Winter has finally arrived in my little corner of REDACTED, Michigan. It’s been punishingly cold for the last week which means I’ve been staying inside and NOT out braving the elements to hunt for toys. That’s a young person’s game.
Additionally, with the weather in these parts being terrible, shipping companies like UPS and FedEx have been impacted so I’ve yet to get this week’s toy delivery or even my new cell phone which the guy at the store told me I’d have “in about two days” nine days ago.
So once again I shall spin straw into gold and write a little something about Canada’s number one folk hero. No, not Ryan Reynolds… Wolverine.
2024 marks fifty years since James “Logan” Howlett burst his way on to the pages of the Incredible Hulk and subsequently X-Men. It’s only right that there are a ton of new toys to commemorate the tragically hip character’s legacy so let’s take off to the great white north and have a look at some, eh? Poutine.
Wolverine 50th Anniversary Marvel Legends Wolverine (Patch) and Joe Fixit Two-Pack
It will always be endlessly hilarious to me (and no doubt legions of comics fans) that Logan’s idea of a good disguise was just…an eye patch. Forget changing your signature hairdo or muttonchops, just put on an eye patch and call it good. Because…comics.
This two-pack includes the other fan favorite Joe Fixit version of The Hulk and I completely love the size discrepancy between the two figures, 1) because it’s funny and B) because the figures are done in the correct scale for a change.
Wolverine 50th Anniversary Marvel Legends Wolverine and Lilandra Neramani Two-Pack
As seen here, Wolverine is dealing with a nasty case of The Brood which, at the time, was Marvel’s legally distinct answer to the Xenomorph from Alien. As I write this I wonder how far away we are from Wolverine vs. The Brood vs. Xenomoprhs, especially since Wolverine vs Predator just wrapped up. You see, Disney owns everything now and last I checked Marvel and Fox properties were part of everything. It’s going to happen.
Logan is packed in with Lilandra Neramani and I really appreciate that they had to go and use her government name on the packaging. I swear I’ve been reading X-Men books for decades now and I feel like that’s only come up a handful of times. While I’m at it I want to point out just how goddamn weird the X-Men books were from the late ’70s all the way up to the early ’90s. My favorite run on the title, Grant Morrison’s New X-Men doesn’t have shit on whatever Chris Claremont was working with back then…and that’s saying something.
Wolverine 50th Anniversary Marvel Legends Wolverine and Psylocke Two-Pack
Exhibit A: During the Acts of Vengeance company-wide crossover, the Marvel villains all had a freaky key part (ask your grandparents) and swapped heroes for the summer. The X-Men (which at this point was just Wolverine and Jubilee) got stuck with The Mandarin and the character of Psylocke went from demure British telepath of sexy Asian assassin during the course of the storyline. She also got a costume that was somehow 90% butt cheek but this ain’t it. I can assure you the insanity I just typed is a fraction of the tip of the iceberg when it comes to this comic.
Psylocke is in her (sigh) Lady Mandarin armor and Wolverine is in his tasteful black dance leotard. Truly one of his signature looks.
You can preorder all the wacky figures RIGHT NOW and they’re all slated to ship in the next few months, bub!
