Here we have Stryfe in-hand. Straight away, he is the best figure out of the set. While he does have that marbleized plastic look to his metallic body armor, it isn't as bad as with other cases. The figure retains that sinister yet over the top spikitude and majesty that befits a mutant like himself. For a brief bio on who Stryfe is, he is an evil clone of Nathan Summers, aka Cable; initially planned as a replacement of the real Cable should he die, a small cult from an alternate future lost custody of him from Apocalypse. This would later result in a corrupted contrast from Cable's issues in resisting the techno virus as Stryfe himself has no such disease in him and instead goes with a fully armored look no doubt given to him by Apocalypse as a disciple of sorts. While the armor is already great-looking, I appreciate that the cape, in spite of lacking any real shading, at least has a majestic flair to it with the fabric creases sculpted into it. He also has pinless joints, and is the only figure (that is a reused sculpt) to have them in this set.
His head sculpt may have the parts all flexible to prevent damage, at least retains those pointed fins and crown-like design that is ridiculous yet fits for a comic book look to a character like Stryfe. I am concerned on the parts being a little more flexible, even if the bottom points are to help the neck joints work better if the head were to look down. Speaking of, showcasing his clawed open hands, his articulation consists of a ball and hinge, combo for the neck, shoulder rotation inhibited by the pads, outward arm movement, bicep rotation, double jointed elbows, wrist rotation and inward hinges, an ab crunch and waist swivel, ball jointed hips, thigh swivels, double jointed knees, and feet that can hinge as well as pivot.
For a comparison with his template and the 2014 Toys R Us-exclusive Jubilee BAF wave version, the first photo is mine and includes last year's Cable and the second pic is courtesy of Shartimus Prime's comparison. I appreciate that both characters are now more eye level than they were with the 2014 version, who has a more modern look with a downplayed helmet and shorter thighs than what the new one has. It's a much better version of the character than the original, and is easily the best offering out of the whole set. That being said, a better painted sword would have been nice, Hasbro.
Stryfe's ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Up next, we have Pretty Boy. For a brief bio on him, he is a cyborg that not only was a member of the Reavers but was also an Australian terrorist who used his cybernetic abilities at his advantage, including digital interfacing and mine control. Though he is a brief villain, the appeal in a Terminator with the facial skin remaining might have led Hasbro to making character as obscure as him. It isn't as skeletal as a T-800, with the midriff only being the skinniest part of the figure. Being a new sculpt that would likely be impossible to repurpose as any other character makes me wonder why Hasbro wouldn't put this in a mainline wave as with Stryfe. Once again, we have the marbleized plastic effect on the body, though it is also not as prominent as with other figures in the Legends line (cough 2023 Ultron, cough Stilt-Man BAF). Considering how the design doesn't go for a live-action look as seen with the likes of some MCU characters who are robots or wear exosuits, so the balance of sculpted detailing and comic simplicity is appreciative. There is. About of deco in some of the circuits, though not to the extent that Toy Biz would normally add with a wash. It should be also worth mentioning that there is a bit of sprue tree leftovers on the figure...QC error number 1.
His head sculpt is interestingly Superman-esque. I'm probably pulling something out of my ass but he has the hair curl and the facial structure that makes him reminiscent of the post-Crisis look that Superman is usually associated with. His hair is a very dark brown so it probably would only match Brandon Routh (albeit without a face as chiseled as a real person). I want to do some face swaps with a certain Superman figure in the near future. His articulation is largely the same as Strife's, though he has a diaphragm joint so he could actually tilt to the side given his body frame. I wish he has another ball joint at the bottom to have even better flexibility. I also wish his left ankle rockers wasn't either causing the peg to flex or work in a certain direction better than the other. QC error number 2! He may not have any alternate parts for his limb extensions, but he does have two different guns with a pair of blasts or smoke effects. While he does have some QC issues, I should at least clarify that it is related to my copy of this set, and hopefully isn't a widespread issue (assuming there are no other QC issues). The overall execution of Pretty Boy make him the second best figure out of the whole set, and while he isn't as good as Stryfe, he is at least a unique sculpt overall and comes with more accessories than anyone else in the box.
Pretty Boy's ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Up next, we got Random, aka Marshall Evan Stone III. He was an experiment by Dark Beast that resulted in a shape shifting bounty hunter after escaping from him and abandoning his name of Alex. He was also someone usually against X-Factor but would occasionally be an ally of theirs. A villain with a bandana, shades, a biker outfit, and tattoos sounds like a great idea for a Marvel Legends figure, especially one who can then his arm into a triple barrel cannon, yet the execution we have here leaves a lot to be desired. In terms of positives, the tattoos look great, and it's a miracle they're not muddled by any factory errors. The paint apps added on the leather jacket's zippers could have been skipped yet they are appreciative. And the literal cannon itself a neat touch, but the sculpt is let down by now skinny he is. Sure, he has the musculature needed for the character, but the physique is nothing like in the comics. Hasbro gets criticized for how petite some characters end up being compared to their comic influences, yet none are as horrific as a juxtaposition as this. He normally has a very wide upper body huge arms, bulk in the legs, and a small head to exaggerate his proportions. It works for the character, and what we end up with is more like a cosplayer than anything! I also hate how despite there being some paint apps for thetattoos and jacket, a wash would have helped define his musculature much better (same goes for the chain in his left bicep).
His head sculpt is almost drops the ball with how it also resembles a dude with white face paint dipped on him and some inexplicable lip stick for his Random cosplay. It's not supposed to look this square, especially if he's supposed to have that Duke Nukem esque aggression around the cheeks and chin if that makes sense. Somehow, Pretty Boy looks better than this. His articulation is basically the same as Stryfe's, yet not even the honking cannon could make his physique look cool in any dynamic pose.
The old ToyBiz figure may be dated in sculpt and articulation, yet the proportions better match Random than the Legends one wished it could. We need this exaggerated, larger than life body frame that gives him some extra presence among the many mutants in the Marvel universe, and I'd argue making him a BAF or a Deluxe figure with alternate arms and some effect pieces to simulate his shooting from his hands would have done wonders. Have some fun with a weird concept for a mutant like him, anything! As it stands, the Random we end up getting is more like "Thindom".
The Hasbro Random we ended up with looks like a very amateur custom, but I'd argue that these examples customs of the character do a much better job at presenting his proportions, even if they aren't to the extent of the old toy.
Random's ranking: ⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
As for Vertigo, she is a Savage Land primitive who would later become a mutate. She has the ability to make others dizzy to the point of making them unconscious. She was later part of the Marauders under command by Mister Sinister before getting killed by the X-Men and having clones of herself. You may have spotted versions of her in the 90s animated series as well as Wolverine & the X-Men. Now is this figure any good? For positives, the deco is fine for the swirlies and the fact they're opaque against the white. That's it. This uses the Psylocke body, which was fine for the time it first came out, yet we have new bucks that have the needed comic book proportions on top of the pinless joints AND double-jointed elbows common on female figures. As it stands, and while I love the crisp deco on her, I wish Hasbro would have sculpted a bit of a raised detail to make the top of her spandex suit look ever so slightly raised in relief to separate itself from her bare skin. As it is, this is no different from a basic cosplay.
Her head sculpt may seem new, but what if I told you that it was reused from the Invisible Woman figure that was part of the Super Skull BAF wave? I would claim that it's a clever idea on Hasbro's end, but I would choke on those words given how the entire figure is pure reuse. Also, no shading for the hair so it looks like green frosting. Articulation mostly the same, except she has single jointed elbows and swivels above those. She also has just the diaphragm joint but no ab crunch. Once again, we could have avoided this outdated buck if Hasbro used the updated tooling to do this character an extra bit of justice. Oh and she has alternate hands. I think I already explained everything I needed to with a figure that is as cheap as Bucky Cap reuse duo Blizzard and Eel from a decade ago.
Vertigo's ranking: ⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
And last but absolutely least, we have Zero. Which is probably suitable because he has no real deco, no real value to him, and no interesting design traits beyond those O's. Sure, he may be an Ambient-energy Damping Automated peacekeeping Mechanism, or ADAM for short, that was later corrupted by Stryfe from the same timeline he hailed from, but a generic reuse of a figure that should have had those fabric creases removed. I'm positive it's either Spider-UK or Bucky Cap, but this has very little going for it. Sure, he is a naked robot with as much detail in him as a non-descript CG figure from those old tech demos, but with how smooth the head is, surely the same could have been done for the rest of the body. Keep the muscles and ditch the creases.
He only comes with a pair of open hands and a portal effect likely reused from a Doctor Strange figure. That is the best thing about a figure that is otherwise as worthwhile as a freebie. Sure, he has great articulation, but so does every other Legends figure. Sure, he has alternate hands, but so does almost every Legends figure. Sure, he has the portal piece, but I'm sure you could find it from some arguably better figures by Hasbro (or in my case, MAFEX's Tobey Spidey). And while he does work as a cronie for Stryfe, it just makes him an otherwise needless toy on his own. What are you, a complimentary piece?!
Spot's ranking: ⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Overall, this set is ABSOLUTELY NOT worth the $125 price tag it once went for. Other than Stryfe and Pretty Boy, this is one of the worst purchases I would have ever made if I went for that greedy amount. If you were able to get it for less than $50 like I did, then consider yourself lucky for how much easier of a price it is to stomach the low effort on 60% of this set. I would have preferred Stryfe as a regular release for being better than the 2014 version, and Pretty Boy was much better than I anticipated despite being a niche dude. Random should have had a more exaggerated build to fit his shape shifting nature, Vertigo should have used the new female buck, and Zero should have been a freebie. As it stands, the figures still suck, but I feel way less ripped off at nearly $50.
Overall ranking (for the discounted sale): ⭐⭐⭐⭐.25 out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Overall ranking (at full price): ⭐⭐.8 out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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