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The 4th quarter of 2007 is most certainly the quarter for Marvel Legends fans as there are quite literally three assortments to hunt down! You can currently find the Spider-Man film Legends, Fantastic Four Legends, and now at last is Series 3 of Hasbro’s standard Legends line which features the Brood Queen build-a-figure.
There are eight figures that build up the Brood Queen:
1. X3 Colossus
2. Cyclops
3. Danger
4. Marvel Girl
5. Black Knight
8. Bucky
This review will focus on the all new Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Black Knight, and Danger which should be in stores now or very soon. Also keep your eyes peeled for a Marvel Girl variant.
PACKAGING: The card and bubble is how the Legends are packaged and it works really well for this line. The card features graphics front and back of the character along with a short bio and stats. The card also shows the build-a-figure along with each of the other figures you’ll need to complete the collection.
SCULPT: Sculpting on the Marvel legends haven’t been as strong as Toy Biz, but I think this batch of figures have made me seriously reconsider that thought.
Cyclops’ sculpt is wicked good. It really feels like Cyclops, not just dressed like him! This is a brand-new outfit and though it’s about as scrawny as the initial X-Men Legends Cyclops, it doesn’t feel like it thanks to the proportions.
Black Knight reminds me a bit of Adam West as Batman. It just has that attitude to it, but no, that isn’t a bad thing. Being a Knight, this figure is dressed almost entirely in armor which is definitely helpful to the sculptors since there needs not be any major detail work. The facial expression is stern and just perfect in my opinion.
Marvel Girl is the first female sculpt that Hasbro has made that I’ve actually grown quite fond of. Where Emma Frost and X3 Jean Grey have disgusted me, Marvel Girl is incredible by comparison. The head sculpt is of a decent shape and the physique of Marvel Girl is definitely more pleasant.
Danger is a character I’m not too familiar with, but the sculpt is certainly an interesting one. She’s a cross between the Borg Queen from Star Trek and the freaky robot girl in Superman 3. So not having too much familiarity with Danger, I think it’s a really good sculpt regardless. However, the paint isn’t on her side. More on that below.
PAINT: On many previous Marvel Legends reviews, I’ve been pretty critical in regards to paint application or lack thereof. On characters like the Black Knight, Cyclops, and Marvel Girl, I think these actually look rather nice.
Black Knight is the type of character wearing armor and whatever paint applications are applied, there’s a certain shine to him that just works! The reflective qualities add a level of dimension to the figure that many Hasbro Legends lack. Of course I think they could have added a darker shade to the face paint, but the extra touch on the lips was right on the money. More paint would have been nice on his belt as well, which is now just a dull gold. But other than that, Black Knight literally shines in this department. There are a few bits here and there where the paint is messy and missed a spot so that’s disappointing too.
Cyclops is looking pretty decent, but he’s in a dark blue jumpsuit, so that in itself already helps a lot. The neon yellow stripes on the costume, though, are just a tad too much but they look alright. The paint on Cyclops’ face can definitely be better with some cleaner lines and a stronger red in the visor. Black Knight was lucky enough to add an extra bit of color to the lips, but Cyclops isn’t so fortunate.
Marvel Girl surprisingly is spot on. She’s mostly skin and that does help a lot since the plastic of that certain shade has a certain quality to it. The hair, eyes, lips, and other parts of the outfit look fine too.
Danger is the polar opposite of the above three figures. This figure is basically a 100% blue plastic casted figure with some added touches here and there. Alas, the touches are too far in between. There are sculpted details all over the head that just go unnoticed and it looks pretty bad. Only six strands of hair are painted and quite poorly at that. Danger is in a severe need of a wash and a lot more paint.
Sculpts on all four of these figures have been above and beyond what I’ve seen Hasbro do on the previous two Legend waves, but the paint still isn’t what it should be. The worst insult though is the packaging art with the figure having far superior paint job than we actually get. Please, Hasbro, just give us an extra wash!
ARTICULATION: With the Hasbro takeover, there have been new articulated joints on the Marvel Legends, while others have been taken away. Some of the joints actually help, while others need to be retired permanently.
Cyclops stars the standard Marvel Legends level of articulation with 32 points. Only his right hand has articulation... the left features none. I appreciate that the figure has the bicept cut and double elbows and knees. The feet have pretty good range too: Whichever angle Cyclops is place in, the feet have the ability to remain flat on the ground. He’s missing toe articulation and also the ability to point his feet in any direction, but not a crucial omission.
Danger dons 28 points of articulation (including the 4 in the wings). She has double elbows and double knees which I love, but the count is low because there’s fewer points in the feet, hands, waist, and shoulders. The shoulders are just one ball joint that have a pretty decent range of movement.
Marvel Girl has 25 points of articulation, which is far fewer than the others, but somehow it works. Her elbows and knees use the Hasbro joint that is anatomically incorrect, of course. I hate it. But it is aesthetically pleasing to have fewer joints on a female figure wearing so little. And with so few joints, you can pose Marvel Girl in more ways than you thought thanks to the ball jointed heels.
Black Knight uses the crummy elbow and knee joints that I loathe. The reason I dislike them so much is because it makes the limbs shorter than they need to be and they also hinder motion. His elbows and knees only go 90 degrees, rather than an almost 180 degree angle. Black Knight only has 26 points of articulation -- essentially the same as Marvel Girl -- however he also has an extra neck joint that allows better up & down head movement.
ACCESSORIES: The old days of Legends would include a base and a comic book. Fast Forward to the present and you’ll get a piece of the build-a-figure and MAYBE something else.
Black Knight comes with the Brood Queen right legs and a sword and shield. The shield clips onto Knight’s wrist while the sword has a holder on the belt for safe keeping.
Cyclops comes with the Brood Queen head and nothing else.
Danger comes with the Brood Queen wings and also her own wings that become part of the figure. Impressive wingspan though!
Marvel Girl comes with pretty rad flame effects for each hand. She also comes with the main body of the Brood Queen.
COST: These figures will cost you $10 at retail.
OVERALL IMPRESSION: We’re on the third series and the Marvel Legends are getting better. Alas, they are still frustrating because the potential to be GREAT is there. This is one of the best Cyclops figures we’ve received. We've also gotten great first timers of Black Knight, Marvel Girl, and Danger. Only articulation and paint are holding these back from being stellar action figures. These are great sculpts, but without good paint, collectors may never see that.
Despite the downsides, these are great figures and if you’ve been sticking with the line, these should be worth getting.
CLICK HERE for a Marvel Legends Series 3 image gallery tour!
COMING UP NEXT: Colossus and the Brood Queen!
Review and Photos by David Yeh