MARVEL LEGENDS - Rocket Raccoon Series - Wrecker

Wrecker is a pleasant surprise to purchase and add to your Marvel Legends collection for several reasons. One is you'll be purchasing the leader of the Wrecking Crew, as we get closer to completing one of Marvel's elite villain teams. Second he is a physically powerful villain with a powerful weapon . It's always good to purchase characters with special weapons, allowing some nice fight poses with their weapon . Overall the figure is neatly done with good attention to detail. You can see the wrinkles in his jacket, and his facial expression fits him perfectly, with a psychotic angry look on his face. The facial expression on Wrecker's face in my opinion somewhat illustrates what his personality is like in the comics.

As you can see on the packaging , the variant for Wrecker is one of his henchmen , Bulldozer, whom we have yet to see at the time of this writing. The term Hasbro now uses when referring to variants in the Marvel Legends line is "running change". When you remove Wrecker from the packaging you'll find out that he's quite a tall figure, just a tad bit over seven inches, almost eight inches tall.

My favorite luxury of having figures with weapons is the option or options of how to pose them with their weapon / weapons. Should they hold the weapon with one hand or two hands / both, left hand or right, etc. The possibilities are almost endless.

Since Wrecker's crowbar is not that long of a weapon, I think it looks better having him hold it with one hand rather than two. Unless the weapon is real long, it just does not look right holding a short weapon or one that is not very long with one hand in my opinion . Speaking of Wrecker's crowbar, it is made of hard plastic and is nicely detailed with scars , dents, and bruises. This is very neat , kind of showing us a glimpse of what that crowbar has been through with all the fights and battles Wrecker has been involved in. Plus I like the fact that the crowbar is made of a hard plastic, rather than a soft bendy rubbery type. Since it is a hard weapon, hard plastic makes sense.

Other than his weapon, Wrecker comes with two build-a-figure pieces for Rocket Raccoon . Rocket's head and his gun are available with Wrecker. Along with an instruction sheet for assembling Rocket Raccoon together. ( NOTE ) I thought that all of the instruction sheets were the same. But when I looked back over the one that came with Jean Grey it showed where the parts she came with goes. I'm sure the same bodes for the other figures that come with Rocket Raccoon pieces. I threw the instruction sheets away after I scanned them. Sorry, my bad. I want let this same mistake happen again, or with Bulldozer when I review him in a future article. When he arrives that is. The instruction sheet for Rocket Raccoon with Bulldozer should be the same one that comes with Wrecker, since they are variants of each other.

As I mentioned earlier, one of the luxuries of having an action figure with a weapon, especially any weapon that is not a gun, is the luxury of multiple fight poses and attacks. With guns the posing options are somewhat limited, because only shooting poses are available. Whereas with swinging weapons, such as swords, axes, hammers,etc. or in Wrecker's case crowbars, swinging weapons allow for some very neat attack and strike poses.

As you can see Wrecker can use his crowbar to swing at his foes, choke them , etc. This is fun and I enjoyed displaying these figures in these fight poses. Speaking of fighting , Wrecker the comic book character has gone up against a lot of Marvel's top heroes. I know there's still a lot of you that miss having Marvel Legend figures come with comic books like they did in the Toybiz era. So to make up for that, whenever I review a secondary character such as Wrecker I'll tell you maybe one or two issues that you may want to check out featuring the character at their best. The following are two issues that contain Wrecker that you may want to purchase, Iron Man #251 Acts of Vengeance! and The Mighty Thor #171.

Seeing how tough the character is may make many to want to purchase the Wrecker action figure. As you can see he even gives the likes of Iron Man and Thor a run for their money. Two top Avengers at that which makes it even more impressive.

                                                      FINAL    THOUGHTS
(1) ARTICULATION - The only point of articulation that is a letdown in my opinion is that his collar restricts his head from looking up. Everything else is perfect.
(2) STANDING  ABILITY - Despite being somewhat top heavy Wrecker stands very well with no balance issues.
(3) WHAT I LIKE BEST ABOUT THIS FIGURE ? The bulkiness of the figure makes it fun to put in powerful attack poses such as hitting and using his weapon. I love how his jacket is sculpted with attention to detail such as wrinkles, along with his collar. The crazy man psychotic look on his face is a plus. And I love his crowbar. It is neatly done with the reasons I mentioned why above in this article.
(4) WHAT I LIKE LEAST ABOUT THIS FIGURE ? I could not think of anything that I dislike about this figure.
(5) WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN DONE TO IMPROVE THIS FIGURE? A softer collar on his jacket would have allowed his head to look upward.
(6) GRADING  SCALE - On a scale of 1 to 10 I give this figure a 9.9 . A nearly perfect action figure. The minus is for the collar restricting the head to look upward.
(7) FINAL  ANALYSIS - When I saw Wrecker at a local Wal-Mart I was excited to purchase him for the following reasons. The thought of completing or nearly completing an elite team, be it a hero team or a villain team, provides a sense of closure when trying to complete a certain team. He is a cool looking action figure, I think his purple and green color design is neatly done. Plus it feels good to add a powerful tough character to your collection such as he, since he has fought and nearly defeated some of Marvel's best super heroes. You too will be glad to add this leader of the Wrecking Crew to your Marvel Legends collection.

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.

Iron Man 3 Assemblers Interchangeable Armor System Battle Vehicle

When I saw this toy at a local Wal-Mart, I was only excited about the vehicle and not the figure. The figure does not disappoint, but it's the car that is the main selling point for me. Hovering around the 19 dollar price range, Hasbro gives us fans a bargain with two toys in one package. The name of this product I feel is kind of long and can be easy to forget . The vehicle is more suited for Marvel Universe figures size wise than it is for Marvel Legends, however some small stature M. Legends can be squeezed into it. For these reasons alone I feel that this toy is perfect for both kid and adult collectors. When you view the packaging it makes notice of both the Iron Man and The Avengers franchises. I think this is good marketing by Hasbro to make notation of both franchises, to get the attention of fans from both.

When you remove the toys from the packaging, the interior has some nice black and white artwork of the Hall of Armor . I did not notice this artwork until I removed the toys from the packaging. It is kind of hard to notice with the car , figure, and the accessories covering a majority of the space inside. If I had known this artwork was in there, I would've been a little more careful when removing the accessories. As you can see in the pics below I kind of messed up a bit, inadvertently damaging the art a bit with small holes, due to those plastic ties used to hold accessories in place. So I'm warning you so that your art piece does not end up like mine, for those of you whom may not yet own this product , be careful when removing the toys if you want the artwork to stay intact.

I think this Hall of Armor artwork would have looked a lot better if it were colored. But if so a colored version might have jacked up the price a bit, plus due to deadlines this process would have been time consuming. I really don't know the real reason why the piece is not colored, I'm just making assumptions / guesses, although there is a slight shade of a dull blue mixed in with the black and white as you can see.
Now on to the action figure . This Iron Man figure is in scale with Marvel Universe figures. He is around four inches tall with very limited articulation. The head can move all around and side to side. The arms can move up and down and outward. The legs are spring loaded with only up and down movement.
     I love the jet pack / back pack he comes equipped with. It is very well detailed with the propellers and gold trimming. Underneath the jet pack there is a compartment that snaps open and closes.

This toyset comes with four accessories . Three gun / arm attachments and a foot device similar to roller skates, please forgive my ignorance as I do not know what they / it is called. The arm attachments can attach to both Iron Man and the car. When attached to Iron Man they give him extra fire power. And when attached to the car the automobile instantly changes from an ordinary ride to a battle vehicle. The foot accessory rolls really well and makes Iron Man just a tad taller than without.

Now on to what really made me purchase this product, the car itself. I think it is a very cool looking car, with a nice shade of gray and red trim to match Iron Man's colors. However the doors do not open and close. There is no trunk or dashboard or even a steering wheel. The seat in the car is spring loaded and can be pushed back and forth. Despite missing a few basic pieces, this is still a neat vehicle to add to your Marvel vehicle collection. Adults should enjoy displaying it on their shelves and kids should have fun playing with the vehicle.

Sorry about the whited out areas, but I did this to cover the cracks in the white papered background. This wont happen again in future reviews. But for now just ignore that and focus on the car. Nice paint job . For those of you whom are interested in the action feature, Hasbro provided an instruction sheet just for that. One set of instructions shows you how to prepare Iron Man for the car and the other displays the illustration of the main action feature. As you can see the real purpose for the foot accessory is to propel Iron Man forward once he is ejected from the car.

Even though the car was made with the intentions of 4 " scale figures in mind, certain 6" scale figures can fit into the vehicle as illustrated below. As you can see the seat can be pushed back for taller figures, and pushed up for shorter figures.

As you can see shorter versions of 6" scaled figures from various lines can fit into the vehicle after you squeeze them through. I tried to pose the figures as if they are holding on to an imaginary steering wheel. As for the Iron Man figure for which this vehicle is made, he must first be inserted with the seat pushed back so that you can operate the mechanism that controls the action feature.
In the pic below I posed a normal Marvel Legend figure next to the car to give you idea of  the scale of the car. The pic below may also weigh in on your decision on rather you want to purchase this product or not, if you do not yet own it.

                                                        FINAL   THOUGHTS
(1) ARTICULATION - As many of you know this category applies to the figure and not the car. There is lack of elbow articulation, knee articulation, and up and down head movement. However I think this is because of the presence of the action feature involving Iron Man and the car. Extra articulation would probably inhibit the action feature somewhat.
(2) STANDABILITY - Another category that applies only to the figure and not the car. The jet pack makes Iron Man a little top heavy making him difficult to stand without falling. You may have to lean him against something to get him to stand properly. But when you place him into the foot accessory there are no balance issues. He stands well while placed in the accessory.
(3) WHAT I LIKE BEST ABOUT THIS PRODUCT ? The car itself. As I mentioned earlier it is the main selling piece for me in this package. The interior artwork of the Hall of Armor is nice and makes for a great diorama piece. Even though I do not know what it is called, the foot accessory is a fun piece to have as it rolls really well across smooth surfaces. I even like the Iron Man figure despite his limited articulation.
(4) WHAT I LIKE LEAST ABOUT THIS PRODUCT ? The limb on the arm attachment with the triple barreled gun . It is extremely tight and difficult to move.
(5) WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN DONE TO IMPROVE THIS PRODUCT ? Add just a little more articulation to Iron Man, add a few of the missing basic pieces and functions to the car. No steering wheel, doors do not open and close, no trunk and no dashboard. Color the Hall of Armor artwork inserted inside. Also make the vehicle bigger.
(6) GRADING  SCALE - On a scale of 1 - 10 I give the figure an 8.0 . The minuses are for missing some basic points of articulation as I mentioned earlier in this article. I give the car a 9.9 . Almost a perfect 10 but it's not perfect due to some missing basic features of a car as already mentioned. However this does not bother me much I am still pleased with the car. Overall I give the entire package a perfect 10. You get a ot for the price, a neat figure, some nice accessories, a cool car and some nice artwork inserted inside.
(7) FINAL  ANALYSIS - I love this toy package. Like I said you get a lot for the asking price, a new figure , vehicle, etc. I highly recommend this toy for both kid and adult collectors. Iron Man can be displayed with fellow Marvel Universe figures, and the car can be displayed with both 4 " scaled , 5" scaled and some 6" scaled action figures. I think the best action feature of the car is the ability to adjust the seat, and not the main action feature. The ability to adjust the seat allows you to display a variety of different figure scales sitting in the driver's seat.