Star-Lord

We wanted to wait for GotG3 to open before reviewing the toys, so we'd actually know what we're talking about this time. It opened yesterday, so let's go! Peter Quill must do whatever it takes to save a friend whose life is in danger. After, what, five movies, Peter Quill finally gets to grow up. He was a gormless dope in the first one, a lost puppy in the second one, an impulsive bozo in Infinity War (no toy for that one, though), and an unconfident chump in the fourth one. And while he certainly doesn't start this movie in a great place, the guy he is by the end is an entirely different person. Guess that'll happen when you've been captured and replaced by a Skrull; Secret Invasion here we come! The Guardians teased a unified team look all the way back in Vol. 1, getting matching Ravager gear after breaking out of prison, but it's taken until now for them to formally adopt the comic uniform. It's a blue military-style uniform with a square red stripe rising up the chest, and we'll be seeing more of it in this line, make no mistake! Hasbro paid a sculptor to create a new Star-Lord body for GotG2, and by gum they're gonna use it until it falls apart! Nearly every Star-Lord since then has used the same legs - this one gets to be slightly different because it's only the same from the thigh joints down. It shows how all the details of the comic costume were present even back then, just in different colors. Even these arms come from back then. Hasbro's Chris Pratt likenesses have been getting better since the beginning, and this is the best one yet. Whatever roundness plagued the Love and Thunder figure has been corrected, though it does feel like the forehead is a bit too big. He's got a stern expression, which we've seen before on a toy, but that was one of the earliest attempts at PhotoReal paint, so this one is naturally going to be better. I will say the sideburns are a little too (metaphorically) sculpted: they should blend straight into the rest of his stubble. The blue used for the uniform is a nice dark shade, and while the red contrasts against the blue well, it's not a bright, cartoonish red, but a more muted maroon. His boots and fingerless gloves are solid black, but his belt gets some silver to break things up. Right in the center of his chest is the golden "Star-Lord" symbol (which I guess has now been adopted as the "Guardians of the Galaxy" symbol). His articulation is utterly average: head, neck (yes, they're back to using the hinged neck here, instead of a barbell joint), shoulders, biceps, elbows, wrists, chest, waist, hips, thighs, knees, boots, and ankles. No surprises. A lot of the joints feel wildy stiff and uncooperative, though: the biceps didn't want to turn, one of the ankles took an extra effort to get moving, the shoulder hinges are overly stiff, etc. It's going to take some work to get my Star-Lord moving the way he should. Peter has been using the same guns since the 2014 figure, but at last he gets something new. They're the same sort of generic energy pistols he's been carrying in all the movies - not the "four elements" pistol he originally had in the comics or anything - but now they're just gun-shaped, rather than having an additional barrel underneath. A bit dull, comparatively. And he has no way to store them when they're not in his hands. Star-Lord doesn't include a piece of this series' Build-A-Figure, Cosmo, who is A GOOD DOG, so he has to sell on his own. And while we've had no shortage of movie Star-Lords before, this figure is unlike any of them. He'll stand out in your collection. -- 05/05/23

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