The Kyle Robinson Bugle

The Marvel Legends Ares Wave (exclusive to Wal-Mart)
Review By Kyle Robinson Customs

Hasbro’s Ares wave of Marvel Legends Have arrived at my local Wal-Mart this week here in the Northwest, and I happened to be able to snag them all. The series contains 8 figures with assorted paint variants (like Human Torch) and blister variants (like Scarlet Spidey). Each figure is packed with a piece of the BAF Ares (which doesn’t scream BAF at only 7 inches but is impressive none the less). The Series of characters contains Heroes reborn Iron Man, Crossbones, Scarlet Spider, Human Torch, Ultimate War Machine, Vision, Guardian, and Kang. Below I will review each figure and rate them on a scale of 1-5 stars (5 being best).

See all images and review after the Link

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Heroes Reborn Iron Man (Helmet and Swords) ****

Right out of the package iron Man is an impressive figure. The articulation is smooth and the figure just looks great. I don’t know about you, but I frown on the socket joints Hasbro has been using to use as of late and this Iron Man has them in his wrist, elbows and feet. These are the only POA that do not impress me but as long as we don’t get them in the knees im fine with it. These types of joints hinder the articulation of the feet big time, and wont let you get a full “in flight” vertical stretch but since he is neither equipped with a flight stand or even a hole in his back for one, it shouldn’t really bother you. Im mostly impressed that we got a fresh sculpt for the HR Iron Man which shows a level of dedication on Hasbro’s part (kudos). Iron Man is Casted in solid red that has a nice glossy finish and though the Gold area is painted with nice wash details, the red sections leave alot to be desired in the detail department, a black wash would put him over the top. Over all I give HR Iron Man a 4 out of 5 star rating, great effort!

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Crossbones (left Leg) *****

What a great figure! Sure he is about 90% Recycled (cause after all, hasbro is one of the best customizers around..heh) But the parts used for him work much better him than you could imagine. The whole body is a re-cast of the Young Avengers box set Hulkling figure with a new head and removable rubber vest. The head cast is dead on and is in great scale with the body, and the vest is very detailed with its blue dry-brushing and its easily removable.
Crossbones comes with 2 Guns, both have witch have been seen before with our Hydra Agent. The grey guns lack any kind of detail in the color department and really seem to be out of place compared to the level of detail we get on the actual figure. The guns are also next to impossible to hold one you remove clear rubber bands and if you you want to pt his finger on the trigger of the pistol don’t hold your breath. Crossbones stands at about 7 inches (about the same, if not, taller than the BAF figure Ares..Heh). Aside from the guns, im still willing to give the figure a full 5 stars since its one of the best Legends I’ve seen from hasbro yet bar-none.

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Scarlet Spider (Right Arm) ***

Scarlet is by no means the worst figure ever, but I am a little more than unimpressed here. First off, don’t expect any spider-like articulation when you open this one, and say good bye to the low hunched McFarlane pose (the group shot at the top is as low as your getting here) cause this figure has very little movement in his feet and also his wrist (although the wrist is mainly hindered by the silver wrist guards). The hip joints are another main detour in his spidey like movements. I love this sculpt and so do they [obviously] But I do not think it works for spidey, it just lacks to much movement. Another feature that bothered me a little is that the head has sculpted detail for the black webbing, and this level of detail is no where to be found on the rest of the figure. The body is Beautifully painted for sure, but it just seems to clash with the head cause of the routs chosen for detail. Over all though, the figure moves smooth and not as clicky as the “Bulleye Body” and I like smooth datail of the body with solid color casting (although some paint wash would make him pop more) I’ll give him a 3 out of 5 ^_^

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Variant Human Torch (Left Arm) ****

Why we need another Human Torch so soon is beyond me. but at least they got the head sculpt down this time, cause it is awesome. I did scalp ALL the figure (c’mon, give me some credit, I did leave 3 ^_^ ) So I left the Normal torch there. I did however take the variant cause I thought he was more interesting. The only difference in in the flame color and also, the variant has cracked lines painted on him. The flame color looked really cool to me, something different then the 100 other Johnny figures. We do however get that same body sculpt he have all seen on johnny (with those feet I can bitch about for days cause they move like a joke). All in all, we didi get a good HT this time around and maybe we wont have to see him again for at least 3 waves. 3 out of 5 stars.

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Ultimate war Machine (Head) **

Excuse me if I get really negative on this one, but is this not the most lazy wave filler you have ever seen? (don’t answer) Not only is this just a simple re-color re-cast, but its a pretty bad one at that, customizers have been making Ult WM from Ult IM for some time now and a simple Silver and black does it. Why they busted this Titanium Copper color and flat grey is beyond me, but if that is not enough to make you want pass on this figure then hold on to your hats… THE HELMET IS NOT REMOVABLE but at least the took the effort to make the skin color right when you look up in to the chin are (**claps) did I mention this figure comes with the head of Ares? A perfect example of BAF marketing to sell peg warmers. Sorry hasbro, but this one is a FAIL in my opinion. 2 Stars for being a lazy, yet clean looking figure.

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Vision (Right Leg) *****

Im Starting to feel a little bipolar, but this is a very bipolar wave. Vision is perfectly executed figure, again they used the body I will dub “The New Bullseye Body”. This time around, unlike spidey, I think the body is perfect for vision. The body is not to slim and not to muscular, and his hands (although non articulated) are not doing anything too suggestive. The color casting is great here, and although it lacks detail is makes him look very crisp and smooth. Visions head is in great scale too and is actually bigger than his neck (back to that when I get to guardian). My favorite part about him is his cape, it has a very prestigious waft to it and I just love the way it hangs in the wing behind his left arm. Vision gets 5 stars cause I cant find anything that makes me want to melt him

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Guardian (Lower Torso)***

Alot of good, and some bad here, lets start with the good. The figure has the articulation we know and love with the “bullseye Body” Mold and the airbrushing on his white parts, as well as the rest of the paint apps are very clean and look great. Some of the things I don’t like about the Guardian figure is the head, the ab-crunch articulation and the hands. First off I think the head is too small and is actually smaller than the neck is. The hands are from quicksilver and don’t make sense for him like they didi for Quicksilver. Finally, Even though the body was from the original Bullseye cast, somewhere along the Time line, Hasbro seems to have screwed up the ab-crunch articulation. The Joint has more extreme clicks compared to the original body (I.E. Bullseye, Havoc, Moonknight, ect) since hasbro took the mold, you can either click it to where the chest is to far out or the figure is too far forward. This has been happening since quicksilver, and also exist on the target black spidey (which also has a tiny head..heh). Over this guy gets a 3 (hey a C is still passing right?)

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Kang (Upper Torso)*****

NEW SCULPTS…sorta! (in the ML Line at least) That is what I like to see, I call it effort and the Kang Figure has plenty of it. From head to toe we get something a lot of us have never seen (since the ToyBiz Biz Fantastic 4 Kang was so rare That not even I knew it existed). The articulation is spot on, and the scale is all good (YAY a normal head!). Kang also has has great paint apps with more than just color casted parts. For these reasons, I will give the Kang figure 4 stars, pick him up if you see him.

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Ares (Build A Figure) ****

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Last but not least, we have the Build A Figure Ares. Is a Ares a great choice for a BAF? Well… not really. But is Ares a great figure? YES, once built you will fall in love with his detail and articulation. The waist articulation is very cool in the way it swivels and rotates (you will see how it works before you put it together) and all the joints are nice and thick, yet very flexible. Ares is what Action figured should feel like in your hand, heavy, solid, and well constructed. The only reason I didn’t give him 5 stars is cause, frankly, he is small for a BAF. There is easily dozens of more obvious choices for a BAF (Lets see a BAF Juggernaut for one). Ares stands about as tall as crossbones (maybe even a bit shorter with his flimsy helmet off) which isn’t very big, and we wouldn’t a crossbones BAF now would we? I know I wouldn’t. But hey, we cant always win, and Ares seems to be a little more well crafted than your basic figured even though he lacks BAF stature we all want. The paint apps on him a are TOPS! The Skull on his chest is painted to perfection and if your a Ares fan then you should probably shell out the 80 bucks and buy the whole set before we see the price jump Target had with Marvel Legends.

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I hope you found my review Informing and fun
~Kyle Robinson