Marvel Legends Boom Boom. Somewhere, crazy old Amsterdam is incoherently pounding a keyboard in joyous disbelief.
Okay, obscure old school Fwoosh references aside, OMG, you guys – we actually have Boom Boom/Boomer/Tabitha Smith in Marvel Legends. Once again, a team that I have no nostalgic connection to has become must have collecting thanks to Marvel Legends. Sure, we might be a bit mismatched at the moment with costumes from different eras, but that core 90s Cable team already had Domino and Shatterstar in the ranks, and now Cannonball and BOOM BOOM have arrived, and we are well on our way.
Technically, this is the Wendigo series thanks to the Build-a-Figure selection, but ever since (most of) the line-up was revealed back at Toy Fair, this has definitely been colloquially call the “X-Force wave,” and with good cause. Matthew K took a look at Nightcrawler just after finding him at SDCC, and he will be featuring Guardian, Mr. Sinister and Wendigo as well (non-X-Force guys) soon, but with these three figure in tow, there was no holding back the X-F designation.
Overall, I find this to be a pretty strong wave. We have once again been bombarded with Marvel Legends releases in 2019, and quality, quantity, and diversity of the figures probably makes this, at least in my opinion, the best year for Legends yet. Getting some X-Force members peppered in certainly adds to the diversity, and X-Men and X-adjacent characters are certainly getting the royal treatment, even in the shadow of Avengers: Endgame becoming the biggest movie of all time. I have been tasked with taking a look at Cannonball, Boom Boom, and Uncanny X-Force Wolverine, so let’s dive right in.
CANNONBALL
By default, Cannonball is certainly the most divisive figure in this new assortment. This isn’t Sam’s first time in the Marvel Legends rodeo, but even with his shortcomings (as some see it), this is still the best Cannonball figure I have personally ever owned. I have the least to say about him compared to the other figures simply because what is here is definitely up to snuff with the current standard of Marvel Legends, but what is missing is causing some, uh, boisterous, discussion amongst collector online.
My first exposure to Cannonball was via the New Mutants title, but there is no denying his rise to popularity during the 1990s and his membership in Cable’s X-Force as the field leader. While I would still love to get him in his NM training uniform, I think the costume choice here for X-Force is great. It was going to come down to purple and white or blue and yellow, so there are still (at least) a couple of iconic looks that could still come. As it stands, I really like the work done here with the costume, and the X-Force is a colorful lot.
The elephant in the room with this figure, though, is though is the conversation about the blast effect, and many of the comments have hit below the belt (wokka wokka!). See, Cannonball comes with a pretty neat looking “blast off” effect, but he is missing his legs and they were not included in this release. So, while the blast is cool, a lot of collectors are missing the legs, and I totally understand that. Hasbro acknowledged the lack of lower appendages (and even played it up via Lt. Dan in their SDCC presentation), but it came down to a cost issue of getting the effect or the legs, and they went with the former.
Because of this, many people find this figure (literally) lacking, and I like I said, I get it. I am not sure where I fall in terms of preference, because I DO want the legs, but I have to think that, even if I did get them, I would still display the figure with the effect. The good part is that the torso hinge has range enough to make him look appropriate in a full horizontal blast, so I am working on getting him attached to the wall in the display. The BETTER part is that, remember, CB has a old Toy Biz 5-inch line release in this exact costume (with “Catapult Launching Action!”), but with his legs. With the popularity of the current Vintage releases in ML, I would not count out getting another crack at him, but with his getaway sticks included.
BOOM BOOM
Honestly, I am still in disbelief of owning this figure, even though Marvel Legends releases of late should have taught me I should not be the least bit surprised. Recent ML character selection has taken us to some weird and wonderful places as of late, but I remember when the thought of getting a character like Boom Boom in Legends was so remote, it caused some particular online types to completely lose it. But, here we are, and frankly, the end result of what is now on my shelf made it well worth the wait.
Boomer is probably not the most exciting figure in the assortment, but I will be damned if she doesn’t accomplish exactly what she needs to to be a wonderful representation of the character in beautiful hot pink plastic. I will admit, I never really thought much of Tabitha until, strangely enough, the X-Men:Evolution cartoon, so while she has never been in a Top 50 or anything for me, I am certainly glad to have her in my ranks now. As garish is at might be, her color scheme of hot pink and neon green certainly smacks of early 90s fashion indiscretions, but the figure is eye-catching, and after all this time, I’ll be damned if I don’t really like it.
Boom Boom certainly could have been your mom’s aerobics instructor from back in the day, but this figure got some nice new pieces to pull the overall look and powers together. The inclusion of two heads is very cool of Hasbro to have done (dig those star earrings), but as I said with Jubilee: if you are not displaying the bubblegum-blowing head in your collection, you are no fun at all. It is such an easy gimmick to pull off, but I marking out over it yet again, and I love the thought of Tabitha in the midst of giant fight while casually working through her Hubba Bubba.
Finally, her powers are brought to life with a couple of different inclusions, one explosion effect that is autonomous and can be used in different ways, and then with an alternate hand that is “throwing” the “boom.” I like both of these, I mean the hand is a bit awkwardly posed, but you can get it in positions to make it look cool, so I am not even going to nitpick because, overall, I think this is a really great figure.
UNCANNY X-FORCE WOLVERINE
Our boy Logan is going to be gunning for Spider-Man’s crown of most figure in ML now that the lid is off the X-universe. Personally, I don’t think Wolverine is required for every Marvel Legends X-Men assortment, but the reality is that he is really damned popular, so we are going to see lots of him, so we might as well enjoy the ride, yeah? We have gotten some diverse choices in terms of looks, and while I don’t have a particular association with Uncanny X-Force, there is no denying that Wolverine looks great in black and grey.
Sure, we got a similar/same crack at this outfit a few years ago via a Comic Con exclusive, but many people like me missed out on that release, and frankly, that figure is terribly outdated by now. I know we have seen it several times at this point, but I will never apologize about loving this base body for Wolverine, so it doesn’t bother me in the least. The color scheme is not the only difference in terms of costume, and the gloves and boots are more tactical in nature that the classic blue and yellow duds. Furthermore, the addition of the red eyes bring the ferocity up a level as well, and that is saying something for Wolverine.
Another change, and the one that has probably brought the most discussion is that the shape of the Adamantium claws has changed from what we have grown accustomed to as of late. While traditionally the claws have been more straight in terms of shape, these new claws are much thicker and have hooked claws at the end. I know some people have expressed disdain over these, but I rather like them, and they match the style/art of many artists and portrayals in the comics. Sure, I would not want them for every release, but I find they look good here, and I would not mind at all if they showed up again in other iterations where appropriate in the future.
All things considered, this is a very diverse group of figures, but I am mostly happy with all of them. Boom Boom is probably my favorite of the three, but X-Factor Wolverine is a good variation on him as well. Cannonball leaves me (and many others) divided in terms of what we ultimately get in the package, but I DO like what is there, I am just missing those legs, so hopefully the come along soon. I think they will because the torso is designed to remove from the blast, so that might be them thinking ahead.
Anyway, these are shipping right now from Dorkside Toys, so got getcha some if you have not already, and if you missed it – Matt K’s look at Nightcrawler is eye-meltingly awesome as usual, so check it out.