2007 Hasbro
Marvel Legends
Wave 2 - Blob Series
Yellowjacket
BAF Piece: Right Leg
MSRP: $9.99
Yellowjacket is another one of those highlighted missing figures from ToyBiz days and a welcome addition to our Avengers teams.
A lot of times with these figures it's the little things that count. Last time I gave a very low score to what I personally feel to be a good figure, Quicksilver. When grading a figure piece by piece sometimes the score comes out a little higher or lower than you'd expect. Yellowjacket uses the exact same body from neck to toe but I'm certain will grade-out higher.
Packaging
Hasbro still producing the same beautiful package scheme as the first wave of Marvel Legends, The Annihilus Series. It still looks great, it still looks fresh and it still makes me that much more happy to buy the figure. All the color and illustration choices look great here. Nothing stands out as poor design or choices in illustration.
Score: 8
Sculpt / Design
Yellowjacket and Quicksilver share the exact same body minus two parts. Yellowjacket's torso varies slightly in that he has the fins glued on (or embeded into). The crotch piece also has a belt and buckle sculpted on. One thing that I had not noticed before is that this exact same body that had been used for Series 15 Captain Marvel and Moon Knight figures' sculpt is somewhat dumbed down. When the newer figures are compared to the older you will notice the newer ones are missing some detail sculpted into the arms and legs, little lines showing definition as well as the big vein over the biceps. It's a lot of those little lines and fine details sculpted into a figure that can help give it more life and texture. Yellowjacket's costume is portrayed beautifully here, the sculpted in belt and buckle is a nice touch, the fins look great and are nice and sturdy, however you can see much too much glue where the fins and chest meet along the inside. Almost makes it feel like a sloppy custom job, just the fins that is. The head might be just a tad large but otherwise a perfect headsculpt. The pre-posed hands thing works with some figures and Yellowjacket is one of them with his right hand clenched into a fist and left opened. The black part rising up the abdomen and back could've been sculpted in to emphasize that attribute of the costume along with the fins.
Score: 8
Paint / Color
My very first impression of Yellowjacket in hand was, "awesome", my very second impression was, "whoa, ugly". Maybe it's just me but, I feel like the yellow color of the costume is just a touch too dull and has a hint of green which to me is all wrong. First of all, the color in the pictures due to different computer monitor settings and lighting don't necessary reflect what I'm expressing which is my in-person impression of this yellow color. Color can be a touchy thing and while I think this may be a just me thing, I'm not going to be too harsh based on what I think I perceive as being an off yellow color. I will say however that it is a little unfair that the more proper yellowish-gold costumed Yellowjacket is a variant, but we'll leave that up to another review. The yellow changes a little bit between the yellow molded plastic and the painted yellow parts consisting of belt, chest emblem, eyes and antennae. The inconsistency is there but not noticeable unless you're really looking for it. The head and especially the face looks great in paint application, a black molded plastic painted with a flesh tone looks great and I SO wish that Hasbro would choose to paint their figures heads more often, it gives a much more lively and realistic tone as opposed to the more common pale and opaque heads we've been getting lately.
Score: 7
Articulation
Yellowjacket features a useful 38 POA, same as Quicksilver, Captain Marvel and Moon Knight minus finger or mid-hand articulation due to the pre-posed hands. Some collectors just absolutely hate pre-posed hands, some prefer them. I'm on the fence. It depends on the figure. Yellowjacket seems to work. Someone like Moon Knight, Bullseye or Daredevil need as much articulation in the hands as they can get to hold their accessories and such.
Score: 8
Value
Yellowjacket is a typical sized figure. Added fins glued on is something extra that required unique handling in production. No additional accessories but does of course come with a BAF piece. So, this isn't a completely re-used body, the head of course is new, the torso for the fins to be glued into and the crotch are all new pieces.
Score: 7
Score Totals
Packaging: 8
Sculpt / Design: 8
Paint / Color: 7
Articulation: 8
Accessories: N/A
Value: 7
Overall: 38 out of a possible 50
Yellowjacket is a solid figure in the Blob Series and a long overdue character to become immortalized as a Marvel Legend. I can't wait to get the variant just to see how much (or how little) of a difference is between the two after all.
Check out
Yellowjacket in the Database.