When the first X-Men movie came out there was a lot of fanboy grousing about the redesigned costumes. Instead of the yellow and blue uniforms that had been an X-Men trademark for decades, viewers were treated to mutants dressed more like motocross enthusiasts or patrons at the local leather bar. The idea was that moviegoers would not take the comic-based costumes seriously and that a gritter, more “real-world” approach was needed. The filmmakers believed their audience could accept concepts like telepathy, healing factors and energy projection, but somehow couldn’t hang with Wolverine in his classic costume. Lame.
I know I’m in the minority here, but this is my preferred look for Wolverine. After all, this is what he was wearing when I first discovered him in the pages of Uncanny X-Men #133 and it remains my favorite take on the feral Canadian. As such, it seems only fitting this was the first Wolverine Toy Biz chose to release in their popular Marvel Legends line. This was a Wolverine figure for the 21st century: packed on detail, loaded with articulation, and sculpted with enough attitude to drop a toy twice his size. Seriously, man — he will cut you.
Built on the previously released Evolution of X Wolverine, this figure features what could conservatively be described as a “hyper-detailed” sculpt. Seriously, take a look at his torso — being ripped is one thing, being skinned is another. The line between realistic anatomy and superhero physique is a fine one, and ToyBiz were clearly still working out the kinks.
The EOX Wolverine was preposed with limited articulation, ala the then-popular McFarlane toys model, and, as a result, the Legends version suffered from its oddly contorted torso. For some collectors it’s deal-breaker right out of the gate, but I’ve gotten past it. It’s pretty noticeable in the pics, but in person it’s not so glaring. At any rate, the sculpt still retains some of the original’s “battle damage,” most noticeably the scratch mark’s across Wolvie’s left pec. The newly sculpted head is a gem, being both comic accurate and realistic at the same time. It’s Toy Biz and Marvel Legends at their absolute best.
Wolvie benefits from a Legends-level upgrade in the articulation department. Whereas the original figure only had five points of articulation, this runt has 33. The head is ball-jointed, the neck is a swivel, with ball shoulders, double-jointed elbows, wrist swivels, and hinged fingers. There is no articulation in the torso, but the figure does turn at the waist, has a ball-and-socket hip, mid-thigh cuts, double knees, and a mid-boot cut over hinged ankles and toes. It all works fairly well, but there are a few issues. The shoulder pads are hard plastic and their placement inhibits the movement of the arms. He can’t reach and higher than the eye line of his own mask, which makes posing a bit tricky. The lack of any sort of torso articulation hurts him as well — he just can’t get into the deep crouches you expect from a brawler like Wolverine. While posing, the hand naturally reaches to bend or straighten the figure, but it’s just not possible.
Paint is fairly good, at least on my figure. The bodysuit is molded in yellow plastic, but it does receive a bit of a black shaded overspray to keep it from looking to bright and “toy-like.” The raised triangular elements of the suit help keep the design from getting overly muddy or uneven at the paint stage, a misstep that has ruined many a beautifully-sculpted figure. The black lines on the boots and gloves are dark and eye-catching — but not nearly as much as Wolvie’s arm hair. Yes, folks, in keeping with the character’s hirsute nature, Wolverine sports some seriously furry arms. Now, body hair can be tricky to represent with just a paint app, but Toy Biz acquit themselves nicely. The hair looks natural — gross, but natural.
Wolverine came with a diorama base representing the cover of the aforementioned Uncanny X-Men #133. It was a nice gesture, but most collectors just threw the base in a box and forgot about it. As cool as some of these bases are, they’re simply too big and unwieldy to display in bulk. Dozens of different Wolverine figures have been manufactured under the Marvel Legends banner since then, but this figure remains my personal favorite, in spite of it’s flaws. Hey, he’s my Wolverine.
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