X-Men Retro Legends

[Akatsuki]

Got Dark Phoenix and Multiple Man from Target today, too.

Dark Phoenix is fantastic! Great upgrade over the the old 2-pack version, which was itself really nice, it’s just her knees could wilt under her weight. But this new Phoenix has pinless double jointed limbs that make her sturdy. Makes this new version a significant upgrade to me. I still love this head sculpt and hair sculpt. Definitely would be cool to get her with the big Elektra hair, too.


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[psylocke]

Spiral in da house








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[TheSameIdiot]

I cancelled Dark Phoenix after seeing Anthony’s video.

Not sure I'd own a single action figure if I'd taken Anthony's advice before buying.

I think I would recommend his videos to anyone. He is completely objective and often points out things that I (and probably anybody else) would never think about. You ultimately have to make up your own mind, of course, he's been highly critical of a lot of the things that I still buy and enjoy (He didn't like Todd's Clayface which I like a lot, he stopped buying Lightning Collection completely, I think he missed out on some great monsters), but he's also steered me away from things I was on the fence on (like paying after market prices for Animated Spider-Man).

He definitely give credit where it's due, though. Check out his Spiral review. He loves it just like everyone else does, and his preamble---from the beginning up until about the 2:30 mark---- is a perfect commentary on ML.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zkf9hjI-lZ8

I'm looking for a balance between objectivity and enthusiasm. Robo has hit that point. His evaluations are fair (and it doesn't hurt that I tend to agree with him). He reminds me of Scorsese or Bong Joon-ho now because he's a great ambassador for the hobby. (New slogan for the channel, Robo. Just like Martin Scorsese.)

Anthony definitely has the first part in check. My issue is that he seems to hate everything, even the things he reviews favorably. I also think he takes a lot of pride in being a contrarian. I get the thrill, but I stopped doing that when I turned 17.

Do people really find reviews that useful? I've watched some of Robo's videos in a "teehee, it's Robo" way but if you've bought more than like, 4 Marvel Legends you know exactly what you're getting.

ML = Buck A + New Part B + headsculpt C + accessory D + Costume I Like + error that will be fixed in order to make me buy this again later

With Legends, I don't bother unless it's a new sculpt.

I mostly watch for entertainment. If I don't have any TV to watch, I like watching Robo's reviews while I eat. I feel like a real Zoomer when I do that.

[Aleks]

Robo is chill, that why I like his reviews.

If I'm not sure about buying a certain figure, I just watch Anthony's reviews. Yes, he may seem like an asshole sometimes, but I will gladly choose this, over "Well, this figure looks good! It has articulation and you can pose it! Fart joke! You can buy it on BBTS!" And most of all, I agree with him about a lot of modern ML problems.

[killphil]

Just got my pre-order on Saturday. Spiral may be the best ML ever made IMO. She's at least top 5 for me. So much fun to pose.

[JTMarsh]

Finally got Dark Phoenix. Overall pleased with the figure for the most part. She fills a slot I can now shut up about. Didn't realize that her head movement forward and back is essentially non-existant. Decent figure overall for those that missed it. The colors are vibrant, even though I prefer the more metallic version that came with Cyclops. Looks nice in the packaging as well. The retro line seems to be the only one that can get me to buy doubles still...hmmm... I wonder why?

[NORM]

My orders arrived today, and Spiral really is no joke. It’s almost sensory overload for me. I don’t know what to do with all those arms! I did feel like I had to be careful with them, specifically bending the shoulder hinges. One more open right hand would have been awesome. The repetitive swords are a little lame but I have plenty of others to swap in, like the one that came with Wongers that I don’t think he used in the movie, and the ones that came with Thena from Eternals that she didn’t use.

Already got Avalanche and Longshot from a previous order so the “new” ones from this order are Spiral, Jean, and Jamie. Madrox is pretty straightforward. Will probably have a set of three unless they drop in price. Dark Phoenix is fine. Mine has a symbol that’s off center to the left, unfortunately. Will likely leave that in package and wait to see how my Pulse figures come out.

[killphil]

So while I was posing my Spiral, I loosely based it from Capcom sprites...





...I noticed she has 2 cybernetic arms there. So I dug around for images of Spiral from the comics and found her drawn both ways.



I don't know a great deal about Spiral, but anyone know which version is accurate? Or is it just wildly inconsistent depending on artist?

Now I kinda feel compelled to buy another Spiral to make her more accurate if she is supposed to have 2 robot arms. In both the game and comic art, her second cyber arm starts at the bicep, so would be a pretty easy mod.

[Bleuboia]

I'm looking for a balance between objectivity and enthusiasm. Robo has hit that point. His evaluations are fair (and it doesn't hurt that I tend to agree with him). He reminds me of Scorsese or Bong Joon-ho now because he's a great ambassador for the hobby. (New slogan for the channel, Robo. Just like Martin Scorsese.)

Anthony definitely has the first part in check. My issue is that he seems to hate everything, even the things he reviews favorably. I also think he takes a lot of pride in being a contrarian. I get the thrill, but I stopped doing that when I turned 17.

Him being objective is the reason why he's so honest and comes off as hating everything. It's not that he hate everything, he just doesn't rate things on a scale. Most reviewers give Hasbro the benefit of the doubt for them going cheap, and have a "it is what it is" take. His latest Dark Phoenix review was spot on. I still bough her, but given what other brands are doing, she's terrible as an adult collectors item. And he also bring that obvious fact up.

And Martin Scorsese pretty much bashes every super hero movie, especially Marvel, for being a marketing tool to just sell products.

[darkmoon766]

Just got my pre-order on Saturday. Spiral may be the best ML ever made IMO. She's at least top 5 for me. So much fun to pose.

Agreed. It might be the best ever. That's why it is so discouraging to see so many other figures fall short of even being good when you see something this perfect. It can be done. Please keep striving to do what can obviously be done Hasbro.

And thank you for this figure if it never gets any better. We all appreciate it.

[TheSameIdiot]

I'm looking for a balance between objectivity and enthusiasm. Robo has hit that point. His evaluations are fair (and it doesn't hurt that I tend to agree with him). He reminds me of Scorsese or Bong Joon-ho now because he's a great ambassador for the hobby. (New slogan for the channel, Robo. Just like Martin Scorsese.)

Anthony definitely has the first part in check. My issue is that he seems to hate everything, even the things he reviews favorably. I also think he takes a lot of pride in being a contrarian. I get the thrill, but I stopped doing that when I turned 17.

Him being objective is the reason why he's so honest and comes off as hating everything. It's not that he hate everything, he just doesn't rate things on a scale. Most reviewers give Hasbro the benefit of the doubt for them going cheap, and have a "it is what it is" take. His latest Dark Phoenix review was spot on. I still bough her, but given what other brands are doing, she's terrible as an adult collectors item. And he also bring that obvious fact up.

And Martin Scorsese pretty much bashes every super hero movie, especially Marvel, for being a marketing tool to just sell products.

Can you be objective without being totally miserable? Re-upping my comment about his contrarianism.

Scorsese bashes the MCU's depth. He's a great spokesperson for adult cinema, which needs all the help it can get. The MCU is doing okay for itself right now without Marty.

[Bleuboia]

I'm looking for a balance between objectivity and enthusiasm. Robo has hit that point. His evaluations are fair (and it doesn't hurt that I tend to agree with him). He reminds me of Scorsese or Bong Joon-ho now because he's a great ambassador for the hobby. (New slogan for the channel, Robo. Just like Martin Scorsese.)

Anthony definitely has the first part in check. My issue is that he seems to hate everything, even the things he reviews favorably. I also think he takes a lot of pride in being a contrarian. I get the thrill, but I stopped doing that when I turned 17.

Him being objective is the reason why he's so honest and comes off as hating everything. It's not that he hate everything, he just doesn't rate things on a scale. Most reviewers give Hasbro the benefit of the doubt for them going cheap, and have a "it is what it is" take. His latest Dark Phoenix review was spot on. I still bough her, but given what other brands are doing, she's terrible as an adult collectors item. And he also bring that obvious fact up.

And Martin Scorsese pretty much bashes every super hero movie, especially Marvel, for being a marketing tool to just sell products.

Can you be objective without being totally miserable? Re-upping my comment about his contrarianism.

Scorsese bashes the MCU's depth. He's a great spokesperson for adult cinema, which needs all the help it can get. The MCU is doing okay for itself right now without Marty.

I guess it's subjective because I don't see him being totally miserable. If a figure just has a cheap looking decal, poorly painted, and has an okay face for over $30 with tax and shipping, I don't see how someone could be ecstatic unless you like the character and have been waiting for them. Which was my case for Dark Phoenix. She should've had shading (like the Toys'R'Us version) and sculpted on shiny gloves and boots (like the McFarlane Catwoman). I ordered two and one doesn't have her face painted on straight and the other has the decal chipped.

He does like figures and is happy when the figure is actually good. What keep me and most people going are the characters and the need to finish teams.

[Handsome]

Displaying Model Behavior is often critical of figures, but he does it in a jolly way.

If you've been buying figures long enough, you can pretty much tell what a figure is gonna be by looking at pic. You can't tell the paint apps, but those are gonna vary from figure to figure, so even if the reviewer got one with bad (or good) paint apps, it doesn't mean yours will be the same. So the review's not gonna help you there. And the articulation, especially on Legends where they reuse the bodies so much, we can tell what the articulation will be by just looking at a picture and seeing where the cuts are.

So I don't need them to "review" figures to help me decide how to spend my money. I watch them more because this is my hobby and it's just cool to hear someone talking about the things I care about. Because in real life, none of my friends or family collect figures. It's more just watching reviewers because I like their personalities, because they seem like people I'd enjoy hanging out with. Anthony's Customs seems like he'd be a miserable hang.

[Polarboy01]

So while I was posing my Spiral, I loosely based it from Capcom sprites...





...I noticed she has 2 cybernetic arms there. So I dug around for images of Spiral from the comics and found her drawn both ways.



I don't know a great deal about Spiral, but anyone know which version is accurate? Or is it just wildly inconsistent depending on artist?

Now I kinda feel compelled to buy another Spiral to make her more accurate if she is supposed to have 2 robot arms. In both the game and comic art, her second cyber arm starts at the bicep, so would be a pretty easy mod.

In the comics most of the time it was one cyber arm, but it isn't hard to find examples of two or sometimes just for lols one and a half crops up. I suppose she has never been a major character so I think a lot of artists go from memory of whatever the first image they find has.

[yojoebro82]

From an artist's perspective I would think characters like Spiral would be a nightmare. You'd basically have to come up with an entirely new skeletal structure to sell it. I guess Spiral is somewhat easier because all of her arms are popping out of the sides of her shirt, and you'll never see her topless, but what about Forearm? It just looks like he has extra arms glued to his sides. (Or is the problem that I've never seen anyone besides Rob Liefeld draw him?)


Random thoughts.........