Action Figure Review: Marvel Girl from Marvel Legends Series: X-Men by Hasbro

 

   Like I said in yesterday's review of the Tony Stark (A.I.) figure from the Shang Chi/ Mr. Hyde series, I'm much more familiar with older Marvel comics stuff than I am anything newer. I have no idea what House of X is about but I do plan to read it now that I've been reading a lot more Marvel stuff, particularly X-Men, lately. I absolutely know who Marvel Girl is, though, and I was pretty excited to see this figure on shelves. While it appears that this figure is based on the rather recent House of X storyline and Grey has gone back to using one of her older costumes and her original codename I just picked this up because it's a great looking classic Jean Grey. I'm currently reading the X-Men Epic Collection volume 3 (1968-early 1970) and this is the outfit Jean's wearing throughout most of that book. I dig the old school comic styles and while she's not going to replace the main Jean Grey in my collection (the Jim Lee/ animated series styled Jean Grey from the "Love Triangle" 3-pack) I'm happy to put her on my shelf of cool variants. This figure is part of an X-Men series completely based on the House of X books which is pretty interesting. I can't think of many Marvel Legends series of figures completely based on such a new story. Yeah, new movies and TV shows usually get a full series but it's rare to see that happen with the comics. It's kind of cool, though. Let's take a look at Marvel Girl after the break...

The Facts:

Height: 5 7/8ths inches

Articulation: Swivel/hinge ankles, double hinged knees, swivel thighs, ball jointed hips, ball jointed waist, swivel/ hinge shoulders, swivel/hinge elbows, swivel/hinge wrists, hinged neck, and a ball jointed head.

Accessories: 4 interchangeable hands, Krakoan flower, and the right leg of the Tri-Sentintel build-a-figure.

Non-Scalper Price: $20 dollars

The Positives:

* I actually had the 2007 Walmart exclusive 2-pack with Cable and Marvel Girl at one point but this Marvel Girl is way better. jean looks fantastic and Hasbro really did a wonderful job with Jean's fashionable 1960's dress and her bright colors. The green and the yellow on her look amazing as do her gloves and her X-logo belt.

* From the waist up Marvel Girl has excellent articulation. Not as good as some figures, sure, but she's got some solid movement. I mean, she's not a martial arts character or anything, so she doesn't need the "butterfly" shoulders, but she can take some fine poses to depict her throwing out shapes while using her telekinetic abilities. 

* Marvel Girl comes with two pairs of hands. You get some standard fists and some of the magical gesturing hands. They swap easily and allow some variance in posing her.

 * Jean comes with a flower from Krakoa that comes in a really cool futuristic pot. Think they sell something like this at IKEA? The flower is nicely detailed with some purple petals and it is actually a separate piece from the pot. The flower is removable from the pot, so I guess you could have her give it to someone. It's a cool accessory though, again, not being familiar with the storyline this figure is from I have no idea of its significance.

The Negatives:

   Marvel Girl really is a gorgeous figure with great colors, a solid design, and a beautiful headsculpt, but the limited articulation from her skirt is just a major bummer. When I think of the 1960s' superheros I think expressive characters in bold, dynamic poses, but there really aren't many poses Jean can take. The skirt really could have been made from a softer, more flexible material to allow for some give when posing her. She'll look fine on your shelf in a static pose and she has a really cool flower accessory but it's tough to recommend her as a really solid figure. I'd still give her a Good and a 1/2 but she deserves better!