Loki

Time for some lies, mischief, and unpredictability! Forever a trickster, Loki's allegiences are often unclear. However, one thing can be said for certain: Loki always looks out for Loki's best interests. My, how the times change! Thor 2 didn't get 6" figures at all - it's possible Hasbro foresaw it being one of the worst Marvel movies (which, considering their overall quality, is really... what's the opposite of "damning with faint praise"? [Praising with faint damns. --ed.]) and just opted to skip it entirely, but even Thor 1 only got a few exclusives at Walmart. But here we are in 2017, and now the trend is to do a full line of 6" figures, mixing movie and comic characters with a BAF from either (or sometimes both, if there are enough series), and to supplement that with just a handful of 4" exclusives. See? Voting with your dollars really does work! It just takes a long time to pay off. Much like Hasbro, it seems as though Thor 3 is ignoring Thor 2, as evidenced by the presence of Loki. We do all remember where the last movie left him, right? And yet there he is in the trailers, chilling with Jeff Goldblum. I guess life, uh, finds a way. Loki's costume keeps the same pseudo-Kirby style with the overlapping laminae of leather and a little bit of armor, but the design is much less complex than it was in his previous three outings. Compare this to his Avengers outfit, and the difference is clear. Ths most exciting thing about it is the Wally West-style belt and a few gold embelishments. If you really get in there and look at the pattern, yes, it's definitely more intricate than human clothing, but it's not nearly as wild as before. It's also not the same color as before, moving Loki away from his traditional green-and-yellow colorscheme for the first time in the movies. Why? We'll be the first to tell you that the dark blue looks good, escpecially against the dusty gold lining of his cape, but when so many superhero comics rely on "the squint test" for their visual cues, why change Loki's colors now? There's a little green on his belt, but that's all. His armor is silver, gold, and metallic blue, and the skintone ends up a liitle bluish, as well. Loki's horned helmet is removable, giving us unfettered access to the sculpt of Tom Holland Hiddleston's face. The likeness truly is remarkable - like Monkey Boy said, it's hard to believe we all once thought the Avengers likeness was "really good." This one does have touches of Michael Sheen, however (who you'll know as Lucian in Underworld, Prime Minister Tony Blair in The Queen, or Wesley Snipes on 30 Rock). Other than the removable helmet and cape, Loki has no accessories. Not even his little knives? Come on, guys! The cape is just held in place by two soft pegs that fit into the tops of his shoulders, and they don't want to stay very securely - good thing his hair has gotten longer, so it can help hold the cape down. (Sculptor May Thamtarana recommends just gluing it in place.) It definitely tends to slip out of place when you use the figure's plentiful articulation: ankles, knees, thighs, hips, waist, torso, wrists, elbows, biceps, shoulders, neck and head. The biceps swivel beneath the armor, rather than carrying it with them, which really works out quite nicely for the look of the toy. Nice work! All the figures in this series come with a piece of the Build-A-Figure, Gladiator Hulk. Yes, this is another case of Hasbro finally going back and redoing one of their old early efforts. Loki gets the right leg. We've only had one trailer for Thor: Ragnarok, and the movie doesn't even open until November (which, at a rate of one Marvel review per week and at least four different series running concurrently [Spider-Man, Guardians of the Galaxy, X-Men, Thor, and soon the Netflix Series], means we'll still be reviewing these then), but the toys are looking good already. -- 08/14/17

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