I knew who the X-Men were when the show premiered in 1992, but I didn’t know much about them. That show really was the proper introduction to the franchise for me and one thing I couldn’t wrap my head around as a kid was that these were heroes who didn’t really have a secret identity. Yeah, when they weren’t on the job they wore normal clothes, but the characters didn’t have any hang-ups about using their powers out in public if the situation arose. That just seemed so foreign a concept to me as someone raised on Superman and Batman. I didn’t realize super heroes could walk a different path.
All hail the short king.
During the course of the show, I got familiar with the non-costumed looks of the X-Men and by far the most memorable is Wolverine. He would ditch the tights in favor of some work pants, a yellow plaid shirt, and a bomber jacket with a furred collar. I don’t know if this look was directly pulled from the comics, but the show definitely made it iconic. It’s just another of the many classic looks for the character and it was immortalized in plastic way back during the Toy Biz era. And since every wave of X-Men figures could use a Wolverine, it’s hardly a surprise we’re getting the look in Marvel Legends.
I don’t have the 97 Wolverine, but it’s essentially the same figure as the 92 one.
This figure is almost entirely reuse. Past Wolverines have utilized these parts including even the head which is reused from the first X-Men ’97 Wolverine. The clawed hands are from the Weapon X release and feature the slightly longer middle claw which is an odd choice as that’s not something carried over into the show. The coat overlay is probably new and the arms might be as well, but that’s it. Does it matter? Yes and no. The coat has that animated look to it. It’s very smooth and untextured while the pants are textured like denim. This isn’t consistent with the source material and it’s a bit frustrating. Yeah, in the grand scheme of things it’s not a big deal, but it just serves as a reminder that Hasbro is not committed to accuracy with this line. It’s also odd to get the same Wolverine head recycled here, though the complexion is a touch redder which is odd. If you want a new unmasked portrait you have to get the new two-pack with Storm (I passed).
“What am I supposed to do with this?”
The figure is compromised, but looks all right. The accessories, on the other hand, are pretty unimpressive. Wolverine has his clawed hands, as usual, and the claws can actually pop off. They’re unpainted, gray, plastic and pretty bland looking. It can be hard to get them straight too and the claws on my figure’s right fist are kind of driving me crazy. The other options include a left fist without claw holes and an optional right hand that’s in a unique shape. That shape is to facilitate the use of a hand of playing cards which is also recycled from a past release. They’re fine? It might be more fun to give them to Gambit, but they don’t add a whole lot to the experience with Logan here.
“Now this is more like it!”
Articulation is pretty standard. Ball-hinge head, ball-hinge shoulders, bicep swivel, double-elbows, wrist swivel and hinge, diaphragm joint, waist twist, ball-socket hips, thigh swivels, double-jointed knees, ankle rocker and hinge. The cowboy boots that he appears to be wearing are kind of annoying. He’s tricky to stand and the coat limits the torso articulation. The diaphragm joint doesn’t really do a whole lot and the collar of the coat also interferes with the head. You’re going to be hard-pressed to get him into a low, Wolverine, crouch. It’s unfortunate this follows the Gamerverse Wolverine because the articulation in that makes this look like a hunk of crap.
“Logan! This is a school!”
Logan is what he is. The figure is only worth pursuing if you have a fondness for this look. Yeah, the pants and the belt are wrong, but it’s also instantly recognizable as Wolverine’s civilian look from the cartoon. That’s what got me to buy this even if I was a little hesitant. It’s also Wolverine so it might appear in large numbers. If you’re unimpressed, and I mostly am, then it may pay to wait this one out to see if it ever goes on sale. It’s October as I write this so the holiday shopping season is pretty much here and things have a habit of going on sale during this time of year. That might be the approach to take.
If you like this review then check out these other X-Men ’97 releases:
We’re going to keep this Marvel/Mutant Monday thing going for one more week! After taking a look at a trio of figures from Hasbro’s new X-Men ’97 line of figures in its Marvel Legends catalog I’ve decided to do one more: Bishop. The first three figures I looked at were basically all missing pieces to…
Since we don’t have a post this week for Turtle Tuesday I decided we should have a Mutant Monday. X-Men ’97 has returned the mutant superheroes to the spotlight and one of the main beneficiaries has been Hasbro. Their first wave of Marvel Legends based on the new show arrived last fall and, aside from…
The television event of 2024 for me was none other than X-Men ’97. I loved that show and I can’t wait for the second season to come around. It’s just a shame we may still be as much as a year away, but to somewhat tide us over until then we have this third wave…
The self-professed mall babe is back with a new look.
The television event of 2024 for me was none other than X-Men ’97. I loved that show and I can’t wait for the second season to come around. It’s just a shame we may still be as much as a year away, but to somewhat tide us over until then we have this third wave of Marvel Legends action figures from Hasbro. The first two waves were undoubtedly done based on concept art of whatever Disney and Marvel were willing to share with the toy maker at the time. It seemed to fill-in some of the gaps left behind by Hasbro’s brief dance with the original X-Men cartoon via the VHS style box releases while also getting in a few show specific characters and looks. This third wave feels like a post season one wave. It contains characters we didn’t really know were going to be in it as well as some different looks for those we did know were coming. Up first, is Miss Jubilee.
She’s sized pretty well for what she is.
Jubilee, unlike some other characters, did get a slot in that VHS line based on the original show from 1992. That Jubilee was pretty much a hodgepodge of past Jubilee releases with some half-assed and poorly applied cel-shading. I don’t know if it’s my least favorite in that line, but it’s in contention. This update is based on the end of the first season following a minor wardrobe update. The look, from what I understand, is from the comics when she went through a vampire phase. Yeah, I don’t know. I wasn’t reading and I don’t care to know more than that. It’s basically just an all black, skin-tight suit, with her customary yellow trench coat. It’s not a look I care about, but maybe it has some utility for the ’92 display? Let’s find out!
The stars of the show.
Jubilee is a pretty basic figure. She has a brand new headsculpt that more or less matches the look of the show. I think it’s a little full in the face, but definitely more on model than what we’ve had before. The body is mostly reuse from past Jubilees, but updated with pinless joints. The arms might be new, but I am not certain. I think the upper diaphragm is also new, but it’s basically black plastic with minimal paint near the chest. The arms are yellow plastic while the coat is a thinner plastic. It has some pliability, but it’s also really shiny giving it this very rain coat quality. It’s okay, but cheap looking.
This one is definitely an improvement over the old figure, but not the look I prefer.
Jubilee’s accessories are surprisingly robust. She has a set of open hands, a left fist, and a right C-grip hand. I don’t think any of these are new, but that’s fine. Her C-grip hand is for a soft drink she comes with which looks fine and calls back to her origins as a mall rat. She also has some new effect hands and these are a massive improvement over those little swirly things the 92 Jubilee had. They appear to be a translucent acrylic which ends in star shapes and has this nice transition of colors from purple to blue. They’re permanently affixed to a set of open hands which almost appear to be insert-molded into these things. It’s a bummer because it means it won’t work with other Jubilee figures unless those ones also feature black gloves. And since the fingers of said gloves are inside the effects, it also means that painting them yellow or blue isn’t going to be a perfect solution. They look great for this figure, but only this figure.
This looks better, but that old coat still kind of sucks.
Jubilee’s articulation is pretty basic. She has a double-ball joint at the head, ball-hinge shoulders, double-elbows, bicep swivel, wrist swivel and hinges, diaphragm joint, ball-socket hips, thigh swivel, boot swivel, double-jointed knees, and ankles with hinges and rockers. The lack of a waist twist stinks and the presence of a jacket would have made hiding a butterfly joint fairly easy, but we don’t get either. The double-ball head is okay, but it has that annoying quality where the neck-ball pops out often when removing the head. I had to heat it up and pull that joint out of the head to do it properly. Why did I remove the head? Well…
Ok, yeah, now we’re ready to rock!
Jubilee’s original ’92 look is by far my preference. While I like these new effect parts, I would much rather have Jubilee in her more colorful threads. Swapping heads with the 92 figure is pretty easy. I found the old heads don’t want to go on this new body all that easily, but getting the new head on that old body was a piece of cake once I got the peg out. I also found I much preferred the look of this new coat to the old one. Getting it off was also pretty easy as was putting it on the old figure. Getting the old coat off the old figure was more difficult as that plastic is a bit thicker and less forgiving, but I still was able to do it without popping the arms out at the shoulder. The end result is, for me, a much better representation of Jubilee. She still has the ugly shading on her sleeves, but I could remove that if I so desire. I may yet try to paint the hands in the effect parts, but for now she can continue using the dumb swirly ones. I could also repaint the C-grip hand if I want her to be able to enjoy her soft drink. It’s just a matter of making sure I can match the shade of yellow in use here, but I’m just happy the old sleeves mix well with the new coat.
I obviously bought this Jubilee not intending to enjoy it for the figure it is. If you like the updated look, then it’s fine. The articulation is just so-so and it has a cheaper look than usual, but the new effect parts are nice and she does match the source material well enough. She also makes for a suitable kit-bash if that’s your aim. Do with that information what you will.
If you liked this one then check out these other X-Men ’97 reviews we have:
Previously, on X-Men reviews we looked at Magneto from the upcoming series X-Men ’97. The animated series may have been delayed into 2024, but the action figures from Hasbro are already here. And if you were collecting Hasbro’s line of figures based on the animated series from the 90s, this new line offers a chance…
Everyone can relax – Gambit has returned. Or arrived, since I’ve never reviewed a Gambit action figure in this space, but that’s because I haven’t bought a Gambit figure in about 20 years until now. When X-Men arrived on airwaves in the fall of 1992, hardly anyone on that team could be considered a true…
If you are reading this the day it goes live then Happy X-Men ’97 Day! Today is the day the long-awaited sequel series to X-Men debuts on Disney+. Rather than fast-track a review of the first two episodes to this blog, I decided instead to do what I most often do: review an action figure!…
It’s the latest from Hasbro’s Marvel vs Capcom Gamerverse line!
Video game inspired action figures are quite the hot ticket right now. I’m not entirely sure why that is, but maybe some of that is owed to Jada Toys and how well received their line of Ultra Street Fighter 2 action figures have been received. Hasbro, for their part, has had a “Gamerverse” subline of Marvel Legends for quite awhile now, but it has mostly centered on the Spider-Man games released for the PlayStation. This year, Hasbro decided it wanted a piece of the Marvel vs Capcom pie without actually saying that outright. Gamerverse has now pivoted to that beloved franchise, though strictly the Marvel side. Despite having a previous relationship with Capcom via its Power Rangers x Street Fighter line a few years ago, Hasbro has shown no interest in actually engaging the licensor for these figures instead releasing a series of two-packs and one-offs of Marvel characters from that line of games. Most of them have not been of much interest to me, but there was one I could not ignore: Wolverine vs Silver Samurai.
One of these figures is more desirable than the other.
I have enjoyed the Capcom fighters going back to X-Men: Children of the Atom in arcades. The hyper fast fighting games were a sight to behold and it felt awesome to finally be able to take control of the X-Men in a setting that felt worthy of them. The games only became more popular when they were eventually paired with Street Fighter, then eventually it expanded to include all of Marvel and all of Capcom. The designs from those games always came across as rather unique for the Marvel characters and many years ago Toy Biz made a half-hearted attempt at characters in that style with a series of two-packs sold at KB Toy Stores. They weren’t great and I never actually bought any, but I’ve always wanted figures that match the art style presented in those games.
“Let’s go, bub!”
For Hasbro’s collection, we get the usual mixed bag from the company. Some of the figures in the line do a really good job of matching the games, while others very much do not. And considering most of the releases are two-packs, it probably comes as little surprise that one figure in each set appears to get more love than the other. That is certainly the case with this two-pack featuring Wolverine and Silver Samurai. Wolverine practically looks like he was yanked off the side of the arcade cabinet with his bulky frame and elongated claws and mask fins. Silver Samurai…just looks like the previous Legends release, but in a muted color. I’ll say upfront I do not care about Silver Samurai at all. He’s always been a D tier Wolverine adversary for me and his figure doesn’t offer much. I got this for Wolverine, and considering the set comes at the inflated sticker price of $60, there’s a good chance I way overpaid for a Wolverine figure. Now, I’m going to help you decide if you should do the same.
The presence of dark gray lines on the chest appear to be entirely random.
We might as well get the Silver Samurai out of the way. As best as I can tell, this figure is mostly a straight re-release of the prior Legends figure, but with a new torso and expression. The previous figure had a riveted look to the armor where as this one is pretty smooth. Both the arms and legs feature pinned joints owing to their age so if that’s something that bothers you then you may be disappointed here. The color this time around is a very bland gray. The only paint on this guy is reserved for the exposed part of his face, the white of his eyes, and the red on his crest and sun pattern on his chest. The rest of the figure is that lame attempt at metallic plastic Hasbro likes to use. All it does is create random lines or swirls in the plastic while adding zero luster. The chest on my figure almost looks cracked, but it’s just streaks in the plastic. The character in the game was damn near white by default with gray-blue shading. Hasbro didn’t bother to try and match that sprite or the art from the booklet and instead gave us this ugly lump of plastic.
He looks like a kid posing for a Little League picture.It’s fine.Looks cool, but it’s a little heavy for the blade.
For articulation, the Samurai is also not up to snuff. He’s very basic with a ball-hinged head, hinged-ball shoulders, bicep swivel, double-jointed elbows, ball-jointed diaphragm, waist cut, ball-socket hips, thigh cuts, double-jointed knees, boot swivel, ankle hinge and rocker. His wrist hinges are at least the proper vertical hinge for sword wielding, but his lack of a butterfly joint means he can’t hold his sword with two hands in a convincing fashion. You can get two hands onto it, but it looks kind of dumb. The shoulder pads are pegged into his traps and are annoying to deal with and tend to pop off a lot. For accessories, he has his katana which is done in a translucent blue plastic. It looks fine, but mine has some black paint on the blade. It’s also very flimsy which stinks because he also has an effect part for the sword that looks pretty cool. It’s bubbly and done with blue translucent plastic with hits of a dark blue or purple. The swords slots through it, but the weight of the part will cause it to droop. He also has his energy shuriken made out of translucent orange plastic and a flimsy plastic stand to peg into it. The weight can be a bit tricky to get it balanced because the stand is so poor, but it can be done. However, Jada this is not.
Bring it on!
Which brings us to the real reason I wanted this set: Wolverine. What attracted me to this figure wasn’t just the stylization on display, but also some engineering choices Hasbro made. They have not, to my knowledge, made an action figure like this Wolverine and some of the choices they made are ones that I’ve been wanting from them for years. We’ll get to that with the articulation portion, but first the elephant in the room must be addressed: this is a big Wolverine.
He’s a pretty big Wolverine.
Wolverine stands at just a touch under 6″. Wolverine runs taller in those games, probably because his sprite is always crouched, but if you wanted to slide him into your comic collection this may pose too big a hurdle to climb. The X-Men animated Wolverine by comparison comes in at 5.75″. Is slightly less than a quarter of an inch a big deal? Kind of, considering that older Wolverine is probably a little on the tall side as well (mostly owing to the really long neck of that sculpt). What really stands out as different though is just how much bigger all around this new Wolverine is. Line up any part of the body and compare it to the prior one and it’s a stark contrast. His biceps, thighs, fists, are all quite a big larger. It’s almost as if this Wolverine is in a different scale from its predecessors. Marvel Legends is thought of as a 1:12 scale line while this Wolverine almost feels like it’s in between 1:12 and 1:10 scale (I guess that would be 1:11). He’s a little big for 1:12, but not quite 1:10.
Even though he has a single hinge at the elbow, the range is pretty much the same as the prior double-jointed version.
As for the sculpt, this thing is entirely brand new. We have the new head with the exaggerated fins, or ears, or whatever those things are on his mask. He has just the one expression which features a gritted teeth look like the cabinet art. The body is also entirely new with the much beefier proportions. The shoulder pads are separate and looped onto the peg going into the torso as opposed to pegged into the shoulder itself. The black on the torso is painted and not sculpted in while the fins are black plastic. The face also appears to be painted onto black plastic and the opacity is not as thick as it needed to be. The left side of my figure’s face has some black showing through, which is a shame. The overall proportions and sculpt are all very nice, but other paint issues include a yellow speck on the left side of my figure’s abdomen and some blue smudging on the left thigh. The middle claw on the left hand (geez, everything is on the left side) has some excess plastic around the tip which I’ll need to trim. Silver Samurai’s left pauldron has a similar issue as well which I failed to note earlier. The knees also suffer from miscolored plastic, a frequent issue with Legends in the pin-less era, as they’re noticeably darker than the yellow used for the thigh and shin. It may also bother some to know that the back of his ankles feature a black rectangle since the figure is using black, plastic, for the ankle hinges. Unlike other Wolverine designs, the black trim on the boots doesn’t continue onto and down the center of the back of the boot so it does create an eyesore, but better it be there than on the front.
The effect part is whatever, but the torso articulation is aces. This twisting crouch wasn’t possible on older figures.
From a quality control standpoint, this Wolverine certainly doesn’t have a premium feel, but even with the minor paint imperfections I still think it looks pretty good overall. I love the sculpt, I really love the elongated claws, and I’m really happy with what we’re about to talk about next: the articulation. Hasbro did some good stuff here while also making some trade-offs. How the overall package is received will be somewhat subjective, but what is present works pretty well. They did keep the hinged-neck joint. Wolverine being a croucher needs a lot of range to look up and down and Hasbro has yet to find a better way to pull that off so it’s hear once again. We lose the nuance of a double ball, but the joint at least does what it set out to do. The joint some will likely miss is the butterfly joint. Instead, Hasbro has gone with a ball peg shoulder which is the sort of joint McFarlane is known for utilizing. Import companies use the same, but they’ll affix it to a hinged apparatus inside the torso to get that butterfly joint, but here we just get the up and down, in and out, that the ball peg affords which isn’t a ton. They either didn’t have room in the chest for the joint, or didn’t want to cut up the sculpt. Considering it means we don’t have those silly low shoulders many Legends figures suffer from, I’ll consider it a worthy trade-off. Wolverine can still cross his claws in front of his face and has some room to rear back with his arm. Would I have made the trade to cut out a little more on the back so he could really reach back? Yeah, probably, but I am otherwise okay with the range.
It’s too bad stands weren’t included with this set.
The arms also contain another surprise: single-hinged joints at the elbow. Ordinarily, this is something to be frowned upon, but given that it’s Wolverine it’s honestly a nonissue. The arms are always so bulky that even the old, double-jointed, Wolverine can barely bend his elbow past 90 degrees. This one can’t either, but the single joint is cut in such a way that it’s far more pleasing to look at so I consider it an improvement. There’s also a bicep swivel which is more like an import figure in that the piece is floating independent of the elbow. It’s basically just a cover over a straight peg. The elbow also swivels since it pegs into whatever is under the bicep and the wrists feature the standard swivel and hinge.
I wouldn’t come in high, if I were you, Samurai.
The torso is where I was most eager to get my hands on this guy. Most of the old Wolverine figures go with an ab crunch, a big old hinge right in the middle of the figure and a standard waist cut below it. Some of the newer ones use a ball-joint in the diaphragm and retain the ab crunch below it, but at the expense of waist articulation. The thinking from Hasbro is you get rotation in the diaphragm and bend at the waist, but why settle for that if you don’t have to? For this Wolverine, Hasbro went with the ball-jointed diaphragm and paired it with a ball-jointed waist. You know, like all of those import companies making figures that articulate better than the rest. The result is you get forward and back tilt at both spots plus rotation. He crunches forward very well, arches back a decent amount, and can twist and turn with the best of them. And somewhat to my surprise, there’s very little gapping on display at both the waist and diaphragm. They did a really good job with this torso and there’s no reason why it shouldn’t become the default approach going forward. And since it’s a big large and doesn’t feature any sculpted costume details, I suspect we’ll see it reused for other characters in the future.
Tag!
The rest of the articulation below the waist is your standard ball-socket hips, thigh cut, double-jointed knees, and ankles with hinges and rockers. There’s no boot swivel which is a bit of a surprise. It looks like the boot is a separate piece so I can’t fathom why it doesn’t just peg-on. Like the gloves, it’s possible the boot is just a sleeve glued into place. It’s not a huge omission, but if it could be there with no impact to the budget then why not go for it? For accessories, Wolverine comes with a set of fists and two slash effects. The slash is done on transparent plastic with some blue shading in the center. One can peg onto an included stand, the same, cheap, style one as Silver Samurai’s, and the other slash can then slot over that one to form an X. Wolverine has multiple attacks that make such a pattern with his claws in the game, plus his super move which just makes a big X on the screen that he jumps in front of. It’s a decent accessory, but I wish we got more for the price. Wolverine could really use a stand of his own to sell that effect part and I would have loved a second portrait. A yelling head would have been great or an unmasked one.
Wolverine (and Ken) most definitely wins.
This is a hard set to rate. Subjectively, I love this Wolverine. I love the proportions, I love the new articulation, and I just love messing around with him. He’s not one of those overly gummy Hasbro releases and I like that they went for it in making this sculpt really evoke the game. On the other hand, I can’t ignore the minor problems with the paint and I’ve heard of others having similar issues. Those knees are also an eyesore and the accessories are just okay. If we’re to split the price of the set between the two figures, he’s a little iffy at $30. I’d still recommend him at that price, but I wouldn’t feel like I’m getting a real steal or anthing.
Unfortunately, Wolverine is not a $30 figure. He’s sold in a $60 set with a thoroughly mediocre Silver Samurai. By Legends standards, there is nothing special about this Silver Samurai. Nothing interesting about the presentation, the articulation, and the accessories do not overcome that. I like the sword effect part, but I don’t know if I can use it since it’s so heavy. The shuriken is fine and at least it’s from the game. He has no extra parts and I find he looks dumb with two gripping hands at all times. Couldn’t we get one extra set of hands? His articulation isn’t good enough for a sword wielder and he doesn’t look like the character art or sprite. He’s a total dud for me.
One thing is for sure, Marvel vs Capcom fans are eating good!
Is this set worth $60? Absolutely not. This Wolverine is good, ignoring the scale issues it’s easily Hasbro’s best Wolverine. Considering I don’t really care for the proportions on the MAFEX Wolverine it might even be my favorite Wolverine of all time. It’s still not worth $60 or even $40. And if he’s not worth that then what’s Silver Samurai worth? I honestly wouldn’t pay $20 for him, or even $10. I just plain don’t like the figure so it’s worthless. Despite that, I think this set will sell well because Wolverine is, in case you haven’t heard, very popular and toy collectors get pretty geeked up about new articulation schemes. Even though nothing this Wolverine does is truly new, just new for Hasbro and Marvel Legends. And I’m having fun with it, so while I think it’s stupid to pay $60 for this Wolverine, I don’t hate myself for doing exactly that.
If you liked this review then maybe you’ll like these as well:
The toyline of my dreams was announced last October. In celebration of the 30th anniversary of the television series X-Men, Hasbro is doing a dedicated line of Marvel Legends with figures based on the look of the show. The show was obviously inspired by the designs of Jim Lee, but there are differences in the…
One of my most anticipated releases of 2025 came out of no where. I was a kid during the early 90s and into video games so I know a thing or two about Street Fighter. Street Fighter II was everywhere and is pretty much the reason why the one-on-one fighting game became a huge genre…
We just had 11 consecutive weeks of action figure reviews on Super7’s line of figures based on The Simpsons. Things were getting pretty negative in that sphere as that line went out with a whimper. I don’t like reviewing bad figures and it’s mostly because everything I review here I buy for my own collection.…
You can’t wear a business suit for every occasion.
It feels like lately I’ve been getting swayed by clearance and discounts when it comes to my action figure purchases. Such is the case for today’s post on Professor X from the Marvel Legends line of action figures. Target had an exclusive version of Xavier featuring the character in his jumpsuit which showed up in the spring. Having recently purchased a different, more traditional version of the professor it wasn’t something I felt I needed. I wasn’t entirely satisfied with that figure though, so I was a little interested in this new one. Plus, the jumpsuit look feels like it’s pulled straight from the old animated series as this was the look Xavier sported for the entirety of the second season. And in that season, he and Magneto found themselves stranded in the Savage Land where a device Mr. Sinister had negated mutant powers, but somehow managed to cure a paraplegic like Charles Xavier. Of course, the X-Men destroy the machine to get their powers back thus dooming the world’s paraplegics to a life of paralysis. Seriously guys, you probably should have thought that one through a little better. I know this outfit showed up in the comics as well, but the combination of the look plus Hasbro’s decision to release it on a retro card definitely has me thinking X-Men ’92.
This is definitely a more 90s interpretation of Charles vs the older figure.Xavier definitely has some size to him.
When I buy one version of a character that I’m not crazy about I hate to compound the issue by buying another version of the same character. Especially when I don’t love that other version either. And with this Xavier it’s the face I don’t love. Xavier is often illustrated with pronounced cheek bones, but in three dimensions that makes for a bit of a lumpy appearance. Hasbro has also introduced more detailed face printing in recent years and sometimes they overdo it. That strikes me as the case here with Chuck as his eyes are rimmed with black and his lips are painted. The shade is almost like a slightly metallic peach and doesn’t look like a natural lip shade to me. It actually reminds me of a shade of lipstick my grandmother used to wear. I feel like he’s a wig away from being able to cosplay as a Golden Girl. This is in contrast to what I would want him to look like which is the animated series which took a very plain look to its character designs with mostly smooth features and no shading for the lips.
Some like this face, some don’t, but all can agree that Chuck has some crazy eyebrows.
Basically what I’m saying is that, apart from the bald head and the pronounced eyebrows, this portrait doesn’t scream Xavier to me. As for the rest of the sculpt – it’s fine. I think this body is reused from a past release, but I can’t be certain. The legs may be from Wonder Man though I’m not sure about the arms and torso. I don’t have enough Legends figures to know. Whether they are or are not, it doesn’t matter so long as they work for this figure and in this case I would say that they do. Most of the figure is colored plastic with paint reserved for the black undershirt and the belt. There are some black buttons painted onto the shirt and the rolled up sleeves were painted a lighter shade of green from the rest which is a nice touch. And we get some X logos printed on the shoulders. The greens are mostly consistent, but the legs and arms appear to have a touch more yellow to them than the torso. The knees and elbows are also a little off which is typical of these pin-less joints from Hasbro. This figure is not the worst offender in that regard and the difference is pretty subtle.
He’s got the helmet, even though he’s not supposed to have his powers in this state.
Xavier comes with just a few accessories, which is often the case for Legends these days. He has two sets of hands: fists and trigger hands. I have no idea why Professor X would come with trigger finger hands, but I guess if you want him to wield a gun he can. He also has a fifth hand which is a two-finger pointing left hand for doing mental power poses. It actually has some sculpted in lines to make it look like an actual glove which is surprising. It may be the same hand that came with the Age of Apocalypse Gambit so that may be how they justified the tooling cost. Chuck also comes with a new Cerebro helmet. At least, I think it’s new. It’s different from the one that came with hoverchair Charlie and it’s fine. It’s that swirly, gray, plastic Hasbro favors over shiny paint for metallic objects and it fits on his head just fine. There’s a hole on the back which had me thinking that was for X-Men ’97 Jean’s ponytail, but the helmet really doesn’t fit on her head because of her hair.
“We must fend them off, Magnus!”So much for pacifism.It’s a tight fit, but he can get into this chair and wear the former helmet.“So we meet again, old friend.”
Xavier’s articulation is pretty standard Legends fair, though it has its own quirks. The head is a double ball peg and it’s actually the best double ball peg setup I’ve seen from Hasbro. The lower ball isn’t as deep as it normally is in the neck and he gets good range looking up, down, and tilt thanks to another joint at the base of the neck. Of course, the lack of any hair to work around is playing a role, but good is good. From there we have typical shoulder ball pegs, bicep swivel, double-jointed elbows, wrists, ab crunch, waist twist, hip, thigh, double-jointed knees, boot cut, and ankle hinges and rockers. The range on the ab crunch is pretty poor going forward and back, but aside from that the other joints are fine. The two-finger pointing hand and the trigger hands all have vertical hinges which is interesting. Not so much the trigger hands, but the two-finger gesture is an odd choice. I’m not sure which direction I’d want the hinge to go in this case. The waist twist being above the sculpted belt is a bit unfortunate because it’s ugly. If they could have set it inside the belt it would have looked better, but also cost more.
In the chair where he belongs.
The articulation is fine and it’s probably plenty for Charles Xavier, a guy who traditionally doesn’t walk. The figure also can fit into the hoverchair if you wish and he did sport that look in the show as well. This is a pretty fine Marvel Legends figure. If I liked the portrait sculpt then I’d be pretty happy here and probably would have paid full price. Since I don’t, I still question my decision to buy it as I don’t think it’s an improvement over the other Xavier I have. At any rate, he’s another addition to the animated shelf and he won’t look awful. And if I display him with the helmet I’ll probably barely notice the face. Plus, the new X-Men ’97 Morph is coming with a head for Henry Gyrich and even the Legends team had that head on the hoverchair Xavier body. Perhaps I’ll do the same eventually leaving this as my default Xavier. Even though this has been discounted for a couple of weeks now, I still see this one at Target so you may be able to find it if you’re interested. I paid $17 for it, but if they keep lingering maybe they’ll go even lower? That might be a gamble worth taking.
Professor X isn’t much on his own, so here’s some other figures that might catch your fancy:
Most view superheroes as idealized versions of people. Superman has all the power he needs to mete out justice as he sees fit. He’s a man who is super fast, super strong, basically invulnerable, and he even has laser eyes for good measure. Not every character can be Superman though and as the stable of…
It was two years ago that Hasbro made the announcement that it was wading into the weeds of X-Men, the cartoon series that aired on the Fox Kids Network from 1992-1997. The line was released across eight installments in 2022 (plus a ninth if you include the obviously animated-inspired Apocalypse released on a retro card)…
This week, the long wait for an in-person San Diego Comic Con comes to an end. For the first time since 2019, attendees, creators, and the like will be invited back into the city of San Diego for a celebration of all things comics, movies, and general “nerd” culture. One of the many panels this…
San Diego Comic Con is always an exciting time of year for toy collectors. Even for someone like me who has never considered actually going to the event, I get up for it because I know the coverage is going to be coming fast and furious. Some years are bigger than others, but for me I think I can say that the 2025 edition has been the most surprising. I went into it with certain expectations some of which were met, but some were not and that’s not unusual. What was unusual for me is that some of the things I basically considered a “lock” did not come to pass and I left the event being perhaps most excited about a company and a product line I definitely didn’t see coming. Let’s start with the familiar though and my bread and butter franchise: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
TMNT
NECA is heading down the 2012 TMNT rabbit hole this fall.
As has been the case most years, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles had no shortage of coverage this year at the convention. There was even a dedicated brand panel that covered releases from several companies. We still have Playmates for vintage re-releases and some modern takes, NECA is hitting on the toon, Archie, and Mirage, Super7 has the 2003 edition of the show, and now we have Mondo doing sixth scale stuff. Mondo’s line is their own take on a post 1990 film franchise and it looks interesting, but isn’t really on my radar for the time being. I don’t have the space or funds for another Mondo sixth scale franchise. Super7 also reaffirmed its commitment to 2k3 by unveiling silhouettes for the next wave which will include Hun, April, and a motorcycle Raphael and Shell Cycle. This would seem to be the nail in the coffin for the vintage inspired figures Super7 started off with which is really frustrating considering the figures missing (topped by Heavy Metal Raph). I’m done with the 2k3 series after Shredder, and possibly done with Super7 after that as well.
NECA has been the company at the forefront for TMNT the past several years, but their showing was surprisingly light. They did announce a line of turtles based on their appearance in the game Fortnite, but that might have been the most noteworthy. There was a leak the week before SDCC of one of their reveals for the toon line, granny Bebop and baby Rocksteady, though that release wasn’t going to blow anyone away (even if it is entertaining). The only new figure shown for the toon line otherwise was a beach Slash. There was also no big display with dioramas and such, just figures in a case. It’s pretty clear that NECA wasn’t going all out for SDCC. Is that a shift in strategy? It certainly costs money to put these big displays up and staff a booth plus rental space isn’t cheap. Are they going to pivot more to social media for reveals? Is New York Comic Con considered their flagship event? Or did the reappearance of Toy Fair earlier this year just mean all of the stuff that would have been revealed at SDCC was instead shown there?
NECA didn’t have a lot of surprised in their booth, but this certainly was the most standout one.
I don’t know the answer to any of those questions, but I was very surprised at the lack of Tempestra. She has become the biggest missing piece for the toon line, even if she is very much a B-tier character in her own right. I’m not sure why they’re slow-walking that one. They mocked up an arcade cabinet accessory for a still unreleased movie April variant more than two years ago that most assumed was really made for a Tempestra. What I did like, even though none of the figures shown were new reveals, was how the 2012 TMNT line is shaping up. The sculpts look fantastic and they’re all dated for this year and will be sold as single releases so no four or two packs. I don’t think it’s been confirmed where we’ll be able to buy them, but they’re among my most anticipated releases for the second half of 2025. The only other showing that excited me was Garfello, i.e. Garfied cos-playing as a ninja turtle, which was unexpected. It looks great and comes with Odie and is the sort of silly release I’m very likely to get.
As for the rest, there wasn’t much to be excited by. Playmates is re-releasing its remastered turtles minus the bumpy texture a lot of people didn’t like. We actually knew about that going into SDCC, but that was basically the official launch. Mezco also showed off 1990 movie turtles for its One:12 line. They look worse than the NECA releases (which are coincidentally being re-released in single packs this year), but will probably cost more than twice as much.
Mondo
No one does animated X-Men better than Mondo.
We’ll pivot from an IP to a company here as Mondo had a lot to show off. Perhaps more than any other company, though I confess I’m not interested in everything they do (like Masters of the Universe and ThunderCats). What gets my attention first and foremost when it comes to Mondo are their plans for their X-Men animated line of sixth scale figures. It’s a line that is becoming much harder to collect because of the tariff situation in the country, but I’m in too deep to dump it. Heading into the event, we knew the next figure to be solicited was likely to be Mr. Sinister who had already been shown. There was also the reveal of an event exclusive Savage Land Rogue which went up for preorder before the show. They were both at the event along with the next figure: Storm. She looks awesome and was my guess for next up. It didn’t end there though as we also got to see concept art for the next figure and it’s Beast! I’m glad he’s a little ways off since he might be an expensive one. Perhaps things can improve economically before going up for order, though there’s always the chance things get worse. Little is likely to change before Sinister goes up though which is happening in August. I love the look of the figure and he’s an A-list villain from the show, but I do not look forward to the sticker with that one.
That was a hoot!
That’s the only sixth scale line I’m in, but Mondo did reveal more Marvel and DC figures (Superman, Two-Face, Dr. Doom, Lizard) in their other lines which all seemed solid. What really caught my eye though were their Mondo Squads which are more statuesque figures with swappable parts and sold in bundles of characters. Previously, they had done a set of characters from the Nicktoon Aaahh!!! Real Monsters and now they’re moving onto Rocko’s Modern Life. I love Rocko and this set of the titular character plus his mates Heffer and Filbert is pretty much an automatic buy from me. We don’t have a lot of Rocko merch out there so the scarcity will help. Also shown is a squad of Beavis and Butt-Head with their couch and the four fellows from King of the Hill (Hank, Bill, Dale, Boomhauer). Similar to Rocko, I may have to get King of the Hill since there’s so little out there for the franchise that I have really grown to love in recent years after previously dropping off around Season 5. Mondo also teased future squads based on Rugrats and The Ren & Stimpy Show.
The last of the real Ghostbusters makes his debut in Ray.
Mondo is also heavily invested in The Real Ghostbusters, which was probably the biggest reveal of the 2024 show. We’re still waiting on the first release to drop (once again, thank you tariffs), but we have now seen all four of the busters and their companion ghosts. And, to no one’s surprise, everything looks great. I still have reservations about the price, but it is what it is and we’ll talk more about that when Peter finally arrives (hopefully sometime in August). Mondo also revealed that Janine will follow the boys and she’ll be in her more traditional secretary attire. To sweeten the package, she’ll come with her desk and an alternate lower half for a clean cross-legged sitting position. I’m guessing all of this extra stuff means she’s going to retail for $202 like the Ghostbuster + Ghost package we’ve seen up until now, but maybe that won’t be the case. That will be a tall ask and is probably something I won’t be interested in.
Marvel Legends
It’s all X-Men ’97!
I knew Hasbro would have some X-Men ’97 stuff for us, but I wasn’t prepared for just how much and how much I’d like it. We learned what wave three will be and those figures were all on-hand for folks to gawk at: Morph, Jubilee (final suit), Sunspot (final suit), Emma Frost, Cable (first outfit), Wolverine (classic civilian clothes). All of them looked pretty damn good. I’m mostly looking to supplement my ’92 display with these so Cable and Wolverine were locks. My dissatisfaction with the ’92 Jubilee puts the ’97 one on my radar, though I’m disappointed she’s in her black jumpsuit. Maybe I’ll swap heads with the ’92 one? Maybe even arms and coat? Emma just looks great though a classic take on the White Queen was enough to get me to put in a preorder and I love Morph so I’m in for the ’97 version. The only one I didn’t preorder was Sunspot. Nothing against the figure, I just don’t really care about Sunspot.
Gambit, what did they do to you?!
That wasn’t all though as we got a nice look at the made-to-order Sentinel which went up last year and there were some two-packs announced. We can look forward to a finale Cyclops and Jean (Marvel Girl), finale Wolverine and Storm, and a pairing of Rogue and Gambit from their basketball scene in the first episode. None are essentials for me and I don’t think I’ll be getting any, but I love to see how all-in Hasbro is with X-Men ’97. The one set that I would have had the most interest in is the basketball two-pack, but it is unfortunately the worst looking set of the two. That’s because it looks like Hasbro repurposed its Starting Lineup body of NBA players for its shirtless Gambit. That sculpt has a very unpleasant looking ab crunch in the middle of it. It worked okay for Starting Lineup because all of those figures had a jersey. Gambit doesn’t have that luxury and it looks terrible. It’s honestly one of those “How did this get approved?” moments that comes along once in awhile.
Aside from that, I had little to be critical of with Hasbro’s panel. They also revealed their next made-to-order figure: Mephisto. Mephisto was previously released many moons ago by Diamond in their Diamond Select line. Marvel Legends has not touched him though because he’s basically Marvel Satan and not afraid to show it. There was going to be one attached to the Engine of Vengeance HasLab if it hit a certain number of orders, but that product didn’t even fund. The Legends team had previously stated Mephisto could not be released any other way, but there was almost certainly some gamesmanship in those statements. Something obviously changed and now Mephisto is on the way, though he won’t be showing up at Walmart or Target. He is coming with his own throne and this thing sure looks familiar.
Hey! I know that skull!
Crystar fans can probably spot where this thing is from and the Legends team was not shy about stating it’s based on the cover of issue 8 by artist Michael Golden. We’ve covered that issue here and that’s because it’s also the cover musician Glenn Danzig stole from to come up with a logo for his band Samhain which then became the logo for the band Danzig. The Legends team, once again, was not at all shy about pointing that out and might even be hoping for some cross-sale appeal with that fanbase. As for Danzig, no comment has been made. The item was shared in the official Danzig fan group on Facebook and has since been removed so either he’s not happy or the moderators for that group think he would not be happy to see it. Fans have frequently traded and sold issues of Crystar there so it’s not like the group hides from the connection, but maybe he’s salty that he won’t get a cut? He probably thinks he made the image famous, and he probably did, but he has also made a lot of money off of art he never owned so I think we can call it square on this one, Mr. Danzig. Especially if Marvel never came looking for a cut of those t-shirts. Either way, the throne looks awesome and yes, I’m buying it. I don’t even care about Mephisto, but this thing looks too good to pass up. It’s an open preorder that closes August 26th and will set you back $80 when it ships next year.
As for other odds and ends, I continue to be impressed with the offerings from Jada Toys, even if the IPs they traffic in have little or no appeal to me. Except for Frosty the Snowman, I will get that. Big Bad Workshop had a variant of its upcoming action figure of The Tick on display and he might already be my most anticipated for next year. I love The Tick and it’s been at the top of my most wanted for a few years now and I hope the line is a success. We also know who will be the next character: Chairface Chippendale. The Naughty or Nice collection is also continuing and we’re finally getting a Mrs. Claus. I assume she will go up for preorder around Christmas time and hopefully will fund. She’s not the design I would have gone with, but I’ll be happy to have a Mrs. Claus join Santa on my shelf some day.
And that’s a wrap! Thanks to all of the people who cover this event every year and whose videos I snipped screen grabs from: Pixel Dan, Toy Anxiety, Robo Don’t Know. Toyark.com also has some great coverage if you prefer still shots. All of the folks involved help people like me who can’t make it to the con enjoy from my home or wherever I happen to be.
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All right kids, back in your seats. Teacher is here.
Most view superheroes as idealized versions of people. Superman has all the power he needs to mete out justice as he sees fit. He’s a man who is super fast, super strong, basically invulnerable, and he even has laser eyes for good measure. Not every character can be Superman though and as the stable of superheroes increased over the years there was more room for nuance. I’m sure some folks in marketing at Marvel Comics scoffed at the idea of a team of superheroes being led by a middle aged paraplegic, but that’s the direction Stan Lee and Jack Kirby went in when they created the X-Men. That team was founded by Professor Charles Xavier, a powerful, telepathic, mutant (which is basically used to mean a superhero born with their powers) who just so happens to be confined to a wheelchair. Unlike a character like Daredevil, a blind superhero whose enhanced, super, senses essentially negate his disability, Xavier’s powers do not help him walk. Sure, some writers have played around with that over the years, but at his core Professor X is a man with a disability able to thrive in a world of super powered individuals.
He’s a bit of a little guy.
I don’t know for certain, but in a world where even female characters were treated like radioactive material, I can imagine folks at Toy Biz not being too excited about doing a Professor X figure. It took a little while for the head man to make his debut in that old toy line, but I was honestly pumped when he did. I think he may have been the final character from the cartoon series X-Men to be released and complete the team. I know we had to wait awhile for Beast and Morph, but I can recall getting those two figures on Christmas (1994, I want to say) and the following Easter Chuck was sitting beside my Easter basket (along with Ahab, a figure not exactly high on my wants list). And aside from having a blue suit instead of green, he was pretty faithfully depicted as he was in the show complete with his 90s, stylish, hoverchair. Because of the cartoon and Jim Lee’s run on X-Men, it’s the hoverchair I most often associate with Xavier. Hasbro certainly knows that’s the case for many which is probably why they released Xavier in a deluxe package with his famous chair.
Hope you like this gesture, because it’s kind of all he can do.
This figure was released a few years ago, but in 2024 Hasbro made it available once again to preorder. Having since acquired several characters from the cartoon in Marvel Legends form, I felt like I needed Xavier to pull it all together. The addition of the chair does make for additional cost. This thing was a whopping 50 bucks, by far the most I have ever spent on a Marvel Legends figure. I was pretty skeptical it would be worth that in the end, but when you’re basically one figure short of a full squad it’s the kind of thing one will extend themselves on. Toy companies are aware of this phenomenon, which is why I fully expect Xavier to be the last release in Mondo’s very awesome, but very expensive, line of X-Men figures. Trying to imagine what a sixth scale Xavier in his hoverchair will set me back is already giving me anxiety.
His chair comes loaded with a TV and some games so he doesn’t get bored.
That is a topic for another day, today we’re in the more familiar realm of 1:12, or there about. Xavier comes in an oversized window box and is featured prominently in the center. His chair is amusingly split in half so we can see one half of the chair on each side of the figure. The backdrop contains artwork of the entire, animated, team in a style that resembles the cartoon. Beast, for example, has pupils. It displays well, but I could not care less about that fact. Once removed, the chair requires some assembly. There are four pieces to it: each side, a backrest, and a cushion. The backrest slides onto either half while the cushion plugs into a slot in the center of one of the pieces. Then you just push it together. It’s pretty intuitive and most probably won’t need to consult any instructions. Not that there is any. I’m surprised they didn’t print some on an inside flap of the box.
I like the thought of this base, but not so much the execution.
The chair looks pretty good from a sculpting standpoint. It’s not painted though, so you get some of that swirly plastic effect Hasbro seems to love when it’s trying to create the illusion of a metal material. There is a big seam down the middle which is unfortunate. It makes me wish that at least the front was a third piece that snapped over the assembled halves, essentially the same concept as the backrest, to at least get rid of the seam there. On each armrest there’s a control panel that slides out. One has a monitor while the other a keyboard and at least those two parts are painted. Even though the artwork seems to be evocative of the cartoon, the design of the chair is from the comic. The most obvious distinction is the shape of the front and lack of headlights. The chair sits fine as-is, but there’s also an included base. It’s a white post with a transparent piece of plastic over it in the shape of smoke, I guess? The transparent portion is frosted over with white paint and the plumes are pointed so, to me, it looks more like ice. I don’t think ice is what they’re going for here, but it gives the figure a little height.
Cool hat, bro.
As for Xavier himself, he’s depicted in his green suit with white shirt and blue and black tie. He has a very serious expression on his face with his signature, arched, eyebrows. His right hand is in a two-finger gesture while his left hand is open, but curled. He has no extra hands which is unfortunate. He should at least come with another right hand so he doesn’t always have to be making this very specific gesture. And because the damn thing cost 50 bucks – throw in some hands! Outside the chair, Charles stands just a tick over 6″. He has a slight build with a very big head relative to his body. It strikes me as a little off as Xavier from this era was usually portrayed as being rather broad shouldered. This figure makes him look like a weenie. Most of the figure is colored plastic with the belt and tie being where the most paint is utilized. The jacket portion of the torso is an overlay while the sleeves are part of the sculpt. This is pretty standard, but the small shoulders means some white sticks through the gap between the arms and jacket. There is also a slight discoloration to the arms vs the shoulders with the shoulders being noticeably darker and shinier. This is an older figure so it does feature pins in the joints. I don’t find them particularly distracting, but there must have been suit guys made over the past few years on pin-less bodies, no? I’m surprised he didn’t get a minor cosmetic upgrade as a result.
Hey professor, you got some…ugh…stuff…squirting out of the back of your head.
Articulation for Charlie is pretty typical stuff for Legends. We have: ball hinge neck, ab crunch, ball-hinged shoulders, biceps swivels, wrist swivels and hinges, waist swivel, ball-socket hips, thigh swivel, ankle hinge and rocker, double-jointed elbows and knees. Range at the hips and shoulders is mediocre and the ankles are pretty limited too, though I guess that doesn’t matter much for a character who will be seated. He’s going to do what you need him to do, but if that’s something you want him to do is outside Professor X’s typical wheelhouse then you won’t be impressed. Like standing. This guy is really hard to stand because the range on the ankle hinged is poor and his feet are tiny. Again, for this guy it doesn’t matter, but if you wanted to swap in a different Xavier and use this body as a custom for someone else you may be disappointed.
If you’re curious, it can kind of fit the head of the X-Men ’97 Jean.
I have critiques for the presentation and articulation on this set, but the bulk of my criticism is going to reside with the accessories. I suppose one could consider the hoverchair itself an accessory, but since this is a set that’s double the price of a typical Legends release I think of it more like a two-pack where the hoverchair is almost like its own thing. And the hoverchair has the effect part stand and also a little blankie that can go over the lap of its occupant. That’s all fine, but for Xavier himself the accessory count is slight. He has his Cerebro helmet which is more of a classic design than one that’s evocative of the 90s or animated series (if you want a more TV helmet, the new Target exclusive Savage Land Xavier comes with one). It fits on his head fine though you may have to mess with it to get it aligned just right. It also has an effect part that plugs into the back. Its done in white plastic with a pearlescent coating. The shape is like a splatter effect and it’s supposed to represent his psychic powers which are sometimes illustrated with such a shape. For me, I think of them as being colored pink or blue (even the box art opts for pink), though I’m sure someone colored them white at some point in the comics. It’s just this color and this shape make it look like he’s getting hit in the back of the head with a balloon filled with milk, or a substance that’s much more disgusting.
Obviously, this is how everyone is going to display this guy.
For optional parts, we have the head of the Shadow King. Your mileage may vary, but for me, the Shadow King was always one of the lamest characters associated with X-Men. I loathe his episodes from the show so this isn’t an accessory that’s going to appeal to me. That being said, the sculpt and paint on the head is fine. There’s more paint on this thing than probably on the entirety of the rest of the set. It’s also just a head and it’s not meant for this figure. My understanding is that this head is designed to fit on the Kingpin body so if you want to create a Shadow King for your collection you need to go out and get yourself another Kingpin. Which is fine as a throw-in if they had room in the budget, but this head is the only other accessory in the box. We don’t get a second portrait for Charles, we don’t even get any extra hands! I wish he had some neutral hands for just when he’s sitting in his chair or at least one alternative to the pointing fingers hand. A portrait where he’s calling out commands to his X-Men would be appreciated too and I would happily trade this Shadow King head for accessories for Xavier that flesh him out. That’s the character I want. That’s what’s driving my purchasing decision. Not a random part that’s only useful if I go out and buy a whole other figure.
This set may be more expensive than your typical Legends release, but the end result is pretty much the same. This Charles Xavier figure is what you buy if you have a collection of Marvel Legends X-Men and you just want an Xavier. It’s going to slot into your display and anyone who sees it will know that’s Professor X. It’s not going to “wow” anybody though and there are a lot of shortcomings. The actual figure strikes me as a better representation of a 60s and 70s Xavier who was drawn more like an older guy. As a 90s Chuck, this guy is too small and slight. The chair looks fine, but the lack of paint also makes it look cheap. And if they had just done the thing in three pieces where the front portion that covers the characters legs was one piece it would have cut out that hideous seam right down the middle. The accessories are a bummer because the figure feels underbaked, and given that this is a re-release it’s an added bummer because they could have improved the figure at no added expense. There are better suit-guy molds at Hasbro they could have used or just more hands. It’s almost like they want you to go out and buy that Savage Land Xavier in the flight suit if you’re unsatisfied with this one and toss him in the chair instead. I prefer my Xavier in his green suit though, and I don’t like the portrait of that new Xavier. Plus, his assortment of hands are almost as bad as they are here (he comes with trigger finger hands – why would Xavier need trigger finger hands?!).
Obligatory, “To me, my X-Men,” shot.
Should you get this one? I don’t know. It’s really just to fill out a collection which is honestly the worst reason to buy something. I try not to do it because money and space are precious resources and I don’t like wasting either on something I don’t love. And to get this guy into your display it’s going to take some work since he does demand quite a bit of shelf space. It looks okay, so I don’t hate it. I would like it a whole lot more if it were $35 instead of $50 so maybe I should have held out for a sale. One may come, one may not, as X-Men are pretty hot right now thanks to X-Men ’97 so anyone waiting for a sale somewhere is probably taking a risk.
There are more reviews here of X-Men action figures if you’re looking to fill out a shelf:
The toyline of my dreams was announced last October. In celebration of the 30th anniversary of the television series X-Men, Hasbro is doing a dedicated line of Marvel Legends with figures based on the look of the show. The show was obviously inspired by the designs of Jim Lee, but there are differences in the…
2022 was the year a dream toyline of mine was made a reality. Hasbro finally decided to do a line of Marvel Legends based on the animated series X-Men, which premiered 30 years prior on Halloween 1992. The line was staggered with a release coming every 6-8 weeks or so and ended up totaling 8…
If you are reading this the day it goes live then Happy X-Men ’97 Day! Today is the day the long-awaited sequel series to X-Men debuts on Disney+. Rather than fast-track a review of the first two episodes to this blog, I decided instead to do what I most often do: review an action figure!…
After putting a real hurting on my wallet in 2023, Mondo decided to take it easy in 2024 with its line of sixth scale action figures based on the animated series X-Men which ran from 1992-1997 on Fox Kids. Two figures ended up getting released this year, Rogue and now the leader of the X-Men Cyclops. With Cyclops though we get a slight change because easily the biggest thing to happen to the X-Men in 2024 was the release of X-Men ’97. Well, some would argue for a movie staring a foul-mouthed merc and an old man as being the biggest business in the X world, but I’m going with the Disney+ series. Since the show turned out to be quite the hit, and because it’s a continuation of the original X-Men series, Mondo decided its figures could use a little rebranding which is why Cyclops is the first release to be billed as hailing from the new show. What does this mean for the figure itself? Not a whole lot.
Yeah, I know, this isn’t a fair comparison.
Cyclops still comes in the same style of window box with artwork from storyboard artist Dan Veesenmeyer. The difference between his release and the others is that the character model definitely resembles the look from X-Men ’97 and not the original show. That’s not a huge change as the costume is the same, but Cyclops has a slightly slimmer profile and the detail work is a dead ringer for the same in the new show. For the figure, there’s really no change and Mondo via its YouTube channel has basically admitted that the figures are going to hew closer to the original series. It’s just now they will be able to toss-in items and accessories pulled directly from the new show where it makes sense.
“To me, my X-Men!”
And we pretty much know this to be true because concept art for Cyclops was shown well before X-Men ’97 debuted. Here we have another sculpt by the awesome Alex Brewer with paint by Tomasz Rozejowski that really harkens back to 1992 and that original Fox series. Cyclops stands a full 12″ and is clad in his yellow and blue Jim Lee outfit which he wore almost exclusively in that show. Like prior figures in this line, there were two editions of Cyclops made available and I opted for the limited version which came with extra stuff which we’ll get to.
You may want to separate these two on your shelf.
The sculpt for Cyclops may not be complex, but it gets the job done. He’s well-muscled and proportioned with a portrait that evokes the original series. The details one would expect are in place like the segmented straps on the belt or the pouches and straps. There’s even a little extra detail where the chest strap attaches to the lower belt that I don’t remember seeing in the show. The hair and the visor are all appropriate and the placement of the thigh straps appears spot-on as well (they’re also floating and slightly annoying as a result). That doesn’t mean there isn’t room for some nitpicks. Cyclops was nicknamed Slim early on, but by the 90s he was a pretty massive dude. This figure depicts him as a big guy, but maybe not quite as big as he could be. The legs look fine and so do the arms, but the chest and abdomen strike me as a bit undersized. It’s almost like Mondo aimed to fit this Cyclops figure in-between the 92 and 97 version. It could also be for a different reason which ties into the extra stuff. This version of Cyclops has removable arms and an optional flight jacket part like the Logan figure. If he were any bigger he might look huge with the jacket. If so, I disagree with the approach as the jacketed look should be a secondary concern, but the feature also seems to play a role with his shoulders being set apart from the body. These are all things mostly noticeable when the figure is just standing straight up and down, pose him and it’s less an issue, but it’s an expensive figure so we have to nitpick where it’s warranted.
He scales well enough with the bad guys too.
What really offers no room for disappointment is the paint. Mondo just slays when it comes to that part of the presentation and Cyclops is no different. The base blue is the perfect royal blue and the lighter blue used to shade it and the blacks all make him pop. The yellow is the right shade with just a hint of red of in it to lessen that lemony look the Hasbro figure of the same has. The different shades of gold used to apply the cel-shading for the yellow looks great and everything is rich and full. There’s an impressive lack of paint slop and issues as well. With such an ambitious paint job some of that is expected, but I’m finding it hard to notice with this one. There’s a visible brush stroke on the chest strap, but apart from that I’m at a loss. This is some really impressive execution so Mondo better hang onto whatever factory put this one together.
Mondo decided it was important Cyclops be able to do stuff like this.
Cyclops comes with new branding, but he also comes with new articulation. Mondo tends to keep things basic with its figures as they prioritize aesthetics over function. And at this scale, I think that’s the right approach. However, there’s no denying that certain characters need to be able to hit certain poses and for Cyclops it’s being able to place a hand on the side of his visor to activate his optic blasts (even though we also see him do so without pressing a button in the show, but lets just go with it). In order to achieve that function, Mondo opted to incorporate double-jointed elbows into this one. And they work great, no problem hitting that pose and he can pretty much put his hand to his X communicator on his chest as well. And the aesthetics trade-off is nil, as far as I’m concerned. We’re all toy collectors and we’re used to double-jointed elbows. They look fine, better than the swivel joint used on Wolverine and Sabretooth that has some miscolored plastic, so I hope they do this more going forward.
This is a team that loves a good, brown, jacket.
Aside from that, the articulation is pretty much the same as other figures. The head is on a double-ball peg and the range is pretty nice. It is a little more gappy than past figures, but I’m guessing they prioritized plus range at the head given his unique skillset. The shoulders are the usual ball-hinges with a bicep swivel past that. Wrists are ball-hinged and they can be tight, but I didn’t experience any issues. The torso is where things get less impressive. Cyclops has the usual ball-jointed diaphragm and waist, but he also has that unique belt that goes around his chest. It’s connected to the belt at his waist so it’s going to get in the way. It has some play and will float when you manipulate the chest, but the range is okay, at best. Hips are ball-sockets with thigh swivels built in, but the rubber trunks will hinder the figure’s ability to kick forward and back. I can get him into one knee poses, but it’s awkward and one must be mindful of paint rub. Knees are double-jointed and the ankles hinge forward and back with an ankle rocker. The ankles are pretty tight, but I didn’t need to heat them up to get them working. Shoulders are really tight too, but again, no heat needed as I just went easy.
Multi-blast!This is the big one.It sags a little.
Cyclops has a ton of extra stuff to go through so let’s not waste any time. We’ll do the standard version accessories first which include a stoic head and a yelling head. Both feature interchangeable visors and come with a standard one by default. Getting the visors off and on is pretty painless, and both heads can use all of the visors. The extras are a visor with a lens flare and one with a slot in it for blast effects. And for blast effects we get two by default. The first is a pretty standard Cyclops blast. It’s 4″ long or so with a splash effect at the end. The easiest way to put it on is to slot it through the visor first, then plug it into the head. It can only go in one way so if it doesn’t fit just spin it around. The other blast effect is an arc with four short blasts. It strikes me as a very Marvel vs Capcom effect and it looks pretty cool. Both are done on translucent red plastic which feels appropriate for a Cyclops effect. They’re rigid so hopefully none arrived warp. I love the look of the blast, and the lens flare part is also pretty cool, so settling on a display is actually quite challenging with this guy. You’ll want to swap some stuff from time to time.
“I was raised by a cup of coffee.”
Cyclops also has an assortment of hands to make use of. By default, he comes with a set of fists which are always useful. In addition to that he has two clenching hands, two “finger bang” hands, a set of two-finger hands for his optic blasts, and a single right gripping hand. The gripping hand is for his cup of coffee which is included. This was seen a few times in the first season, most memorably for me in “Deadly Reunions,” and it’s a pink cup with sculpted steam wafting off of it. Even though Mondo included a gripping hand for it, I find the clenching hands work just as well to hold it. Swapping heads and visors is painless with this guy, but the hands are tough. The pegs going into the arms are ribbed when they probably don’t really need to be. The ball hinge also plugs into the hand and each hand is on its own, which is how Mondo always does it. Initially, I felt like the fists were more likely to come off at the hand and not where they’re supposed to in the forearm, so I heated the forearms of my figure with warm water. It’s made easier by the fact that the arms are designed to pop off. I was then able to get the hands out, but it was dicey. I’m reluctant to really jam any of the hands into his forearms as a result, though I haven’t had the same level of difficulty with the other hands.
Sometimes it gets cold out there.
That’s all the stuff that comes with the standard, $220, version. The $240 limited edition has a few more things including the aforementioned jacket. Swapping the arms isn’t too bad and the jacket arms come with bare fists. The fists are actually the exact same as the standard fists just painted flesh colored. They are removable, though I haven’t bothered since they’re in there pretty good. He sometimes wore gloves with the jacket in the show so the other hands work with this look as well. The arms are also double-jointed at the elbows just like the standard ones so there’s no loss of articulation in swapping them. I think he looks great with the jacket and it’s a tough call on how to display him. Right now, I’ve gone without, but I’ll be changing it from time to time for sure. Oh, and I had to try because this look is so close to Morph, but the Morph heads don’t fit. The opening is way too small, which is probably good so that I’m not tempted to attempt a very expensive custom.
The big blast needs a little help.“Take that, hairball!”
Cyclops would wear the jacket in the field plenty, but sometimes also to look more casual. To that end he has an uncowled head. It looks great and his eyes are painted red, which makes sense. Maybe some would have preferred brown eyes for the few times he was depowered in the show, but many won’t display him like that because he also has his shades. They’re black with the red lenses that have some white shading on them which looks nice. They’re a little brittle feeling, but have held up fine so far. They slot into his temples and look great when in place. He also has yet another visor that’s been removed so he can either hold it or stick it around his neck or something. It’s a nice touch. I will say, this head is the most X-Men ’97 looking part of the package, which could be intentional. This version also comes with another effect part that is one, massive, blast that’s almost 8″ long. It has a large splash effect at the end and it looks cool, but it’s heavy. There’s some drooping with this one so I’m reluctant to leave it in place for long stretches of time. It probably works best in tandem with an enemy getting blasted so there’s some added support for it.
Probably not going to be the preferred look for most collectors.This head can make use of the blasts though.
Oh, but we’re not done! Mondo likes to toss in a goofy accessory with all of these special editions. We had the elf Jubilee portrait, Gambit as Mystique, and the Morph heads. With Cyclops, it’s a Sentinel head styled to resemble Cyclops. This is taken from the episode “Till Death Do Us Part – Part One” where Wolverine is battling Cyclops robots in the Danger Room. It looks the part and is pretty ridiculous when placed on the head of the figure, but it’s there if you want it. And Mondo went the extra mile and also included a swappable visor piece so he too can make use of the blast effects. It’s a little tighter a fit than the other visor, but it works. I’ll never use it, but it’s funny. Maybe it can be used as a head of a fallen Sentinel with Wolverine or something? Lastly, there’s also the usual Mondo stand. I don’t use them so I didn’t even take it out of the plastic. I wish they’d put an X emblem on it like the Logan one, but it’s fine.
“How do I turn these darn things off?!”
Ultimately, this is another home run by Mondo. Cyclops is a much needed addition to the roster of characters and he turned out pretty great. Did I have issues? Yeah, because nothing is perfect. I’d have liked to see a little more beef in the torso, but that is basically the end of my complaints. I do think the hands could have been made to swap easier and the hands are a longstanding issue with the line (though it’s been better, Magneto was rough). I get why things are tight though because these are big, solid, figures and loose joints would kill them. This figure poses reasonably well and the swappable effect parts and heads are all a ton of fun. This is probably the figure that is the most fun to pick a display, though Gambit and Jubilee are pretty great at that too.
It’s the Blast Squad!
Cyclops is definitely the last figure from this line to see release in 2024, but on-deck is another Wolverine. Alex Brewer has sculpted all of the figures in the line since the original Wolverine so Mondo wanted to get his take on the character and the looks we’ve had are promising. There’s also a retro Cyclops coming based on his look in the season finale of X-Men ’97. I have not gone for the variants in this line and I didn’t go in for that one either. We should also start seeing the first figures from the Spider-Man ’94 line very soon. I don’t plan on going all-in with that one, but expect at least a couple reviews of that line. Beyond that, we don’t know what’s next, but it sure seems like this line is going strong. If I had to guess, I’d say Storm will follow Wolverine, but I hope we get all of the core cast from the ’92 series. Even though it gets harder and harder to find room each time one arrives.
If you liked this review, then check out more from Mondo’s X-Men line:
The conclusion of X-Men ’97’s first season has left behind a void. For 9 consecutive Wednesdays, we had something awesome to get up for. Now the long wait for a second season has begun, but here to help fill the void while we wait is Mondo. Mondo has been dishing out some very impressive sixth…
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…
It is my belief that when it comes to X-Men, the animated series which debuted in 1992, the breakout star of the show was Gambit. Wolverine was the closest thing we had to a household name going into the show and was the de-facto pick for favorite character of many. And while the whole roster…
It might be hard for the young folk to believe, but once upon a time movies based on comic book characters were treated like box office poison. Unless you were Superman or Batman, you just didn’t belong in cinema. Even those characters weren’t bulletproof. Superman had a nice run, but fizzled out with the fourth flick while Batman basically did the same in the 90s. Still, 1989’s Batman was a massive hit in all of the ways Hollywood dreams up. It not only did well at the box office, but it was a cultural phenomenon with a hit soundtrack, tons of merch, and home video sales to back it up. Because it did so well, studios started to look at Batman as the blueprint for what could work in movie theaters when it came to comic book characters. If you couldn’t fit a franchise into that mold, then why bother? That’s probably why Spider-Man could never get off the ground despite someone always holding the option to start a film franchise. It’s also probably why a little known comic book hero in Blade did manage to sneak into theaters and actually do fairly well. And it meant that when it came time to bring the X-Men to film that franchise needed a dash of Batman.
“Why are you so short?”
This mainly manifested in the film’s look. Audiences weren’t going to believe a bunch of people in blue and yellow spandex could save the world. They’d look stupid, so out with the colors and in with the black. Almost all black, and since the film ended up being a hit I guess the lesson to take from X-Men was that approach worked, but was it the only way? When we finally made it to the now Marvel Cinematic Universe there seemed to be a willingness to just take the costumes people liked in print and just go with it. The Fantastic Four film franchise isn’t celebrated as a massive hit these days, but it made money with blue spandex. Spider-Man wore his traditional costume and faired well, so when Marvel got to Iron Man they basically let him do the same. Along with Captain America and, to some extent, Thor. Fox’s X-Men franchise still tiptoed around the subject, but eventually some of those comic blues made it in, but one thing we never got was Wolverine with the mask, with the yellow (or brown, for that matter), until a little movie called Deadpool & Wolverine.
Is this what we’ve wanted the whole time?
I didn’t do a review of Deadpool & Wolverine here. I probably should have, though it would have been lost in the many other reviews of the same. If I were to summarize it briefly, I’d call it Fan Service: The Marvel Way. It was plenty fun, maybe a little too long, but an overall enjoyable movie-going experience. It sure seemed like a big reason for the movie to exist was just to get Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine into a movie with a proper Deadpool (not that abomination from the Wolverine movie) and in a costume more reflective of his comic book self. Mission accomplished. The only surprise was that Hasbro wasn’t at the ready with Marvel Legends figures at opening. Now, I suspect there’s a good reason for that. Marvel and Disney probably wanted to keep the whole Wolverine look under wraps for as long as possible, at least until that first big trailer, and in doing so froze out action figure makers. They need a long lead time to get product on shelves and it probably wasn’t doable. They did manage a filler wave of older releases to try and placate fans, but now we finally have the first go at proper Deadpool & Wolverine figures and today we’re looking at Wolverine.
And who could forget his trusty sidekick, Deadpool?
Wolverine stands at approximately 6.5″ to the top of his noggin and comes clad in that bright yellow and blue suit you’ve likely seen by now. By default, he’s sporting his cowl which is interesting because this figure depicts a version of the character unseen on the screen. That’s because he has his yellow sleeves. If you’ve seen the movie, and I suppose light spoilers if you have not, then you know he begins the movie with the yellow sleeves, but eventually discards them. Before doing so, we never see him with the mask on. That’s saved for a big reveal later. He could have worn the mask at any time so I guess this figure is sort of like a depiction of the character before we ever meet him when his life was presumably better. And had Hasbro withheld the masked portrait people would have likely complained. They’re complaining anyway, but we’ll get to that.
I hope you like yellow.
What stands out with this figure right away is holy yellow, Batman! Or Wolverine. The yellow is very bright, though not necessarily inaccurately so when compared with the film. It’s just that in the film Wolverine acquires a fair amount of grime pretty quickly which this figure does not reflect. The yellow is also bare plastic which gives it a cheap look. Yellow is a tough color to sell and it would not surprise me if a lot of would-be customizers out there give this guy a wash to dampen that effect. There is a lot of blue on the costume as well which is mostly painted on. It’s fairly clean and Hasbro also painted the little, silver, rivets on the front of the costume which is a nice touch (they’re unpainted on the back, a fairly common tactic utilized by Hasbro). The X emblem on the belt looks nice and there’s black mixed in with the blue on the gloves and boots. The yellow is also all textured so it’s not a smooth figure. It almost has a sandpaper feel to it.
Deadpool and Wolverine from the film.Proportions aren’t great here.
There are good and bad things to be found with this sculpt. The somewhat cheap look is one of those bad things and another would be the almost frumpy look Wolverine has. If you’ve seen Hugh Jackman in the role, then frumpy is probably one of the last words one would use to describe Jackman’s Wolverine. We see a lot of these issues with the comic Legends figures, but it’s largely a matter of proportioning. His chest is very narrow and there isn’t much thickness to it either. It doesn’t taper in like a human’s torso (or superhero’s) should and the head is too big. The legs seem short and he’s got these wide, birthing, hips. Now, this is all an issue when you have the figure just standing straight up and down on your shelf. Widen his stance and the issue is mitigated, but there’s no hiding completely that this body shape is off. And that’s a shame, because I bet we’re going to see most of this figure again at some point in the future. The other noticeable blemish that shows up more in pictures than in-hand is the different shades of yellow. The torso is almost a pale yellow while the limbs are more vibrant. The torso feels a touch harder and it’s thinner which may be the cause of the discoloration because both are cast in yellow as opposed to painted.
That’s a good looking face.
What undeniably turned out well though are the portraits. Well, specifically one portrait, but the masked portrait is solid too. It’s a good likeness of Jackman in the mask from the film which, honestly, looks a little goofy, but this is what we wanted, damn it! The yellow paint on the bridge of the nose is a little dingy, but that’s what happens when you paint yellow over black. The facial hair is a little messy too and there’s some overlap of the flesh on the edges of the jaw opening. It will look okay on a shelf, but up close isn’t all that impressive. And that’s assuming you want to display Wolverine masked and I’m not sure many will because this Jackman alternate portrait is fantastic. I don’t know if any other company at any other price range is going to top this likeness. It’s uncanny how lifelike this looks. Sure, get up real close and you see that almost pixelated paint app that’s a result of the face printing Hasbro uses, but at half an arm’s length it’s going to look awesome. The paint for the beard will probably vary a little from figure to figure and there’s a missed spot near my figure’s right ear, but overall I am very happy with this portrait. It’s the main reason why I decided to get the figure since the import versions look like they won’t even have a Jackman portrait.
The extra set of hands are kind of worthless. Just stick with the claws.
Accessories with Marvel Legends are rarely a selling point these days. Aside from the stellar unmasked head, this figure just comes with a set of clawed fists, a non-clawed right fist, and a trigger finger left hand. He has no gun to shoot so I guess Wade will have to loan him one. The clawed hands are probably what most care about and they’re fine. Claws are fairly straight and look good. The yellow paint on the hands is a little like the yellow paint on the nose, but what are you going to do? My hands did have some excess yellow paint in places, but I got it off with a Magic Eraser sheet. Obviously, the big omission here is the lack of optional arm parts. I mentioned earlier how we only see Wolverine in the film with bare arms while wearing the mask and that was certainly needed here. Was Hasbro not aware of that detail when the figure was designed? It’s possible. Or, they looked at all of this unique tooling they had to do in order to create this figure and decided a double-dip was in order. They can re-release this figure, throw in some arms that may not even need to be tooled, and call it a day. Maybe we’ll get a new head or something. An angry masked head, a yelling non-masked (which they could also repurpose from another figure), or maybe just this figure with bare arms. Personally, the bare armed look is the one I like best. Wolverine just looks weird in sleeves, like he’s wearing pajamas. Because it feels like such a certainty, I definitely don’t blame anyone willing to play the waiting game.
“Oh great, now there’s two of them.”
Wolverine’ articulation is a little different from what we’re used to. The head is a double ball peg and while it’s not executed perfectly, it is better than most Hasbro double ball pegs as Wolverine can look up, down, and there’s some tilt at play. He doesn’t have a neck joint though so those low Wolverine crouches aren’t really in play. The shoulder joints are basically big ball pegs. It’s what a lot of import companies use, but they do it in tandem with other joints to create more range. This one doesn’t. There’s a black, floating, cap and some space cut out of the chest to get a little range going across the chest, but it’s minimal. There’s almost no range going back so I wouldn’t even consider this a butterfly joint of any kind. Perhaps worse is that the shoulder pads just peg onto the shoulder itself. And it’s a big old peg with no play which means the shoulder pads are static and will hinder range at the hinge. He can’t raise his arms out to the side a full 90 degrees and even rotation is a bit cumbersome. The bicep, double-jointed elbows, and wrists are fine. The trigger finger hand has a horizontal hinge which is mostly worthless.
“And I thought Gambit was horny.”
The torso features an old school ab crunch. It goes back basically one “click” and forward two clicks. There’s a little nuance in between clicks, but not much. It’s very limited and the lack of a ball joint there is unfortunate. The waist twist is just a waist twist. The belt is floating so it can get out of the way. The hips are big ball sockets. He can almost hit a split and kick forward about 90 degrees with no room going back. There’s a thigh twist, but it breaks up the pattern on his thighs which is one of those things that may bug me more than most. The double-jointed knees work as expected as do the ankle hinges and rockers. The gloves and boots appear to both be separate pieces, but there’s no rotation to them. Overall, I’d call the articulation mediocre to average. Wolverine not being able to rear back with a fist is pretty disappointing and I don’t know why they let the shoulder pads become such a problem. I’m guessing there was a reluctance to break up the sculpt in the chest, but I personally would have done so for a ball-jointed diaphragm joint as well as a neck joint. I guess we’ll have to look to another company if we want a super-articulated Wolverine.
Friends forever?
Hasbro’s first stab at Wolverine from Deadpool & Wolverine is a bit of a half-baked release. It’s lacking in accessories including a major one and doesn’t hit a homerun with the articulation. It’s sacrificing articulation for sculpt, but the sculpt isn’t exactly deserving of such reverence. It does however deliver an incredible likeness of Hugh Jackman in the form of the unmasked portrait. Even with the limited articulation, it’s still possible to pose away some of the sculpt’s shortcomings. Because fans have been waiting so long to see Jackman in such a costume, it feels a little bit like this is a figure from a company that knows the fans were going to eat it up no matter what. And as a result, they only managed to deliver a satisfactory product. Hey, I’m clearly part of the problem in this instance since I bought this even though I really wanted a version of the character sans sleeves. And I fully expect such a character to come out in 2025. Knowing it’s likely to happen makes this a hard recommend. If you just want an MCU Wolverine right now and the imperfections don’t bother you then I guess go for it. I think the future S.H.Figuarts Wolverine will be a better action figure, but it too appears to lack a set of bare arms and I don’t think it’s even coming with an unmasked head. Plus it costs more than triple the amount of this one so I guess what I’m saying is I understand anyone who decides that this is good enough for now. I clearly did and while I’m not entirely satisfied with the decision, I’m not exactly regretting it either. Maybe I will when and if I replace it with something better, but who knows when that will be? At least for right now I get to enjoy tiny Hugh on my desk.
Do you like Wolverine? Do you like Deadpool? Well, I’ve got some other stuff you can check out:
The toyline of my dreams was announced last October. In celebration of the 30th anniversary of the television series X-Men, Hasbro is doing a dedicated line of Marvel Legends with figures based on the look of the show. The show was obviously inspired by the designs of Jim Lee, but there are differences in the…
Look through my various toy reviews and you’ll probably notice that I’m not much of a Marvel guy. That wasn’t always the case for me though as I was huge into Marvel Legends once upon a time. I basically stopped around the time Hasbro was awarded the Marvel license. I felt there was a dip…
When San Diego Comic Con was cancelled for 2021, many of the entities that would have sold exclusive merchandise at the event pivoted to web sales. And since the 2020 iteration of the famed event was also canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many seemed to expect the same for 2021, or the massive delays…
Rogue is here to add a little drama to your shelf.
The conclusion of X-Men ’97‘s first season has left behind a void. For 9 consecutive Wednesdays, we had something awesome to get up for. Now the long wait for a second season has begun, but here to help fill the void while we wait is Mondo. Mondo has been dishing out some very impressive sixth scale action figures based on X-Men, the ’92 version. I’ve been waiting since that show debuted for action figures dedicated to that show that match the quality and accuracy that I want from a figure line. I probably wouldn’t have selected this scale for such a line, but basically everything else has been great. And now here to bolster the ranks of the X-Men is the best female member of the team: Rogue.
The only surprise with the packaging is that they didn’t use the storyboard from the Apocalypse episode. You know the image I’m thinking of.
X-Men was my formal introduction to the character Rogue. I had seen her on the cover of comics, but always in her 80s look. When the cartoon debuted I only knew the two characters were the same because of her unique hair color. Rogue, despite looking like a super model, is the muscle of the team. She can knock a Sentinel’s head clear off with a punch and look good while doing it, but like all good characters her powers come with a price. And for her, it’s that she can’t touch another living person without sucking the life from them. This allows her to steal other powers from her fellow mutants which is pretty cool, but not being able to physically touch or kiss another human is a trade-off she often wrestles with. Her inability to touch makes her one of the most empathetic members of the team and someone that’s easy to sympathize with. Despite that personal torment, she is often able to maintain an upbeat personality, can dish out puns with the best of them, and doesn’t mind getting her hands dirty when the situation calls for such.
There’s a lot to like about this figure, but I don’t think they quite nailed it with this default portrait.
Rogue from Mondo is a lot like the other figures released so far. She’s designed and sculpted by Alex Brewer and comes in a box featuring original artwork by storyboard artist for the show Dan Veesenmeyer. Tom Rozejowski handled the paint master and the rest of the packaging is adorned with recreations of original storyboards from the show from the episode “Till Death Do Us Part.” Original series showrunner and writers Eric Lewald and Julia Lewald provide the character bio which is situated on the inner flap of the box. Behind that is a window box showcasing Rogue and her array of accessories. This version of the figure is the limited variant which sold out much faster than any other limited edition to come before it in this line. Is that the popularity of Rogue or did she get an X-Men ’97 aided boost since anticipation was building to a fever pitch when she went up for sale?
That’s more like it!
Per Mondo, Rogue stands at approximately 11.75″ and I’m willing to take them at their word. She’s taller than Wolverine and Jubilee, but shorter than Gambit, Magneto, and the rest. That seems suitable and she seems much closer to true sixth scale than some of the other characters. She is wearing her show accurate yellow and green bodysuit with olive drab coat. She sports a variation on thigh-high boots in the show and Mondo’s approach for that was to make the green straps at the top of the boot as well as the yellow cuff separate, floating, pieces. Perhaps going this route made the figure easier to paint? Or maybe it was to allow these legs to be repurposed for a Storm down the road? Either way, the moving parts on a figure with so much paint are a little worrisome, but they can be seated in such a way that they’ll seldom move. Just do be careful when positioning them to not create a paint rub situation.
And if you want to get cheeky.
The head on the figure has received some criticism and it’s not unwarranted. The default portrait is basically a neutral expression. Rogue’s face has always been tough to duplicate in plastic for some reason. I think it’s because the female characters tend to not have hard facial features so there’s not a lot to key-in on. For the figure, Rogue features a very glammed-up look. Her eyes are narrow with long lashes and her lips are full and pouty. The paint is applied well as are the eyes (Mondo sent out a warning before the figure shipped that some heads featured poor eye placement. If your figure looks off just email their customer service and they’ll replace it), but it doesn’t really resemble Rogue. More like an artist’s interpretation of what a more sultry Rogue might look like. Or Rogue if she were in a Barbie line.
It might not be show accurate, but this power absorption hand is pretty neat.
Sorry Logan, not this time.
Thankfully, we have other, better, heads to choose from and the limited edition has far more than the standard. The alternate head for the standard edition is an angry expression and this works just fine. The right eye on mine features a dot of skin tone, but otherwise looks great. I think a lot of people will go with this for their display, whether they bought the limited edition or standard. If you did grab the limited version then you have some harder decisions to make. First up is the winking smile. The smile is very wide so this head doesn’t quite resemble the character from the show, but damn if it isn’t cute. I really like this one, though it does make me wish we had a non-winking smile portrait as well. Or perhaps a more subtle smile.
This is just fantastic.
Our next portrait is pulled directly from the show. In the episode “Deadly Reunions,” Cyclops gets knocked unconscious and stops breathing momentarily. Rogue, in an effort to save him, gives him mouth-to-mouth (C.P.R. back then called for this) and it works, but it also causes Rogue to absorb his powers. Rogue’s eyes start blasting red energy until Cyclops is able to instruct her to just shut her eyes. The included portrait is a screaming Rogue with those lasers streaking from her eyes. They’re done with translucent, red, plastic and it looks awesome. In some ways, I think this head most looks like Rogue from the show, probably because we can’t see her eyes and she looks kind of angry. The last head in the box is a bit of a gimmick one as it’s Rogue from X-Men: Evolution. Like the fairy Jubilee or unmasked Sabretooth, this head doesn’t work with the body since that Rogue had a very different look. It’s more of a fun inclusion. It looks fine, but I do think they should have added a touch of shading to the brim of her nose since that was something always present in the show.
I guess this one is for the younger fans.
That’s a whole bunch of looks for Rogue and one, if not more, are sure to please those who pick this one up. Also included are a whole bunch of hands. Rogue comes packaged with open hands, but she also has a set of fists, a right trigger hand, a left gripping hand, a more casual gripping right hand, and a bare left hand. When the left hand is removed, the yellow cuff is a separate piece which slides off to sell the look of her going ungloved. There’s also a removed glove accessory which slips into the casual gripping hand quite well. I do wish we got two bare hands since she did grab enemies with both hands at times, but one is better than none. If you want her to look like she is actually draining someone’s energy, she has yet another open left hand, but this one is encircled in translucent blue plastic. I don’t think her power absorption abilities were ever depicted like this in the show, her hand usually just glowed white and the light sometimes traveled up her arm, but I can’t deny that this hand looks pretty cool. Another included effect part of sorts is a gripping right hand that’s crushing a small gun. I don’t recall this gun or scene, I remember her crushing Bishop’s armband, but it’s an effective accessory at showing her strength.
This thing is all kinds of rad.
And the base works pretty damn well as a stand too.
The last major accessory included in the limited edition version is a base. Rogue is the first figure to get a base and Mondo stated they felt it was important to include something that hinted at her power. To do that, Mondo decided a decimated Sentinel head made the most sense. It’s well sculpted and really well painted and resembles a Sentinel from the show. There are two foot indentations, one towards the front and one towards the back, that the figure slides into rather effortlessly. It does a pretty good job of holding Rogue up too, though she has tumbled to the side on me once already. It’s not super heavy, so the figure took the base with it in falling over. I’ve resituated the figure on the base amongst my other figures in the line and hopefully she holds true. She also comes with a standard Mondo stand and I could potentially use that in conjunction with the base for added stability. One of the stands from a past release (Magneto?) that I have also has worked well to hold her off the ground just a little bit. That particular one has a very strong, telescoping, arm to it and can support the figure’s weight while some of the others feel too loose. I’m sure there will be folks in search of a proper flight stand for this figure and if I come across any that work I’ll be sure to update this.
Magneto has something to show you, Rogue.
A little X-Men ’97 preview, I suppose.
The visual aesthetics are what this line goes for, but this is an action figure so it does articulate. Rogue moves about as well as the rest of the line, and in some respects, perhaps a bit better. The head, shoulders, elbows, and wrists are all standard for the line. We’re talking a double ball peg at the head, single-hinges and swivels at the elbow, ball-jointed wrists, and ball-hinged shoulders. The head is limited by her big hair, but they did a decent job of sculpting out some room so the head can turn a bit and tilt. The shoulders and elbows are the most limiting. She can’t bring her arms across her chest or her hands to her face and it’s just something you’ll have to work around. Rogue does not have a waist twist, but does have a ball-jointed diaphragm. Mondo used a curved cut for it and I’m a tad surprised they didn’t try to conceal the cut under her bust or perhaps along the rib cage. It at least works well enough as a rotation point and it allows for a little forward and back. The hips are big ‘ole ball sockets and have probably the best range of any joint on the figure. They’re almost loose and I’m curious if they’ll get to the point where I do consider them loose, but for now they hold their pose fine. The knees are double-jointed and work okay while the ankles feature a hinge and an ankle rocker.
“Hey Remy, you got any plans tonight?!”
“I didn’t know you could read minds, ‘cherie.”
Since Rogue does wear high heels, she is a bit of a challenge to stand. It’s not as bad as I was expecting though. If you’re just looking to place her in a vanilla pose, she’ll stand okay. It might take a bit of adjusting, but it’s do-able. If you want her to do anything more dynamic then you’re better off with a stand. Even lunging positions are a challenge because she’s so top heavy, and I’m not talking about her chest. That hair adds a lot of weight, but since she doesn’t feature a trench coat or a cape, the Mondo stands actually can help out with this figure when normally I consider it useless. And if you have the limited version then you also have the base to rely on.
Cyclops and Jean kind of dominate the conversation, but this was the couple I was always rooting for.
Rogue is perhaps not a perfect, 1:1, encapsulation of the character model from the show, but she’s still a damn fine addition to the Mondo roster. The paint on this release is incredible. Not in the sense that it’s perfect and free from blemishes, but in that it just pops and really nails the cel-shading from the show. Yeah, you will likely find a dab of paint here and there where it shouldn’t be or even a slight smudge, but that’s the nature of hand-painted items. On the whole, the figure looks terrific and I’m very happy with the limited edition. With the Sabretooth figure, I wasn’t sure if the limited version was really worth it, but I feel completely different about this one. I love the base and the extra heads are probably the best heads in the box. The articulation may not be on par with figures in the 1:12 scale, but I haven’t had any real challenges in finding a display pose and I doubt many will.
We’re about halfway through the main roster and Cyclops is soon to be on deck.
Unfortunately, if you do want this version of the figure with extra stuff then you’ll have to score it secondhand. As I mentioned earlier, it sold out surprisingly fast leaving just the standard version as an option. Mondo sold out of the standard version as well, but has another preorder open right now on their website for $210. Other retailers may have open preorders as well that could be fulfilled sooner than Mondo’s estimate of September 2024. Even if I could only get the standard version, I’d consider it well worth it. She has the angry portrait and comes with all of the same hands as the limited edition version so you’re just missing out on the three extra heads and base. Rogue is an essential character for any X-Men display and she will certainly look good in your collection.
Now, nobody fall!
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Today, X-Men ’97 dropped the curtain on its first season and what a way to bring it to an end. Last week’s episode was a roller coaster of emotions for me. I couldn’t go into much detail of my review of “Tolerance is Extinction – Part 2” without wading into spoiler territory, so allow me to indulge myself before we get to this week’s episode. When one thinks of childhood trauma baked into media, the death of Bambi’s mom is probably the most often cited. If you’re an 80’s kid it might be the death of Optimus Prime in the first Transformers movie or the death of Littlefoot’s mother in The Land Before Time. The 90s kid has Mufasa while the comic book readers like me have X-Men #25. No one truly died in that issue, but it’s the infamous issue where Magneto decides he’s had enough of Wolverine and uses his magnetic powers to rip the metal off of his bones and force it through his pores and open wounds. It’s all anyone wanted to talk about concerning X-Men when it happened and it changed the character of Wolverine in a big way. Like basically all things in comics, Wolverine eventually regained his awesome adamantium skeleton, but it took a surprising amount of years for that to happen.
They did it. I can’t believe they did it.
Despite being one of the most singular, powerful, moments in X-Men history, that confrontation with Magneto has really just been confined to the page. The original X-Men animated series had just kicked-off its second season when it happened, but never touched it during the rest of its run. I remember feeling anxious during the Asteroid M episodes, “Sanctuary,” out of fear it might happen, but Wolverine escaped that arc unscathed. I remember my friend jumping in his seat when we saw the first X-Men movie in theaters when Magneto lifts Wolverine up on the train and asks “Does that remarkable metal run all through your body?” He thought, and I too, that Magneto might give a tug in that moment and I certainly thought it could be him laying the groundwork for a future confrontation that never arrived. Other animated efforts and movies that followed never did go to that well, but in its ninth episode X-Men ’97 did.
For a brief moment I thought we may be jumping straight to the mind wipe Xavier inflicted upon Magneto in response to his attack on Wolverine.
When Magneto emerged from Bastion’s imprisonment in the eighth episode and used his magnetic powers to attack the whole planet’s electrical grid is when I first felt X-Men #25 was on the table. It was similar to his attack to open that issue on the planet’s satellite defense system which knocked out power all across the globe. Even though much of the events of last week’s episode were mirroring the events of New X-Men from 2001, there was always the possibility of multiple plotlines converging. As I said in my review of last week’s episode, that “Greatest Hits” approach the original series and this one is able to take is part of what makes it so successful. When it was Wolverine who was tabbed to deliver the opening, “Previously…on X-Men,” line I pretty much knew what we were in for. It became even more obvious when Rogue basically assumed the role of Colossus from the Fatal Attractions plotline X-Men #25 is a part of by joining Magneto (along with Roberto) midway through the episode. It made it hard to enjoy all of the fan-service leading up to the final act with the return of the old costumes, the Hulk cameo, or Cyclops’ return dig at the film costumes as I was expecting the worst for old Wolverine. And even during the episode, my X-Men animated Wolverine figure decided to take a shelf dive. I’d love to say it was during that scene, but I don’t remember because I was engrossed in the show and only after it was over did I check to see who fell. He knew.
Wolverine’s claws covered in blood – something we never could see in the original series.
The final scene of the episode was done exceptionally well, though it still left a glimmer of hope that Wolverine would not be subjected to his worst injury to date. When he removes Magneto’s helmet to allow Xavier a chance to attack him with his telepathic powers, the imagery was evocative of Xavier’s answer to Magneto’s brutal assault on Logan from X-Men #25. For a brief moment, I thought he might be spared. Then Cyclops blasted his mentor, not because he was turning on him or anything, but because Gold Team had not yet taken down Bastion and they couldn’t risk Xavier, through Magneto, re-activating the Prime Sentinels.
“Been in a lot of wars, bub – the brave always die first.” A great callback to Magneto’s line from the season finale of the original show’s first season, “The Final Decision.”
That’s when Wolverine struck. In actually more graphic fashion compared with the comic from which the story was taken, we get to see a flash of his claws and then the ends protrude through Magneto’s torso. At that moment, I could only watch with both dread and awe since there was no going back now. The attack was brief. We got just a quick shot of each character’s reaction, friend and foe alike, at Wolverine’s attack. It was like all of the participants in the melee up to that point were just made aware that violence has consequences, like a bunch of kids play-fighting in the yard until someone gets really hurt. The final image of Wolverine in mid-air with the adamantium oozing out of his body was a near 1:1 recreation of Andy Kubert’s artwork. It was chilling and a hell of a way to end an episode of television. I was riding an exercise bike on my first viewing and I wish I had thought to check my heartrate readings on my fitness app when it was all said and done. I was covered in sweat, more than usual after a workout, and that same pit in my stomach I felt as a 9 year old in 1993 had returned.
The plot with Wolverine made me completely forget that we may have witnessed the death of Jean. Again.
The moment was so captivating that it practically erased everything that came before it. I had to watch it again to be reminded of the fact that Morph and Beast had been defeated and were at the mercy of Bastion last we saw them. Sinister had taken control over Cable like he did his mother before him unleashing his telekinetic powers on Jean. She was able to make psychic contact with Cyclops, and through her, he saw what was going down just long enough for her to tell him she loved him before Cable’s blast engulfed her. And at Asteroid M, Magneto is likely mortally wounded or damn close to it while Xavier had Magneto’s helmet basically crushed around his skull neutralizing his psychic powers. This concept is new to the show as when the original aired the idea that Magneto’s helmet was designed to protect him from Xavier had not been invented yet. You can even see in the show’s fourth episode Xavier attack him with the helmet on, but I don’t mind it being a new wrinkle for this show as basically every version of the X-Men has done the same.
We open on a flashback we’ve heard about before.
As a kid, I don’t know how many times I read X-Men #25 and its follow-up, Wolverine #75, so I had a good idea what was going to happen in this season finale (in case you forgot, that’s what we’re here to talk about today) in space. I was less certain about the Bastion plot, but I had some ideas. Given the nature of how the last episode ended, there isn’t much I can say about the plot of this one that doesn’t spoil something, but I’m sure I can find something to talk about. The “Previously…” line is delivered by Magneto and our opening credits contain few surprises. More Dark Phoenix, more Apocalypse, but also a new scene of Magneto and Xavier unleashing their powers for the first time in front of each other on some terrorists from “Enter Magneto.”
Wolverine will not be doing much this episode.
And we’re shown that flashback because that is essentially where the episode begins. A young Xavier and Magneto having some drinks in a bar in a war torn country chatting about the potential for mutants. The war setting is even established by the opening chords of the famous song by The Byrds “Turn! Turn! Turn!” which I thought we all agreed we were done with? That and Credence Clearwater Revival. It’s at least brief which probably saved Disney a few bucks. Outside of the flashback, the episode is going to pick-up right where we left off with Wolverine in bad shape and the Earth heading for catastrophe. The only one who can heal the Earth’s magnetic field is Magneto and he needs some convincing.
Gold Team! This is no time for a nap!
At ground level, we last saw Bastion essentially victorious. And he will be ready for his victory lap that villains are so fond of, but as is often the case, the celebration is premature. Again, I’m not here to spoil anything, but I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say that the X-Men will need to deal with this guy. If last episode was more of the Magneto conflict, then this one is definitely more on Bastion. He is pretty set on eradicating mutants, and once that is done, he intends to rule over humanity since they can’t exactly be trusted either. And if he can’t do either, well, let’s just say that’s something he won’t respond to very well. And if that weren’t enough, the world super powers are left mulling what to do about the Magneto Protocols. Should the grid get restored, not only will the Prime Sentinels be reactivated, but President Kelly will have access to the missile defense system crafted especially for targeting Asteroid M.
Okay, perverts, happy now?!
The X-Men had split into Blue and Gold teams last episode, but it’s going to take all able-bodied X-Men to stop Bastion. A large portion of the episode is devoted to the battle that you knew was going to happen and, as has been the case with this show, it’s quite satisfying and spectacular. The action direction continues to be a strong point and the animation staff is up to task. Since we’re dealing with a finale here, there is an effort to give everyone some time to shine, provided they were able to stand at the conclusion of the last episode. The episode also pays more than lip-service to actual character growth and this is the episode that is able to cash in on the smaller moments (and some big ones) that we saw throughout this first season.
Sunspot has been allowed to cut loose these past few episodes which has been fun to see.
Where this episode did stumble a bit for me is that it’s basically a small portion of fallout from the previous episode, then a whole bunch of action, and then setup for next season. It’s become routine in the streaming age for shows to be serialized and include a lot of cliffhangers and X-Men ’97 is no different. I received some Game of Thrones vibes from the show when watching this one as the penultimate episode was where a lot of the spectacle was while this one felt a bit more like clean-up followed by setup. They left no room for the characters to really respond to what happened last week. It’s mentioned only in passing and we see Wolverine’s banged up body a few times, but we get almost nothing from the characters. How is Jubilee processing this? She and Wolverine were tight. Is anyone mad at him for pushing Magneto as far as he did by getting all stabby on him? Again, we don’t know and the way the episode ends makes it seem like it’s a thing we’re just not going to address at all and that feels like a real missed opportunity for a show that loves the soapy drama.
At least Morph seems to care.
Like last week, expect to be tickled by several cameos. Some are repeat cameos, but many are all new. Sure, it can feel like stunt-casting or something akin to it, but considering the plot in this episode has worldwide ramifications it makes sense to get a look around the globe. It’s certainly interesting and makes me wonder if X-Men ’97 will turn into a launching pad for an animated universe set in the 90s. Nostalgia for the period will likely never be hotter than it is now so it wouldn’t be Marvel and Disney’s worst idea. As long as my X-Men show doesn’t become overrun by non-mutant superheroes I’m all for it. Even if I personally have little interest in revisiting the other 90s Marvel cartoons.
I love everything about this shot.
I may seem a little down on this episode, but that’s only because the prior two were so strong. This is indeed a good episode, and it’s a long one at that, and DeMayo and Sellitti do some great stuff with their dialogue. There are certain characters they write so well and it’s on display in this episode. There’s also more callback lines to the original series and its woven in effectively and with purpose. There’s some heavy stuff intermingled with the action concerning Xavier and Magneto and this episode is one of the first pieces of X-Men media that really convinces the audience that Xavier and Magneto care deeply for each other. They’re not just paying lip-service to the “old friend” label they like to toss around so casually.
This episode concludes what has inarguably been a successful first season for X-Men ’97. The second season is in production so the wait should not be as long as it was from announcement to premiere. I suspect we will hear more at San Diego Comic Con this summer. Series creator and showrunner Beau DeMayo was heavily involved in the second season and it can be assumed much of his vision will make it to air. Following that, we’ll be heading into some unchartered waters with the show. Disney and DeMayo have remained tight-lipped on why he was let go from the series just before the premiere which is unfortunate because it would be nice to know if fans should be advocating for Disney to reverse that decision. If he was fired because of an OnlyFans account or creative differences, then that was probably a stupid decision given how well this show has turned out (and for the record, the OnlyFans thing would be stupid if the show sucked too). If he was fired over workplace misconduct or something (and full disclosure – I have no idea why he was let go and I’m just tossing out examples) then all right, that’s not someone I’d want to go to bat for. This stuff has a way of getting out so it’s more probable than not we’ll know in time, but for now, I’m extremely satisfied with how X-Men ’97 turned out. I’m also extremely bummed about not having a new episode to look forward to next week. This is going to be an intolerable wait.
Magneto was right. That was the realization many characters seemed to share at the end of last week’s episode of X-Men ’97. As we roll into the penultimate episode of the show’s first season, a lot is on the line and the show is drawing inspiration from several different sources related to the X-Men over…
Ever since the episode list was released for X-Men ’97 I’ve been looking forward to what reads like an epic, three-part, season finale. In truth, given that X-Men ’97 is a serialized show you could basically call every episode “X-Men ’97 Season 1 Part 1” and so on, but the titles do add a dramatic…
When we last saw our beloved X-Men, their world had just been destroyed. An idyllic place set to the soundtrack of the very on-the-nose choice of “Happy Nation” by Ace of Base in Genosha was laid to waste. Mutants of all backgrounds were slaughtered including our beloved Gambit and less beloved Magneto. In the aftermath…
The Nostalgia Spot 