More Mutants, more Mutants, we say! Hot diggity ding-dong damn I am excited for the future of the X-Men in Marvel Legends now that those media rights are coming home to Disney. This new Apocalypse Build-a-Figure series is great in that it gives us a diverse offering of Mutant heroes and villains, and it is probably the best wave of ML thus far in 2018. Now, we have already looked at Wolverine, and we caught up with Sabretooth and Psylocke yesterday, but today, we are bringing in the main Mutant villain with a look at Magneto, and joining him with be a first MLer, and a sometimes good guy, sometimes bad guy – Multiple Man!

Usually, contributing a new feature to the site every single day for a whole week can be a bit of a slog, but I am having so much fun with these new figures, this has been pretty easy. Sure, none of them are what I would consider to be perfect, but few figures are, and overall, they are all pretty strong and the wave composition is pretty great. This pairing a good representation of that, I have to say, in that we are getting the most iconic X-Men villain who has been somewhat regular in the ML line over the years, but we also get a second or third tier character (I am NOT bashing Maddrox) who has never been in the line before. If this sets the tone for what we can expect for the X-Men in ML, I think we will be in good shape, but damn if I would not take about 4 X assortments per year…

Anywoo, let’s get right to it with Magneto and Multiple Man.

MAGNETO

Okay, so these two figures are paired up together in this feature for a reason because costume choice is going to be the theme of the day. Now, I am MUCH more committed to a specific costume for Mags here over Multiple Man, but of all of the figures in this series, these two garner the most discussion when it comes to costume choice. Now, the tricky part is that costume choice is a tough nut when talking about the evaluative virtues of an action figure, but as a fan, collector, and someone who just has his own preference and opinion about things, it can be hard to avoid.

THAT SAID, other than the costume choice, I find this new Magneto to be pretty darned close to perfect in terms of being an ML action figure. Everything from the sculpting to the articulation coalesces beautifully, and even the colors of the get-up look great, despite not being the costume I wanted. Yes, there is room for different costumes for big name characters in ML, but Magneto is one of those who, despite his long-tenured history in the line, has never gotten a good figure in his classic red and purple duds. That is why this particular figure is such a “gah!” release for me, because I see the near-perfection achieved with this costume and really opine for the same quality of treatment for that iconic look. Yeah, it’s a good problem to have, but I am all about iconography when it comes to my superhero action figures.

So, what can I say then? Apart from the purple hands being a bit weird to me, and there being a bit of paint bleed in the red accent on the helmet, I have no other quibbles with this figure. It is really, really good, and that includes the new pieces, the reused pieces, and the overall execution. This is a quality release and if you are a fan of the red and black costume, you will likely be over the moon for this figure. I always get worried with figures in costumes that have painted details that include a lot of straight lines, but I have to say, everything is nice and clean here, so kudos to Hasbro on that one. Look, even though I want a new classic Erik, I am not blind to the fact that red and black are traditionally a great color combo for comic book characters, and this costume looks slick.

Robo and I already commented on how well the ab crunch works and how nicely hidden in the sculpt it is, and that still holds true looking at it a few days later. Additionally, I really, really like this base body. I know it is not new, but I really like the medium build it represents, and the details are much more aesthetically pleasing due to it actually looking like musculature under the costume. The cape is nice and flexible, too, so articulation should not be hindered much if at all, and it is constructed in way that most of it can be repurposed for a CLASSIC Magneto cape down the road. Hint, hint. Nudge, nudge. The figure also gets two sets of hands: black gloved fists and “powered up” translucent purple hands with included effects. The fists are just fine, but again, the purple hands are kind of odd to me, but it is fun to get an inclusion of effects to help illustrate his powers in some sense, so I am not going to complain.

The very best parts of this figure, though, are the two included heads, and even though I sound like a broken record at this point, I REALLY want them included for a classic Mags down the road. Both the helmeted version and the one that lets the silver fox locks flow are just awesome and recall Erik Magnus Lehnsherr to a tee. The helmet is shaped appropriately (it will need that little piece glued on the front for a good 90s version) and I like that it is not removable from the head so it is appropriately sized. The head itself is stern and appropriately expressive for a Magneto that is about to start some shit. The non-helmeted head is really appreciated, too, and I think it captures Magneto’s arrogant and aggrandizing personality accurately. This head might, MIGHT be a little big for this figure, but I think both of these heads will be appropriately sized if Hasbro decided to bump up the base body to say, Spider-Man UK for that 90s Magneto. Either way, I love them both.

This really is a GREAT figure, and I think that is what makes my predicament so tough. This is a GREAT figure of a look that I don’t care about, so it makes me miss not getting that iconic purple and red even more. Hopefully that will happen soon, and if they borrow the same basic formula (and some of these new pieces) that Magneto will be just as impressive as this one.

MULTIPLE MAN

Yay! Hooray! A new character! See, I am a MAJOR proponent of upgraded character re-dos in Marvel Legends (look at our recent Wolverine figures for Pete’s sake) and I always welcome them, but there is still something nice about getting character into the line for the first time ever. Maddrox gets the call here, and not only will this figure be a hot commodity from that point of view, but also because, well, people are gonna need MULTIPLES of this. I spoke about costumes at the beginning of this article, and while I am pretty particular about this with Magneto, I am not as uptight when it comes to Multiple Man. For one, and again, not knocking him, but Maddrox does not have the same stature as Magneto in the MCU, and since he changes clothes more often than Lady Gaga, this version is as acceptable for me as any. Apologies to the fans of that modern look.

In doing this 90s X-Factor look for Jamie, Hasbro was actually able to save a good deal of money when it comes to the tooling dollars. Everything about this figure is borrowed from previous figures save for the, ahem, MULTIPLE, included heads, but that is okay because I think all of the pieces are appropriate. The main base is the old Bucky Cap standby, Nick Fury’s jacket is in play again, and the Netflix Punisher arms get the call to bring it all together in mostly successful fashion. I know people had some reservations about the rigid plastic that would likely be used on the coat, but I am happy to report that it is actually very flexible and does not hinder movement much, if at all. The arms are fine, even though I am not the biggest fan of the hinge and swivel elbow style, and as pointed out in the video, the top of the biceps is a bit gappy with the shoulder, but that is getting pretty nitpicky. 

The three heads are all very nicely done and the two with the cowls are expressive to illustrate Maddrox’s time on both the good and bad side of the fence. The “good” face is cocky with a confident raised eyebrow, and the “bad” face has the typical “villain gritting his teeth” expression. I will likely use the good one in the display, but since I will probably buy three of these for the multiple effect, there is room for all of them. The plain head is very nice, but I would not be able to pick Maddrox out of a lineup from this in 100 tries, so that makes this head more universal for me. It works for Peter Parker at the very least, and I am sure there are a lot of other options, too, so I am glad to have it.

Overall, this figure works just fine for me to get a Jamie on my shelf, but there is still potential for MULTIPLE (I did it again) other versions in the future. Honestly, I think the costume choice will be the most prevalent topic in regards to this figure once it is actually widely released, but for this particular version, I think it works well. I know many of you are looking at this figure and are working out a Gambit formula in your head, and this jacket configuration will get us pretty close, so long if you are okay with overlooking some of the flaps and snaps on the cuffs and the epaulettes on the shoulders. I mean, I would be okay without them, but bigger Gambit fans might take umbrage with that.

These are two solid figures, and Magneto is especially great, even though he is not in the costume I prefer. Of course, you will need them to complete Apocalypse, but they are great entrants on their own. Be careful out there, I have a feeling getting a Multiple Man at retail will be a bloodbath considering how many people will be buying… wait for it… MULTIPLES.

Thanks for stopping by, we will have more tomorrow!