As we march towards the brand new 12 months and the approaching arrival of 2024 Marvel Legends figures, I need to backtrack and end my in-progress critiques of a few this 12 months’s waves. And first up, we’ve obtained the penultimate determine assessment within the Hasbro 6” X-Males ‘97 Marvel Legends Sequence: Storm! Ororo has obtained a large number of latest motion figures in recent times—will this one add something contemporary to your assortment?
During the last couple years, we’ve gotten new toys of Storm from Hasbro clad in costume colours starting from black to white to blue and yellow, and now we’re again to white as soon as once more. That’s not a nasty factor, although, as white might be essentially the most acknowledged shade for a Storm costume and one which needs to be on cabinets pretty recurrently.
The twist with this newest white costume Storm determine, although, is that it’s particularly an X-Males 97 animated type determine! The remainder of this wave has been reasonably good—does Storm observe swimsuit?
We simply had a fairly swell Retro Storm Legends motion determine in white costume stocked in shops over the past 1-2 years (to not point out a black costume one as effectively), so that you may be asking if there’s any huge updates for this Wind Rider to carry to the desk. Fortunately, there are.
The largest enhancement to this new launch is the mixing of totally pin-free articulation on Storm’s physique. Pretty much as good because the current 6” Retro determine was, the knee pins actually stood out on the white and marred an in any other case stunning determine.
Fortunately, the trendy pin-less articulation on this new Storm fixes that drawback completely—with out seen pins messing her up, the determine seems to be seamlessly magnificent. That is the white costume Storm physique you’ll need to rip the heads off your previous figures and pop onto to improve them.
Storm’s shoulder pads have been tweaked barely to match the way in which the yellow stripes are aligned within the new cartoon (they usually’re additionally mushy plastic and pegged in to permit Ororo to lift her arms excessive to fly), however the different huge replace for this launch is the top.
In a uncommon occasion for merch of this character, Storm’s eyes have pupils. I’m an enormous fan of the basic whited-out eyes, so seeing Ororo’s child blues peering out at me is a mite disconcerting. If nothing else, it feels totally different, though I think solely followers of the upcoming cartoon will actually like this innovation.
Likewise, the hair type is a bit unconventional for Storm (or actually, any character within the Marvel Legends lineup ever). X-Males 97 Storm is sporting what my spouse is asking a “mullet hawk”, which is mainly an extended Mohawk with an enormous ponytail. We’ve had Storm with Mohawks and lengthy hair earlier than, however that is one thing new. It feels very distinctive, however I’d be mendacity if I stated I assumed most followers would favor this coiffure on a ML Storm toy.
The best way Storm’s cape hooked up to her wrists through material loops seemed awkward on the Retro white costume determine, and it doesn’t look any higher right here. The material loops are chunky and ugly. I’m not a toy designer and I’m undecided methods to do it higher with out distinctive tooling, however I do know I’m not huge on the look of how the cape attaches.
The remainder of the determine seems to be reasonably beautiful, although. Her joints transfer easily and keep in place, and standing her up stably is simple sufficient. Her arms and palms work swell for reaching out to make gesturing poses pretending to summon the weather, though there are undoubtedly no representatives of such parts included.
Like the entire X-Males ‘97 Legends figures Hasbro has put out, Storm is within the beautiful blister carded packaging with distinctive artwork. Additionally like the remainder of the set, she sadly comes with a dearth of equipment. She has simply two: a fist and a gesturing hand to pair with the corresponding ones she has by default. The additional palms are… tremendous… nevertheless it genuinely does really feel like Hasbro phoned within the naked minimal once more right here.
That is one other occasion the place I’m outright shocked Hasbro hasn’t included any further equipment regardless of the preexisting tooling for lightning and different results we’ve been given with (cheaper) Storm figures up to now. This entire wave has felt like a below-par worth, and I dearly hope Hasbro has higher extras deliberate for the subsequent X-Males Legends set.
General: Hasbro lastly offers followers the pin-less Storm determine they’ve been ready for, however I believe the dearth of equipment and area of interest animated head will hinder the recognition of this launch. The cape’s wrist attachments additionally look clunky and unappealing. I believe this determine does simply sufficient to charge an above-average rating, however I nonetheless know Hasbro can (and nearly actually will) do a definitive comic-styled white costume Storm Marvel Legends determine inside a pair years. It is a stable determine and I don’t remorse selecting it up, however it’s my least favourite within the X-Males ‘97 Marvel Legends sequence.