He’s the best he is at what he does, bub. Well, this figure is the best there is at being the plastic version of the guy who is the best there is at what he does. So, I guess that makes this figure the best it is at what it does. Now that we have established that, put on your best blue and gold spandex because you are going to want to join whatever team this new tiger stripe Wolverine is on.
Blue and gold are the colors of the day for this feature, but if your wallet is feeling black and blue at this point, that is totally understandable. We who live the life of a Marvel Legends collector know the painful joy put upon so far in 2018, and I am pretty sure that this new Apocalypse series is like, the 358th Marvel Legends wave released thus far this year. Yes, it is a good problem to have, but wow-wee, have a LOT of new ML figures. Now, I know I said this before, but… this new Apocalypse group is, without a doubt, my favorite ML series so far this year, and really, this one is going to be REALLY tough to beat. Even the the repaint of a figure I already own, and the figure in a costume I don’t care about came out stunning. Like, I know there is still some amazing stuff coming later this year, but sweet fancy Moses does this wave push all the right buttons.
We might be heading into a golden age of X-Men Marvel Legends figures with the pending Disney acquisition of Fox, so if these past few X-Men assortments are a precursor to a dam breaking, it is going to be insane. For the first time in many years, the idea of assembling the entire Giant-Size X-Men team, the Blue and Golds, and many of others doesn’t seem so far-fetched, and for all of you Mutant fans, that has to be heartening. The Blue and Gold “Jim Lee” teams have been getting a lot of traction as of late, and even though it is not my favorite group(s), the figures have been amazing. The Jim Lee Cyclops, Rogue, and Archangel figures as all so great, and now that we get to add the correct Wolverine to that team, he might just be the best out of all of them.
Look, my preferred look for Wolverine has traditionally been the brown costume we have seen a couple of times in ML at this point, but even I know that this is the iconic Wolverine look that everyone and their father’s cousin’s brother’s best friend’s former roommate associates with him. However, I still love this look, and there is a lot going for it in a design that is big all over the place, but still very cohesive. Also, to be perfectly honest, this is my new favorite Wolverine. I thought it would be really difficult to improve on the brown costume figure, but ML gonna ML and continue to outdo itself, it would seem. Yes, this figure borrows heavily from that brown costume figure that I love so much, but, I actually the new pieces on this figure better that those used before.
First, this new head sculpt has a ton of personality. Now, I generally go for the most neutral expressions for action figures, and that is one of the reasons I like the brown costume figure, but the look on this figure is so quintessentially Wolverine, it is pretty undeniable in its perfection. The gritted teeth, the strong jawline, and eye shape make it pretty easy to hear him give his “best there is at what I do, bub” line, and look great doing it. Now, in the video sit down, Robo remarked that he did not like the curvature of the mask fins, but I actually like them quite a bit, and it gives them a bit more uniqueness over the Vintage wave Wolvie. I also really like the new arms, even though that might sound silly. New shoulders were required to facilitate the shoulder pads on this costume, but the more muscular and squatter biceps fit the character very, very nicely. The range of movement at the elbows might be slightly more limited than the other arms, but the look is so perfect, I don’t even mind. The arm hair has been sculpted this time, and that RAD, but it was not painted, so a demerit for that.
All together, though, this is the Wolverine we have been waiting for, and the fact that you can swap heads from the Vintage series figure makes it all the more adaptable. This version carries all of the strengths of the previous Wolvie figure, but actually improves upon the head and arms, at least for me. It is becoming increasingly important to build out the full 90s Blue and Gold X-Men teams, and this a great addition to that roster. Hopefully Beast, Colossus, Iceman, Gambit, Professor X and the rest follow suit fast, I think we are heading into an X-Men golden age for ML, so buckle up, bub.
