When I was 5, I went shopping with my mom at Montgomery Ward. Remember those things? We strolled through the toy department, “just looking.” Suddenly my eyes fell upon the Secret Wars action figures. I’d seen them many times but–What was this!? Black Costume Spider-Man!? Hobgoblin!? Daredevil!? Those were just some of the figures in a brand-new wave of Secret Wars figures, a line that premiered a year earlier. Once again, it was like my brother’s Marvel comic books had exploded across the toy shelves! The kids at school didn’t even know who a lot of the characters in this line were, but I did. I don’t even know that I’d actually sat and read a whole comic book yet at that age, but my brother read plenty and told me all about them so I at least had a general idea of who characters were.
Anyway, my Mom said I could have one. Now I had to decide: Black Costume Spider-Man, or Daredevil? Spider-Man’s new look was epic, but I always thought Daredevil was just plain cool! This decision could’ve had major effects on the future! Dear God, what could I do!? After a few minutes, my Mom offered to help by putting the figures behind her back and telling me to pick a hand. I’m sure she wanted to get home some time that day! I made the choice. Daredevil was mine. Well, after Mom paid for it, of course!
Since those days, Daredevil has been immortalized in plastic many times. Not all of them have been great, but somehow I’ve owned most of them! All of this leads me to talk about the most recent version, Hasbro’s Marvel Legends Series Secret Wars Daredevil! Paying tribute to the original figure I mentioned, this figure comes in a retro style package featuring the iconic Secret Wars logo placed over crashing lightning bolts on an ominous dark blue background, just like the original line had! Sheesh! Were they trying to scare kids into buying these!? This is by far the best Daredevil action figure Hasbro has ever made, but it’s not quite perfect either.
Daredevil features what appears to be an all-new sculpt for a new medium body buck. Daredevil shouldn’t be as big as Captain America, but he’s not as small as Spider-Man either. The last Marvel Legends Daredevil from the infamous 2022 three-pack used a Spider-Man body from the “Renew Your Vows” two-pack, which was great for posing but also made Daredevil’s proportions look a little off, particularly the shoulders. I was actually bummed that I’d missed out on this figure but now I’m not at all!
Secret Wars Daredevil has a double ball-jointed neck, ball-and-socket torso w/ lower ab crunch, butterfly-joint shoulders, plus all the standard Marvel Legends articulation you’d expect, 34 points altogether. He includes two extra hands, two billy clubs w/ a removable connector piece, a radar effect piece, and to make the retro novelty complete, a lenticular shield.
In addition to two gripping hands, Daredevil has one open hand in a sort of throwing position, and one fist. Both are cool, but without something to attach a billy club to the throwing hand, it isn’t very useful. It’s also got a horizontal wrist joint, about which I’ve made my feelings clear before. The fist is your standard Marvel Legends fist, but if you’re familiar with the character you know it’s not uncommon for him to get a little overzealous sometimes. Two fists would be ideal for anyone wanting to recreate those moments. It really should be standard with any martial artist character figure.
The original Secret Wars figure came with a small white billy club which I’d venture to say most kids lost. In most comics, Daredevil’s clubs double as his alter-ego Matt Murdock’s cane so they’re often colored white. More modern comics often show them as red or black so it’s interesting that Hasbro chose black for this very retro-themed offering. I’d have preferred white or red, but the black is fine and made all the more acceptable by the inclusion of a small connector piece that links the clubs to make a longer cane/club. Why is this a big deal?
The 2015 version–the most recent Marvel Legends version I had until now–has a small peg sticking out of one club which plugged into the other. This little peg makes the club look weird, especially if you wanted to display the figure with its clubs holstered. The 2022 version included some cables that connected the two clubs. Those would’ve been nice to see here, but I appreciate the connector piece, nonetheless. As a bonus, the connector stores nicely and out of view in the figure’s club holster. That’s great if you want to display Daredevil holding clubs and don’t want to go looking for a tiny accessory later.
The radar effect seemed silly when I first saw it in the promo pics, but as soon as I plugged it into the figure’s back, I fell in love with it. How many times have hundreds of artists recreated the image of Daredevil listening, head turned sideways, surrounded by the radar rings? It would take way more time than anyone has to count! It’s very cool to have a good physical representation of that, especially for those who photograph action figures. I’m glad the design team included this!
At the very least, I have to say this is my favorite Marvel Legends figure of the year so far, but I mentioned it isn’t perfect. What’s wrong? I don’t love the black line deco. I understand why they did it but the lines around his gloves and boots look odd. The original Secret Wars figure is made from 6 solid red plastic parts so the black lines are needed to break things up and keep the figure from looking like it is wearing a union suit. That’s not the case with a Marvel Legends figure. Instead, I would’ve liked to see the boots and gloves in a different shade of red, the way Daredevil is often colored in modern comics. The black “DD” logo is also questionable. There are some old comics in which the logo appears this way, but it’s almost always red. As nerdy as this is, I almost didn’t buy the figure over that. Yeah. I deserve that look. However, the overall design is so superior to the 2015 version that I absolutely had to give in! And it could be worse. From the reviews I’ve seen of the 2022 version, the logo is barely visible. That’s not good either!
I haven’t really done scores here before, and I don’t really have a rating process to go on, but I’m going to go ahead and give this figure a 9.5 overall! If you’re a Daredevil fan, it’s definitely worth picking up! Marvel Legends Secret Wars Daredevil generally retails for USD $27.99/CAD $36.99 and is available wherever fine toys are sold (but your best bet is probably online)! Join me again in two weeks, as Biff Bam Pop celebrates the 2nd of 31 Days of Horror! BWAHAHAH—OK. OK. That wasn’t necessary. See ya next time!
#Daredevil, #Hasbro, #MarvelLegends, #SecretWars
