Oh geez, you guys – we actually made it all the way through! Thanks to our upstanding friend in the Great White North, we are ready to close out our advanced look at this new X-Men Marvel Legends series, and of course we are ending on the build-a-figure, APOCALYPSE!
Whew! It has been a marathon at a full sprint, but it is worth it because this entire wave is pretty damned awesome. Sure, it’s not perfect, and some figures are definitely better than others, but this is by far the assortment to beat for 2018, and Apocalypse is a strong culmination of all of the parts. Apocalypse has had a bit of a checkered history in ML with some true strengths, and some striking weaknesses, but overall, I think this is the most successful figure of En Sabah Nur yet. Yes, some (many) of you might disagree, but this is the most accessible ML Apoc to me for a lot of reasons.
So, for the previous efforts, I absolutely LOATHE, even to this day, that old Toy Biz (series 8?) Apocalypse figure. The simian look and overall proportions never appealed to me, and I took it off the shelf as soon as I could. So, the less said about that one, the better, in my opinion. I dropped that figure when the TB series 12 build-a-figure arrived, and to this day, I still think that figure is gorgeous. It is one of the few TB figures still in my regular display, and for what it is, it is damn near perfection for my money in terms of looks. However, the BAF size is ginormous, and while there is certainly precedence for Apocalypse to be that big in the comics, it is pretty specific and specialized, so I never completely embraced it. If that figure was like, 9-10 inches tall, I would likely still be all set.
With those references, I can now say that this new Hasbro Apocalypse is my overall favorite attempt at the character, despite not being completely iconic in terms of look. Yes, the spirit of his most well-known styling is still there, and this one hits pretty close overall, so I am actually a lot better with all of it now that I have it in hand. I was nervous it took too many liberties with the design, but I everything has come together very nicely and at a size that is more consistent with En’s usual stature. He could be a *touch* taller to be sure, but I do not find the size inappropriate or egregious, so he is certainly not undersized. He is nice and wide, however, and I think that is a bit more important than adding another half inch or so to his height.
The design of the look has a modern feel to it, but retains a lot of the classic Apocalypse form. There are several blues in play here, and all of them have metallic luster to them that is appropriate for the character. I still don’t know what the points of the tubes are in the costume, but they are present here, and they can be removed if you feel so inclined. Oh, and they are mad of regular PVC plastic, not with rubber and bendy wire, in case there was any question. The “A” motif is gone from the collar with this look, but the belt buckle still sports it, just in case Apocalypse forgets his own name. Now, some of the pieces feel a little mixed and matched due to the varying textures. Like, some portions of the costume look like armor, some like pulled spandex, and a bit of something in between. The hands are very robotic for instance, and the arms are smooth after the gauntlets. It works, but it can be startling in the transitions at times.
The head sculpt is very nice, and definitely the most intimidating ML Apocalypse we have seen. He is PISSED to be sure, and he is gritting his teeth so hard, his bottom teeth are actually in front of his top teeth. It doesn’t look like a simple underbite of anything, so his jaw must be clinched so hard those choppers are about to shatter. I did not really notice it at first, but it is kind of hard to unsee. Not that it looks bad or anything, but it is kind of an odd choice. Regardless, the likeness and expression are great for Apocalypse, and this figure is going to look great on the shelf as a necessary and iconic foil to the X-Men. I am glad to have him.
Sure, I would have liked to have had some swappable arm attachments for Apocalypse, but overall, I think this figure is the perfect culmination of a highly impressive X-Men Marvel Legends series. Let’s face it, the X-waves have been CRUSHING ML and have been the best assortments of the past couple of years, so I am ready for Hasbro to blow the doors off of this corner of the Marvel universe. I love that we got to bring you an early look at this assortment, but the wait is going to SUCK before we can add them to our shelves permanently. Trust me, this is the definitely the wave to beat for ML this year, so let’s see some pre-orders open up already!
