REVIEW: Legendary Comic Book Heroes - CONAN & WRARRL

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Ahh, Marvel Toys, it’s good to have you back. Along with their first wave of Legendary Comic Book Heroes, a pair of two-packs have been released. One of these depicts the main characters of Jason Pearson’s “Body Bags” comic. But we’re not talking about that one today. Today we’re talking about the Conan two-pack, wherein the famed barbarian, Cimmerian, conqueror, buccaneer, freebooter, wanderer, usurper, avenger, and so forth is joined by one of his presumably numerous archenemies: the evocatively-named Wrarrl.

PACKAGING: The packaging for the twin packs is remarkably similar to the packaging for the single figures, only much wider. So the two figures can fit into it, see. The Legendary Comic Book Heroes logo, in yellow and red, is splashed across the top of squarish, mostly blue packaging. It’s a simple design, but a good one. Pictures of our characters, along with the logo of their comic, adorn the front; on the sides and back are little tiny pictures of various relevant comic-book covers. (In this case, one of these is actually an old Marvel Comics cover, making this the least ironic of the ‘Marvel Toys.’)

Also on the back may be found pictures of the other available Legendary Heroes, and a bio of the two characters within the package. This bio focuses mostly on Wrarrl, which is as it should be – we may be assumed to have some idea who this ‘Conan’ is. On the whole, this is quite good packaging; the figures are plainly visible, and the simple colors and lines make for nice display.

SCULPT: The sculpt of the Conan figure is excellent, really top-notch. The musculature in particular is very nicely done, capturing perfectly the powerful sinews that are what Conan is all about, while staying just a hair short of over-the-top. The face is also excellent – square-jawed and grim of expression.

There’s not much clothing, since this guy’s gotta be in a lot of Boris Vallejo paintings, but what there is, is also very good. The detailing on the belt, and the hang of the loincloth, particularly stand out. And the cape – which is not removable, by the way – is clearly made of the pelt of some long-tailed but otherwise bearlike Hyborian Age beast; you can tell by the clawed paws on the four corners. Three cheers for Conan’s sculpt!

And while we’re at it, three cheers for Wrarrl’s, too. Again, both the fine detail work and the design in general are stellar. Here the standout bits would have to be the ragged edges of the cape and, um, skirt, the marvelously grotesque head, and the jagged armor on the gauntlets and boots. The musculature is again very good, as well. You may not know who Wrarrl is, but you can just see where he’d give Conan trouble.

PAINT: Paint never was the strong suit of Marvel Legends; it was always plagued by minor, but visible, smudges, and the like. One almost hopes that such problems are still going on in this line, for that familiar Marvel Legends feelin’. And if one is so hoping, one is not to be disappointed. The Conan figure has a number of points of sloppiness; on the review figure, there are little paint problems on the right foot, sword, and one of the cape-clasps, for instance. Still, this must not be taken as saying that this is a full-on bad paint job; overall, the figure looks quite good. The texturing of the loincloth and the fur of the cape and boots work especially well. The skin is pretty much just a flat Caucasian pink, with little highlighting or shading, but it looks very nice nonetheless.

Wrarrl has less of a problem with smudging, but then, this figure has so few places where it’s not just grey-black that there’s little opportunity for smudge. There’s actually quite a lot of fine texturing on the skin and clothing of Wrarrl, which is nice. And there are dozens, perhaps hundreds of tiny brown spots on the boots and lower cape, as though he’s been marching through the mud, and this is an absolutely phenomenal effect. This is actually one of the best mostly grey-black paint jobs you’re likely to see, and more than makes up for a few tiny problems on his barbarian pal. Or no – not pal.

ARTICULATION: The million-dollar question: Are these figures up to the dizzying standards set by Marvel Legends, for which that line was so famous? The thrilling answer: Yes.

Conan boasts fully 31 points of articulation – a tall, cool glass of articulation by any reasonable standard. Even the good ol’ mid-foot joint is there. The mid-hand joints are not; rather, the hands are curved into permanent weapon-holding poses. Which is probably as it should be. Conan can’t be dropping his weapons; it’d be both potentially fatal and really, really embarrassing. If there’s one problem with the articulation, it’s at the neck; the hair won’t let you move the head up very much at all, and so Conan is perpetually downcast. Brooding, no doubt, about the many difficulties of the barbarian’s life.

Wrarrl has 29 points of articulation, but don’t let the smaller number fool you; the joints that let you swivel the hand and move it back and forth, separate on the Conan figure, are at the same point here. Which means you can get the same range of motion with Wrarrl that you can with the Cimmerian. How else could he give Conan a good fight? As is so often the case, the clothing of the figure somewhat restricts leg-movement, but so it goes. The joints, as with Conan, are good and tight, erring on the side of too tight in places, as is proper. And so again, we see here all the articulation a collector could want.

ACCESSORIES: You had better believe that Conan comes with weapons. First, there’s his impressively-hilted sword, which rests in a scabbard on his back. The scabbard’s strap is a loose item on the figure, but tied in under the clasps of the cape, and as such not removable. Still, it’s a nice effect, making the figure more three-dimensional, more alive. Secondly, there’s his awesome, double-bladed battle axe. This has a real metal chain on one end, and that’s great. The figure can hold it two-handed, which the sculpt and articulation will not allow for the sword, so hooray for that as well. Please note that the dagger strapped to Conan’s thigh is sculpted on there, and not really an accessory at all. But after the sword and axe, what, you want a dagger?

Wrarrl comes with a sword and a helmet, both with nice ‘weathering’ effects, and both evil. Also included is what appears to be a large, blood-red worm, pointed at either end. Your humble reviewer doesn’t know what this is, but it’s godawful – as it is presumably meant to be.

The worm, at rest, sticks out of a shoulder-bag, which is like Conan’s scabbard in that it is a loose piece, but impossible to casually remove. The scabbard-belt and cape here are like that, too. These all are really excellent accessories; the only quibble here is that it’s pretty difficult to get the helmet on in such a way as to allow his eyes to see out of it. But it can be done, and if you love Wrarrl, you’ll take the time. And how could you not love Wrarrl?

COST & OVERALL IMPRESSION: The Conan twin pack is part of the first wave of Legendary Comic Book Heroes, and has just hit the open market. It seems to be retailing for about $22, give or take. Some sources report that it is difficult to find, but this has certainly not been the case in your humble reviewer’s town.

If these two figures are any indication, then people, the Toybiz Marvel Legends are back. They’re not called Toybiz anymore, and they’re not Marvel characters anymore, but all of the articulation, sculpt, and so on that made the ‘Legends’ name so apt are back, in full force. And as before, these aren’t totally perfect figures; but they’re awfully close, and they deserve all the fandom they receive.

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Review and Photos by Matthew Kessen