Phoenix

Hot Girl Summer is over. Now is the time for Even Hotter Girl Fall. A cosmic power known as the Phoenix Force fuses with X-Men mutant Jean Grey, becoming a nearly unstoppable force capable of peace or destruction. Perhaps you think we don't need a new Phoenix, since Hasbro has released both light and dark versions of the character in the past, but to that we say: remember, the last one they did was a Toys "Я" Us exclusive, which means it was not recent. [you're overlooking the Retro Collection version that came out in Series 2 alongside Spiral and Avalanche --ed.] Okay, but it's still been a long-ass time since they did a green Phoenix. And besides, the more Jean Greys the merrier! Just ask X-Men '97 Cyclops. Plus, this release gets a new body. And by that, we don't just mean "a different body from the one the last toys used," we mean an actual new body: you can tell, because she's got articulation older Hasbro Marvel Legends have not. It's possible the arms and legs are reused, since we're just looking at swivel/hinge ankles, double-hinged knees, swivel thighs, balljointed hips, swivel/​hinge wrists, double-hinged elbows, swivel biceps, and swivel/hinge shoulders for those. The torso, meanwhile, has a hinged waist, balljointed chest, and pectoral hinges. Improvement! Ah, but unfortunately, we still just get a barbell head, which is inferior to a balljoint and hinge combo, but that just leaves room for them to improve again in the future. The figure includes fists and splayed hands, as well as two new heads. They're both lovely - it's nlot even one head done twice with different hair glued in. In the package, she's got a face with a bit of a smile, and her hair blowing gently to the side. You can trade that, however, for one that's sculpted to look angry, painted with flaming eyes, and has her hair billowing out everywhere. You can have her on the verge of going full evil! So what's the over-under on a Dark Phoenix repaint? Make everybody buy this a second time? According to the name on the box, this is not a single figure with some cool accessories, it's a two-pack: Jean Grey and the Phoenix Force. There are four fiery sections (well, two fiery sections, one base, and one bird) that can fit together to form a giant base for Jean to stand in front of. It's almost like getting a Build-A-Figure all at once! It would be helpful to have some instructions on how to get everything together. Fortunately, the base piece makes it clear how the two flames are meant to fit together, but then you need to puzzle out on your own how the bird is meant to fit in. (Pro tip: the pieces will stay together without the sound base underneath, and once that's in it's incredibly difficult to get it out again. So if you want the flame base to be assembled forever, go ahead and use it; but if you plan to break this down again for storage, feel free to ignore it. You can always put it in later if you change your mind.) The display looks great when you get them assembled, but it's a lot more "forcing pieces past other pieces" to get there than we like to see; things don't slot into place easily, they have to be worked in. But the tradeoff there is that we get a much better Phoenix Force than ToyBiz made! Theirs was cool, especially with the ability to wall-mount it (a trait we do wish Hasbro had copied), but this one is not only a more translucent plastic, allowing light to shine through wonderfully, the bird part can actually be removed from the base as its own thing! And it has articulation! You can look right through the plastic and see that it's a balljoint, though it sits so far in the head that the range is really only that of a swivel. Still, no one's made an articulated Phoenix Force before, so this is awesome! Exactly where on the spectrum between "fire" and "bird" the Phoenix falls changes from artist to artist, of course, with this one favoring the latter: it's not a fire that merely happens to look like a bird, it's a bird that merely happens to be translucent orange. It has distinct feathers, a hard beak, all that. They even painted the eyes red so they'd stand out against the lighter plastic. Fully assembled, the base is nearly 10½" tall with an 8¼" wingspan. Honestly, the only downside is that it's so hard to get the bird in or out of the flame base. You'd think this figure was meant to be part of the Marvel 85th Anniversary Collection - showing up on shelves at the same time, similar colors on the packaging - but no, she's her own thing, apparently. Back in the day we'd have just gotten the girlie and the birdie in a normal package, but then, back in the day we'd have gotten Ghost Rider and his bike in a normal series, too. Times change, and this release is better than the old style would have afforded us. A very nice new body, two great portraits, and giant base with multiple ways to play... this is good stuff! Maybe now we can get a Rachel Summers to complete our Excalibur team, huh? -- 11/11/24 Is it actually hard to get the fire pieces together, or is yo just an idiot? Tell us on our message board, the Loafing Lounge.

Tweet