Oh, my dudes. It is time. It is FINALLY time. After years and years of waiting as a tortured Thing and Fantastic Four fan + Marvel Legends collector, it is finally happening. It is finally here. Finally… IT’S CLOBBERIN’ TIME!
The Thing is my all-time favorite Marvel character and it is not even close. Sure, I love Colossus, Kitty, and countless other Marvelites, but ol’ Ben Grimm has been number one for me since the first time I met him. As such, the Fantastic Four is my favorite Marvel team, too, and as I have noted many times, it has been a tough go for F4 fans. Comics, movies, and action figures have all been back-burnered due to right disputes and a bunch of other lame things. However, and even though I have NEVER been vested in a giant business merger/acquisition before, it looks like the Disney buyout of 20th Century Fox is gonna happen, the F4 (and X-Men) are going to be heading home 100% to Marvel/Disney. Are better days, ahead? It looks like it, and I certainly hope so.
That said, Walgreens has been the splendid actor of defiance for awhile now, and the sole source of all things Fantastic Four (and their adjacent characters) in Marvel Legends. Yes, the drugstore chain has been my action figure temple/church ever since their exclusive figures turned into some of the best out there, and they have delivered the greatest ML F4 team by far. Sue and Reed are pretty much perfection for me, and Johnny is pretty great, too, but let me tell you, none of them, NONE of them come close to being as great as The Thing. Yes, I know, I am biased, but ever since this figure arrived a few days ago, I keep finding more and more reasons to declare this one of my favorite action figures of all time. Yes, that is a tall statement, but no, it is not hyperbole. This figure is just so great.
Now, of course I was stoked at the thought of getting a new Thing figure when it was first hinted that he would eventually be coming after his teammates to Walgreens. That set my imagination in motion, as you can imagine, and my mind went through all of the possibilities for how this figure would look. Of course, my number one, go to version of the Thing is that classic look with a BIG brow, plates (instead of rocks) and no teeth, but I kept things in check as I knew this Thing would match the era and looks of his teammates, so I was prepared for the figure to skew modern. So, when I first saw the press pictures, I was not overly thrilled, but not at all surprised. The Thing looked… okay, and frankly, “okay” for me pretty much meant the figure was disappointing.
The problem with that is, well, the press pictures kind of sucked. I did not get to go to Toy Fair this year, and even if I did, the figure wasn’t actually there, so a second hand account from Robo (who was there) wasn’t even going to happen. So, for a bit there, I had to go strictly off of the heavily Photoshopped image of figure that was poorly posed. Not too long after, Hasbro released a carded picture, and while it did look better, I was still not completely convinced. That said, there was NO WAY I was not going to buy this figure the instant it showed up online, so when it hit the shops in Hong Kong, I was all over it. Don’t worry, Walgreens, I figure I still have to get about 8-9 more of these (he is my favorite!), because lemme tell you, those initial picture do this figure no justice.
This Thing is… AWESOME. Yeah, he is modern, and thus rocky and a bit tall, but this figure is absolutely incredible. I have let go of all of my personal preferences in terms of overall look because everything about this figure works so well, and at the end of the day, this figure is very true to the character and design. My F4 wears blue and black, so the outfits are what they need to be, and Hasbro/Walgreens were smart and gave Ben his SHORTS, not lame pants and boots. The Thing does not need boots! This is a very, very impressive take on the modern Thing, and by far the best figure the character has ever gotten in Marvel Legends, and again, it is not even close. Sure, there have been parts of past Thing figures that have been great, the head sculpt from the TB ML series 2 Thing comes to mind, and that F4 Classics Ultimate Thing (by the Four Horsemen) is wonderful (but Ultimate), but nothing comes close to this.
Gone are the weird articulation designs and action features, and for the first time I would say that this figure cuts a very good silhouette of the Thing, something that was a bit murky in the past. Yes, if you are unbending in your need to have Ben no taller than Reed, and have plates for skin and not rocks, you might still be a hard sell, but I myself am typically from that camp, and I still love just about everything about this figure. He is the perfect addition to the Sue, Johnny, and Reed that we got before, and thus, he completes the best Fantastic Four action figure set we have ever gotten. Hey, with things looking good for the Four’s rights, I can continue to hope for that classic Ben, but even if that does’t ever happen, I FINALLY have contentment with an ML Thing.
This figure is a chunk. He is heavy, but he is certainly not as tall as some Legends, so much of the weight comes from his girth, and the fact that the figure is just really solid. I like how he is still wide, as he should be, but even with the thick trunk and wide appendages, the articulation on this figure is pretty damned impressive. I mean, just because he is big and chunky, that doesn’t mean that concessions were made for articulation points and range of movement, because it is pretty much all there. He does have “elbros” instead of double elbows and biceps swivels, but the joints still move very well. The articulation really shines with the torso joint, the hips, and the double knees, and a plastic version of Ben Grimm has never been so limber and posable. The appropriately large feet and forward facing rocker ankles give the figure a very reliable base, so “Clobberin’ Time” can take on more forms than ever before.
Now, while the build and sculpt of the main frame are both impressive, some of the best work of this figure comes in the TWO heads, and the swappable hands. Now, the brows aren’t quite as prominent as I would prefer, and one head has teeth showing, which is normally a no-no for me, but damn it, both heads have so much personality, it is hard not to love them. My default will be the closed mouth version as it has that brooding Ben Grimm look that I love, but for action shots, I am surprisingly perfectly fine with the teeth, and the ferociousness they bring out in the expression. The blue eyes are, of course, very important, and they look great on both heads. Hey, it is good to have options.
I don’t want to understate the awesomeness of the hands, and, even more importantly, the FISTS. I really cannot believe this is the first time we have gotten convincing fists in a traditional ML Thing figure (that is, one without an action feature), but it really is, and they are really awesome. It would be hard to get me to swap them out for anything, but for the wonderful, well, other included hands. These are partial grippers, but more convincingly, these hands are posed in the classic Ben Grimm looking at himself with his “this man, this monster” struggle, and they look great. Both sets have deep-set hinges so you actually get a large range of movement when posing.
Damn it, I LOVE this figure, and I am so happy, and even more relieved right now. For me, this is the best Thing figure I have ever owned, and even if we get more versions of Ben in the future, this one right here is going to age well and be a highlight of my collection, no matter what. I do not want to minimize how amazing it is that we got this 100% newly tooled figure as an EXCLUSIVE, because it is pretty much unheard of. Walgreens has been so dedicated to their exclusives and the Fantastic Four in particular, that it took a pretty serious step to double down and do this figure RIGHT. So, Walgreens, I bow to thee, and all I can say is, I hope it continues. The Super Skrull is on the rumored list for coming soon to the store, but I am, of course, going to invoke Dr. Doom here because, well, he HAS to happen. After that, if they want to continue with the F4 theme, there are TONS of rad characters that need their due in ML.
This is major for me, it really is. I have been harping for this figure for YEARS now, and now that it is here, I am so very happy. So, thank you Hasbro, and thank you Walgreens. Seemingly against all odds, you guys found a way to make the Fantastic 4 happen, and the crowning achievement is this all new Ben Grimm, my favorite Marvel character. I have not stopped smiling since he arrived, and I don’t plan on doing so anytime soon. So again, thanks, to everyone who made this happen!
Please note: as I said, I am EXTREMELY impatient, especially with my favorite character, so I nabbed this figure early, so don’t start hunting stateside yet. I am sure Ben will be landing soon (Silver Surfer, too!) and then we can all be on the hunt for one of the best Marvel Legends figures EVER.
