Marvel Legends: Giant Man BAF Civil War Wave 2016
What I thought was going to be a quiet weekend action figure wise got flipped on it’s head a little bit when an amazing box from Hasbro showed up on my doorstep.  With a very special thanks to Hasbro and Litsky PR, I am thrilled to present to you this review of the Marvel Legends: Giant Man BAF Civil War wave.  The Captain America Civil War Wave with Giant Man Build-A-Figure comes to MUReview in an incredibly timely manner.  We are about 10 days away from the theatrical release of the film of nearly the same name, and you could say “the kids are pretty excited about it”.  As a rule I observe from experience, I generally stay away from movie toy lines (except Star Wars…that’s a little different), but I’m glad this wave didn’t stay away from me, because it defies all of the common movie toy stereotypes of limited articulation, limited detail, rush to market to meet the movie.  This line serves to do what Hasbro has done with just about each and every incremental wave of Marvel Legends since and before the relaunch a few years back, push the envelope, move the ball forward, and give us amazing figures.  I have lots and lots of things to say about this set of figures, so read on brothers and sisters!

Captain America

The Good

  • Make no mistake, in all things Civil War, I’m Team Cap.  I’m a big Iron Man fan, but in both the MCU and Comic world, I know Tony Stark’s transgressions to be too many to discount and right has always been in Steve Rogers wheel house.  This has nothing to do with the figure.  I don’t care.  Team Cap till I die.
  • Every movie, Captain America’s uniform has evolved and the figures right along with it.  Exceptional detail, clean paint, molded on pieces that make the figure pop.
  • I’m stuck on the depth of detail here.  Around his star, molding on the legs, this is a very well crafted figure.
  • The shield is movie accurate and beautiful.  The “leather” straps on the shield further lend to the movie accuracy and the shield fits very well on Cap’s arm.

The Bad

  • No inclusion of an open hand / alt hand for shield flinging action.
  • No option to back mount Cap’s shield.
  • I’d love to see an unmasked head for swap in as was done with….

 

Black Panther

The Good

  • In the opinion of many, one which I share, mostly, Black Panther is the belle of the wave.  It doesn’t help you understand the figure, but I’d like to open this section by saying…damn, he’s cool.
  • We have another figure where the mold and depth is out of this world.  So many fine details layered onto the Black Panther.  From head to toe, there really isn’t a piece of him that isn’t textured or layered with incredible detail.
  • Kitty cat claw hand poses are awesome.
  • Included alternate head shows a highly detailed, very solid likeness to Chadwick Boseman, so much so that it’s actually a tough decision on how to display…with mask or without.
  • Black Panther features a slightly thinnger all around body and legs which allow for a higher level of flexibility than with most of the rest of the figures in this wave, and for the character, it is very much appreciated.

The Bad

  • This is a gorgeous figure, I don’t even have anything to nitpick about here.  Maybe making the sku on his thigh be somewhere else, or less bright?  That’s all I got here.


Iron Man

The Good

  • While I’m Team Cap, I freaking love Iron Man and always have.  For all the reasons that I’m on Team Cap, and for all the reasons that he’s just awesome, he’s a long time favorite and I’m still to this day getting over the high of seeing the Silver Centurion armor on the big screen in Iron Man 3.   Dear Hasbro…can I please have that movie armor in Legends scale 3 or 6 inch? Please?
  • Another perfect movie adaptation of a fantastic Iron Man armor.  Again, as in the movies, the armors continue to evolve, have new and neat tricks, fine detail, additional pops of color and metal, and they are all right here in plastic.
  • The layered depth on Iron Man’s chest around the arc reactor is just begging to be lifted up so you can take out the arc reactor.  It looks so real!
  • I really need to buy a flight stand, because Iron Man would look fantastic with the hand repulsors taking flight…I almost got it by trick of angle, but…not quite.
  • This figure, as with all the rest features exceptional depth and detail.  Everything carved into Iron Mans armor is staggering, the lines, the rivets, attention to detail is staggering.

The Bad

  • I feel like a new rule should be implemented (see Cap notes too), when you have a masked character that is as popular unmasked as not, we should also get an unmasked head for swapping.
  • I haven’t seen the movie yet and I haven’t gotten a good full body look at Iron Man, but the way the lower legs are presented here look a little chunky to me.  Almost straight from the knee down.   It’s entirely possible this is dead on with the movie and not a figure complaint at all, but it looks a little off to me.

 

Nick Fury

The Good

  • This is my Nick Fury, the one I grew up with and I can never get enough of him in action figure format.  I have nothing but love for Ultimate Nick or Sam Jackson Nick, in fact I’m a HUGE fan of Sam Jackson Nick, but this Nick here, this is my nostalgia place.  He makes me feel okay about having mostly white / gray hair on the side of my head.
  • When a figure comes with a gun that has an empty and use-able holster, that makes me really REALLY happy.
  • A slew of alternate heads make Nick Fury the “you gotta buy 3” …or more of the wave.  Each head is finely detailed.  We get traditional Nick Fury, Dirk Anger and a helmeted shield agent head (army building!!)
  • Nick’s body is well articulated and supports a bunch of fun action poses.

The Bad

  • It’s probably for family friendly reasons, but come on, can I get a cigar for the finest SHIELD has to offer?
  • The gun on his chest strap is molded into the strap.  I would have loved it if it were another removable weapon.

 

Nuke

The Good

  • Nuke is big…smaller only than Giant Man in this wave, and GM is the BAF, but the extra bulk does well for this bad boy.
  • Fine detailed sculpt, specifically on the alt bald head with a piece of the face chipped out showing a robotic skull underneath.  I don’t remember the story line where this particular thing happened to Nuke, but I love the look!
  • Nuke has a knife.  His knife has a back scabbard.  Yaaaay!! Love it!

The Bad

  • Paint is a little sloppy around some of his belt buckles.
  • It’d be cool if some of his grenades were removable and he could hold them for chucking.

 

Red Guardian

The Good

  • I have always loved the Red Guardian and I’m thrilled to have him in this scale looking quite this pretty.
  • RG has a more traditional action figure included shield with a peg and wrist clasp.  While the wrist clasps seem to widen and loosen over time, having the back peg is awesome to back mount the shield!
  • Perfect paint, perfect color, the deco is outstanding.
  • Hasbro nailed the boots!
  • Hasbro also nailed the commie mohawk.

The Bad

  • Love this figure, no complaints.  …wait…one.  I want him in 3.75″ scale with this deco and the round red shield!


Giant Man

The Good

  • It all leads up to this doesn’t it?  The big man, Giant Man if you will.  It is with this figure that (pun intended), everything comes together very nicely.  The figure is sturdy and does assemble easily.
  • Now…this doesn’t look like any Giant Man I’ve ever seen in the comics.  That’s because it’s the Giant Man (Ant Man) from Cap Civil War coming out in a few days to theaters and what not.  But he’s called Giant Man and we only know Ant Man…so does Paul Rudd get some new super powers in Civil War?  Seems like it!
  • The eyes that you can see through the visors of the helmet, epic attention to detail!
  • The sculpt here is fantastic as is the uniform detail and texture.

The Bad

  • Giant Man has closed hands.  BAFs of years past have had articulated fingers or open hands, and it makes sense.  The big guys like to be able to pick up the little guys, right?


The rest

For me, it’s rare that figures will get me excited for a movie, but this wave has definitely further piqued my interest in the movie.  Once again, defying the junkie movie toy experience, Marvel Legends has put out another awesome wave of figures, at least some of which will end up being collector favorites for years to come.  All things being equal and fair, it should be said that the Hasbro Marvel Legends line has always been awesome, whether tied to a movie or not.  Bravo Legends team! Keep up the awesome work!

 

Availability

You can pre-order this wave now at BigBadToyStore.com.  It’s also in stock at Amazon, but you are going to deal with some very ….interesting pricing options on some figures.  I have also seen reports of these beauties showing up and brick and mortar stores like Walmart and Target, so enjoy the hunt!

 

The whole wave!

 

MUReview received these products for free.