Hasbro Marvel Legends Savage Land Set and A.O.A. Sunfire review
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Alright, just two more Marvel Legends offering in my backlog of items to review: the Savage Land box set and A.O.A. Sunfire. Both
of these items were exclusives from last year. The Savage Land set was sold at the San Diego Comic Con last year. Though in my defense,
I actually bought it last fall from Hasbro's web site. (I'm not actually a full 10 months behind.)
Packaging - Savage Land 8/10, Sunfire 6/10The Savage land set comes in a large window box with a folding front cover. The front of the box has a drawn image of the three characters included in the set. The inside of the cover gives a brief explanation of the history of the characters while the actual toys are neatly displayed inside the box. The back of the box has a large photo of the figures photoshoped into a jungle background. Overall it is an attractive package. And after more than six months of being tossed around my livingroom waiting to be reviewed, it is still holding up well with no sign of damage. My one complaint is that the box is considerably larger than it needed to be. And it doesn't seem like Hasbro had a good reason for the extra size other than to have space to pose the figures inside. That's fine for those that will keep the set MIB. For the rest it is just a waste.For Age of Apocalypse Sunfire, Hasbro designed a completely new package. It is a blister card with the bubble covering the majority of the card. There is a postion of the card that wraps around the bottom of the bubble to provide a space for the Marvel Legends logo and a couple of images of Sunfire on the sides while the background is a simple wall of flames. The back of the card has a photo of the prototype figure as well as two images of Sunfire in the background. There is also a brief history and basic character statistics. The new package design is alright. I don't see it as any great improvement over the regular Marvel Legends packaging. And by creating a new design, Sunfire doesn't fit with all the figures that MOC collectors already have.
Sculpting - Shanna 8/10, Ka-zar & Sunfire 7/10, Zabu 3/10For a convention exclusive, which are usually repaints, a surprising amount of work went into the sculpts for the Savage Land box set. Ka-zar seems to be a new body, or at least one which I do not recognize. The upper body turned out quite well. It is detailed but not overdone. The hair does restrict the movement of the head, but there is still some movement possible. The legs seem to be too bulky compared to the rest of the figure, a problem that is amplified by Ka-zar's tiny feet. Seriously, they are no bigger than Shanna's. And speaking of Shanna, if you haven't already guessed, she uses the same body as the She-Hulk figure from the Hulk Legends series. The sculpt works much better for this character since the size is less of an issue. Of course that shouldn't be a surprise since the sculpt was originally intended for this figure. Zabu took a bit more creative recycling and modifacation of existing sculpts to pull off. In this case, they used a sculpt from one of the GI Joe Sigma Six toy lines. The problem is that that toy line has a radically different style than the more realistic looking figures of the Marvel Legends line. As a stand-in for a true Zabu figure, this would have been acceptable until a proper version could be released. But as the official Zabu figure, this is quite substandard. And unfortunately, with the release of this box set there is very little chance of a better version of Zabu being produced any time soon. Sunfire's Age of Apocalypse design shouldn't be difficult as it is just a medium build body with little detail. But that also means that it would have been quite easy for Hasbro to cut costs by simply reusing an existing Human Torch sculpt. To their credit, while they did reuse an existing body it isn't a Human Torch body. Instead they made new forearms and calves to fit on the Quicksilver/Yellowjacket body as well as a collar to fit around his neck. The final figure turned out well. I would have liked to have seen a bit more detail around the mask and jaw. But even in the images on the packaging you can see that he has been drawn both with and without facial features depending upon the situation and artist.
Paint - Sunfire 8/10, Zabu 7/10, Ka-zar and Shanna 6/10The paint work on all four figures turned out well. They did particularly well with Sunfire to apply the paint just thick enough while still allowing light to pass through the figure's translucent plastic. Zabu has a nicely painted mouth and eyes. They also added a wash to the rest of the figure. The paint wash does a decent job of adding visual interest to what is otherwise a fairly dull sculpt. Both Ka-zar and Shanna have the details of their costumes painted. While the small amount of clothing that they are wearing looks fine. The figures themselves are quite pale. They are far too pale for two people who run around the jungle all day in loin clothes.
Articulation - Sunfire 8/10, Ka-zar 7/10, Zabu and Shanna 6/10Sunfire has thirty eight points of articulation:
Accessories - Savage Land set 6/10, Sunfire 0/10Sunfire does not come with any accessories. Thoguh I don't know what he could really come with, so that doesn't bother me much. The Savage Land set does come with a few accessories: a dagger for Ka-zar, a large knife and a rifle. Ka-zar's dagger is a small hunting knife which can be stored in the sheath on his hip.
Value - Sunfire 5/10, Savage Land set 4/10Sunfire was exclusive to Hasbro's website. And as with most exlcusives, it carried a higher than usual price of $12. But that isn't too bad. It is barely more than what some stores charge for a regular retail figure. The Savag Land set however carried a much heavier price tag. As I recall, it originally sold for $40. For just three figures, one of which is merely a slightly substandard stand-in for a proper Zabu, the Savage Land set doesn't carry the same bang for your buck that Marvel Legends toys usually deliver. On the other hand, it is probably the last time you are going to see a Ka-zar or Zabu figure for quite some time.
Happy Hunting:Age of Apocalypse Sunfire was orignally exclusive to Hasbro's web site. The Savage Land set was an exclusive to the San Diego Con Convention for last year, but was also available from Hasbro's web site as well. Both items are still available there. But ther are probably better options. Sunfire has been showing up recently at stores such as Marshall's and TJ Maxx. Hasbro's site is still the only place selling the Savage Land set. But they are now down to A.F.A. graded sets which start at $80! For that price, you will probably do better searching for a set on eBay.
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