Here we have Blade in-hand, based on the modified armor he wears in the movie. It's a decent take on what he usually wears in the original trilogy, even if I prefer the sleeveless arms and trenchcoat look more. That being said, I'm not sure if the proportions for this figure are 100% accurate to the physique Wesley Snipes had during filming. I know he aged in the 20 years since Blade Trinity came out, but the proportions on this figure are comparable to what the tiger stripe Wolverine figure had, only less noticeable here because it's predominantly black. The arms should have a little more density in them, and the hips, though not as bad as on that awful Wolverine I talked about, shouldn't stick out like that. Also while the paint apps are decent on the figure, the suit should appear less pristine and more worn out with a wash so it wouldn't be this shiny black. On the flip side, he has fingerless gloves this time rather than fully covering his hands. So while it does the broad strokes mostly fine it's far from perfect and I have a hunch this dude was made by the same person who made the awful Tobey Spidey, even if this is nowhere near as abominable.
Head sculpt is okay for a likeness to 2024 Wesley Snipes, and he thankfully manages to look good even in an older age; that said the white on the side of the hair is meant to be accurate to the movie yet but looks like a paint mistake. I would have rather it be non-existent because it looks random on a guy who generally still looks young-ish for a man in his 60s. Articulation consists of a double ball neck joint, shoulders on a rotary joint similar to a McFarlane DC Multiverse figure, outward arm movement, bicep rotation, double jointed elbows, wrists swivel as well as either hinge up and down or in and out, and a torso that has passable diaphragm range and an average waist twist. Hips work as standard for Legends, thighs rotate, knees are double jointed, and the ankles are able to hinge and pivot. His weapons include a dagger type of knife and a gun, both of which can slide into their respective sheath and holster.
The sunglasses on the figure slide on decently, and while I wish they could stay on more securely, they at least strengthen the Wesley Snipes likeness better than without them. Especially for the second face when he does that grin. For a comparison spanning between 2 decades, here he is with the ToyBiz version. Both wear different kinds of tactical armor, one is sleeveless, the other used more red, both are merch based on the only one Blade. However, I stand that the ToyBiz version holds up decently, and it does some things better than Hasbro with the value for money we used to get, the likeness being good for an older figure, and having more paint to accentuate the sculpt beyond specific costume details.
Who does the better likeness to Wesley Snipes? Keep in mind one was meant to represent him in the late 90s/early 2000s while the other is an aged version from 2 years ago, but it's great that ToyBiz was able to capture the look of the actor while sculpting the figure by hand rather than using the face-scan CAD files commonly used nowadays. This is even better executed than the likenesses used for the X2 and Spider-Man 2 figures, likely because Blade was meant to be more higher end than either movie's 6-inch figure line. Will Hasbro do a trilogy Blade that is even better than the ToyBiz version? We'll see, but I know including it with the bike means the price will go up.
And as for Laura, aka X-23, she has gotten older since we last saw her in Logan, learning from the skills she briefly got from her dying "father" during the escape from mutant purges before having her universe set to be pruned by Cassandra Nova (aka a har har Disney is making other universes non-canon moment). I don't know if she reuses any parts from existing figures in the MCU waves, maybe America Chavez or some other throwaway character the comics made a bigger deal about than needed. Like Blade, she could use a wash to make the clothes somewhat worn in appearance, but at least the sleeveless shirt, combined with the two-tone nature of the jacket and pants with the black SAVAGE shirt underneath, makes this figure feel slightly less cheap than Blade does. A negative I have is that the arms could go down a bit more, because as it stands, she looks either like she's bloated when she isn't or her arms are appear much longer when they're normal length.
Her head sculpt is thankfully done very well, and possibly better than Blade's thanks to Dafne Keen being much younger and likely easier to translate than a man 3 times older than her. She has that eternally stern look to her that fits someone who's been cloned from Logan's DNA and is now having to deal with living with the Others in a dimension far unlike what she once resided in. Her articulation is generally good, but it suffers from the joints being too flexible, and the bicep pegs almost want to bend while indirectly forcing the arms off by accident. Why are we still having this issue with your joints, Hasbro? Also, if you want to give her the clawed hands, be sure to watch over the little rubber rings that complete the look. I nearly lost one of them while trying to look into how the arms look gloveless. Further more, wouldn't it be funny if Hasbro actually gave us swappable shoes so she can be displayed without the toe claws constantly? At least she has some cool shades like the ones she stole in the convenience store.
She also comes with the helmet of Juggernaut, likely meant to be used to save our titular duo by putting it over Cassandra's bald head. Maybe Hasbro is teasing us with a future figure meant for that dude but good luck making people patient thanks to the price hikes! She does have a backpack that may also be reused from somewhere else. Color of choice is appropriate but once again no paint.
Here she is with her fellow Logan cast members, and it's crazy I haven't pulled them out for so long. While Laura is no longer a little girl like she was in the movie she appeared in, I at least appreciate that she can fit in well enough with her as much as she does the Others (minus anyone yet to be made). Honestly, I really wanted to like both Blade and X-23, but they each have their own issues that keeps me from recommending them 100% at normal retail price. Blade has some weird arm proportions going on, Laura's joints feel cheap as hell, and both could use more paint in addition to more refined articulation than the range they currently have. I don't regret buying them at discounted prices, so I will make two ratings for them: on clearance, they are easier to accept like getting figures loose in a job lot. At normal price, they show how Hasbro is far from reliable when it comes to delivering quality while raising prices.
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (at discount for both)
⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (at normal MSRP)
No comments:
Post a Comment