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It's time for the Great British Face Off!
Betsy Braddock adopts the identity Psylocke, combining mastery of the martial arts with enhanced abilities in telekinesis and telepathy.
Great timing on the release of this figure, really. In the comics, Psylocke was born a British girl, but had her mind put in the body of Kwannon, a Japanese crimelord's bodguard, through the combined efforts of the Hand, the Mandarin, and Spiral. That was her status quo for nearly 20 years of real time, which is longer than she'd been around before the switch. (December 1976 - November 1989, British; December 1989 - August 2018, Japanese.) However, while trying to track down Wolverine's missing corpse, Betsy was devoured by psychic vampire Sapphire Styx; when Styx was defeated, Betsy came back to life in her original body. Just in time for this figure to hit shelves! Guess it's not only Spider-Man who has bad luck with that.
The last 6" Psylocke came out six years ago, so an update isn't an unwelcome proposition. The figure's mold
is an existing one, but since her costume is basically just a blue swimsuit, it's not like she requires a unique new sculpt. She wears blue opera gloves and over-the-knee boots, plus has some random straps on her biceps and thighs. The tampographs on the sample I got don't quite line up properly on her arm, leaving a jagged edge where they join, but it's not too bothersome. She has a red sash belt, a new mold that rests high on her left hip and hangs down on the right.
Psylocke does not use the same head as the last figure, either. Would
it have needed to be retooled? Because it was a perfectly fine sculpt, and hasn't appeared anywhere except one rare SDCC exclusive set. This one is good as well, true, but it wasn't necessary. One odd thing, though? Her hair is black, not purple. Shouldn't it be purple? Yes, yes it should. There are apparently variants out there that actually have the purple hair, but so far this is the only Psylocke I've seen in a store, so for now that's just hearsay.
When ToyBiz made a Psylocke Marvel Legend, they didn't even bother to give her her psychic knife, the focused totality of her telepathic abilities. Hasbro's first effort didn't give her that either,
opting instead to arm her with her psionic katana. This time, though? Three distinct accessories, which is two more than expected. We get the flaming sword from Typhoid Mary, though here both the sword and the flame are molded from translucent pink plastic. We're counting that as one accessory, with the second being her psychic knife, the focused totality of her telepathic abilities, designed to fit over her fist. The third is a mask that clips onto her face, suggesting the "butterfly" power effect she was drawn with from her earlist days. Guess that's why she needed a new head!
This release includes the left leg of Apocalypse, the Build-A-Figure for X-Men Legends Series 4.
Psylocke may have recently undergone a de-racelift, if that's a thing, but the "sexy ninja" is how she's looked for more than half her existence, so it's still how most people will recognize her. And if you don't mind a small spoiler, the return of Betsy's British body also seems to have brought Kwannon back to life somehow, so maybe this could be her instead.
-- 11/28/18
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