Yep! Another #MarvelMonday is coming atcha’! I would start this off by saying that, as we are now in the home stretch, 2020 has been a banner year for Marvel Legends, but I am pretty sure I have said that at least once about each of the past two years, so I am not really sure where we are at right now. The sheer amount of figures seems to be getting greater and greater every year, and the new characters never before released under the banner seems to keep increasing as well. I have to admit that I don’t even know the number of series that have come out this year, but the exclusives and “Fan Channel” releases have been really solid. Now, enter this latest one from Amazon because Nimrod has finally landed.
I mention Nimrod first because to me, he is the obvious draw to this set. Sure, are picking up a new costume version of Psylocke and a much improved Fantomex with him, but this guy has been on Top Ten lists (mostly in the Build-a-Figure category) since the old Toy Biz days. The announcement of Nimrod was almost like a pressure release because he has been overdue by most aspects for so long, getting him is exciting, but also a bit of a relief. The X-Men have been getting a lot of love in ML over the past couple of years so to have a classic villain included within that space is appreciated and, thanks to his design, very unique.
Again, I just assumed he would eventually come out in a BAF at some point, so seeing him as the centerpiece in a three pack was a bit of a surprise, but that does not mean that you just have to accept some extra baggage with the the other two figures. Psylocke and Fantomex are no strangers to Legends, in fact, I cannot believe we now have TWO versions of the latter and not a single Crystal or Attuma, but there is most certainly some value gain with both of these figures, and for the most part, they all turned out nice. Plus, as this set comes with a pretty premium price, I am happy to see a good amount of accessories and extras packed in with the figures, and Hasbro is getting more and more thoughtful about those things, so that is exciting.
I am going to start with Psylocke because, for all intents and purposes, this figure is a straightforward repaint. She has come back around in an X-Force costume this time, specifically Uncanny X-Force to match with her set mate Fantomex, but even if that means little to you, there are still some new things to like here. To me, if I am going to have the mind-jump version of Psylocke, I am going to default to the standard “Blue Team” look we got a couple of years ago. I am not at all taking away from this version of the figure, in fact, I find the look very striking and appropriate for Psylocke, and I know that fans of the UXF will appreciate getting this costume, so it is a good choice.
Now, I am not likely to default to this look on my shelf, but that does not mean that this is an “instantly to the storage bin” figure because there are most certainly some upgrades here that I will be taking advantage of for my preferred Betsy look. That is because the paint work on the head and accessories has GREATLY improved since the last time we saw them, and since they all compatible with that previous version, they are just a couple of swaps away from being a permanent part of my iconic Psylocke. The paint on the face is cleaner to more close to the likeness for me than the earlier release, even if the sculpt is the same. I cannot put my finger on it directly, but it just looks better.
The really noticeable differences is in the very nice airbrushing that has been applied to the hair and the accessories. These are not longer flat in on color, or the simple color of the cast plastic. Obviously, if you are going to have this version of Betsy, you are going to likely want purple hair, and this time there is some nice variation in the look due to the lighter purple highlights. The same goes for the sword, mask, and psionic blade – they are still cast in the cool hot pink plastic, but the purple airbrushing add a whole other dimension. Like I said, whether you leave this figure as is, or harvest some parts for your more iconic Pyslocke, the additional paint applications provide a much-appreciated upgrade.
Fantomex, on the other hand, is much more structurally “new” from his previous release, and not just a repaint. I use the “new” in quotes because this figure is a pretty crazy amalgamation of parts that have come together on this figure. Some of the parts are brand new, while some stretch waaaaaay back in the library, but they all seem to work together, even though I am not necessarily a fan of all of the choices. I might be more bothered by them if I had a close relationship/history with the character, but admittedly, I have only a pedestrian level of expose to him and his adventures. But that is okay because he has a cool-looking design, and ML is (and should be) for everyone, so the upgrades made here should be (mostly) appreciated.
First though, I want to say that, while this figure is mostly new from the previous version of Fantomex, this version DOES retain the same jacket and belt/holster from that original release. That seems almost crazy at this point because it is what? seven years old or so by now, but some of these ML parts just keep on trucking. Personally, I don’t have any issue with those two pieces coming back, especially the belt. The jacket is appropriate, if not a bit overused at this point, but it works without showing much age or lack of proximity to accuracy. Fantomex has some wild design cues that are very dependent on clean lines and painting accuracy, and Hasbro nailed that, so the jacket becomes more of a winning spot than anything.
Where I scrunch my nose up a bit more is with the feet. Yeah, I know, I am getting really into the nits here, but I have to admit, I am tired of the Bucky Cap feet. At this point, they are glaringly undersized (they always have been, but still), so they add challenges to balancing and other things. The funny part is that these are actually close in age at this point to that old Fantomex, so going that far back for something like feet, especially where there has been improvement seems a bit silly by now. This line needs new standard male feet that are more inline with the Sunfire kicks, just without the pointy toe. Oh, and the boot straps are getting on in age as well. I understand using these a bit more due to the accuracy and most clear route to a solution, but I will have to glue these in place just like I did with Cyclops and others.
The newer pieces are all good though, and highlight the best aspects of this figure. The head is great, and captures Fantomex well to my eyes, so I would imagine most fans will be pleased. It is more more in proportion to the body, so we are expunging the carryovers from the days of the undersized heads during Hasbro’s early years. The guns are new or brand new (I am not sure if these have been used yet) and the sculpting work is fine on them, and they fit in the holsters well. The best part of them is that there are actually barrel holes so also included are the muzzle flashes and smoking effects from the previously-released Black Widow. MORE OF THIS PLEASE! I adore these and I want to amass more and more, and have some additional thoughtful items in this vein be brought to the line. They really make for a dynamic display and do wonders for photography, so keep it up, Hasbro. Oh, and Marvel team can/should whisper down the hall to their friends in the Star Wars Black and G.I. Joe Classified offices, those line need stuff like this, too.
Of course, Nimrod was always going to be the (literal) big draw for this set, and he does not disappoint. Like mentioned everywhere at this point, this dude could have been 100% acceptable as a Build-a-Figure do to his size and unique tooling, but he fits well in this and the overall theme of black, white, and hot pink. What a great color combination, right? I am all about getting more hot pink in my action figure collection at large, so Nimrod can and should be a trendsetter for future releases in that theme. So, it can easily be drawn that this guy is an eye-catcher on the shelf, and the X-Men got another problem to the (at least) 99 that they had before.
As you know, this Nimrod is of the Purifiers association by way of being a “descendent” of the Sentinels, and only referential to the biblical “mighty” hunter, which makes sense. Regardless, ever since the days of Uncanny X-Men, he has been a periodic thorn in the sides of various teams, and had edged his was to the upper echelon of X-Villains still with an ML figure. That has been made right here, and honestly, even better than I would probably anticipated. He obviously gets the bulk of the new tooling budget in this set, but that did not stop at the basic figure construction because there are a lot of new extras included as well.
The best par of this, for me anyway, is the inclusion of both the classic and more modern heads. Honestly, it is rare in the ML line when that happens because there is generally multiple trips to the well for a lot of characters, and costume choice doesn’t always facilitate the approach, but here it work great. I am sure some talk about small details in the body not lending themselves to one or both of the heads perfectly, but it works great for me, and after the photo session, the classic head went on the figure and that is where it will stay for good. It is nice to have options, though, and I suppose if you are a big time Nimrod fan, you might be needing two sets, so have a day. The one thing I noticed about this particular set is the modern head seems to be cast in a slightly yellowish white plastic as opposed to the stark white of the body and classic head. I am not sure if that is just the case here or not, and it is subtle, but enough to be noticeable to me.
Nimrod also gets swappable hands in the form of fists, which I would have originally considered to be the default option, but also with opened hands that make the options VERY interesting. See, these have peg holes to support some new effect pieces that are really, really awesome. I think these are new, or at least new to me, and it is great to have new sculpts for some blast effects. The pink is, again, very dynamic, so while I generally pose my figures in more of a vanilla fashion on the shelf, I don’t think I am going to be able to avoid including these because I like them so much. The back/power effect is also included, so this should work well for action poses and photos, but since Nimrod is so bulky, most of it is obscured if you have him facing forward, which, you probably will. It’s a cool piece, but just not as effective to me in the shadow of the new blast effects, but your mileage will vary.
You know, at first I was a bit fussed about having to buy a three pack to get Nimrod, but in the end, this is actually a really strong set. For those of you who are fans of the various Uncanny incarnations of X-Men, this will really hit the sweet spot. For me, an upgrade to Fantomex is cool enough, and I will be Frankensteining Psylocke parts to build an even better iconic version, so I have use for all the figures. X-Men continues its mighty reign in Marvel Legends, but there is still a lot of work to do, so let’s keep these classic villains coming. As noted, you have go to Amazon for this set as it is an exclusive, so head on over now if you are not locked in yet.
