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Here we go again, with another Walgreens exclusive.
Wearing his original yellow costume, Matt Murdock is fearless as Daredevil!
Nice choice only referring to it as "yellow," rather than specifying what the second color is supposed to be - no one can really agree on it. We know that Matt made his first costume from his father's old boxing robes, which apparently involved no small amount of yellow, but that second color... in the original 1964 colors, it was colored black, but had red highlights. Sometimes even all-red boots and gloves. Using the same logic that turned Spider-Man and the X-Men's costumes blue, some people have decided the costume was yellow and red. The most popular option, based on the way black and red printer's ink interacted in the '60s, is to declare it some shade of brown.
The last time Hasbro made a yellow Daredevil, its colors were really pale and washed out. This is much better, with a nice solid yellow and a brown that strays neither too far toward black or brick red. He's painted with a single large D on his chest, the way Jack Kirby and Bill Everett designed him: when Wally Wood joined the series with issue #5, his first change was to make the single letter a double - then two issues later, the suit turned red. Since this figure uses the standard small body (and has all the attendant articulation), the D isn't sculpted in, but it is outlined in black to make sure the edges are crisp and the contrast is clear.
Which isn't to say that you don't need to examine the paint before you buy him - just not on the chest. This isn't just a repaint of Spider-Man Legends Series 1 Daredevil - it also comes with an unmasked Matt Murdock head! Cleverly, the head is a repaint of Hawkeye's; thanks to the glasses,
it works really well for Matt, but the paint on his hairline turns into a mess really easily. You absolutely want to look at them all to see which one has the best mix of red hair and pink skin. The unmasked head is a tight fit, and doesn't fit down onto the neck as far as the masked head, but it was still a smart choice.
Reusing the existing body, Daredevil also reuses the existing accessories: he has the same billy clubs as the last DD, though they're no longer as ridiculously soft as they were; clearly Hasbro used the same formulation of plastic here that they used for Hellcat. The holster is the same red used for his belt, and the clubs themselves are now red instead of white.
The cross-sell on the back of the figure's packaging is all
figures from Series 2 of the Spider-Man Marvel Legends - Scarlet Spider, Superior Venom, White Tiger, Kraven, Chameleon, and Ghost Rider, but for some reason not Misty Knight, who's actually good friends with Matt - so you'd think he'd count as part of that series, the same way Agent Venom belonged to Series 1. However, the art on the sides of the box and the logo on top are all Daredevil-specific, making him a Series all of his own. How odd! On the plus side, it makes it really easy to tell at a glance whether there are any DDs hiding on the shelf among the Spidey and Avengers toys.
It's no surprise that I, of all people, would be excited for a new Yellow Daredevil figure. But this is more than just a straight repaint, and is a really fine choice for a store exclusive.
-- 12/14/15
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