Crystal & Lockjaw

Princess of the Inhuman Royal Family, Crystal uses her ability to control elements alongside her loyal protector, Lockjaw. You know how in school there were those kids who could move between all the various cliques with no problem? That's Crystal's role in the Marvel Universe. She's an Inhuman, she's been an active member of the Fantastic Four, she's been an Avenger, she's connected to the X-Men through Magneto's family line... they just need to have her become good friends with some "Marvel Knights/Midnight Sons" character and she'll have all the quadrants covered! Crystalia Amaquelin is the younger sister of Medusalith (their parents, Ambur and Quelin, were apparently respected nutritionists, a job which is much more lofty in a society obsessed with genetic perfection; also they're related to Black Bolt's parents by marriage, because royal families gonna royal family, no matter what species they are) and basically has Avatar powers: she can control water, fire, wind, and earth. The figure's body is a new mold. It's shaped like an existing one, but her belt and collar are sculpted elements, so this is clearly not something taken from anyone else. The diamond shapes on those are the only nod to Kirby-style embellishments her costume has. The yellow chosen for the toy is nice and bright, and they were forward-thinking enough to not mold any of the pieces (other than the hands and feet, where it wouldn't matter) in black plastic - there's no way yellow paint would adequately cover it. She includes two heads: one with her hair hanging down, the other with it blowing around in the wind. (The set also has two new translucent effects pieces, in orange and blue, that fit onto the wrists to show her controlling water and fire. No dirt, though.) Choices needed to be made in regards to the hair, and Hasbro managed to pick the worst one for both of them. First of all: the distinctive black stripe in the character's hair isn't some kind of weird coloration, it's something she wears, like a complicated headband; this figure incorrectly makes it the same texture as the rest of the hair, just painting it on. Secondly, they've painted it with two tall ovals in the back, rather than one big circle; it looks particularly bad on the wind-swept hair, where it's totally out of place. Now, in Hasbro's defense, she has been shown like this in the comics: artists sometimes misunderstand her stripe and draw it like hair rather than a solid garment, and since it is an item of clothing, it makes sense she might have multiples in different shapes. It'd still be better the other way. Until now, if you wanted a 6" scale Lockjaw, your only choice was Mezco's One:12 Collective set. No longer! Lockjaw is the Inhumans' teleporting dog. When Jack Kirby first drew Lockjaw, he wasn't just a dog. I mean, he was a dog, he's always been a dog a dog, but he wasn't a dog dog; he was a large, furry, quadrupedal animal with short, pointy ears and a little tail, but he wasn't an identifiable Earth breed. These days people just draw him like a giant bulldog, so that's what the toy delivers. Like, compare Hasbro's Lockjaw to Mezco's, and you can see that one of them looks like a real dog, and one of them looks like a space dog. The figure only has one head, but he still has two expressions: the mouth area can unplug from the face and be swapped for a second, which is a really clever way of doing it! If it was good enough for the Feral Predator, it's good enough for the Inhumans' dog. The face he has on in the package has the mouth open and the tongue lolling out, while the alternate has the mouth closed, showing off the strength of his underbite. It's cute! And it leaves open the possibility some future figure could come with a snarl or some other new expression. Lockjaw has a stocky body with large wrinkles and a fine, furry texture. He's articulated well, with swivel/​hinge paws, balljoints at the top of all four limbs, a swivel/hinge tail, and a barbell head. That's more than the One:12 had, but we still wish there was a waist. You'll have an easier time making this Lockjaw sit, though, thanks to the alternate rear legs that allow you to plop his butt on the ground. In his first appearance, Lockjaw did have antennae, but not the way you think: these days he has the same sort of tuning fork on his forehead as Black Bolt, but back then they were actual antennae, like an insect would have. This is the more modern take, and looks like a metal fork. The set includes both a plain version, and a translucent blue alternate with white Kirby dots on it to show him activating his teleportation powers. Hasbro's managed to slowly build a pretty decent Inhumans roster - we already had Black Bolt, Medusa, and Karnak, and now with Crystal and Lockjaw we're over the halfway point; we really just need Tritron and Gorgon now, and that'll be the whole family. This set's expensive, but Crystal is more than just a repainted mold, and Lockjaw has a lot of fun features. We've got a winner! -- 01/27/25 How do you like Crystal's hair-stripe to be portrayed? Tell us on our message board, the Loafing Lounge.