Mock. Yeah. Ing. Yeah. Bird. Yeah. Yeah! Yeah! Mockingbird oh, everybody have you heard? She’s gonna buy me (she’s gonna buy me) an Marvel Legends Mockingbird . . .
Eat your hearts out, Carly Simon and James Taylor. Lloyd Christmas and Harry Dunn now own that song across two languages (at least the first part), and now, thanks to Hasbro’s support of Captain America: Civil War, we can all own our own Marvel Legends Mockingbird action figure for the first time ever! This new assortment is offering quite a few “first time in the line” entrants, and while I am stoked to get all of them, Bobbi Morse has definitely been my most anticipated.
A stalwart of the West Coast Avengers team, Mockingbird is enjoying updated popularity with her continued Avengers association, but also with a return to her roots as a crack S.H.I.E.L.D. operative and recent TV star. I suppose it doesn’t hurt that she is portrayed by Adrianne Palicki in the latter . . . Anyhow, the time is definitely right for her to make her Marvel Legends debut, and while it has been some very long years in the making, the final figure is well worth the wait.
Like most Avengers characters, Bobbi has had a long and storied history over the course of her time as one of Earth’s Mightiest, and death, relationships with Hawkeye and Ka-Zar, and a completely impractical costume have not been enough to keep her down. She has always been a character that I have enjoyed, even though she never made it to the upper echelon of my favorite characters, but as an Avenger, she helps to fill out the most impressive Marvel Legends team roster going, and she does so in excellent fashion. Indeed, even though we seem to be enjoying a renaissance in terms of female Marvel Legends figures as of late, Mockingbird is very much a standout, and I really dig her.
Yeah, I am mostly a classic/iconic guy when it comes to my preferred action figure looks for comic book characters. There are, of course, exceptions here and there, but I have grown to appreciate several modern interpretations of character costumes that pay proper homage to the memorable duds that helped to define characters over the years. This current Mockingbird getup is certainly one of those, and since I was never too keen on the classic ensemble to begin with (oy vey, those sleeves), I not only love the updated look, but the functionality as well. Like Black Widow’s outfit, Bobbi’s suit is tactical and efficient (as far as female comic book costumes go) becoming of a government operative, but it still carries a bit of modern superhero gusto.
Mockingbird anchors one of the “shared release” spots with Sharon Carter in this assortment as the “Agents of SHIELD,” though you will need both figures to complete the Onslaught Build-a-Figure. The pattern makes sense as they both qualify as said agents, and neither of them have a particularly trademark-able name. Bobbi’s costume is a skin-tight suit at its base, but it also enjoys some practical embellishments, while still recalling the classic look. The latter is detected most in the iconic black and white color scheme that is always befitting Mockingbird, but it also shares semblance with Carter’s all-white look, and the modern monochromatic standard SHIELD get ups that are generally dark in color.
She has armored gauntlets and boots that add a lot of textural details, and I am a big fan of the buttons as well. Those are something that are, for all intents and purposes, wholly unique to Bobbi’s look. The front is still rather low cut (but nothing too gratuitous), so that classic superheroine aesthetic is still built in, or not relinquished, depending on your thoughts on the subject. The stark contrast between the black and white is what really makes this costume work, and all told, I like it a lot. I mean, I still very much like my superheroes to look like superheroes, but the practicality it holds doesn’t drown that out, and at this same time, it is not just a standard straight to the T&A that often happens with comic females. I find this to be a strong costume for a strong character, which makes sense since she is powered by a potent Super Soldier plus Infinity Serum cocktail.
The real win for the figure, though, is the head sculpt, and I am so happy for that because it was also the area of most worry for me, and if the look was not pulled off well, it would have ruined the whole figure. I have a natural inclination to worry more about the execution of female faces when it comes to action figures as feminine features seem to be ripe for the picking as far as production disasters go, and I have come across countless examples of this in my years as an Marvel Legends collector. If you add in the unique elements as well (like the goggles) things get more complicated and therefore more risky for mass production.
I am happy to report that, like many other recent female Legends, Bobbi turned out very well and her features and expression are strong but still befitting of the beauty that Mockingbird has always had. I *think* that she has new and unique face, but sometimes it is hard for me to tell with Marvel Legends females, but at any rate, it looks like Mockingbird. Her hair is perfectly appropriate for this incarnation, though I wish it would have been cast in a softer plastic as it definitely hampers the neck articulation. Now, the goggles/glasses were the point of most concern for me, and I am sure I was not alone with this, but in the end, they turned out quite nice. They certainly add some uniqueness to the character and they are cast in a translucent yellow plastic with painted frames. It will certainly vary from figure to figure, but mine are pretty clean with only a couple of paint imperfections, and I love the look. Remember, these pictures are blown up in size, so the dings on mine are hard to see at actually size. Oh, and goggles ARE removable, so that is a nice touch.
Like all, or at least most, Legends, Mockingbird has an abundance of fluid and useful articulation that helps further push this line as the best out there in that category, at least as far as domestic lines go. Her upper body articulation is pretty standard, but I am pleased to see the PERFECT ankle articulation continue here, and her hips have great range to help facilitate acrobatic poses. I still wish we were getting double elbows on the females (I know why we are not, but still) because that would have made this scheme about perfect so at the end of the day, I don’t have much to complain about.
Finally, Mockingbird comes with some standard-issue batons and the requisite Onslaught chunk as her included accessories. The batons have been released several times before, so you know what to expect here, and like all the previous releases, I had to take a hairdryer and cold water to them to help straighten them out. They are cast in grey plastic this time and while they are accurate, they are feeling redundant at this point, so getting the classic bo staff would have been cool. You get the big piece of Onslaught with this release, so can actually plug in the back part that was included with Cap. It is very well detailed and the shoulder pad things come detached, but you can snap them right on. As I said before, I am not the biggest Onslaught fan, but I will likely complete the figure due to wanting pretty much every figure in this wave.
As it stands at this moment, I only own two figures from this new assortment, but Mockingbird has a leg up on Captain America, so she currently my favorite, and she will be hard to beat. She has a lot of unique and interesting costume elements with her vivid colors and glasses, and her duds form a great tribute to her Bronze Age look, while still being sensible. So she looks great standing with Hawkeye, or with her SHIELD cohorts. Even amongst the bevy of good female Legends figures we have gotten as of late, Mockingbird stands out, so you will not want to miss your chance at picking her up for your collection.
