Hasbro: Marvel Legends Ursa Major Review

In all my years of being affiliated with this website, I never thought I would ever be writing an article about a Build-a-Bear. Yet, here we are, and it happens to be #MarvelMonday.

Build-a-Bear – get it? Yes, I know this is not a cute plush that you can add clothes and accessories to for a la carte prices – this is better! Ursa Major is a build character that I never really thought about much for Marvel Legends, but great googily-moogily, I sure am glad he is now part of my collection. I know I do want other animal-themed/shaped characters in the Legends line, and if Ursa here is setting the standard, guys like Armadillo and Razorback and FREAKIN’ LOCKJAW are gonna be amazing.

Yes, I know I am running a bit out of order featuring a BAF ahead of most of the standard figures in an assortment. I just couldn’t wait though, I love this guy so much. I knew I would be into Ultron, but I wanted to capture the excitement affiliated with this guy while it is still fresh because I initially had reservations about building him. I mean, I love Iron Man as much as the next person, but admittedly, you need to invest in several in order to get all the bear bits to build up Ursa Major, so I had some trepidation at first. I am glad I just went for it, though because wow, this figure is so much fun. Oh, and those Iron Mans are pretty good, too.

Ursa Major is awesome, and that is really all there is to it. Sure, I would have loved to have seen a movable jaw on this figure, but other than that slight nitpick, he is pretty much perfect. The time is right for this figure as we have seen several build-a-figures of the large and uh, hairy fashion, but he still outdoes the crowded field. The new base and brown color scheme just put this one over for me, and even though I adore the recent Xemnu figure, Ursa Major beat him.

Really, I was expecting to see a lot of reuse from Sasquatch to Wendigo to Xemnu to Ursa Major, but if there are any common parts between the latter and rest, they are few and well-disguised. It would have probably been okay if there were more common parts here, but these new pieces, with the better sculpted detail and improved articulation, make this figure really shine. Sure, the clawed paws and feet, and cool portrait are big factors here, but the more subdued pieces like the fur sculpted in the arms and legs, and the fact that this boi has abs, make for very nice contributions as well. Simply put, Hasbro COULD have just repurposed some of those older figures for this release, but I am really glad they didn’t.

This build-a-bear is too much fun. Yes, I kind of bit the bullet getting all of the figures needed to for all of the ursine chunks, but in the end, I like all of those figures, too, so win. The design and articulation really put this guy over the top and he is just really fun to play with. I think if you have any desire to have this figure, skipping him will bring some serious FOMO, so go get him. I love when a release exceeds expectations, and this one definitely qualifies. Now, bring on Armadillo!