MARVEL LEGENDS - Rocket Raccoon Series - Jean Grey

This version of Jean Grey is based on the work of comic book artist Jim Lee. It is also one of several different versions of Jean Grey the character as an action figure throughout the years in the Marvel Legends franchise, dating all the way back to the Toybiz days. She is also one of three figures that you have to collect in order to complete the Rocket Raccoon build-a-figure . Although I am not a fan of variant figures of characters that already have action figures of themselves, this figure does not disappoint despite being a variant.

As for the packaging, as you can see there's some nice artwork on the front, back, and interior . As for the bio descriptions, I miss the old Toybiz style bios with the grading scales of certain categories, such as strength, intelligence, etc. Since there are so many deadlines to beat, my guess is that there is not enough time to add all that extra information about a character, so Hasbro must have eliminated this process because it is too time consuming.
 As for the figure, the pic you see of Jean above is how tall she is when you remove her from the package. This stance is exactly how she is posed in the package. You can adjust her leg pivots to make her exactly at six inches tall rather than being slightly below it. I'm still wondering just like many fans will Hasbro ever put an ab crunch on the female figures. Also when you remove Jean from the package you may be somewhat surprised like I was to discover that her wrist bracelets can be pivoted around her wrists, along with her belt being adjustable also. While in the packaging, the wrist bracelets look as if they are sculpted onto the figure, however that is not the case.
Jean's hair is made out of hard rubbery plastic, making her somewhat of a challenge to stand. I love how her blue armor produces a shiny metallic look, especially the shoulder blade covers. As for accessories, this version of Jean Grey comes with none of her own but does come with two Rocket Raccoon pieces, the tail and lower body, along with the instruction sheet on assembling him together.

Below I am comparing this version of Jean Grey to one of the older Toybiz versions. See if you can recognize the similarities and differences.

Well judging from the pics, besides different costumes one major difference is the hair color. As you can see the old Toybiz version has reddish orange hair compared to this newer version having brown hair. The newer version also seems to have a slimmer face. The only facial features that look consistent are the eyebrows and the color of her eyes. I think that these above pics are definitely proof that these toys are based on how they are drawn by certain artists rather than on how the actual character is supposed to be portrayed visually. This assumption is not a complaint from me however, just an analysis. I have no problem with different versions of the same character not looking 100% alike. This is good for customizers in a way, just in case they may want to transform one of the Jean Grey figures into a different character.
                           

                                              FINAL   THOUGHTS
(1) ARTICULATION - The only disappointment in her articulation is that her hard weighted hair makes it tough to move her head upwards. Other than this everything else is fine. My favorite points of articulation on her are the articulations in her wrists.
(2) STANDING  ABILITY - Her hard hair makes her top heavy, so you will have to pose her so that she can stand without falling . I suggest pulling back her upper torso and adjusting her leg stance.
(3) WHAT I LIKE BEST ABOUT THIS FIGURE ? I like her wrist bracelets being adjustable, along with the shiny metallic look to the blue portions of her outfit. I also like the fact that one hand is an open palm and the other is a closed fist, allowing the pleasure of posing her in power casting moves or fight maneuvers.
(4) WHAT I LIKE LEAST ABOUT THIS FIGURE ? Still somewhat bothered by the fact til this day that Hasbro Marvel Legend female figures still at this time have no ab crunch.
(5) WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN DONE TO IMPROVE THIS FIGURE ? Add an ab crunch, softer hair to prevent top heaviness and restricted head movement.
(6) GRADING  SCALE - On a scale of 1 to 10 I give this figure a 9.0. The minus is for lack of ab crunch and the hair making her top heavy.
(7) FINAL  ANALYSIS - Since I already had some of the other versions of Jean Grey before purchasing this particular figure, I was not excited about this figure. I was not excited, but I was not disappointed neither. This is a nice action figure despite the two flaws I mentioned in the grading scale. If you're like me, don't care for multiple action figures of the same character, this Jean Grey figure is still worth purchasing. Not because of the Rocket Raccoon build-a-figure pieces, but because the figure itself is a nice work of physical art on it's own.