Sometimes you have to put away your blinding rage and appreciate something for what it is, and not damn it for what it isn’t. While I won’t be doing that for any of the “Ultrons” Hasbro will be pooping out in the near future, I did do that for the recent “It’s not Classic!” Thanos Build-a-Figure released with the second wave of Avengers, and I found that, even though it is not my preferred version, this is a damn fine Thanos with a handful of issues that keep it from being perfect.
With the slow buildup to inevitable awesomeness that Thanos is getting on the silver screen lately, it’s apropos that the toy world will be getting plenty of Thanos, which is why I hold out hope for that classic version I’ve been waiting for. This is Thanos in his shiny modern clothes, which are more armored-up than his previous wardrobe. Unfortunately, this means he does slightly suffer with the “lines for the sake of lines” design trend that seems to be hitting the 2010s as hard as pouches and leather jackets hit the early ’90s, but we can wait and laugh about it in 25 years like we are with the pouches now.
When it comes to updating costumes, I prefer a thematic continuation of recognizable elements, and this Thanos succeeds in carrying over the previous Thanosian elements while giving them a different flair. Remember when people were clamoring for Thanos’ Annihilation-era Jedi robes back when that was modern Thanos? Yeah, that was interesting. This, however, looks like a demigod you can respect. The benefits of a dedicated sculpt means that none of the design elements are just painted in; all the lines are sculpted, all those little silver details are sculpted, and all the panels are raised. You are definitely getting your money’s worth with this figure, and even though I’m no fan of movie characters, I ended up buying the whole wave (half of which are movie figures) just to put together the entire Thanos figure.
Thanos balances articulation and sculpt very well, with a streamlined setup that serves the figure and the character at the same time. He’s bulky without being chunky, something that larger-scaled figures tend to struggle with. Coming in at 7.5 inches tall, Thanos is the ideal height I’d like to see in a Juggernaut or Hulk figure, so hopefully Hasbro aims for this height for their bigger guys from now on. Let’s take a quick hiatus and check out what RoboKillah has to say about this figure in his video review, with the words and the hands and the voice and whatnot:
Aaand we’re back. Now, Thanos is the mad Titan, and as such needs a proper head sculpt to evoke that specific brand of genius insanity laced with nihilistic glee in the havoc he causes. I think this head succeeds in that respect. He’s got his trademark “I use Crest” grin without being overly toothy or just coming across as a doofus.
The paint is very minimal, but that allows for a lot less chance of error, and, as a result, Thanos is a very clean-looking figure.
While Thanos does not come with an Infinity Gauntlet (which wouldn’t work with this costume anyway), he does come with the ideal setup of a right fist with an open left hand. I like figures like this to at least come with one fist, and the open hand is perfect for holding cosmic cubes, chokin’ a bitch, pontificating, reaching for Death’s cold and clammy bosom, or any number of other things you can think of to do with a Thanos figure.
The cons of the figure are fairly few compared to the pros, but they do exist. His shoulder-piece will need to be glued down if you don’t want it popping up and shifting around as you play with him. There are two pegs on the underside but they aren’t a tight fit and just don’t hold very well. His skirt is pretty stiff and keeps him from doing the splits, or putting his legs to the side pretty much at all. He does get some decent forward range, but you’ll have to slide the skirt up a bit when you move him and even then it does cut down on that a little as well. The last major issue is his torso. At least with mine, there’s really no actual motion, just a floppiness. You can push him back but it just snaps back to neutral. I’m not sure if there’s something stuck in there or if he was never intended to have regular movement, but mine is pretty much going to have to stay in a neutral pose because he won’t hold anything else.
Overall, I’m much more pleased with this Thanos than I thought I was going to be. While it doesn’t fill the void of the classic Thanos I want, it’ll do nicely for now.