Hasbro Marvel Legends Infinite Warlock Series review
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They say that good things come in threes. And that certainly seems to be the case with Hasbro's Marvel Legends Infinite line as they seem
to like to drop three different series in rapid succession a couple of times a year. This year, we got the Guardians of the Galaxy Titus
series and Spider-Man Sandman series already. But if two series of figures is good, three will be better. So this spring we also saw the
release of a X-men themed series of Marvel Legends, the Warlock Series. This series brings us seven figures, including some long awaited
characters such as Dazzler and Polaris, updated versions of Colossus, Cyclops and Wolverine and a couple of lesser known mutants in the
form of Sunfire and X-Force's Shatterstar. Even if the Inhuman's seem to be stealing mutant kind's spotlight in the Marvel Comics, it
doesn't look like the children of the atom will be disappearing from toy collectors' shelves any time soon.
Packaging - 8/10The Warlock series figures have the same packaging design as all of the recent Marvel Legends Infinite figures. But the Warlock series figures have two minor differences that work to their advantage. The first is that the entire series uses a brighter orange/yellow for the the accent color. That little extra splash of color does a lot to brighten the packaging overall and make it more appropriate for a line of comic book based figures. The second change is that every figure has their own packaging with actual descriptions of the character. Sure, they are still in four languages so they still have to be incredibly short. But that is still an improvement.
Sculpting - Logan 5/10, Cyclops & Sunfire 7/10, Shatterstar 10/10, Others 8/10Hasbro has shown over the last few years that they can produce some rather impressive sculpts. But this series is certainly not their best work. There is one particular bright spot in Shatterstar. The various components of his outfit were individually sculpted and all of it turned out well. Honestly it is a bit surprising to see so much effort put into such a minor character. On the other hand, Shatterstar isn't likely to get another figure any time soon. So I guess it makes sense to make this one count. Moving on from there, Dazzler is another real highlight of the series and a very unique figure. From her roller skates, bell bottoms, popped 70's collar and Farrah Fawcett hair, they once again went all out to get the details right. And they did really well. The only thing holding her back a bit is that the legs are molded in an awkward pose. It can work for a few skating poses, but it doesn't allow her to just stand normally. Both Colossus and Polaris turned out well. But both also use a lot of generic body parts which just have the costumes painted on. So they lack the level of detail that they could have. Both Sunfire and Cyclops have details for their outfits simply added on top of generic bodies. And they don't really fit quite right. They aren't bad, but they certainly could have turned out better. Finally we get to Wolverine who is presented in his civilian, old man Logan, outfit. There is a lot to like about this figure. The torso is well sculpted as is the jacket he is wearing. It is a bit bulky, but not too bad. The real problems come with his jeans and the fit of the elbow and knee joints. The jeans lack any sort of texture to make them look like denim. And the detail that was added for the stitching and rear pockets don't look right. They look like additions on the surface instead of part of the jeans. That would be enough to make Logan the least impressive sculpt in the series on its own. But just to add a bit of salt to the wound, this version of Wolverine/Logan has some of the worst fitting joints that I have seen on a Marvel Legends figure in a long time if not ever. There's large gaps around the elbows. The knees are not shaped well to look like denim or fabric of any sort. They actually look more like built-in knee pads. Finally there is the gaps at the bottom of the pant legs which expose too much of the ankle joints above the boots. From the waist up, it's a decent figure. But the lower half is not up the usual standard for a Marvel Legends figure.
Paint - Shatterstar 9/10, Colossus & Polaris 7/10, Others 6/10The paint work for this series of figures seems to run to one extreme or the other in terms of the amount of effort that was put into each figure. But it must be said that the quality is solid for all of the figures across the board. And once again, Shatterstar is the star of the series. He has far more detail overall thanks to some well applied paint washes. Both Colossus and Polaris have nice paint work for their faces and hair as well as their arms. But the painted on uniforms are just a bit too basic in comparison. The paint work gets even more limited for the remaining figures. For Dazzler that isn't too surprising since her outfit is a plain white body suit. But they could have put some more effort into the boots for the skates to make up for that. Sunfire actually has a fair amount of paint work. But the gold for the outfit blends in to the red of the outfit and can be hard to see. A little highlighting work could have done a lot to make the other colors and sculpting details pop. Cyclops has the least amount of paint of any of the figures. But it doesn't really hurt the look of the figure. But there is a lot of opportunity that was lost by not painting any of the details of the outfit other than the two X logos. Finally we come to Wolverine who has some nice detail work such as the painted zipper on his jacket and belt buckle. But other than the buckle, Logan's pants have no paint work, even for the belt. He also has a couple of spots on one of his cheeks. I am giving him the benefit of the doubt that they are intentional and are suppose to be age spots.
Articulation - Dazzler 6/10, others 8/10Have I covered the articulation for a Marvel Legends figure enough times yet? The articulation for the male figures includes:
Accessories - Logan & Cyclops 0/10, Shatterstar 6/10, Dazzler 5/10, others 4/10I'm beginning to think that this really should have been called the Shatterstar Series, because once again he proves to be the best of the entire series in terms of the accessories. He comes with two swords, including his trademark dual bladed sword. They deserve some credit just for the fact that they made such a strange item. But they're also integral to Shatterstar as a character. So it's not like including them was optional. I do wish that they would have painted them though. Dazzler comes with a microphone and a single energy effect. (Technically you could count her necklace as well. But it isn't removable without taking off her head.) But I really wanted removable skates or interchangeable feet with a pair of normal feet. Colossus has an extra head that has a beard. I don't recognize the design so it's going right into the spare parts bin for me. But it's nice that they give you options. Polaris comes with two energy blast effects. And Sunfire has two flame blast effects to stick over his fists. Both are recycled from previous figures and feel a bit generic. But they are better than the figures having nothing at all. And that is exactly what both Wolverine and Cyclops come with, nothing at all.
Build A Figure - WarlockBefore I go into my thoughts about this figure, I feel like I need to say that I really don't know much about the character beyond his appearances in the 90's cartoons. And it is rather difficult to decide how a figure should look when the character is a shapeshifter. But even with my limited knowledge, I can see that there is a lot to love about the figure as well as some issues. On the positive side, the sculpt is really interesting looking and captures the general look of the character well. But it seems like there is an issue with the scale. Warlock is suppose to be taller than an average human. But at ten inches tall, he would be tall compared to a figure for an eight inch scale line. For a 1:12 scale line like Marvel Legends, he towers over any normal figure. The paint work on Warlock works very well for the character. I'd love to see the figure molded in translucent plastic. But I can't fault how the paint washes turned out. But Warlock's biggest weakness is his articulation and specifically the quality control for the articulation. He is the only figure in the series to have a stuck joint. And a lot of his joints are much looser than they should be for such a large figure. He is a great looking stand alone figure. But as a part of the Marvel Legends line overall, the scale and floppy joints really hurt.
Value - Shatterstar 9/10, Dazzler 8/10, Polaris 7/10, Wolverine 4/10, others 6/10As usual, the Warlock series figures sell for $19 to $23 depending on the store. That's not cheap. But overall, these are well made and good looking figures. And we are getting some characters or versions of characters that fans have been hungering for throughout the history of the Marvel Legends line like Polaris and Dazzler. The one low point for the series is Wolverine. His figure has a number of issues. Considering the last time they made this version of Wolverine for the Marvel Legends line was the Legendary Riders series back in 2006, this figure should blow that figure out of the water and it doesn't. And when you also factor in that Wolverine doesn't include any pieces for the Warlock BAF, the only reason to buy it is on the strength of the figure itself. And it isn't that great of a figure.
Happy Hunting:The Warlock series figures were released several months ago. They seem to have shown up at Target stores first and that is where I bought my set. But over the last few months they have had time to filter down through the supply chains of most of the major toy retailers. But finding a complete set requires finding a fresh case. So if you want the entire series, it may be worth the extra cost to just order a set online instead.
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