We are in the thick of it, you guys. I barely got all of my Avengers: Endgame Legends series 2 figures (the wave with Beta Ray Bill and Loki) opened when, BAM! The new Spider-Man: Far From Home assortment landed on my doorstep. The Marvel Legends just keep on trucking, and I love every last bit of it. No rest for the plastic collector, let’s dive right into the new series with a couple of Spider-Creeps.
The Spider-Man Marvel Legends waves are always a lot of fun for me because I really love building up the Rogues Gallery. Let’s face it, Mr. Parker has (arguably) the best line-up of villains of any hero in the Marvel Universe, and Hasbro has being doing a pretty great job in delivering the classic/iconic looks for many of them.
Kingpin, Kraven, Puma, and others have joined the throng in just the past few months, and now we get to revisit a couple of old friends from the Toy Biz days in Scorpion and Hydro Man. I have been waiting on the former for quite some time now, but I was not sure we would ever get a proper ML Hydro Man, but it is 2019 and here we are. Let’s take a look at these misguided miscreants.
SCORPION
Mac Gargan has had a crazy history, but even a turn with the whole Venom thing cannot shake the fact that he will always be Scorpion to me. GREEN Scorpion, that is. I have to say that I have always been a fan of the look and likeness of the old Toy Biz Spider-Man Classic Scorpion, but I have been ready for a base body update with the modern sensibilities, and the huge tale on the old release was causing some hip issues on my figure, so retirement seemed imminent. I am happy to report that I am very pleased with 98% of this figure, and the remaining 2% really comes down to person preference, so if you are planning on picking this guy up, you are probably going to be pretty happy.
To start, I find the base body to be much more appropriate for Scorpion, as the TB version was pretty big. This base is very clean and the articulation is built in nicely so it does not break up the sculpt much at all. The torso joint is particularly nice because it is very fluid with good range, but it is strong enough to support the giant tail attached to the back. Speaking of, the tail is not removable, but it is pretty awesome. I mean, this is the defining feature of this figure, and the construction of the bendy wire under the rubber outer piece is really well done. The outside is not too thick, so you can get the tail into some pretty good poses, and even kind of wrap it. The figure does a good job of staying pretty balanced, but as you can expect, some of the more elaborate tail poses can be had to balance.
To me, this figure takes many of its design cues from the McFarlane version, and the dark metallic greens, and the way the tail attached to the back seems to support that. Which leads me to my next point…
I know it is accurate. I KNOW it is. Really I do. However, as a matter of personal preference, I like the open mask around the mouth and jaw look better than this all green version. Yes, it is a nitpick, and maybe my eyes and brain have been conditioned over many years of having the Toy Biz figure, but it just looks like they forgot to paint the rest of Mac’s face. I know, it is personal preference, and most people will be perfectly fine with this, but, I might actually break out the brush for this one. Heck, even the box art has it that way… That said, the sculpting on the head is great and it looks mean and very much like Mac, so that is definitely a strong point.
Overall, this dude is a great addition to the Spider-Man Rogues shelf, and an update we have been needing for quite a while. The quality control and engineering are both very sound and he would be my favorite figure of this series if not for…
HYDRO MAN
OMG, finally, you guys. I know, it is Hydro Man so getting impatient about finally getting this guy in Marvel Legends seems a bit silly, but it was very much worth the wait. Now, don’t go telling me we got an ML Hydro Man back in the TB days, because we did not. Technically, that was a Spider-Man Classics figure, and more so, that version was not even close to being the Hydro Man that we needed. Wrong costume, poor likeness, action feature laden… yeah, sorry. We need not worry about the past now because the age of the REAL Legends Hydro Man is here, and it is glorious.
Morrie Bench is here, and there ain’t no mistaking it! Yes, this is a dude who can manipulate water, and thus, has some pretty cool effects included, but I will get to that in just a minute. First, I want to relish talking about how damned glorious the likeness of this figure is, and all other Legends should be humbled by it. So, even if this figure was sold just as Hydro Man looking like a regular dude with no water parts, you would still know that it is him. The likeness is really, really strong to Morrie, and I daresay it is one of the best in the entirety of the Legends line. He looks like a blockhead, and his sneer and trademark schnozz are pretty perfectly executed. Hydro Man has new pair of work boots, but other than those and the arms, he is built on the Luke Cage base, which is mostly appropriate.
The water effects are what make Hydro Man, of course, and those take shape with the arms and attachable “splashes” for around his feet. The latter are removable, but they look really nice in completing the effect when they are on, and the larger footprint (literally) they cause help support more dynamic poses when counterbalancing the larger arm effects. Speaking of, the arms, they are quite impressive both in form and size, and I like that the clear blue plastic was used. They are sculpted in a way that get the water effect across well enough, but I wish the articulation in the “elbows” had just a bit more range. Now, some people are going to say it would have been nice to have a swappable pair of normal arms, and I suppose I am in that camp, but the omission is not totally egregious and I don’t feel as fussed about it as I did with the same exclusion with the Sandman BAF.
Overall, these are two great additions to the Spider-Man Rogues gallery, and Hydro Man is so much cooler than he has a right to be. We are really starting to cross off of the previously released villains, while new ones come on online. I suppose this might put redos of Vulture and Manwolf near or at the top of my current list? Razorback would be RAD, too. No matter, we are building an impressive ML Rogues Gallery, and Scorpion and Hydro Man are both winners for that.
