Deadpool waves, like Spider-Man waves, allow a bit of leniency for the occasional wildcard or two. Since Deadpool is a mercenary, it makes sense to get similarly themed characters, so enter Deathlok and Paladin.
That reminds me of those old comic covers where a new character was introduced.
Enter: Flying Punching Bag.
Suddenly: the Enema King
Marvel Legends waves are hitting at an alarming rate. It seems like I just got the Black Panther wave a couple of weeks ago, and now I get the Spider-Man and Deadpool wave. That just leaves the latest Avengers wave, which will leave me all caught up until another random wave hits about a week later, not counting all the random figures. A part of me is all “I can’t keep up” while another part is all “More! more! FILL MY COFFERS WITH TOYS!!”
Today’s pair of figures in Fwoosh’s week-long examination of the Deadpool wave provide us with both an update and a Marvel Legends debut. Let’s start with the update and then move on to the debut.
Deathlok was a surprise inclusion in the ToyBiz years, and is a surprise inclusion now. Never a huge character, he had a decent amount of pagetime in the ’70s, a few stories in the ’80s, and his own series in the ’90s, another in the later ’90s, then odd appearances here and there, leading up to an appearance on the TV show Agents of SHIELD.
With the original Deathlok existing in an alternate future timeline, Deathlok’s exact placement in the various Marvel timelines is sketchy at best Adding to the confusion is that each Deathlok has been essentially a different person. The two main (meaning longer lasting) Deathloks have been Luther Manning (original) and Michael Collins (’90s). It gets weird as you move past those two. Deathlok’s history is almost as odd as Death’s Head. Apparently if you have death in your name your origins get convoluted as hell.
Regardless of identities, I’ve always appreciated the concept of Deathlok. He’s basically a zombie cyborg, which can’t help but be cool. While the character’s habit of calling his onboard computer system “puter” is grating (especially as it is repeated over and over and over), that is all alleviated by the fact that, again, he’s a killer zombie cyborg.
I liked having the ToyBiz Deathlok more than I liked the figure itself, as it was plagued by many of the issues of figures at the time: looseness, awkward proportions and such. But with this slick new Deathlok, many of those problems are gone. He’s built on a powerful body that makes him look like the engine of destruction a zombie cyborg named “Deathlok” should appear to be. The short review of figure is that he’s a blast and a half to play with, and is every bit the infectious hand-candy that I want in a character like this.
One thing he does share with the old ToyBiz figure is a ton of dedicated sculpt work to make him come alive. His legs and right arm all feature the ribbed metal sculpt work that any partially mechanical Marvel man is contractually obligated top have—see his wave-mate Cable.
His face is not as zombified as the TB Deathlok, opting instead for a more streamlined dead appearance that skews anywhere from classic to modern. As Deathlok’s overall design has remained consistent the figure itself can serve as any variation down the timeline. At least they didn’t leave off the flag on the chest this time around.
The body articulated very well. The only issue I had was with the right arm. Despite being double jointed, I can only get about 90 degrees out of it, and the joints were a little loose. Similarly, despite having an up-and-down wrist joint instead of side-to-side, there wasn’t a lot of clearance there, so I wasn’t able to get that nice “resting his gun on his shoulder” look that come with those types of joints.
In the end those are fairly minor complaints when you’re dealing with a figure like this that hits all the right buttons a fun toy should be hitting. Having the tube that plugs into his chest be disconnected from his actual weapon is also a bonus. It can get disconnected when you’re futzing with poses, but it’s very simple to plug back in.
He comes with two weapons. His main handgun slips into a holster by his right hip. He holds it nice and tight, so there’s no wiggling around once it’s in his grip. Only his right hand has a trigger finger, so there’s no dual-wielding his weapons, if that’s something you’re into.
His second weapon is a minigun with an ammo belt. The ammo belt plugs into either side of the minigun. I looked around for another spot on his body for the other side of the ammo belt to plug into—it looks like it should—but apparently it’s meant to just dangle freely, or be held by his other hand. That’s fine, or another option is to treat it like a laser mini-gun, which means no ammo necessary, and it fits with his whole futuristic angle. I kind of like it that way better, as I can just pretend it has a power cell. Either way, he holds it well. The weight of it does drag my figure’s arm down a bit, but that may be due to the looseness of the elbow joints on mine and might not be a problem across the board.
I figured a new Deathlok was not in the cards, so I was surprised and thrilled by this one. It’s a highlight of the wave.
Where Deathlok was the update, Paladin is the debut. With so many (extremely necessary and very welcome) repeats and updates on various characters, it’s nice to get a brand new, never-been-done figure. Paladin is a little bittersweet in that, while one of those firm lower-tier characters that I love to get, this is not his most well-known outfit. I know, with a character like Paladin “most well-known outfit” might seem like a contradiction, but I think most people who were wanting a Paladin figure had a very specific look in mind, and that look is the classic, “ribbed for your pleasure”-styled Paladin.
This Paladin takes advantage of the recent Blade figure’s torso and edges towards his modern appearance, which is more in the vein of a prolific style that has been affectionately called “tacticool.” Thankfully, he at least retains the purple, so he hasn’t been drained of color, but he does have a touch less personality without some of what I feel are his signature components.
Personal preferences for appearance aside, it is Paladin, and he does at least feature some new sculpting. It’s hard not to look at him and know that it’s definitely supposed to be Paladin, so that is a glass-half-full moment with him.
Luckily, the issue with Blade being unable to stand fully upright without his ass getting in the way seems to have been fixed, because I had no such issue here.
As a figure, Paladin is another well-articulated figure. The new bits added to the Blade parts give him a strong, imposing presence. What I was most struck by once he was out of the package was that this was basically the most “G.I. Joe” Marvel legends figure that I’ve ever bought. While not looking like any one specific G.I. Joe or Cobra figure, there are some elements here and there about him that immediately put me in the mindset of G.I. Joes. The new wrist and shin pieces in particular give me those vibes. At least they carry forth the quilted flavor of the original Paladin design. As always, I appreciate redesigns that at least make a nod towards the originals.
Moving him around, I was able to put aside my prejudices at this not being the Paladin design I wanted. Fun toys are fun toys, and there’s no denying that he’s fun. Every joint gets a great range of motion without impediments, and the snazzy purple/black combo makes him look stylish in every pose.
He has a sheathe for his knife on his ankle, and it works well. He has a holster for one of his guns on his left hip, and that doesn’t work quite as well. It’s either too shallow, so the gun doesn’t slide down into it far enough, or it’s too wide, and doesn’t grip the gun tight enough, but at the slightest hint of a tilt it will fall out and onto the floor. Which leads to cursing. Of course, with a figure like Paladin you kind of want to leave his guns in his hands at all times, but still, there is the option to have one holstered, and it just doesn’t work right, unless you out some blu-tac in there or something. I even tried sticking both guns in at the same time, but it was slightly too tight for that.
Speaking of his weapons, they’re orange. Both of his pistols and even the blade of his knife are orange. This continues a theme in this wave of strangely colored weapons. It’s a little odd. I’m not really bothered by it, but in the same breath, I do find it strange that even the knife hilt has to be orange. I understand color coordinating, but at some point you have to think you’re taking it too far. In a way the oddly colored weapons only added to the feeling that this was as G.I. Joe a Marvel Legend as I have ever bought.
Along with Veebee’s review of the excellent Cable, Domino, and X-Force Deadpool, Paladin and Deathlok are two excellent additions to what is shaping up to be a stellar wave. Tomorrow will feature the last two regular figures of the wave, culminating with a look at the wave’s fuzzy Build-A-Figure on Friday.
You can pick up Paladin and Deathlok at Big bad Toy Store, or order a set.