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You know the world is rough when soldiers don't have time to give themselves cute little animal nicknames.
Armed with adamantium claws and superhuman healing abilities, Weapon X joins the battle against Apocalypse.
Although the world changed when Professor X was killed by his time-travelling son, it didn't change instantly: the so-called "Age of Apocalypse" took years to fully form, meaning a lot of the existing history from the 616 universe stayed intact until the ripples reached it. It's not like Logan had any major interactions with Charles Xavier before being recruited into the Weapon X program, so there's no reason the man's death would preclude him from still ending up with a body full of metal bones.
There was an AoA Weapon X in the ToyBiz days, as a Walmart exclusive. Other than the hip joints, that one has aged really well, honestly, so this is basically a lateral move. Hasbro's uses their existing Wolverine body, as you'd expect it to. His
costume is little more than a dance leotard, so it's not like there was a need for newly sculpted pieces. Reminder that this is supposed to be a version of the "Patch" outfit he wears on Madripoor, just with extra red triangles on it. "Joe Mad likes anime costumes" triangles, not "Republicans 'accidentally' use Nazi symbology in their ads" triangles. (Though Wolverine has, in a story conceived by Will Eisner, canonically spent time in a Nazi extermination camp; and he probably ended up there as a political prisoner, so it's entirely possible he was marked with a red triangle at the time. Because heroes fight the Fascists, they don't sympathize with them.)
Adam Kubert was the regular artist on Wolverine when the "Age of Apocalypse" crossover started, so he handled the majority of the art for the rebranded Weapon X - something represented on this toy by the gigantic mane of hair Logan is displaying. It's the usual "Wolverine" shape (which can be traced back to 1935's Werewolf of London), just bigger and wilder than usual. A strand of hair falls over his face,
and there's an extra flare at the back of the head, not just on the sides.
That seems to be a concession made to the articulation. Though the figure only has the standard joints - balljointed head, hinged neck, hinged pecs, swivel/hinge shoulders, swivel biceps, double-hinged elbows, swivel/hinge wrist, hinged torso, swivel waist, balljointed hips, swivel thighs, double-hinged knees, and swivel/hinge ankles - making the hair stick out like that means we can tip his head all the way back without the hair bumping into his back. His yellow belt is a separate piece, so you may have to slide it up or down a little to keep the waist turning as it should.
Unlike ToyBiz's Weapon X, this one doesn't have any variants. They could have included an alternate burned head, honestly. But at least we do get our choice of a smooth metal stump-cap for his left arm, or one that has the claws popped out. He's wearing the version with the claws when you take him out of the tray, but swapping them is just a matter of pulling the piece off a big plug. The right hand has the removable claws that fit into notches between his knuckles.
He also includes a piece of this series' Build-A-Figure: Sugar Man's left leg, which is even shorter than Logan's own. Sugar Man is a weird character!
If you already have the older AoA Weapon X, this one isn't a substantial upgrade - it's an upgrade, but just a minor one. If you have the ToyBiz one, the draw of Hasbro's is the BAF piece; if you get Hasbro's, there's no need to hunt down ToyBiz's on the secondary market.
-- 06/22/20
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