Toy Review: Marvel Legends Disney Plus Wave 1 Figures

Just in time for the wrap-up of Loki, the first wave of Disney Plus Marvel Legends are hitting stores. And because they were announced before Loki even started, they only feature the main variant himself from that show. The Falcon and The Winter Soldier characters make up the bulk of the wave, with Wanda and Vision from WandaVision rounding it out. It’s a rare Marvel Legends wave to be based entirely on live-action properties. The best thing about it is the likenesses are all outstanding, and instantly recognizable as who they’re supposed to be. The worst is the gimmick of the wave — Sam Wilson’s wings are spread out in pieces between all the figures, and include a subpar, ill-conceived flight stand.

Marvel Legends fans are used to build-a-figures, and even build-a-wing set, which they did for Vulture from Spider-Man: Homecoming. At least this wave doesn’t feature any lazy repaints or filler minor characters most people won’t want. Odds are fans of the shows will want all of these. That said, those who just want Sam and Bucky have a right to be annoyed. Considering that Hasbro now frequently sells oversized figures by themselves online, and have sold prior versions of Sam with non-poseable wings as a single figure, they could have done so again.

If somebody just buys Sam by himself, however, it’s not a wash. He does include a folded-in backpack for non-flight mode, along with the shield.

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USAgent suffers from being based on early designs. Unlike the final black suit revealed at the end of the show, this is a repaint of a previous online exclusive John Walker as Captain America. And he doesn’t even have a shield, though he does have a peghole in his back that will work with some versions of previously released shields. He also has a frustrating gun permanently attached to his leg. But hooray for alternate hands, even if there’s nothing to use that trigger finger for.

Look! A variant figure! (That’s a toy collector joke.) Loki reuses parts of previous civilian figures, including Stan Lee, but it’s appropriate for this outfit. He’s not necessarily essential for anyone who owns previous Lokis. However, he is necessary for the key connector piece that puts Sam’s wings together.

Yes, you can make Baron Zemo strike a dance pose. He comes with an alternate masked head, but it does not sit as well on the neck peg as the Daniel Bruhl head. Thankfully his high collar covers that fact up. And his alternate hands are more creative than usual. He can do the Harrison Ford finger point of doom, for example.

Zemo includes his red book and a gold pistol borrowed from a previous figure. It actually goes better with Bucky, who, like USAgent, has a trigger finger and nothing to wrap it around.

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Bucky’s outfit also seems to be based on preproduction art, as it’s far bluer than in the show. Decent faded denim effect, though. And no, his arm does not appear to be detachable. The Sebastian Stan likeness was clearly the toughest to capture, but it looks better in profile.

All figures with new tooling — Sam, Bucky, John (well, it was new for the Cap version), the upper body of Zemo — have the new pinless joints on their elbows and knees. Which makes future re-use unlikely except in full-on repaints (like John).

The highlight of this series is Scarlet Witch, who of course is the hardest to find. Fans love Elizabeth Olsen action figures, especially when they’re this well executed.

Not only do translucent magic effects wrap around her forearms, but she also comes with extra translucent hands. It’s magical.

Her beau the Vision — or rather, the soulless replica of him — is mostly a repaint. But he includes an improved, very Bettany likeness, along with a shower curtain of a cape.

Some grayscale vintage TV variants might be nice. Maybe as future exclusives. For what are exclusives, if not sculpts persevering?

Finally, Captain America. His neck looks a bit thin, but the face got a full sculpt, even underneath the translucent visor piece.

The wings go the extra mile, as they should if they’re going to be this deluxe. Fold them around him for a shielding effect? Check.

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There are, however, issues. The drone piece plugs into his back with a weird, cubist plug piece made for a tiny, soft hole. It will not stay in. A simple cylinder shape into a round hole would have worked better.

As for the stand, it’s only tall enough to hold him in a standing pose. To make him look anything like flying, he needs to be twisted at an angle, and even then, his body weight ultimately pulls him back toward a straight-up stance. Because this IS a cylinder-into-a-hole joint. C’mon, Hasbro. The flight stand that came with the deluxe Black Widow movie figure was right there.

At least he sports a nice colorful paint job. But anyone who just wants Sam as a standalone might do better buying the Diamond Select 7-inch. Also, it may be a side effect of these not being larger characters generally, but this wave overall feels softer and more rubbery than many. Whereas the Red Guardian, for example, in the recent movie two-pack features a hard torso and upper arms, all of these feel like they might wilt in extreme heat.

But they do have amazing head scans. So it’s a trade-off. Take a look in our gallery below for much more.

What do you think of these figures? Leave us your thoughts in comments.

Recommended Reading: Loki: Agent of Asgard – The Complete Collection

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