Marvel Legends Jean Grey, Black Panther (Rocket Raccoon BAF series) action figure review

Marvel Legends are finally hitting the shelf again and en'masse with no less than FOUR different series (two under the Marvel Legends Infinite rebrand) on the shelf right now. Here we take a look at two characters from the Rocket Raccoon Build-A-Figure series, Jean Grey and Black Panther. The other characters in the line are Hawkeye, Scarlet Spider, and Wrecker. All but Hawk and Spider come with parts for Rocket.

Sculpting for Jean is quite nice and her look is the iconic Jim Lee version we've been after for ages. Her body is based on the Hope Summers type I reviewed earlier but with new sculpt on the shoulders, thighs, and lower legs that include rocker feet. Jean's headsculpt is great with a serious look and some nicely sculpted hair. A non-removable X-belt is set on her waist and gauntlets on her arms that swivel. Her hands are actually the 2-pack Invisible Woman's hands and work great here.

Jean Grey's paint applications aren't extensive but whats there is clean. There's great face detail, shiny metallic blue, and her hip pads are gold metallic. Even her fingernails are painted the same shade as her lips to match. Her hair is molded in color but looks just fine without shading, tho you could easily add some highlights or shadows yourself. She sports full articulation with no hampered areas other than not being able to reach straight up due to her shoulder pads. They are soft plastic so there's a little give to them.

Black Panther appears here in his classic outfit and utilizes the new body mold that's going to be the standard these days for any average height hero. It has an extremely nice sculpt to it and features new hands and head. The hands look sharp and will work for a variety of gestures, also future characters (Magneto anyone?) The range of motion you can get out of Black Panther is wonderful, enough to achieve any leaping, fighting pose you could think of.

Paint work on Black Panther is also excellent with great blue highlights on his body and perfect lines on his gloves and boots. People have complained that his gloves and boots are jarring to the smoother blue shading so why weren't they done that way? Fans will recognize this as his classic look rather than his modern all black look. Once you have that in mind the paint apps make sense. Both figures come with parts to make Rocket Raccoon as their only accessory which I'll cover later as a separate figure.

So what's the verdict on this pair of superheroes? Fans of Jim Lee's X-men team will hunt Jean down to the ends of the earth. If you already have the Toybiz Black Panther and prefer his modern look you could almost skip this one. Customizers however couldn't ask for a better base body and already Deadpool-ish head. Our Sponsor Big Bad Toy Store has the whole set and the other new series of Marvel Legends Infinite as does Amazon where they occasionally go on sale. Buy him up for fodder! So there you have it, two more great figures for your Marvel Legends collection.

Marvel Universe Apocalypse action figure review

Apocalypse has always been one of the big baddies of the X-men/Marvel universe and now he's available in the...uh...Marvel Universe. The ever expanding 3 3/4" Marvel line has Apocalypse in the newest wave along with Cable, Gladiator, and some others. The sculpting on him looks nice from his nasty expression to the intricate armor sections. Hey, is that a cod piece?

Yep, Apocalypse shares the same body, upper arms and legs as Juggernaut with newly tooled other parts and armor glued to him. He's taller thanks to the new lower legs and feet which along with the hands are Marvel Legends scale practically. Custom fodder anyone? There's also an assortment of hoses that run from his back and arms.

For being so large and stocky his articulation is great. You can get Apocalypse into most poses and everything is balljointed including his ankles. The arm hoses kind of get in the way of Apoc reaching straight out as they tend to tug his shoulder pads forward, or arm backwards. They could have been a little longer.

The paint work is nice enough. Good metallic blue/silver and some black wash in the muscles to bring out the body detail. Some panel lining in the armor would have been nice to see but you can do that with a brush and some black paint. Apocalypse is fairly imposing but I wonder if his head is too big for his body. A smaller head would have made him look all the more buff.

So what's the verdict? Well if you're collecting the Marvel Universe line especially the X-teams, get him. He's a big hunk of posable plastic and kinda hard to find. Amazon has him of course and if you're lucky he'll be in stock at HasbroToyShop, tho he keeps selling out.

Marvel Select Juggernaut action figure review

He's the Juggernaut and he's stomping into stores, well, he's already out actually. You can find him at comic shops or online...and boy is he big! Juggy stands a whopping 8 1/2" tall and weighs at least 3 pounds because he's solid plastic. It amazed me the packaging could even support him without tearing the bubble off!

Don't get me wrong, he may be solid plastic but still has plenty of articulation. Ball shoulders, torso, hips, and weird rocker ankles that are pinned through instead of across. They get the job done though. His range of articulation is pretty good considering his stocky design and the only negative is no wrist swivels so he can uppercut. The helmet doesn't come off but you can buy an 'unmasked' version.

The sculpt and paint apps are phenomenal as well, his skin and costume having a nice texture to it and just the right amount of airbrushed shading. There's great copper highlights to his helmet and metal bands as well. With Diamond Select it's usually hit or miss when it comes to paint apps. Here it's a definite hit! Check out those chompers. Every little detail on Juggernaut is there.

This is pretty much the definitive Juggernaut for your collection, fitting in with your Marvel Legends or Marvel Select. A quick repaint and you can have a Marvel vs Capcom Juggernaut too. Snag him for just $20 on Amazon or even cheaper on Ebay (all eBay links are eBayPartnerNetwork affiliate links that help me out!) and soon. This is one of those miss-this-character-and-you're-out-of-luck type thing because I don't see Hasbro making a Build-a-Figure Juggernaut that can beat this guy anytime soon.