Hasbro finally released its first wave of Marvel Knights-based 6” Marvel Legends figures, bringing us the first figures based on the Netflix portion of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. These figures are available for purchase at
BigBadToyStore.com.
Just to recap, the wave includes Netflix-based versions of
Daredevil, Punisher, Jessica Jones and
Elektra as well as comic book versions of
Blade and
Bullseye. The
Build-A-Figure for the wave is
Man-Thing.
While the wave is pretty solid overall, I was a little disappointed by the two figures I anticipated the most. They are not bad figures, but they could have been better.
Let’s start with the
Netflix Daredevil figure, probably the figure most people were anticipating (including myself).
My biggest complaint with this figure is the headsculpt. While the sculpting detail on the mask portion is pretty good, it looks nothing like actor
Charlie Cox. With the mask on, all you can see of the face is his chin, but the overall shape of the head throws it off for me. The headsculpt on this figure has a very square chin which doesn’t really fit the look of Cox. Some more 5 o’clock shadow on the skin would have been nice as well. There is a little but it is very hard to see. While these are fairly minor nitpicks, Hasbro set the bar so high on most of their recent MCU figures that this one noticeably falls short.
The detailing on the rest of the figure is good. I like the texturing featured throughout the suit which gives a look and feel that this is something that can really take a beating in battle.
The accessories are on par with what we have seen for previous Daredevil figures, two batons that attach together to form his billyclub and a extra pair of grip hands to hold them. He also has a holster sculpted on his left leg to hold the clubs. An alternate unmasked head would have been nice, but I won’t complain too much about the lack.
Articulation is solid on this figure, but I would caution about stuck joints. I had a bitch of a time getting the right shoulder to move at first.
Daredevil Overall Grade: B-
Next up is the
Netflix Punisher. Another one I was really anticipating, I love the headsculpt but found the articulation lacking.
The headsulpt looks dead-on to
Jon Bernthal who plays the
Punisher in the Netflix universe. The detailing on the rest of the figure is pretty nice as well. I like the appearance of the Punisher symbol on his chest; it looks like it was spray painted.
The figure is wearing a coat which looks good but this is where the limited articulation comes in. I guess because of the jacket, they decided only single-hinged elbows were possible. This severely limits the types of weapon firing poses you can put the figure in. The accessories are basic but decent enough. You get a machine gun and pistol. I have plenty of other weapon accessories lying around so if I want to better arm my Punisher, that won’t be too difficult.
Punisher Overall Grade: B-
Jessica Jones was the surprise hit for the wave. I was not terribly excited when she was first announced, but I think Hasbro did a great job delivering. The head sculpt is dead on to
Krysten Ritter who plays the character on the show. In fact, the entire figure is the spitting image of how the character looks in the series. Like Punisher she only has single-hinged elbows which is typical for the female Marvel Legends figures, but she still has better arm movement than Punisher does.
My only minor complaint is that they didn’t include Jessica’s scarf, but you can create a quick fix if you have a Star Wars
Black Series Jyn Erso figure lying around. Cut off the Jyn Erso hood; it works great as a scarf for Jessica.
Jessica Jones Overall Grade: A
Elektra Natchios is the fourth and final figure to round out the Netflix line-up in this wave. Again, Elektra is a pretty solid figure when it comes to capturing the look of
Elodie Yung, the actress from the show.
This figure is based on her appearance in the second season of Daredevil rather than her look in the Defenders, so her outfit is pretty basic but show-accurate. The figure comes with a masked and unmasked head with both looking accurate to Yung. The figure also comes with a pair of sais.
This biggest fault with this figure is the single-hinged elbows. Double-hinged ones would have worked better here for more arm movement. Nevertheless, this is a good figure overall.
Elektra Overall Grade: A-
Moving on to the two comic book based figures for the wave, I am happy to say an updated Blade figure finally appeared. Hasbro teased a new
Blade for the Marvel Legends line several years ago but then never released it. This figure is actually totally different from the previous one shown but overall I like the look of this one.
The figure comes with two head sculpts, a bald head and one with hair. Honestly, I have not read a comic with Blade in it for many, many years, so I don’t know which one is more comic accurate. However, I prefer the one with hair a little more. Both feature him wearing sunglasses with red colored lenses which look pretty good, but I think one of the heads without the glasses would have been cooler.
The detailing on the rest of the figure is pretty nice with things like wooden stakes and such scattered throughout the figure, none of which are removable. The most disappointing thing was how light they were with the weapon accessories. The only weapon he comes with is a Deadpool reissued sword, which looks more ninja-like than a Blade weapon. Again, I have not read a recent comic with Blade in it, so I don’t know what he is using for weapons. The Blade I am accustomed to has a more threatening sword and usually other things to like fancy guns. I would almost prefer more weapons to the extra head.
Still, this is a nice figure with good articulation, so I am not going to complain too much.
Blade Overall Grade - B+
The final regular figure in this wave is an updated
Bullseye figure. Now I haven’t gotten a new Bullseye since the original
Toy Biz one, so I was pretty happy to see an updated version of Daredevil’s arch-nemesis.
The figure is packed with quite a few accessories including a knife and multiple pairs of hands. One of the left hands looks like he is throwing three knives which is a pretty cool effect. You also receive a pistol reused multiple times in the line, one I am not too fond of. I think they could have come up with a better gun for Bullseye than this one. The figure has a sheath on the back for the knife and a holster for the pistol, both of which work well with the weapons. The figure also comes with a masked head and unmasked headsculpt. Both heads look good, but I really like the psychotic look of the unmasked head and the carved in tattoo on his forehead. Both sculpts have a missing tooth which is a nice added detail.
The overall sculpt is a reuse of the one used with the
Spider-Man 2099 figure which I think works pretty well here.
Bullseye Overall Grade - A
Finally we have the
Man-Thing Build-A-Figure. This is a nice update to the old Toy Biz one, especially when it comes to the figure’s size. The overall sculpting and paint is decent although the Toy Biz one is still a little better in those departments. I like how the red eyes look, and the nostrils are made with a rubber type material so you don’t have to worry about them snapping off.
Articulation is decent. You do only get single hinged-elbows, but overall range of movement is sufficient for this character who isn’t known for moving very fast. Honestly Man-Thing was not a character I was dying to get an upgrade of, but I think Hasbro has done a good job with it.
Man-Thing Overall Grade - A
Check out more images for all these figures below in our
GALLERY! If you like the
Subway Pop-Up Diorama featured in this review, be sure to check out
Extreme-Sets.com.
