Judging by the embarrassment of riches that Hasbro unveiled during their Marvel Legends presentation at Toy Fair, we knew that a certified glut of product would be coming to store shelves this year. What we did not know is that a lot of that stuff would be hitting at about the same time. However, with Avengers 2 in the books and Ant-Man on its way to theaters next month, there is no better time for action figures to be out in support of major blockbusters. Spider-Man, however, does not need to have a movie in cinemas to sport his own “Infinite” series of Marvel Legends, and the second assortment of that offshoot is getting ready to hit shelves soon.
I remember seeing this wave in person for the first time at Toy Fair. Frankly, I was pretty blown away by it because one, I was not expecting another Spidey assortment for the year, and then the lineup was so solid as well. For instance, we have needed a new Kraven the Hunter figure for, like, ever, and that Rhino Build-a-Figure is very impressive too. For me, though, the figure that smacked me right in the face with her glorious golden fist was MISTY KNIGHT, and even now, with this figure on my shelf, I still cannot believe that we have gotten her in Legends. What a time to be alive.
Misty has always been one of those characters that is a safe “custom” bet. As in, you could put a lot of work and love into making a custom figure of her without having to worry about Hasbro making an official version. She is kind of obscure, so that alone can be tough for a viable piece of action figure requirement, but she is also female, and an African-American female at that, and I am sorry to say that toys are not exactly on the front lines of progress when it comes to that kind of diversity. However, Hasbro took that step forward, and I am positively ELATED because, let me tell you, friends, Misty Knight is a required figure for your shelf.
Created by Tony Isabella back in the mid-1970s, Mercedes “Misty” Knight is a former NYPD officer who was injured in a bombing and lost an arm; it was subsequently replaced by a new bio-mechanical version invented by none other than Mr. Tony Stark. Misty has been a part of Heroes for Hire, had an intimate relationship with Iron Fist, and is probably most well-known for teaming up with her longtime partner Colleen Wing as the Daughters of the Dragon, or, later, Nightwing Restorations, a private investigation firm specializing in missing persons. Knight and Wing are both highly skilled martial artists and operate mostly at a street level like fellow Marvel Knights Daredevil and Punisher, so as you can imagine, most of their stories balance a lot of grit.
Having Misty Knight in Marvel Legends is cool for a lot of reasons, but one of the best, in my opinion, is that, like Daredevil, she is a skilled fighter, so taking full advantage of her super-poseability is a lot of fun. I could have taken 100 pictures for this article because her abilities, costume, and weapons all lend themselves to the strengths of Marvel Legends. Again, like Daredevil, Misty is one of those figures that is just going to look cool on your shelf, no matter how you decide to pose her, and she can join guys like Power Man and Iron Fist in the toughest corner of your display.
Misty is built on the current “slim” Marvel Legends female base (the same as Wasp, Scarlet Witch, etc.), and I think it fits her build pretty well. I can see the argument for putting her on the Moonstone base because if we ever get a Colleen Wing figure (and we sure as hell better now), Misty needs to have a more curvaceous build, but since the two bodies are pretty similar, it is nothing to get bent out of shape about. The shoulder straps and plunging neckline required there to be a new upper torso, but the belt/holster combination is created with added-on parts to the existing “smooth” pieces. Now, because of the reuse, some of Misty’s potential costume details around her feet, elbows, and knees have been left out, but there have been instances where this particular costume has appeared without those extra embellishments.
As mentioned before, one of Misty’s most defining traits is her super-powered bionic arm. Generally portrayed as golden in color with lots of synthetic “musculature,” this gives Misty her only “enhancement” past the normal human levels. Since this version of the costume has long sleeves, we only really get a glimpse at her fist, but I do like the inclusion of the sculpted details so show off its bionic nature. I DO wish that some gold paint could have been used here to bring out the highlights, and the same goes for her gold-plated gun too. This is an easy upgrade, though, and I think I will be putting these two small, but very important, attributes under the brush soon.
My favorite part about this figure is the head sculpt. This is not hyperbole when I say that this might be one of the best sculpts in the entire Marvel Legends run, and that dates all the way back to ToyBiz. As far as the actual sculpt goes, I don’t think I would change anything about it. The facial features are strong and tough, but this is also an attractive female sculpt, and the fairly prominent jaw and high cheekbones are counterbalanced by the slightly pursed lips and almond-shaped eyes. Then there is the hair, and Misty has one of the most instantly recognizable hairdos of anyone in the Marvel Universe (well, Medusa probably has her beat, just because she could physically beat her with her hair), and I absolutely love the sculpt. It matches the comic source material very well and I am glad the sculptor did not shy away from making the Afro prominent, because it should be.
The *only* thing holding Misty’s cranium back from being absolute perfection is that her eyes are slightly derpy, something that has been a bit of a running issue. I think I can fix it with my rudimentary paint skills, but I would love to have this be perfect. Maybe this one is a one-off derp and the iris positioning will not be an issue for the entire run. At any rate, if I had to give Hasbro notes for anything they are doing with Legends right now (or Star Wars Black, for that matter), it would be shore up the eye and overall face paint. The Marvel Legends sculpts are too damned good to willingly lose anything because of a little bit of paint.
Can you tell I am about over the moon with this figure? Aside from the slight eye derp and a little bit of loss of costume detail, I would say this figure is about perfect. I love Misty’s striking look and her costume is perfect for the character and very vibrant in plastic. Even with all of the insanely cool Legends we have gotten as of late, Misty EASILY make my top three, and she might be in my running for favorite figure of the year thus far. So, Hasbro, please hear me now: COLLEEN WING IS REQUIRED FOR MARVEL LEGENDS NOW! Please, don’t toy with us; put her in the next Spidey wave, or at least get her slated for sometime next year. If she turns out half as good as Misty, the Daughters of the Dragon are gonna kick the ass of every other figure up in your collection.
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