Marvel Legends Professor X w/Hover Chair review

Charles Xavier, the head of the X-Men, and the father figure to many, represents numerous themes throughout the history of the Marvel Universe; from his belief in peace shared between mutant and non-mutant races as well as providing a welcoming shelter for younger mutants who were shunted by society, many would easily compare this man to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, as is the case with both nerd culture using this as a way to claim that life imitates art or just trying to combine two things together in an unusual way. I mean, there have been comparisons between Magneto and Malcolm X, though there is a reminder that Magneto is a whole lot more violent by comparison due to his pro-mutant anti-human bigotry. Anyways, when it comes to Marvel Legends, one would know how infrequent the man's appearances are; before this release, we did have the Toy Biz comic figure that basically used the first movie version's wheelchair yet has joints that aren't loose, and after this figure we'll cover in a moment came out, we got two movie versions based on Patrick Stewart's incarnation of the character (with the version coming with a movie Magneto also utilizing the James McAvoy head sculpt) as well as a fully black spandex suited iteration that was part of the Tri-Sentinel BAF wave. Let's see how this figure holds up, shall we?

As you see out of the box, some assembly is required for the hover chair. Between the halves of the chair, the cushions for the seat and back, and the blanket to keep Charles's immobile legs warm. You also have optional effect parts meant for the chair to hover as well as the Cerebro helmet with an effect part representing his mind capabilities. 

What you might not see, however, is the head of Shadow King, which was intended to go with your Kingpin BAF (or the single-carded version that recently had a reissue announced). For a brief character backstory, the Shadow King is a fellow psychic who wanted Charles to join his side despite his criminal history; also known as Amahl Farouk, he would later corrupt Karma in New Mutants #34, FBI Agent Jacob Reisz in X-Factor #69, and even joined the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants in Uncanny X-Force #10.

Here we have Charles Xavier in-hand, seen here standing up because it's easier to talk about the details of the figure in this case. The forest green suit is fitting for the character, as he is known to be a whole lot more pristine with his attire. This is one of the various business suit body molds used in Marvel Legends history, but this version should be noted for having the bottom of the jacket flare out a bit, while his tie touches the belt buckle, and the body frame is appropriately thin for a non-combat mutant like Prof. X. This is one of the pre-pinned joint releases, though the wrinkles and creases around the elbows and knees help them blend in alright.

The head sculpt represents one of the pre-refined face sculpts that adds a bit of realism to the likenesses of the comic Legends in ways reminiscent of the Toy Biz days. It's almost like it's halfway between the more life-like representations of the more recent Legends versus the ones we had in the mid-late 2010s. One of his eyebrows is arched upwards in a Spock-like fashion. The articulation is the same we've seen before on body molds like this, so I will cut to the chase and say that assembling the hover chair is actually not difficult in the slightest. There are even a few dedicated ports and crevices for the cushions to slide into. The flight stand isn't required for it to stand in place, though it is recommended for added stability.

Two panels within the arm rests can slide out to reveal a couple of controls, likely for access to some of the technology in his control room as well as communicating or moving the hover chair around. They're decently picked out in more than one color, so good job, Hasbro.

As for the helmet, Cerebro, it is a little annoying to put over the head (moreso from removing it), but at least it makes sense to have it work as a removable accessory since it was always meant to look a bit oversized compared to the helmets usually associated with characters like Iron Man or Ant-Man. It features an additional effect piece that is meant to represent him going "to me, my X-Men", but the effect part looks more like a pretty weird milk splatter (or something else that's white if you're being pervy). If we had the same effect part used from the Tri-Sentinel Prof. X, it would work a lot better.

Overall, this set is pretty good for what Hasbro is charging fans back in 2019. $40 for this compared to the added $10 we get nowadays for $50 Deluxe riders is pretty eye-opening (looking at you, 2023 Hawkeye). There's a pretty good deal we have going on for anyone who got this set back in the day, and I doubt that online listings via eBay or Mercari would be any easy to buy from considering the aftermarket prices shot up double, if not, triple the original MSRP. He's making me want to use the rest of the X-Men in a display inspired by the '90s, if only I had a bigger backdrop than my current one...

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐