Let's go in reverse order to cover figures I covered in the past two years right away. Of course, Doctor Doom deserves to be first when it comes to taking the spotlight. This figure is yet another reuse of the buck first utilized back in the Super Skull BAF wave, with a shade of green and grey similar to this. This was already a great mold when I reviewed the retro version, and having this is also a treat. Deco differences appear to be minor, though the biggest addition is a cloth goods cape rather than one made out of a flexible material. While a great deviation from prior versions, I kind of wish Hasbro would experiment with the wired capes McFarlane has worked on of late. It does make me wonder why only Doom got to have a cloth cape while Taskmaster is stuck with the more traditional materials Hasbro uses normally. In any case, an alternate display option we'll get to may explain why the cape is cloth. The higher saturation on classic Doom is already great, but this works even better for a more sinister Doom a la Ultimate Alliance, for example.
His head sculpt, mostly covered by the hood, is the same as the more classic mask design Doom is associated with, though the hood appears to belong to the Super Skull version's alternate head with an angrier mask design. Also, the way the head is made seems to be a bit bothersome if there appears to be some odd QC. Either the way the mask is glued onto the head makes it look off, or the paint apps for the grille mouth are wonky. His articulation is unchanged, including the neck's multi-jointed capabilities thanks to the combination of a ball joint, a disk hinge, and a dumbbell neck joint that provides even further range. The rest of the articulation is standard for the Legends line, though he has one dumbbell waist joint to not disrupt the torso sculpt. More info can be found in my old review of him from years ago, but he does have his gun as a remaining accessory.
By removing the cape and the hooded head, you can add the Doombot head for an option to represent this figure as an army builder. Only issue is that to even come up with an army of Doombots, you'd end up with multiples of Iron Patriot and Taskmaster. Of note, the cape is removable by detaching the golden neck brace where the two legs attach onto while the cape is worn. The back also reveals some jet boosters that one would normally ignore if they wouldn't look underneath the cape, and you could even use the blast effects from Iron Patriot if you really want to.
Here he is next to classic Doom, I like how Doom still rocks the look regardless if his colors are gritty or vibrant. The new version lacks the books and effect parts, however. Regardless, if you never got a Legends Doom and are also interested in getting the next two figures, then this character alone would do be enough to justify the purchase, though it depends on how affordable the set is.
Up next, we have Iron Patriot. A heavy retool of the Extremis Iron Man figure we had last year, the figure retains the same, lean proportions that would set the standard for Iron Man designs in the MCU since 2008. If you're more familiar with the Iron Patriot design seen in Iron Man 3, then you should be aware of how different the deco layout is, having more of a balance between the red and blue rather than be prominently blue while the red joints the white as accents. If there is one issue I should mention, it's that my copy of IP has two right thighs, which the seller I received the set from neglected to mention. Your copy shouldn't have the issue mine has. I do wish, however, that the colors were more metallic. While some would argue the flat colors match the comic art, it does make the reds and whites look toyetic compared to Extremis Iron Man.
His helmet has also been modified, looking somewhat evil with the narrower and angular eyes in addition to the black lines on the white face. If only there were aligned better, especially the line underneath the mouth slit. Articulation is the same as with Extremis Iron Man, though the legs can go inwards more than the original tooling could while the arms move outwards less. In addition to the blast effects mentioned earlier, he has repulser-blasting hands to accommodate those.
He also features a head representing Norman Osborn. Yes, THE Norman Osborn. While the MCU would use Spider-Man villains Vulture and Mysterio as disgruntled Stark employees was a dumb way of trying to connect them further into the MCU, but having a dude best known as the Green Goblin don an Iron Man suit after his heroism during the Secret Invasion is an unexpected arc for someone infamously responsible for the night Gwen Stacy died. His eyes look rather tired, likely due to the Goblin within trying to corrupt him again. For a comparison with Extremis Iron Man, you can see how much retooling was applied on the head, upper torso, shoulders, biceps, and thighs. I always appreciate it when an Iron Man suit that has entirely different colors has new tooling to accompany it, though the shoulder movement in terms of outwards range as well as the colors could be better. And while Extremis was all marbleized plastic, at least it looked metallic in some regard. Either way, at least it doesn't smell like Norman's hair gel. Shout out to UMvC3.
Finally, here we have the character/design/sculpture that is new to me. Taskmaster, as mentioned above, is a unique mutant with photogenic memory capable of copying numerous fighting styles, which makes the included arsenal combined with his badass costume design and color scheme all the more distinctive among other Marvel villains. This figure uses pinless joints, implemented better here than on other figures. The costume's details are mostly painted on, but the harness, belt, holster, left thigh strap, and cape are either new or reused. The quiver is glued onto the cape, which is not made of cloth like on Doom. My guess is that either Hasbro wanted to save money on reusing parts from a prior figure with this cape and quiver combo, or they weren't sure about how to make a cloth cape with two colors work. Again, McFarlane Toys, love them or hate them, did make it work with the Batman Forever Robin figure, and even if it's not going to be wired, it is possible for Taskmaster to have his cape be cloth and use both colors.
Much like Doom, the head sculpt utilizes a masked head under a hood, with a skull nicely detailed thanks to an implemented wash in addition to the shadows surrounding the eyeholes' piercing yellow pupils. It's more on the digital side than it is done by hand, but I'll be more than happy to have this than NO wash. Articulation is the same with other characters, though Taskmaster has the traditional ab crunch and waist swivel combo in addition to butterfly joints. Annoyingly, the head pops off rather too easily whenever I try turning it left and right, which is either from a QC issue with the socket or there was a problem with the cape clashing with the hood. He can be posed holding a sword and shield, though the weapon-holding right hand has the trigger finger posed. The shield, matching the belt buckle, also clips on the wrist like with any Captain America we previously had. My copy's sword appears to be bent and suffers from paint issues, which may be either an isolated issue or is a common problem.
Also much like Doom, he has a gun in a holster, though it doesn't need to be unbuttoned from the handle. Alternatively, the bow and arrow combo can be utilized, with one of the arrows separate from the rest of the set requiring you try wedging it into the right hand for a fairly convincing pose. It's an issue that Hasbro either does well or not so well, especially given the history of giving action figures bow and arrows but with no definitive way to pose them firing the arrow without parts falling off.
Overall, this manages to be a strong set with a few issues that could be fixed. Doctor Doom works about as fine as the original apart from the somewhat wonky mouth grille, while Iron Patriot could really benefit from better shoulder range and metallic colors. The thigh misassembly is an issue only on my copy, so you won't have that issue unless you are also unlucky. As for Taskmaster, this may be the more definitive version of the character in a classic form, but I know there are ways to improve on the figure if you remember the neck articulation and implement a cloth cape. Regardless, this selection of characters makes for a strong 3-pack, and it's one I do recommend so long as you find it for a reasonable price in spite of the issues they each have.
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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