Once again it is Figure Friday and in the interest of search engine optimization we’re going to be mad topical this week, yo. So I wrote a column for you and it was all yellow.
Astonishing X-Men Marvel Legends Wolverine
I’m sure at least a few of you reading this have gone to see Deadpool & Wolverine. Man, wasn’t it great when Deadpool broke the fourth wall and made self aware references to the MCU? And all those cameos! I don’t know how they kept (redacted) under wraps!
Anyways, I’m not about to write about Deadpool & Wolverine toys just yet…because there aren’t any to be had and we’ll get more into that later. I’m still going to write about Wolverine, just the boring old comic book version.
Over the weekend I made a positive life change and declared that insomnia was not the boss of me, I was the boss of insomnia! What that boils down to is that I was awake at 3 AM (again) and happened to see that Target had dropped the newest Marvel Legends Wolverine on their app in the middle of the night. I snagged one, managed to go back to sleep for a little while, and woke up later wondering if I had dreamt the whole thing.
While I’m not an avid Marvel Legends collector anymore, I knew that I wouldn’t be able to pass up this figure when it hit shelves. After Grant Morrison’s New X-Men wrapped up I had drifted away from the X-books (which wasn’t hard considering how hard Marvel shit the bed by rushing to undo most of Morrison’s work) but I was lured back by Astonishing X-Men by BIG NAME HOLLYWOOD NERD and John Cassaday.
I was familiar with Cassaday’s work on Planetary and his redesigns of the X-Men’s uniforms were instant classics that honoured the past uniforms but also made them exciting and modern. I don’t think I’m alone in seeing his influence on Jackman’s costume in Deadpool & Wolverine.
In the last fifteen-plus years we’ve gotten few noble attempts at capturing this design in plastic and with this figure they finally got it right. The figure is pretty squat which squares with Wolverine’s comic book depictions and it comes with a multitude of hands (fists, claws, open-palm, and pointy-finger) and an alternate unmasked head. The sculpt also benefits tremendously from its “pinless” construction making the overall presentation very smooth.
The figure is super dynamic and fun to pose and certainly checks one of my important boxes of being a definitive representation of the character. My only quibble is that the plastic used for this is EXTREMELY soft but not to the point of ruining the figure.
Now onto new business! Figures yet to be released!
Also transpiring over last weekend, photos of the Marvel Legends Deadpool & Wolverine Wolverine leaked. I’ve got to say, the test photos of this figure look fantastic and Hasbro really seems to be stepping up their game to compete with some of the premium import figures out there. It’s about time too since these domestic figures aren’t getting any cheaper.
It looks like they nailed Jackman’s likeness with this one and I can only assume they’ll be releasing a “battle damaged” sleeveless version at some point. I’m waiting to see this figure on the pegs before I go all-in on it but I’m cautiously optimistic.
Not to be outdone, SH Figurats previewed their version of Wolverine from Deadpool & Wolverine (which I am going to keep typing out until we’re the second hit on Google when you search…Deadpool & Wolverine). Curiously, they only showed the masked version of the character and I’d have to imagine the unmasked head sculpt is “pending licensor approval”. If you’ll cast your mind back some months the Andrew Garfield Amazing Spider-Man figure from SH Figurarts was supposed to come with an unmasked head…until it didn’t.
There you have it, a Wolverine for all seasons and budgets! Deadpool & Wolverine in theaters NOW!