| Rating: | ★★★★ |
| Category: | Other |
How long has it been since we started posting on the "HML 4 HOLOCAUST Series" thread on the Pinoy Toy Kolektor forums? It started in 2007 and reached 100 pages before this series was released locally. I was already prepared to let go of Marvel Legends and start concentrating on other lines when we finally got the announcement that this was finally coming to the toy stores.
Thankfully, I didn't have to pay Red Hulk Wave prices for these babies. Instead of p9k, I shell out p6.4k. As someone recently pointed out to me, (in mocking tones) "that's expensive". To which of course I replied, (in geeky pontificating voice) "No it's not! That's only p800 per figure. I paid almost p1,300 each for my Red Hulk figures. I'm actually saving here!".
If I try really hard I almost believe it.
I'm still loving the packages on the Hasbro Marvel Legends. If you're careful, you can open 2 sides of the clamshell, pull out the tray and get access to the figure and Build-A-Figure (BAF) piece without destroying the card. If you like displaying toys in their packages, you can slip them right back in anytime. Of course, if you're an MOC collector, these still suck since they are so easily damaged. Virtually all units that are available in retail outlets here have bent cards since the series is being sold by set only and is wrapped up tight in a plastic bag.
Let's go in order of suckage to awesomsauce. First up is Beast. I know, I know. Say what? Everyone and his mother wants to get an Astoninshing X-Men Beast. It's the reason half of them bought it in the first place! I say unto thee, *phbbbt*! He is the suck.
He is everything I hate about the things Hasbro changed in the Legends line. Sloppy paint, mediocre sculpt, awful AWFUL articulation. The one here has decent paint (though the lines still aren't clean), but I saw a few examples with really crappy color bleeds. Being unable to really pick and choose a nice one makes it even worse.
If you place him next to the X-Men Classics Stealth Beast variant, you'll see what I mean by sculpt. Even if you don't take the paint wash into consideration, the older one looks much more realistic. This one looks like it was just won at a carnival. If I had the skill, I'd rather custom my own from the XMC beast.
His articulation is unbelievably bad. Really horrendous. The poses you see below are the extent of his ability really. Sad, considering he's supposed to be ultra agile. Going from head to toe: His hair makes head movement non-existent. His hip joints are blocked by the pants so movement is limited. lack of thigh cuts or their equivalent means he's contained to having his legs open wide, in a half-assed lotus position, and standing. He doesn't even have the weird ball/hinge joint Hasbro seems to be so proud of.
Next up is Black Bolt. I hear he's one of the big characters in the MU right now, with a new title, War of Kings coming out, so it's another toy alot of people want. You'd think they would have put more effort into putting out a good product. Not so much. He's not the total failure that Beast is, but it's pretty close.
He shares the same body as Adam Warlock, and while I liked that figure, it wasn't for his body (...it was for his sense of humor! ba dum bum ching!). So old Blackagar Boltagon shares the same articulation problems, but doesn't get the retro gear or the 80's do. To make matters worse, his wings look like an after thought. The one I opened looks awful, with tattered edges right out of the box. If you fold them up, they don't look right at all. I suggest putting him in a flying position att the top of your shelf and leaving him there for all eternity.
Nova is one of those figures I just can't decide on. Somewhere between the suck and the meh. I think he's using Moon Knight's body, but that's in the plus category. It's a great looking design that has tons of articulation. But it looks as if they did some re tooling with it in the hands and feet area. His hands are both articulated, but he can't make a proper fist. He looks great flying though.
He's another big deal character in the MU right now, heading up the Nova Corp (this still sounds like total knock off on the Green Lantern Corp). I don't know why they didn't put more effort into him.
The next one up is Punisher. This is the figure that made me really want this set. I was never really wowed by the previous punisher toys, but the prototype shots of this one really got me. It's based on Tim Bradstreet's version of the Punisher which is very distinctive. He looks a hell of alot like the Ray Stevenson movie version.
There are two versions in the series, the classic black and white one, and one in camoflage tones and face paint. Since I didn't have a punisher toy at all, I opened both. There are a few details that I don't like, but overall it's a win for Hasbro.
Though he's got excellent articulation below the waist, there are some missing joints above. One, he doesn't have a waist. His body turns, but it's dependent on the stomach crunch joint. It works, but not well. Two, he's got the stupid Hasbro combination joint for elbows which limits his poses with the guns. Bugger. Another thing is that his skin pics up dirt and stains like nothing I've seens since Kingpin's white coat! It turns grey almost immediately from dirt on your hands. I have to keep cleaning him.
They really should have included a few more accessories with him. If any character needed more gear it's Frank. In the Punisher #4 cover, he's got a web-belt and is loaded for bear. A shoulder harness with another pistol, an assault rifle and a few grenades would have made this guy the pick of the litter. It's gonna be hard finding things that will fit. His hands are sculpted to hold his own guns and other Legends weaponry doesn't fit, even if they're in scale. Still, with a little work and some judicious toy hunting, I'm sure I'll be able to equip both my Punishers for their own little war on crime.
Tigra is the surprise wild card for me. She was going to be one of those that I'd consider selling in a few months, but after trying the toy out, I found that it's well made with decent sculpt, articulation, and paint.
Next to the other female Legends, I think toy making is coming a long way. It's really improved from Hasbro's first attempt with Emma Frost and looks much more natural and feminine. It's even an improvement on She Hulk from the Fin Fang Foom wave. You need to watch out for paint though. Of the two I saw, one has noticably cleaner register lines than the other.
Articulation isn't the best, but if sacrificing a few joints gives you a more feminine figure, then so be it. That may be a double standard, but with female figures, I think sculpt is much more important than adding a double knew joint.
Last, but by far the best... Daredevil.
Since I already had the Frank Miller Daredevil (Face Off), I wasn't too keen on getting another, but again, it was a nice surprise to find out that this was a great toy that brought together everything. He really is the best of both worlds, retaining the super articulation of Toy Biz, while getting an improved more realistic design.
Daredevil is another character that has gotten quite a few incarnations in plastic. None were ever really that great. You had the Ben Affleck one, the one with the big head, the one from the boxset, and the face off one that looks... odd. I'm glad to say that this IS the definitive Daredevil.
The only problem is that the string that connects his billy clubs is loose and tends to get un-tied alot.
Thats it. One thing. The rest is pure awesome.
Ok, I said last, but I forgot the entire reason this set is a must have; HOLOCAUST... or Nemesis. I like "Holocaust". It sounds scarier.
This guy is just amazing. He's not a Pitt sized BAF, but maybe a little bigger than the Red Hulk. Pretty good, size he's supposed to be a normal sized guy in a suit. The material he's composed of is a transluscent plastic, though not as clear as the one pictured in the test shots released by Hasbro last year. Still, it works great. There are little blurry dots all over that simulate the energy that is supposed to be contained in his suit. Kewlness.
Like the Red Hulk, he shares the same kind of soft ratcheted joints. They dont "clack!" like the old BAFs anymore. It's a great improvement. I don't get scared posing him now. Everything stays im place wonderfully once posed.
He's got a few surprises. One, he's got an extra joint on his wrist. Lord knows Hasbro didn't need to give us one there, but there it is. He also has a removable helmet/faceplate thing. It flips up and back to expose his skeletal remains (which are fully sculpted by the way). yuck. To top it off, his skeleton neck has a compound joint that allows the head to look in any direction! score!
He is surprisingly stable and can hold a bunch of poses that look great with the AOA Sunfire figure. If they had a few more AOA characters, it would be quite a display. BLINK, Hasbro! BLINK!
There are more hits than misses in this set, and if you have p6.4k to drop on toys and are a fan of some of the characters here, I say get it. If all you want is one character, you may need to just wait for a collector to get tired of it and sell it off at a slightly higher price.
