Nick Fury saw his first release as a Marvel Legend action figure in Toy Biz’s 2004 Series 5. For those of you doing the math, this figure was released 10 years ago, and it’s aged pretty well. Released on what we call the Series 2 Namor sculpt with some added parts, Nick Fury was a key part of any Marvel Legends collection.
This is the Nick Fury that I grew up with. That doesn’t mean that I don’t love the Nick Fury that my children are growing up with, but their exposure to comics is through me and their interest in old classic, non-movie characters is limited. Series 5 Nick Fury is based on the classic look from Jim Steranko. Fury is another Jack Kirby and Stan Lee creation dating back to 1963, and Steranko joined Kirby on Strange Tales, working on Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. stories in the mid ’60s. The work on the title and character is revolutionary, even to this day.
While I jumped into Marvel Comics over a decade later, my introduction to this fantastic character was in the pages of Fantastic Four, Uncanny X-Men, and The Avengers. He was a “fringe” character, never mainstream enough to really hold his own in the ’80s and the ’90s, but as Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. he was in every comic at some point. The grey-templed, cigar-chewing super-spy is a relic of times gone by.
These days, Nick Fury continues to be on the fringes in the Marvel Cinematic universe, playing, not directing, the Marvel characters along their path to greatness. From Hulk to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., the character is pivotal in making the cinematic universe move along its path.
The action figure attempts to capture this classic Fury and it does a pretty decent job. The base figure is a larger base, something that resembles the 6′ 3″ quarterback look that we expect our larger super heroes to represent. Nick’s always’ been a large guy and this base figure really works well for him, though there is the issue of his his arms not being able to hang straight down — they kinda “v” out. There’s a lot of love for the head sculpt on Nick Fury and it’s understandable; it is one of the better sculpted action figure heads. However, it’s a tad on the huge size. I’d love to get this head sent off to a custom caster that could hydroshrink it down a percentage.
The articulation on this figure contains all the critical joints except the ab joint. I don’t remember the explanation for not including it on Fury, but it would have made this super spy pop. Here’s the breakdown:
Rocker ankles
Hinged ankles
Swivel calves
Double knees
Thigh swivels
Ball hips
Swivel waist
Ball shoulders
Swivel biceps
Double elbows
Swivel forearms
Hinged wrists
Hinged fingers
Ball neck
Ball head
Fury’s got some great accessories! He’s got a bunch of straps, the shoulder harness for his gun, his gun, a jet-pack backpack, and a stream of smoke (not pictured here, check out the series archive). The backpack fits onto the stream of smoke, allowing for some limited flying poses, which is a great way to display this figure. I love the gun on this figure; it’s still one of my favorite guns on an action figure, with great detailing and sizing.
This is a great action figure and still fits with the modern-day Hasbro Marvel Legends. I’d recommend any collector to reach out and grab one from:
And another huge thank you to my son for taking these pictures — he’s having a ton of fun learning about these toys through the lens of our camera.
