Much has been made on this site and elsewhere about the potential of the X-Men in Marvel Legends. Thanks to the generosity of the folks at Hasbro, X-Men Legends are once again a reality. But what would action figure reality be without action figure fantasy? Below you’ll find a list of the X-Men villains in most desperate need of a redo. You will not find Sauron on this list. While he has had an action figure, it isn’t a Marvel Legend toy, nor one that falls under the Legends umbrella (X-Men Legends, Spider-Man Classics, etc.).
This list came to fruition based on several factors, like the age, availability, and quality of the character’s original (or most recent) Marvel Legends figure; their hatred for the X-Men; and my perception of the community’s desire for the character. This list is going to be in order of need to make a controversial list (to the Marvel toy collecting community, anyway) even more controversial. Let’s get into it:
Honorable mention: Omega Red
Everyone’s favorite Cold War-inspired Wolverine villain rounds out the bottom of our list. As lame as some of Marvel’s villains are, I actually like Omega Red. I think he’s campy in all the right ways, and unlike most, he’s actually a threat to Wolverine on his best days.
- Toad
Toad absolutely needs a redo for his Marvel Legends series 1 atrocity, but I don’t think he’s all that deserving of a spot in an upcoming X-Men wave. As much of a threat as Omega Red is, Toad is not. Those of you who don’t follow modern comics may get a laugh out of the fact that he was recently a janitor in the X-mansion.
- Sabretooth
The always-relevant Sabretooth has had a number of great action figures. Inarguably his best was the Face-Off series 2 figure, which is perhaps the best figure from the entire ToyBiz era. Although the figure holds up today, it came out nine years ago and is quite pricey on the secondary market. For those who at one time purged their action figure collection (like myself), it’s time for Hasbro to give Sabretooth another go. I doubt they can top ToyBiz’s masterpiece, but a Jim Lee version on the Hyperion body will work. On the subject of the Hyperion body, Sabretooth has had a figure on that body recently, but the costume is mysteriously bland. He may be the least distinctive action figure that I own, and that is not a compliment.
- Mr. Sinister
Mr. Sinister’s heyday has come and gone, but he remains one of the more well-known X-Men villains, and he deserves another shot. ToyBiz’s version was strangely proportioned and more in scale with Marvel Select than Marvel Legends. Admittedly I’m not too familiar with the character, but his design is interesting and he has already cemented his place in the X-Men lore.
- Quicksilver
Whether you consider Quicksilver to be an Avenger or a member of the Brotherhood is irrelevant; Pietro Maximoff needs a new Marvel Legend. Of all the characters on this list, I think he’s the most likely to get one soon, though I’d wager he finds himself in an Avengers assortment rather than the upcoming X-Men wave. He’s an easy repaint of the Pizza Spider-Man body, and with some added notoriety after screen time in Avengers: Age of Ultron, X-Men: Days of Future Past, as well as Rick Remender’s Uncanny Avengers, I think we could see Pietro soon. 2016 soon.
- Emma Frost
It’s probably worth mentioning that I have a top 10 list of X-Men hero redos coming next week. Did I slide Emma Frost into the #6 slot to avoid pulling someone from the ultra competitive X-Men list? Yeah, probably. In any case, Emma has never had a good figure, and she’s only become more important in the X-Men universe ever since Joss Whedon and Grant Morrison began toying with her as a hero. Hellfire Club costume, Astonishing X-Men costume, Bachalo black costume — I don’t care, just make her. I think the Storm body makes a lot of sense here.
- Juggernaut
Many people are happy with Marvel Legends series 6 Gangly-Ape-Arm Juggernaut, but I’m not. I own the Marvel Select figure, and although I don’t concern myself with scale as much when it comes to large, powerhouse characters, I do think Marvel Select Juggernaut is still too big for the Legends line. Unfortunately, he would have to be a Build-A-Figure in today’s Marvel Legends, but that’s worth it to update one of Marvel’s most iconic villains.
- Phoenix
Like Emma Frost, did I slide Phoenix into the #4 slot to avoid pulling someone from the ultra competitive X-Men list? Yeah, probably. Incidentally, Phoenix is my favorite Jean Grey costume, and we’re in desperate need of a replacement. I do think it’s worth mentioning that Marvel Legends series 6 Phoenix may be ToyBiz’s best female figure ever, but it simply does not hold up today. It is my opinion that every female Marvel Legends figure produced before 2013 should be remade, and even some created in 2013 need redos. Hasbro has done its best work on female figures in the last few years, and I think every female figure deserves that treatment.
- Mystique
The last Mystique came out in 2012. You know what that means. Classic costume, please.
- Apocalypse
This is the 10th character on this list, and somehow it may be the first one that the majority of you agree with me on. It seems that the action figure community is in agreement when it comes to getting a new Apocalypse. If we were ranking these figures in order of the most likely to come out in 2016, I think Apocalypse probably finishes second to Quicksilver. It may take a Build-A-Figure spot to get him, but it’s time, and Hasbro knows it too.
- Magneto
The best villains are the heroes of their own stories, and I think Magneto meets that requirement more than any other Marvel character. That said, he did name his faction “the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.” Many of you are probably sad to see Magneto on this list when his last figure came out in August of 2014, but that figure was nearly unattainable, and it was also awful. The Grim Reaper body is here to alleviate all of our Magneto-related woes. Of course, I want him on the red and purple costume, but at this point, I really don’t care. Make him the Bachalo black and white costume, or even give him the NECA 1989 Video Game Batman color scheme. Just get him out, and get him out soon.
Although countless factors came into question here, this list, like all lists, is arbitrary. I desperately wanted to get Pyro, Lady Deathstrike, and Avalanche on this list, but it didn’t happen. Let me know what you think in the comments, and discuss all things X-Men on the forums. Come back next week to see my list of the top 10 X-Men redos.
Omega Red would work really well on the new Colossus body
My list
Lady Deathstrike (One of the worst Marvel Legends ever)
Toad (Crappy/Not originally intended as a Marvel Legend)
Omega Red (Out of scale)
Avalanche (Wrong Costume)
Mr.Sinister (Articulation/Scale)
Black/Goblin Queen (Horrible female base)
Archangel as Death (Costume design, wings, and face paint never done correctly)
Magneto (Scale/articulation)
Juggernaut (Body Proportions)
Mystique (Horrible female base)
BAF Mojo (Scale)
The improvement comes through two of the factors the author listed as criteria for this list; that being Availability and, Age of the figure.
Yes..WE have the figures, and some of us got them at the original eight dollar price(not me), but the aftermarket is murder on new collectors and, old collectors who semi retired and wish to get restarted after time passed.
Mr.Sinister: while a beautiful piece of work by Toybiz, is slightly too tall(not an issue for me, but others, yes.)
Quicksilver: I respectfully disagree. Hasbro can improve on their own outmoded figure by using one of the new and improved “generically” awesome Bucky Cap bodies instead of the old outdated Bullseye body.
Yeah, it’s THAT body. Toybiz and most commercial toy companies use a standard base body to cycle through various characters. Toybiz used the Bullseye body to make Capt.Marvel, Havok,Giant Man, and then Hasbro continued it with Yellowjacket, Nova Guardian, Quicksilver, Constrictor, Daken, and retired it with Odin wave Iron Fist.
Quicksilver REALLY needs to be updated and quickly remove the stain of that old body that has issues with a floating upper torso, weird articulated knife hand. What am I to do with that? Salute? Karate chop? LOL☺and ball hips, and long articulated feet, all of which were not included in the other characters on the same body as listed above.(Check the pics.) I sold that Nova long before the updated Groot wave Nova prime figure, that’s on the Bucky Cap body and is superb, manifested.
To each his own, but to me,Maximoff deserves better, and I will keep the older figure until they make a new one in green and standard colors?
Apocalypse: IS my absolute favorite mutant supervillain!
Obviously,I am the target demographic for another toy of this guy. Yet, it’s more than fan fervor. Normally,Apoc is 7ft tall. Obviously, these days we don’t get honking ginormous pieces of plastic anymore, so new baf Apoc would be 9inches around marvel Select size? Don’t forget what makes this guy so awesome–his height and weight is variable! Several figures at different sizes is almost mandatory for display.
We agree. I’m happy with my imposing BAF Apoc too,and my MU 4″as well, but I wouldn’t be sad for an intermediate sized Hasbro figure.
Yes, the MS Juggernaut is one of a kind masterpiece!
But, you know fans are STILL going to want an official LEGENDS iteration.
Lol, Thanos comes to mind.
☺ Shalom
Oy! There not that bad,fangirl.
“Arse”is a bit harsh. LoL! You will have to excuse Mark, he lives in a pocket dimension of space time caught in the gravity of a quantum singularity known as “the past”
Hasbro does marvelous work, and it’s a golden age for figure collectors. Toybiz had their time and I’m still looking to get a few of those older figures. My run coincided with Hasbro’s beginning of the line. I’ve had my run-ins with the various hasblow haters, but it’s just sour grapes and all good for me. One hand washes the other, so to speak. TML has massive BAFs, but it was HML that gave me a She-hulk!or 2.
TML does great paints! To the extremes! They’re too busy, and too many poa(does capt marvel really need articulated knuckles, and toes?) See, I’ve said this to Mark, but he can’t understand my point. It’s like I’m speaking huttese. Perhaps,TML’s greatest weakness, that fanboys overlooked, is the female form.
I give you exhibit A(in this case ARSE fits) Scarlet Witch.
B for black cat,C for Carol/MS.marvel marionette, of which ALL of these Hasbro did a much improved update! Thank you,HML infinite series! Love☺ IT.
Like the author here said, “It is my opinion that every female Marvel Legends figure produced before 2013 should be remade, and even some created in 2013 need redos. Hasbro has done its best work on female figures in the last few years, and I think every female figure deserves that treatment.”
Could not have said it better myself.
Shalom☺
I like you, capt.
Your Bizarro like way of speaking is growing on me.☺
LoL, you’ve almost got a point here.
Question is;what is the definition of “regular”sized?
Puck?
Hit Monkey?
Rocket Raccoon?
No? They admittedly were labeled as mini,bafs.
So, who is regular sized?
Red Hulk?
Ares?
Nemesis?
Terrax?
Arnim Zola?
Ronan the Accuser?
Mandroid?
Odin?
Thanos?
Hulkbuster?…??
ALL true, capt. My go to select HULK is the AVENGERS movie version.
It works great!
I pose him and Juggy as powerhouse plug-ins amongst my legends, but I’ve not ever thought to put them together.
I solve one scale issue by sometimes displaying ML HULK in front of MS HULK.(gives the impression that he’s hulking out from a smaller size to a bigger one!)
Theoretically, the MS Juggy should be able to fit right in next MS HULK in such a configuration..☺
@the author:
Reluctantly do I agree with this list.
Omega Red: it’s so old the paint on my figure is faded, and I’m too lazy to touch it up.
Toad: YES please. Didn’t care for the TML. Never bought one. HML I’d gladly acquire. Btw–What’s so amusing about him being a janitor? What genius thought it was ok to give a villain the “keys to the kingdom”? LoL!
Sabertooth: reluctant agreement. I’m good with my exclusive very rare and hard to get Puck wave figure. Don’t care about how subtle the Hyperion palate painted body is, but I don’t have the TML crazy expensive TML face off figure mentioned, so I’m not immune to a HML upgrade redo.
Mr.Sinister: the size is ok. I’m fine with the TML version(and that’s coming from a fellow marvel Select powerhouse-plug-in collector.) Nathaniel Essex redux? Maybe…probably not.
Quicksilver: YES please! Yes,oh God yes!
That figure IS a masterpiece but there aren’t many Hulks that I’m particularly fond of to go with it and I’d be perfectly happy with something that just looks like a slightly smaller version of that Select Juggernaut to replace monkey-arms Toy-Biz Juggy.
Totally agree on Phoenix. It seems like a no-brainer, as Hasbro could get people to buy three simple repaints of the same figure: Phoenix, Dark Phoenix and White Phoenix. A different, more evil headsculpt for Dark Phoenix would be welcome, but not entirely needed. Take my money, Hasbro!
a lot of these characters’ figures are still good by today’s standards. specially mr.sinister, i don’t know how much more hasbro can improve on the toybiz release, and you know if hasbro does release one they’ll just reuse some generic body. same with quicksilver, there’s nothing wrong with the one that’s already done.
for apocalypse, i’m still happy with my BAF one. if you mean a smaller version, then maybe, yes. but it still feels kinda redundant when i have the option to display a more imposing giant one.
for juggernaut, just go with the select one. that thing is a masterpiece.
Toybiz ML figures (mostly) looked like arse, give me Hasbro sculpts any day. More paint would be nice I’ll give you that but I’d still take Hasbro over Toybiz any day.
Sad when we all know that Juggernaut BAF is probably the only way Hasbro will give us one. The good ole’ days of insane paints and value went kaput as soon as Hasbro got their hands on it. What once was a regular sized figure, we now accept as a BAF.
definitly a redo of emma for she keeps coming off as a figure that was rushed plus juggernaut would make a nice baf. apocalypse proably when the movie hits if a movie line happens.
Great list I love it, Magneto needs a new figure badly…I’d love a classic and I’d love the white costume from a while back…Mystique, Jim Lee sabertooth, Mr sinister, emma frost…but I gotta disagree on phoenix I like the toy biz one…I don’t think hasbro could do any better…Apocalypse I’m on the fence with…I’m could go. Either way…