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Damn, going back to the O.G.!
To avenge the murder of his mother by aliens,
Peter Quill became the legendary Star-Lord, roaming galaxies and finding his greater destiny in the stars.
Comicbook Star-Lord didn't share very much other than his name with MCU Star-Lord: his dad was an alien and messed with his mother's brain, but that was about as far as it went. And even that was a later retcon! Originally he was just born during a rare planetary alignment and was a friendless nerd obsessed with space. Because comic writers know their audience. He joined NASA with great grades, but no people skills because, again: know your audience. He threw a hissy fit when he was passed over for a special assignment, decided that maybe he needed to act better if he wanted respect, then threw another hissy fit when he was passed over for a different special assignment. Kicked out of NASA this time, he stole a ship, went to space, and forcibly replaced the astronaut who had been chosen. And that's how the Master of the Sun made Peter Quill into Star-Lord.
Becoming Star-Lord came with a costume and powers.
It wasn't really clear whether those were two separate things (ie, he got a costume and also he got powers) or if they were related (he got a costume that gives him powers). It's a dark blue suit with golden boots, gloves, and belt, and white stripes that run along the outside of his arms and legs, and form the shape of a harness across his chest. Most of that is just paint, but the belt is a new mold, with vertical segments in the center, a starburst buckle in the center, and a holster hanging on the right hip.
The final part of the costume he put on was the helmet. Before he does,
we see in the comic that the big lenses that cover his eyes are actually attached to an X-Men style head-sleeve thing. Since the helmet isn't removable here, that's just a little piece of trivia. The way the helmet comes down over his eyes and flares out at the sides makes him look a bit like an owl - and in his origin issue, we see he has a pet owl named Al. Coincidence, or intentional? The symbol on his forehead, which would one day become the Guardians of the Galaxy logo, is a raised element. The head and belt, the only new elements, were sculpted by Dan Mitchell.
This figure uses that new overly tall body, meaning Star-Lord apparently stands 6'6"? Not really sure why Hasbro chose this body for Star-Lord: having those extra pec hinges means the painted stipes around his shoulders can get messed up when you move them. That seems like an oversight. Otherwise, the joints are the usual stuff: ankles, boots, knees, thighs, hips, waist, chest, wrists, elbows, biceps, shoulders, neck, and head. These legs continue to look oddly proportioned with this torso, a fact that isn't going to change until some new molds appear. The elbows and knees all are the pinless type, for those who care about that.
Other than the belt, none of the costume elements
are anything other than paint. The stripes down his arms are a little thing, coverage-wise, meaning they've got a blue tint rather than being pure white like the rest of the bands are. The gold is actually gold, not yellow, and the color-matching between the painted parts and the plastic parts is really good. There are flares on the top os his boots that are just painted onto the shins, so they'll always be in the front even if you turn that joint. Looking at the comic, those elements should continue all the way around, not stop in the center like this.
Star-Lord includes two sets of hands: one pair of fists, and one pair for holding (with the trigger fingers extended on both left and right, incongruously). His main weapon in the comic was a gun that could
manipulate "the universal radiant energy" (fire), "the mind... and the cosmos" (water), "the breath of life" (air), and "the physical world" (earth). Yes, it's an Avatar State gun. It reacts entirely to his wishes and his will, like a Green Lantern ring. It's just a generic sci-fi pistol in design, so the toy gives us just that in blue-gray plastic. He also sometimes used a sword, so we get that as well.
This figure is a Walmart exclusive, clearly meant as a loose tie-in with the new movie. Considering this character was nearly forgotten in Marvel obscurity for decades, and had been drastically redesigned by the time he got popular, so this is an unlikely choice to get a Marvel Legend. It's pretty cool they'd go this deep with the character, though.
-- 05/25/23
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