The new Okoye Marvel Legends series has a primary directive to help support the release of next month’s highly anticipated Black Panther movie. However, the wave also has a secondary theme of “royalty” and man, nothing says “undersea royalty” like a shredded fishman with pointy ears and winged ankles who sports a green Speedo most days. Yeah, I am pretty stoked to finally have a (mostly) perfect Namor, the Sub-Mariner.
ICYMI, Matt K covered the MCU figures in this assortment on Tuesday, and I spent some time with Black Bolt yesterday, and I have to say, there is not one weak figure in that bunch. I have only recently come around to collecting MCU figures (I generally keep my comic figures comic), but this assortment offers some of the best on-screen likeness today. I knew I would be happy adding a good Black Bolt to my collection seeing how I am such an Inhumans mark, but to be completely honest, Namor has been the figure I have been most anticipating since his reveal last summer at SDCC.
Sure, Namor has been a part of Marvel Legends ever since the second series of the inaugural ToyBiz run, so while he is no stranger to multiple releases over all of this time, he is one of those guys who has never, in my opinion, gotten the winning combination of “good” figure and iconic look. Sure, Hasbro and Walgreens teamed up a while back to bring us a good Namor figure, but I don’t really consider his modern and mostly clothed look to be iconic. On the other hand, Namor’s iconic look did get release back in the dark days of the Hasbro run, but if you familiar with online Legends chatter in the least, you know that might be considered one of the worst, if not THE worst, ML figure of all time. In the true fashion of the golden era of Legends we are currently living in, just when we think something is not going to happen, well it finally does.
We got him. We finally got our ICONIC Namor. Was the wait worth it? On one hand, yes, because this figure is pretty much perfect, but daaaaaaaaaaaamn, we have only been waiting 15 years. “Long Live Legends!” I always say, and if not for that unbelievable longevity, we would have never gotten to this era of amazing figures, so this Namor is the dictionary definition of learning from the past, and plastic patience. Like Daredevil, Bullseye, and others before him, Namor has joined the ranks of characters whom I will no longer be asking about in Legends. I get it, action figure technology is constantly improving, and I am sure there will be a time in the future when that will make it possible for an even better Namor figure, but for this generation of ML, I now have the Namor I need.
So what can I say? Sure, being that this is the internet, we can split hairs and parse aesthetic preferences from now until the end of time, but for all intents and purposes, and for MY purposes, this figure is pretty much perfect. The likeness, the build, the sculpt, the paint, the accessories — everything has come together so nicely with this figure, and the final production is high quality, so I do not have any nitpicks here. Strange, I know. Sure, I guess I could say I wish the new torso had a peg hole for the of TB flight stands, but come on, that is beyond picky.
To me, this Namor has the perfect build, and while he borrows some of his extremities from past figures, I am pretty sure his torso is brand new. It is wide and the muscle striations are very pronounced, but I guess if you were going to walk around in green sequined underpants all day, you want to be in tip-top shape. It is missing that peg hole in the back, which is kind of a bummer, but otherwise, it fits Namor well. As I said, dude doesn’t wear much for this look, but the scaled short shorts are nicely sculpted and the metallic paint used for the highlights is effective. He also gets the requisite gauntlets and ankle wings from the previous installment, so I am not sure what else you need for Namor’s framework.
Also included with the figure are two sets of hands, both grippy and open (for swimming or slapping), and a trident that is a major improvement over the repurposed Odin staff we got before. Namor can hold this well, and it poses nicely with him, and while it certainly has some detail and adornments, it is still streamlined enough to look classic. The best part of the figure, though, is the classic head that is included, and from the hair, to the ears, to the iconic smug expression, Hasbro nailed it. If there is something more you need in a classic Namor likeness, please sound off below, because I am currently at a loss for what it might be. It is really great. But it does not stop there, also included is a more rugged and bearded head that looks like more like the Walgreens head, but much more manly. If there was a question in the past that Namor was “Mister Steal Reed Richard’s Girl” before, that has been answered in full with this handsome mug. I will likely never display this figure with that head, but it is always great to have options.
So, I guess that is it. It is always harder for me to write about something that is really great because I feel like I should be getting to more, but the figure, and hopefully the pictures speak for themselves. As I said, I love most of the figures in this wave, but if I had to pick and overall favorite, it would be Namor, so do NOT miss out on this figure, especially with the Fantastic 4 being back in the fray. Like I said, it took 15 years, but we finally got the Sub-Mariner we have been waiting for.
