OAFE: your #1 source for toy reviews
B u y   t h e   t o y s ,   n o t   t h e   h y p e .

what's new?
reviews
articulation
figuretoons
customs
message board
links
blog
FAQ
accessories
main
Twitter Facebook RSS      
shop action figures at Entertainment Earth

Magneto

Marvel Legends
by yo go re

Do you think Marvel would get mad if someone were to create "Magento," a supervillain who attacks using the power of pinkness?

Decades of persecution forged the master of magnetism into a zealot crusading for mutant supremacy. But since joining Scott Summers' team of mutant revolutionaries, has his vision for mutant liberation evolved?

Wait, this is supposed to represent the "Marvel NOW!" version of Magneto? Then shouldn't he be wearing the white costume with the bunched-up collar and the bare arms? It'd be like if Cyclops' bio used its one sentence to talk about his time with X-Factor.

But no, instead this Magneto is wearing his classic costume. The one seen in X-Men #1 (both versions). The one that hasn't been seen in 6" form since waaaay back in Marvel Legends 3 - more than a decade ago! So it was definitely time for an update, but this update isn't the best it could be. To begin with, it uses the same base body as the recently released Agent Venom, which is going to make some fans unhappy - it's not all that detailed, and the articulation is a bit of a throwback (spherical 45° hips instead of naturally shaped ones). Hey, we're just glad that it's not Bullseye or Bucky again.

And no matter how you feel about this body, everybody should be glad Hasbro went with this instead of the one they designed for the ToyFare vote - that thing was a scrawny mess, made back when they were under the mistaken impression that putting swivel/hinge joints everywhere was a substitute for real articulation. One thing that is a holdover from that prototype? The cape. The cape and collar, molded as one piece with a peg to plug into his back, is the same piece seen seven years ago. It's possible the belt is, too: it's a simple, separate band around the waist (just like it was on the old ML3 figure).

The head probably should have been reused from the 2007 figure, but it wasn't. That figure had a pretty epic face and what appeared to be a removable helmet, while this one looks like a weird old man. Granted, Magneto is a weird old man, but still. Like Nova, his helmet is a separate piece, but only for appearances: it's glued on, and the head underneath is incomplete.

The gloves and boots are new sculpts, to create Magneto's distinct, banded attire. His right hand is a fist, and his left is open, but he has no wrist joints. Really, guys? All we needed was a hinge; the pivot at the top of the glove takes care of the swivelling. While the ankles have all the joints they should, the boots are noticeably wider than the legs that go into them.

Mags doesn't come with any accessories, just a piece of this series' Jubilee build-a-figure. He has the entire left arm - and remember, he's wearing his villain clothes, so it's entirely possible that he might have cut it off or ripped it out or any number of horrible reasons he might have a teenage girl's disarticulated arm. Ew.

It's nice that there's now a Magneto available for fans who weren't collecting Marvel Legends in 2003, but by virtue of the removable helmet, the bulkier body, and the more plentiful articulation, that old one is still better. This is a decent offering (with a great cape), but if you're more interested in Magneto than the BAF part, you'll be better off finding the ML3 version.

-- 09/29/14


back what's new? reviews

 
Report an Error 

Discuss this (and everything else) on our message board, the Loafing Lounge!


shop action figures at Entertainment Earth

Entertainment Earth

that exchange rate's a bitch

© 2001 - present, OAFE. All rights reserved.
Need help? Mail Us!