X-Men Retro Collection: Diamond Emma Frost exclusive review

Hey, this figure is one year late!

Telepath Emma Frost's chilly demeanor is only reinforced by her secondary mutation that transforms her body into virtually indestructible organic diamond.

This figure, a Target exclusive released on one of those Retro Collection cardbacks, is a repaint of the Series 11 Emma, and so for all the specifics we'll just mentally compel you over to that review. In short: great sculpt, but the cape over her arms means you can't really do a lot with her shoulder articulation. Surprisingly easy to balance her, though, despite the cape and heels.

The bio mentioned her secondary mutation because that's what this figure shows. Like one of Hasbro's earliest Marvel Legends variants, this one is molded in translucent plastic to show her in her diamond form. The plastic is crystal clear, without any tints or blemishes, as she'd want it to be, and this time they had the sense npt to try to paint her hair yellow and consequently make her look like her plastic had degraded in the sunlight. No, she's purely clear everywhere that isn't her stark white costume or her facial features (white eyes, blue irises, and black eyebrows). The hair does appear to be slightly darker than the rest of her, but that's only because the sculpt is much more detailed than, say, her skin, and so has more opportunity to scatter light away from your eye. When you swap her head you'll notice that the balljoint is white, not clear; that'd be for durability's sake, but much like the Ghost of Ronald Reagan, it makes the figure look better, not worse.

Oh, did we just say "swap heads"? The figure includes the same head that came with the previous use of this mold, but she also gets a second. They didn't spring for a new one, because they didn't have to: this is the head from Walgreens Emma, the one in her black Marvel NOW! costume. Or, well, technically that figure came with two heads, too, so this is the standard Walgreens Emma head, not the alternate Walgreens Emma head. The one with the smirk and the longer hair curling over her shoulder. It's an unexpected thing to include her, but we like that they did!

She also gets a pair of alternate "gesturing" hands, despite the fact she can't use her psychic powers when she's in this form. Her normal hands include a right fist, and a left that's open to hold something. And yes, she does come with something(s) to hold: just randomly grabbing things off the bookshelfa blue accordion file of Mutant Pathogen Research, and a black book that's apparently the Danger Room Programming Manual, Vol. 01. Presumably that just means it's the introductory level info, not that it's actually a manual for how to program the Danger Room, like, six or seven iterations ago. "Here's how to reset the giant boxing glove on a spring" isn't very helpful when the Sh'iar hologram tech fritzes out. It's also worth mentioning that the corner box, which normally shows other characters who are available, shows Emma alongside Magneto, and what appear to be New Mutants versions of Cannonball and... Cypher?

This figure costs too much, of course, but Target had a sale on Marvel products right when she went up for sale, so it worked out okay. This is so far superior to the last Diamond Emma Frost they did it's not even funny. Sure, there are nearly 20 years between their releases, but comparing them feels like more. Until someone gets brave enough to make a version in her salacious New X-Men costume, this is the best one around.

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