Hasbro’s new wave of
Guardians Of The Galaxy themed
Marvel Legends is solid and filled with a number of movie figures and several comic-based ones. This wave is available for purchase now at
BigBadToyStore.com.
The line-up includes
Ex Nihilo, Death’s Head II and
Adam Warlock from the comic books and
Star-Lord, Nebula, Gamora, Rocket Raccoon with Groot and
Mantis which is the
Build-A-Figure for the wave.
The
packaging for this wave is the same kind of standardized Marvel Legends boxes used by Hasbro for the last several years. The window box has the Marvel Legends Series logo on top and the name of the character below. The sides display artwork, and the back shows an image of the figure, a brief bio in multiple languages and a look at all the figures in the wave.
Nebula and
Gamora share the exact same packaging as do
Ex Nihilo and
Adam Warlock.
My least favorite figure in the wave is
Ex Nihilo but not because it is a bad figure. I just don’t like the character choice. He’s a fairly new character in the comics who frankly never really had much significance. He also really has nothing to do with the Guardians, so I don’t know why Hasbro chose to create a figure of him. That being said, the figure does make good use of the Hyperion body mold, and I like the gold paint they use on him. It’s simple but works well for the character. The sculpting for the head is accurate to the comics with one horn bigger than the other, and the figure has nice sculpting detail with the feet and his toes. As a cosmic being, I guess Ex Nihilo doesn't have much need for shoes. The only accessory Ex Nihilo comes with is the left arm for the Mantis Build-A-Figure.
Adam Warlock is Hasbro’s second attempt at the character. They previously did a Marvel Legends figure of him in his more classic look which I do not currently have. This version features the character in his more modern costume, and what I like most about the figure is that it includes an alternate Magus head. Essentially, you have two figures for the price of one. If you aren’t familiar with Magus, he is Adam Warlock’s future evil self. The figure incorporates the Bucky Cap mold which works well here, and I like how the black and red looks on the figure. Both the Warlock and Magus head sculpts look really nice; they even threw in some energy wielding blast effects which we have seen used multiple times in the line. Warlock includes the head for the Mantis Build-A-Figure.
Death’s Head II is my favorite of the non-movie characters in this wave. The figure incorporates the recent X-Men Colossus body mold which works really well for Death’s Head. I love the sculpting detail for the head, especially with the mouth area where you can see his teeth. I also like the sculpting detail with his Cranial Siphon, which is the big bladed weapon on his right arm. My only complaint is that it would have been nice if Hasbro had given us multiple bladed weapons to switch out with the Siphon since in the comics he can morph his arm into different things. That would have been a lot cooler than the alternate left hand they included which doesn’t serve much purpose. Death’s Head is the only figure in the wave that does not include any pieces for the Mantis Build-A-Figure.
The rest of the wave consists of figures based on characters from the new
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. movie. Right off the top, I will say Hasbro really stepped up their game with the head sculpts on these and captured the likeness of the actors that the figures are based on.
Nebula and
Gamora have the best head sculpts of the bunch. When you look at
Nebula, it’s almost like looking at the actual character from the movie. The paint applications are fantastic, and I really love the detailing found on the metal plating on the side of her face. The rest of the figure is nicely sculpted as well, and I like how they give you two different lower arm pieces for her left cybernetic arm. One features a normal hand, and the other features a more robotic looking claw as seen in the movie. The figure also features a blaster and left arm for Mantis.
Gamora also sports an amazing looking head sculpt and is far superior to the one we saw on the first Guardians Of The Galaxy movie figure from Hasbro. I love the detailing with the markings on her face and the brighter green skin tone which I think is movie accurate. Paint applications on the entire figure are solid, and I like the use of lighter and darker browns mixed with the black seen on her coat. For accessories, you have a nicely detailer blaster rifle and two versions of her sword, one with the extended blade and the other with just the handle which you can clip on her belt as seen in the movie. Gamora also comes with the right leg for the Mantis Build-A-Figure.
Rocket Raccoon, like Gamora, is far superior to the one they did for the first Guardians movie. While this version of Rocket isn’t quite as tall as the previous one, I think they did a much better job with the sculpting details and paint on the jumpsuit and fur. You also get two different head sculpts for the figure, both of which capture the look and feel of the character nicely. One head has a normal expression with the mouth closed, and the second one (which is my favorite) features Rocket with his mouth open. I really like the detailing with the teeth and mouth on the second head. Rocket also comes with two blasters and a
kid Groot figure. While it’s too bad Groot doesn’t have any articulation, I think Hasbro managed to give it a lot a detail for such a small figure. This version of Groot is wearing the Ravagers jumpsuit. The final item Rocket comes with is the torso section for the Mantis Build-A-Figure.
Star-Lord is my least favorite of the movie figures in this wave, mainly because I think the GOTG Vol. 2 Star-Lord figure in the previous wave is better based on the head sculpt. Hasbro really nailed the look of Chris Pratt on that previous figure. That being said, this one isn’t horrible and is still a lot better looking than the one used on the first Guardians movie figure. This figure does have a more accurate looking shirt than the previous GOTG Vol. 2 one did. It’s the same body mold, but the shirt on the previous figure was painted a dark grey while on this one it is white which is more accurate to how it appeared in the movie.
The big difference between this version of Star-Lord and the previous one is the longer trench coat on this figure, opposed to the shorter jacket. It also has a removable scarf which you saw him wear briefly in the movie. Besides that, his signature blasters which will attach to his waist and a tiny walkman which is done with black plastic and can also attach to his belt are included. The walkman is kind of pointless since they didn’t include any earphones to go with it. Star-Lord also includes the right arm for the Mantis Build-A-Figure.
Rounding out the movie figures is the
Build-A-Figure for the wave which is based on the
Mantis character. While a smaller character, I think Hasbro did a really nice job with the sculpting details on Mantis. The head sculpt with the pale skin, antennas and blacked out eyes really captures how the character looked in the movie. You get a nice green wash effect in the hair, and I like the green metallic paint used on the costume and the detailing of the wrinkles and creases on her shirt. I also like how they sculpted the line-work down her arms, legs and skirt pieces for added texturing. The figure does not have any accessories, but the right hand has been sculpted with the first two fingers pointing outwards allowing you to position her like she is touching people to sense their emotions like she did in the movie.
In the end, if you are a fan of the new
Guardians Of The Galaxy movie, this is a wave you will want to check out. As I mentioned before,
Hasbro has really outdone themselves with the head sculpts on these figures which is a trend I hope continues for future movie waves.
Check out more hi-res images for this figure below in our
GALLERY! These figures were provided by Hasbro for review free of charge.