Would you believe it? We are already into September – where did this year vanish to so quickly? Well, Marvel Legends has been giving us new figures at breakneck speed to help document 2019 in plastic, and as has been the case of late, it’s another week, so we have another Wolverine to talk about.
Just kidding, just kidding – really I am. That said, we have gotten a LOT of Logan figures this past year and as we roll along to the holiday season, there are still more Wolverines to be had. The latest one is pretty fun though, and this new “Cowboy” Wolverine is a Fan Channel exclusive, so it is something that Hasbro definitely planned for us collectors. So, while this is not Wolvie in one of his many uniforms, this casual version is almost as synonymous with the character as the tiger stripe get-up at this point. The good news is that, if you are not a fan of superheroes on their off days, you can pass this figure right up as it is not a part of a larger Build-a-Figure assortment.
That said, I have to admit that I like this figure more than I thought I would, so if you are an ML collector, or just a fan of Wolverine in general, you probably don’t want to skip this figure. It is not that I thought this was going to be a bad release or anything, just that in the shadow of all of the 80th Anniversary releases and the glut of X-Men waves in general, this old cowboy just kind of fell of my radar after he was announced. A quick stroll into GameStop to pick up some TMNT figures reminded me that, upon seeing this dude on the pegs, it was already September, and yep, time for more Wolverine! Like I said, I might have put him out of mind over the summer, but now that he is here, I am enjoying him quite a bit.
Yeah, I get it, if you have the figure included with the motorcycle from the Rides series and the recently-released Vintage series Wolvie, you have 90% of this guy already. The body to the neck and both sets of hands come directly from the motorcycle version, only this time the tank top is black, and the brown motif from the boots and belt are now black to match as well. The alternate head is now newly re-decoed and what I would consider to be more of a standard “pissed off” expression as the pantyhose disguise from the Vintage figure has been removed. While that look is right on for that previous release, I am glad to get this new head without that extra deco as this will easily find its way into an option for just about any other Wolverine figure we have thus far. The included sword also got a new paint job and is all red now. This is a nice inclusion, but I am not sure if I personally have much to do with it.
The big draw for this figure, though, is the new cowboy hat head, and it is probably one of my favorite portraits of Logan yet in ML. It feels like some of the unmasked heads have been a bit off the mark in the line, and perhaps a bit too extreme with the sculpting, but this one rings pretty true. It certainly does look like an update version of the non-Patch head from the motorcycle release, but the smirking expression wears better than the gritted teeth. It is not perfect, and that left eye might be a bit too squinted, but it is pretty great for a Logan that is in mid-taunt of Cyclops or Sabretooth. The hat is cool too, and just in case you could not tell, it is NOT removable, but it really doesn’t need to be, so I am not crying over that. The good news is that this new head looks good on this body, but also the white tank top version, so your wardrobe options keep expanding, and this loner Canadian who seemingly cares nothing for friends or clothes, sure has a lot of both at this point.
There are several releases on tap for the rest of the year via the Fan Channel sites, and most of them are variations on popular characters. This Wolverine is the first on out of the gate and is, in my opinion, pretty successful. He might not pull as many people in as a Big Time Spider-Man, but the cowboy hat look is so iconic at this point, so this release feels almost essential. As I said, I just stumbled upon him a GameStop, but you can secure yours via pre-order at Dorkside right now, he should be in-stock soon.
