We'll start the review by release date order, which gives Doctor Strange the spotlight. This figure uses mostly new tooling, though I have a hunch the cape and legs might have been reused from an earlier figure. Doctor Strange's classic costume has been seen in a light similar to Steve Ditko's work on Spider-Man, where they're both given this unique attribute to help them stand out from other superheroes with added details you wouldn't normally find on other superhero costumes. With Spider-Man, it's the combination of the color layout, the web pattern, and the lenses that make him an iconic superhero design. With Doctor Strange, the more fantasy-driven elements of his stories give him the two-tone Cloak of Levitation, with a majestic collar implemented over the blue robes, with sleeves rolled up to reveal snazzy cheetah-pattern gloves with a skirt-like area separated by a yellow belt and an abstract symbol that could have been more visible. The black legs being skinnier than the rest is a reminder that Strange isn't as muscular as other Marvel superheroes, which is fitting for someone who uses magic instead of strength. While there is no shading in the figure, it doesn't look as plasticky as other Marvel Legends figures tend to be; somehow, it's a feat that a character wearing primary colors and black avoided.
His head sculpt is done marvelously, capturing the silver/bronze age aesthetics of the character without reusing any Tony Stark heads, especially since Stephen Strange himself has his own unique hairdo and facial details that aren't the exact same as the billionaire inventor. He even has the gray hair streaks commonly found on Mr. Fantastic. The praise this figure gets for the face sculpt should be a reminder that Hasbro tends to excel the best with their faces, even on some weaker figures of late; this version of Strange is a better toy than a good chunk of recent Hasbro Legends, though. His articulation consists of the standard ball joint and neck hinge combo (which is fine for this figure), shoulder rotation, outward arm movement, bicep rotation, double-jointed elbows, wrist rotation, wrist hinges, an ab-crunch, a waist swivel, ball-jointed hips with decent range within the skirt, thigh rotation below the hips, double-jointed knees, and ankle hinges as well as rocker joints. Popping the wrists off and attaching the reused magic effect pieces adds one of the few display options possible for this version of Strange; while they're not new pieces, they are at least fitting for the character and are in a fairly new color scheme. They also fit well with the spellbinding hands, which are thankfully not reused from a Spider-Man figure.
His other accessories include an alternate head with his eyes closed, likely for when he needs to focus while preparing a powerful spell. His left hand can be swapped for a fisted hand, adding more character to this toy. Alternatively, his right hand can be swapped to hold one of his two accessories, with it having a so-so grip on the Wand of Watoomb, a signature attribute of his as a sorcerer, and a blue mask head that may have people think is the fourth comic book Blue Men Group member (joining TASM2 Electro, Watchmen's Dr. Manhattan, and Mr Freeze from Batman & Robin), but it is from a time when Strange wore the blue mask to hide his identity during a time when his identity was stolen, requiring him to conceal his face and defeat Asmodeus. People would think of it as a weird thing for him to do, but it is a reminder that the earlier days of comic book writing weren't the exact same as they are today. Though there was less corporate interference and poor handling of politics back then.
The Axe of Angarruumus is badass as hell, and fitting for someone who utilizes magic given its witch crypt origins. Sadly, the grip on it isn't that great, either. Annoyingly, Hasbro does yet another big mistake by using a bare skin hand and molding it in the same colors as his gloves. You can just barely see the fingernails on there, and it's annoying since the other gloves look like they're fine as they are!
Alternative versions of a comic Strange depict the one on the left being his appearance in the 90s Spider-Man animated series, and the one on the right being part of the 2016 Dormammu wave Doctor Strange, depicting him in a more modern costume with outdated face printing and sculptwork compared to the version released in 2022. I personally like the 2022 version the most given how it color scheme fits Strange the most. The 2016 version definitely felt like a second-rate priority for Hasbro given their tendency to prioritize the MCU figures, while the recent animated version of Doctor Strange feels weird as hell. And as much as I love the 1994 Spider-Man series and its depiction of the character, I always felt the use of lavender was a bit weird. I should mention that this aforementioned version is included in a 2-pack with Morbius, probably a reminder of when they both had movies in 2022...and the fact that one got memed on and the other felt way more studio-interfered than Spider-Man 3.
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
As for Blade, this figure was released in the Mindless One BAF wave. It's no secret that his appearances of late steer more to the Wesley Snipes portrayal, a feat that predates the way Marvel always makes their characters match the MCU versions in both design AND roster; that being said, Blade's defense is at least not due to corporate-approved evergreen artwork that isn't recycled 60s comic art, instead utilizing Snipes as inspiration to make the character more interesting. Obviously not 1:1 to the same portrayal due to it being a comic figure. The figure reuses the torso from the previous version of Blade while the arms are from X-Factor Havok. The trenchcoat I feel may be reused from an existing figure, and the legs may be new to better fit the character design of Blade. The torso reuse does make sense given how the armor became a signature design trait of Blade, but the arms, combined with the jacket being a stiffer material, cannot go all the way down. As we'll get to, they're also really annoying to pose due to these factors. The rest of the figure does look presentable at least, especially with the black plastic not requiring too much shading or brushwork.
His head sculpt is an open mouth expression flashing his vampire fangs, which is done much better than I expected. I also appreciate that the shades are molded in place, since I bet Hasbro wouldn't do this facial expression justice if his eyes were exposed. That being said, I wish he came with an alternate head for a neutral face with the mouth closed. His articulation is about the same as Strange's, though the aforementioned arms aren't as as easy to pose compared to the legs. He can hold his katana decently in his open hands, though the glaves and stakes, fitting for a daywalker, stay held in place in varying degrees.
The prior versions of Blade made by Hasbro are not the exact same as this figure, with the one on the left being the 2017 Man-Thing BAF wave version ditching his trenchcoat, and the one on the right being a chase figure that WAS to replace the Punisher in the Epic Heroes wave before it was canceled for reasons unknown. The former was where the torso was originally from, though the ret of the figure was reportedly criticized due to its proportions being somewhat wonky. As for the latter, I don't know why Hasbro didn't even give it an international release as some of the other chase variants had in the Epic Heroes waves. For anyone wondering, the term "Epic Heroes" comes from a brief moment where Hasbro didn't include BAF parts and instead had generic display bases. This one did come with guns that both of the later Blades should have come with. As for the one we recently got, it is good but there is room for improvement, mostly with the accessories and the shoulder articulation.
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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