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This is one hot figure, I gar-ohn-TEE!
Always an outsider, Remy LeBeau was shunned as a youth because of his strange, burning-red eyes. Eventually, he realized he was a mutant - gifted with the ability to charge inanimate objects with explosively released biokinetic energy. In Gambit's hands, even the most benign implement becomes an exploding projectile. However, he most often relies on kinetically charged playing cards. A reformed thief and charming scoundrel, the ragin' Cajun always has a card up his sleeve!
Gambit is, really, not the greatest character. But because he was on the X-Men cartoon when it debuted, he's one of the more popular and even, yes, recognizable mutants in town.
The first Gambit toy ever was impressive for its time, but just looks sad now. He came with his staff, and a vinyl coat, and when you pushed a button on his back, he kicked. Amazing mutant powers, but his only fighting strategy came from a Women's Self-Defense Class at the Y? Dork.
Remy is 6" tall to the top of his tousled hair, and is articulated at the ankles, boot tops, knees, hips, waist, biceps, elbows, forearms and hands. He also has the new ML chest joint (that looks to be inspired by McToys's triumphant Spawn 10) and, in addition to balljointed shoulders, the new "pull out" lateral shoulders. He was always a fairly lithe and acrobatic guy, so all this mobility serves him well.
That collar thing on Gambit's chest is not a sculpted element; it's glued on, which means that Gambit will probably soon be custom ML fodder for many a project. We'll also likely be seeing a lot of this body in future lines.
ToyBiz has again given us a five-star sculpt. Well, actually, Phil Ramirez has. Remove the real cloth coat, and Gambit is wearing his usual hot pink and black battle suit. Skintight hot pink clothes? I wonder if Gambit was trying to tell us something. He's got a bit of a smirk on his face, which suits this smug southerner perfectly.
Gambit comes with that staff of his again (made from an easily bent plastic), as well as a plastic representation of his mutant power - a big pink blob (there's the color again!) that snaps onto his hand and has three playing cards embedded within. It's not a bad attempt, but it's not the greatest thing ever, either.
There's been some discussion about Gambit's... energy thing. Really, about the proper way to display it. Do you put the coupled cards in his hand, with the energy pointing away from him? Or put a solo card between his "peace sign"-flashing fingers and have the energy trailing behind? Well, it really depends on what you want him to be doing. Is he throwing the cards or just letting the energy drift away from him? It's entirely up to you.
Each of Marvel's big groups has its own personality - the Avengers are a football team, the Fantastic Four are a family, and the X-Men are a school. Of course, those academic roots were pretty obscured by the time Gambit came to stay at the mansion, but had they not been, Gambit would have been the kid who got held back a grade at some point and now smokes in the bathroom. The guy who thinks he's too cool, but really gets laughed at by everyone else.
Like all the Marvel Legends figures, Gambit comes with a detailed base. A companion piece to Magneto's decimated Sentinel head, Gambit's base is comprised of the remains of the Sentinel's right hand. There are gears and wires spilling out of the shattered shell, and several pegs to help Remy stand. Like Magneto's base, it's wall-mountable, but looks better laying down. What you can't tell from the photos is just how monstrously huge this base is, measuring 8 1/2" x 5". I'd like to see this trend continue, so that we can eventually build an entire defeated Sentinel.
ToyBiz's new thing with the Marvel Legends reprint comics is to give the book a different cover that more prominently features the character on the card. So while the interior is X-Men #4, following the story started with Magneto and Beast, the cover is from one of Gambit's solo comics.
Gambit: hot or not? Tell us on our message board, the Loafing Lounge.
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