Mondo has been absolutely killing it with its sixth scale line of action figures based on the now classic animated series X-Men. The company also really ramped up production in 2023 on the line by soliciting five new figures during the year. At over 200 bucks a pop, it was quite the hit to the old wallet. It had me looking for reasons to bypass a release and maybe the San Diego Comic Con exclusive Logan was one figure I didn’t need to have. It was a variant on Wolverine, who was the inaugural release in the line, and when it comes to expensive lines to collect variants are often a spot where the wallet can breath. Then I saw the figure and I knew it just wasn’t going to happen. Logan looked too damn good and his plain clothes look from the show is almost as iconic as his costumed one. I was a day one buyer. The wait was a long one, but I now have Logan in my possession.
Logan follows Omega Red and arrived in the same manner. The figure was shipped directly from the factory and delivered to my home via DHL. The figure comes in the usual packaging which features brand new artwork from Dan Veesenmeyer and production art adorns the background (mostly from the episode “Weapon X, Lies, and Video Tape”). The front flap is affixed via a magnet once again with a write-up on the inner flap from showrunner Erik Lewald and his wife Julia, who also wrote for the show. The window behind it isn’t very useful since the figure is covered in tissue paper and plastic, but that’s for a good reason. Logan was sculpted by Alex Brewer, who I believe has handled all of the sculpts in the line, with paint by Tom Rozejowski. Remember those names, because we’ll be singing their praises throughout this one.
Logan is covered in tissue paper and plastic films to protect him in transit because he is loaded with paint apps. He stands a ticker under 11″ so he’s basically the same size as his costumed counterpart. The look is his classic season one civilian attire which includes a brown bomber jacket, yellow, checkered, shirt, blue slacks, and cowboy boots. The man certainly had style. He’s sporting the jacket in box and to get all of the extra stuff off you’ll probably have to dismantle the figure a bit. I removed the hands, arms, and coat (yes, it’s removable) so as to avoid ripping through the plastic and leaving little pieces behind. All of that extra stuff apparently did its job because the paint is pristine on my figure. Which is terrific because everything is painted here: hands, face, hair, I’m not sure if anything is bare plastic. This isn’t the flashiest paint job in the line due to the character design, but it turned out wonderful. There’s tons of black linework, the cel-shading is smartly applied, and the faces are clean. It’s more exceptional work from Mondo and their team of artists.
This figure looks so good that there’s very little room to critique it, but this is a review so we’re going to try. My first thought when I saw the figure was that his pants looked just a little bit off. After consulting the show, that seems to be the case as his pants usually had a touch more green to them than here. It’s easiest to see just by comparing the figure to the box art. It’s not a big deal to me and this approach makes him more like the old “Street Clothes” Wolverine action figure from Toy Biz clearly based on the show. Wolverine’s head without his mask is always a bit tough to get in three dimensions because of his unusual hairstyle. This one looks pretty damn good, though the hair might be just a bit too steep and pointed up. The first Wolverine figure came with an unmasked head and I think I like the hair shape on that one a little more, though the faces on the new figure are much improved. If I could get the hair halfway between the two that might be perfect. Lastly, Logan is still too tall for true sixth scale. They were kind of backed into a corner here because of the first figure. If this one was smaller it would look silly. He’ll look fine with Jubilee, but Sabretooth and Omega Red don’t quite tower over Logan like they should.
That’s a pretty short list of nitpicks and the rest of this review is going to be largely of the glowing variety. Logan doesn’t call for a ton of accessories, but that doesn’t mean he’s lacking. Logan comes with fists in the box, but he also has another five sets of hands to choose from. They are: fists with claw channels, open, trigger hand, gripping, and “Come here” gesture hands. All of the hands except the default fists feature the channels for his claws. I love this attention to detail since Season One Logan always had those on his hands even when un-gloved. This was corrected for Season Two so if you prefer that look you have the bare fists. For those many hands we have 8 claws. Yes, Mondo tossed in two extra in case you misplace any or break some. The approach is different from the first Wolverine as the plastic is much lighter and more pointed. They’re unpainted and there’s a little notch on the end of each one which helps them to lock into place. All of the hands I’ve tried have been able to accept the claws without fuss, which is cool. I love the removable claw feature and it’s what I always wanted out of my Wolverine figures as a kid. No need to go with straight arm poses to conceal a retractable claw gimmick. The only thing missing is a set of fists that could feature claws without the channels, but I probably would have never used them so I can’t really complain.
You may have noticed my advice to remove the coat when unboxing this guy and that’s because it’s removable. Mondo did the coat in a soft, pliable, plastic just like they did with Gambit while making the sleeves of the coat part of the sculpt. The arms pop out quite easily so you can slide the coat off and replace the arms with the extra set. They feature the sleeves of his shirt and there’s some painted arm hair on them so you can pull off a jacket-less look if you want. I love the option, though I can’t recall Wolverine sporting this look in the show. He had other plain clothes looks including a red flannel and a black t-shirt, but I don’t remember if he ever had just the yellow shirt. Looks like I need to go do another rewatch.
Logan also comes with two heads. He has what is probably a neutral expression for Logan by default, though it has a hint of a scowl which I think is just how Logan always looks. There’s also an angry, teeth-gritting, expression for when you want him going after Sabretooth. Both heads are easy to swap as it looks like Mondo has started using a soft, almost rubbery, plastic insert in the heads making this figure the easiest in the line to swap. It’s a great call because swapping heads on the other figures can be a little scary since it’s easy to wind up with unintended paint rub if you’re not careful. The last item in the box is the Mondo figure stand. This one is unique in that the base has the X-Men logo sculpted and painted onto it. I was surprised they weren’t doing this from the start and it does add a nice splash of color to the display. I suppose some will be bothered that Logan’s stand is different from the rest, but since it’s an improvement you won’t hear me complaining. Plus, I never use the damn things, but this one I almost feel like I have to.
Logan is like the other figures in the line in that he looks pretty awesome. He’s also like the rest in that he doesn’t articulate particularly well. It’s the trade-off we’re all accustomed to at this point. The head is on a double ball peg, though he doesn’t get as much range as I’d like. His hair kind of locks him down and it’s worse with the coat on. You get rotation and a little range down and a little tilt, but that’s about it. The shoulders are hinged ball pegs and the sleeved ones on mine were pretty stuck out of the box. That’s because they’re painted, but a little heat and some force got them moving fine (the alt arms were good to go from the start) and the peg is sturdy enough that you shouldn’t have much to worry about. They rotate and go out to the side all the way. The elbows are single-hinged with a swivel point and they’ll get you close to a 90 degree bend, but not all the way. The hands are on hinged ball-pegs and they’ll rotate just fine and you can align the hinge in whatever fashion you wish.
In the torso, we have a diaphragm joint that doesn’t appear to do a whole lot. I can get a little rotation out of it, but it doesn’t tilt or crunch forward or back at all. I think the figure has a waist twist, but the shape of the sculpt is discouraging me from really trying to move it as there will definitely be some paint rub if I do. The legs are on big old ball sockets, but the crotch diaper piece is a large impediment to range. You can kick back a bit, and kick forward, but the leg wants to go out to the side. The legs will spread to close to 45 degrees or so and there is a thigh twist built into the socket joint. The knees are double jointed and will bend past 90 degrees. You also get a little swivel at the top and bottom of the knee joint if you want it. The ankles feature a hinge and there’s an ankle rocker. The range on both is acceptable and this figure isn’t a challenge to stand. He’s just not going to do anything truly dynamic, which was pretty true of the show, in fairness. I wish the diaphragm joint worked better than it does as the lack of rotation up there sucks.
As I said before, I can accept the articulation shortcomings because the figure looks too damn good. This Logan is precisely what I want from this line and I am immensely happy to add him to my collection. I had some nitpicks and I do miss the episode specific accessories the other figures came with (maybe a pool cue would have been fun, or his salami), but maybe the simpler approach here is the result of this one being a convention exclusive since the same was true of Omega Red. I love all of the hand options and that the claws seem to work really well across the board. The new head sculpts are a major upgrade over the first attempt and this depiction of Logan is simply iconic. There’s a reason why he got a figure in this outfit in the old Toy Biz line too. Am I interested in more variants? Probably not. Well, maybe a Beast in his Howard the Duck shirt, but we need a proper Beast before we can start thinking about variants. These arms are likely getting reused for Cyclops, who we have seen in render form as coming with a removable jacket like this figure. My hope is they get repurposed again for a proper Morph.
With this release, we have now hit the end of what has been solicited. These Mondo deliveries came fast and furious this past month, but it will likely be a bit of a wait until the next one. Rogue is expected to go up for sale in February so she has a chance to arrive this summer (I think Jubilee was solicited in January and she arrived in June) and we know Cyclops is coming too. Mondo is also dipping its toe into Spider-Man which might take-away somewhat from this line, but maybe not. I guess we’ll have to wait and see. We still need Jean, Beast, Storm, and Morph to make me happy. Xavier would be nice too, but I have no idea how to incorporate a sixth scale version of his hoverchair into my display. It also wouldn’t shock me to see another villain. Sinister seems most likely, but I could see Mystique interesting Mondo or maybe Lady Deathstrike. The future looks bright, and expensive, but so far it’s been more than worth it!
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