like Hasbro called up Mattel, asked for the formula, and then made it even softer. It’s not the biggest deal in the world. In fact, the soft joints in the arms hardly bother me at all, but the soft pieces in the legs combine with another problem and the figure really takes a hit.
Since this figure reuses Doc Samson’s buck, it also inherited some flawed articulation. Above the waist, the figure is about as good as it can be. I hate the one-piece ball-joint on the neck, but you can kinda increase the range by having it in various stages of popping off, so I’ll let that be for now. The arms are great with ball-jointed shoulders, bicep swivels, double elbows, and ball-joints wrists. And the ab crunch has great range.
Beneath the waist is a different story. There are ball-jointed ankles and double knees, but they’re rendered almost ineffective by the hips. They’re a simple ball-joint with no swivels – the thigh is one piece, the calf is one piece. The pegs go into the body at an angle, giving the figure what’s essentially a v-crotch with some side movement. Turning the leg at the hip will always put it at an odd angle to the body – and with no swivels to correct for it, posing will become difficult. Factor in the soft ankle and knee joints, and the figure quickly becomes a figure that you prefer to just have stand there over trying to get a cool action pose. It’s frustrating.
Also of note, this figure lacks any accessories. He was $14.88 at Wal-Mart and I would’ve liked to see a sword, goblet, something to help with the value. I still bought him without hesitation, but being accessory-less (including BAF or C&C pieces) should be outlawed.
Overall, I’m cool with the figure. I was thrilled to find him at the store and I was super-satisfied with him right up until I got him open and discovered the horror that are Doc Samson’s hips. During the photo shoot, he was driving me nuts when I was trying to get some poses out of him. I really had to clear my head to write the review since I’d had two such extreme reactions to him within hours of discovering he’d been released. Visually, he’s awesome. If you’re the type of collector that lines these guys up – he’ll be great for you. If kids want to play with him, I think there’s sufficient articulation to keep them happy too – he can get his leg up and kick Thor in the chest should the need arise, but he can’t pose like that, and that bugs me more than a little. If you’re a Loki fan, like me, the figure is still worth picking up though – just don’t expect too much out of that leg articulation.
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Aw man, I wanted to get Loki. But those Samson hips…ARRGH. Who thought reusing the most poorly-designed buck in ML history was a GOOD idea?
Hahahahaha!!!!!!! What a terrific last picture!
I would like to get the movie thor and Captain America figures. I really liked them when I saw the pics of them in SDCC.
I see some improvements in the future for Hasbro, but still not enough to make me return to ML…
Looks like when I end up buying this figure from eBay (thanks all the crappy walmarts in my area) ((I do happen to work at one too)) I shall be finding him some new upper legs…or trying to add thigh swivels…On another note, the new Marvel Select Classic Thor (Disney Store Exclusive) has the same leg articulation, so they are compliments to each other!
Man where do you get the ideas for your pics! That last one is spot on. If this is a sign of things to come for Marvel Legends, it might be a good year for them to comeback! With the decline and mess that is DCUC right now, I look forward to spending my money elsewhere soon.
Finally, a reason to go out this week! LOL (waiting for disability SUCKS!)
I scored the Warriors 3 and Destroyer last week over at Washington Target, but there was no sign either Wash or Onion WM were making any room for new product. It’ll probably be the Manchester/141, Kirkwood, Fenton trifecta that get these, unfortunately.
That looks like the new/JMS/Seige/whatever recent event Thor holding Loki’s hand in the one pic. Is that the Marvel Select version or was he included in this wave? (or is he in the to-be-released ML w1?? I lost track?)
I’m hoping to find some/ANY of these. I wanted to do a couple customs with the Fury/Cap set, but barely found any. This Loki looks like it could be a decent custom base, too. btw, this costume is from the “Blood Brothers” mini and recent animated movie dvd, I believe.
(ok, seriously, how’s the housing sitch down there? I almost decided not to move because of the tornado displacing thousands, but…keeping my options open. (read: cheap places up here SUCK!))
D’OH! just realized after commenting on the Laserbeak review I didn’t change my name bak after being stupid on the Matty Qs the other day. @_@
The really sad thing is that Loki didn’t knock the Ghostbusters down, they’re just still upset about what Mattel did.
Success for the reborn ML line would be a simple recipe…utterly out-of-the-question, of course:
1) Silver Age, Comic versions
2) In the same scale (6″)
3) With DCUC (or even DCD) level articulation
4) Decent plastic & paint
dude, yer nuts. silver age only? nobody would go for that. i don’t think any serious fan would turn down silver age versions, but nobody would buy in if that was all that was offered.
decent paint and plastic, i think that and the scale are likely to actually happen. as for dcuc level articulation… this is marvel legends. if we settled for that crap, we’d be DC fans. 😉 legends can do way, way better. the samson buck sucks, and hopefully, that’s the last time we’ll see it. but even w/ that, they improved on that dud of a buck by using better arms. the extra in the legs is a waist, they need a swivel just below the hinge when the hips sockets in. that would at least help.
and of course, it’s worth mentioning again that they said at SDCC that this loki would be the last fig w/ the angled hip sockets, after him they’re going back to the 90 degree hips only. that alone will be a huge improvement because it doesn’t create that odd “rotate the hip ball first, then move the thigh” thing that became a hasbro hallmark near the end of the previous six inch era.
Articulation was allways ML’s strong suit for sure and I expect it to be that way with the new ones and from what I have seen so far the Sculpts are (in my mind) leagues ahead of what has come before
I have to disagree in a few points:
Point #1: We kinda already had a bunch of those between ToyBiz and Hasbro… Completing rosters should be a first Priority… (Though I’d love a First Appearance X-Men multi pack, or the FA X-men split through some waves.)
Point #2: You want ALL characters to be 6″ or for them to be in the 1:12 scale (Like Wolverine being 5″ while Hulk is 7-8″) cause I want the second option…
Point #3: HELL NO! One thing I hate is the lack of Articulation that the DCUC have… ML made me an articulation whore… I even LOVE the useless individual Finger Articulation (Having Cap flipping the bird at Ironman: Priceless)
Point #4: Agreed 100%
^all of this makes so much sense
agreed on the completed rosters… that first official wave back features terrax as the BAF, and that kind of completes the roster of galactus’ heralds that the average person cares about. 🙂 that said, i’d like to see at least firelord and morg made too. but yeah, they haven’t shown us yet any figs that complete rosters. i will say, they need to START and FINISH the wrecking crew well and this running change shiz they’re talking about for wave 2 scares the shiz out of me. there’s no way that will end well.
The opening of this review is incredible!
I too would have preferred that the Hemsworth 6″ Thor figure be helmetless – he only spent a couple seconds under the helmet in the movie. Of course, if that version is a mass release, non-stupid-f@ck!ng-Walmart exclusive, I’m all for it. I don’t remember specifically whether the teased figure that Hemsworth himself examined at Toy Fair was helmetless or not.
The headless shot is interesting – I don’t know if it was intended, but Loki actually was “beheaded” at least once in the comics. I don’t think your foray into Marvel’s Asgard has gotten that far yet.
Also wasn’t Thor’s helmet *shiny*? This one isn’t. And I don’t think the facial expression is all that good on this figure either.
To NoisyDvL5
I noticed you mention not being able to locate a GA Batman with Batmite, well I can get a hold of one if you would like, maybe we could work out a trade or something let me know. I apologize to the owners of the site if this is an inappropriate place to leave this message, I looked for a way to email the author directly but didn’t find any. Feel free to pass this along and you don’t have to post this to the site.
WHy couldn’t they do this and Asgaurd thor for the 4 Inch line, it would have made that line 100 times better to have comic line in it. Of course it would have helped the Cap line to have some movie figs so what am I thinking LOL.