Doctor Strange has always been the defacto face of the magical corner of the Marvel Universe, which is a corner of the Marvel Universe that, up until now, has seldom spent much time in the spotlight.
The good Doctor will be joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe next year when Benedict Cumberbatch dons the cloak, so Doctor Strange is about to be the subject of a whole new kind of attention. Now, aside from being one of Marvel Comics’ more well-known heroes, Dr. Strange has never received a whole lot of attention when it comes to licensed products — including action figures. It’s been about a decade since ToyBiz released their Doctor Strange as part of the Galactus wave of the original Marvel Legends line, and it’s almost a given at this point that the ToyBiz figure was in need of an update (your mileage may vary, of course). Thankfully Hasbro and Marvel are only too willing to get the Doctor Strange hype machine rolling, so here we have a brand new Doctor Strange figure released as part of the new “Hulkbuster” wave. Let’s take a look and see if this new figure measures up!
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The packaging here is the ol’ reliable Hasbro Marvel Legends fare, with an action shot of Doctor Strange adorning one side of the package (Vision is featured on the other side). We can see almost immediately that Strange and Vision are “box buddies” since they basically have to share the showcase space on the back of the packaging. We can also note the rather large Hulkbuster Build-A-Figure piece in the window with him. Strange comes with the left leg, and it’s a hefty piece — the completed Hulkbuster should be quite the monster.
The figure itself is built on the familiar Bucky Cap/Black Panther body, but there are actually a few new elements here worth noting. His upper torso and abs look to be unique sculpts (I think) that are sculpted so as to resemble a looser-fitting tunic rather than skin-tight spandex, which is what we usually see on superhero characters. The details are softer, but that works and it ends up looking pretty good. Also new are the gauntlets, hands (again, I think), and the flowing robe-piece that fits around his waist. His upper arms, waist, and legs are what we’ve some to expect from this base body, so those are nice and familiar, and they work well here for the character.
The costume is a departure from his much more extravagant classic look. The big red and gold cape is gone, as is the loose-fitting blue tunic, and in their place we see a much more serious-looking black and blood-red outfit. It’s definitely a departure from that classic look, and I can see some fans being rather bored by this particular look, but I think I like it. It almost makes him look like a Church of Satan priest or something, so I don’t know what that says about me.
Doctor Strange’s head sculpt reminds me an awful lot of Orson Welles. LIke, I cannot look at this figure at all without seeing Orson Welles. It’s the look in his eyes, the haircut, and the facial hair, I think. And I really like the way the grey portions of his hair were painted. I mean, it’s nothing fancy, but in profile it almost looks like hot rod flames or something. And the one raised eyebrow is KILLING me. I love it.
I’m used to Doctor Strange having a longer, more angular face shape, so this look is taking some getting used to for me. It could just be the Orson Welles likeness that I’m finding to be distracting, though.
The hands Hasbro outfitted him with are a lot of fun, and I could not resist the kind of “Shout at the Devil” pose I have him in above. It’s just too perfect. They look to be in a “spell-casting” pose, so they totally work well for the character, but I do with he had a swappable set of more neutral-posed hands so he doesn’t always look like he’s about to toss up the horns. As it is, though, the spell-casting hands are all we get.
For accessories, Doctor Strange comes with the same pair of mystic-happening-things that the Scarlet Witch came with, only Strange’s are sort of day-glow green. They don’t actually glow, but they sure look as though they should. They snap onto his wrists with relative ease, and they look really super cool against the backdrop of the darker colors of his costume. They’re really a fun pair of accessories, and even though they’re the same accessories we saw previously, getting them a second time here doesn’t feel redundant at all. The vast difference in colors probably has something to do with that.
Now, since we’ve seen this body so many times now, I’m not going to go into his articulation much (though I do in the above video), but I should note that his robe does limit the range of motion in his legs a bit. The robe isn’t a hard, rigid plastic or anything, but there isn’t a whole lot of give either, so it’s tough to get much more than a vanilla pose out of him. Good thing his hands are so expressive!
The Hulkbuster wave is just now starting to make its way out to stores, but Doctor Strange is sure to be among the more popular figures in the assortment since he’s among the more recognizable names. You may want to save yourself the trouble of hunting him down by placing an order for the wave with:
