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The clock is running out on 2019, and with the 2020 waves just around the corner, there are going to be a multitude of this year’s Marvel Legends action figures that I just never get around to reviewing. But one of those neglected figures won’t be Beta Ray Bill! By special request from MTN followers on social media, I dug out Thor’s hammer-brother and gave him a second look! Marvel Legends Beta Ray Bill is available discounted online now–should you be giving him another look as well?
Although he’s never really been able to take off as a headline titular character with his own ongoing series, the Walt Simonson created Beta Ray Bill is one of the most popular and beloved supporting characters in the Thor mythos.
It seems like it’s only a matter of time until we see BRB in the MCU movies—but we don’t have to wait any longer for a new 6” figure of the Korbinite! This summer, Hasbro released the first-ever modern costume Marvel Legends Beta Ray Bill action figure! Is he a winner…?
Well… in this instance, I think the answer to that is a little complicated. Almost unilaterally, fans prefer the colorful, classic costume for Beta Ray Bill. While it would definitely be more appropriate for TV and movies, the modern Beta Ray Bill costume is kind of, well… bland.
While virtually everyone visualizes Beta Ray Bill in his classic Thor-like costume, his modern appearances have him decked out in this far more plain attire that Hasbro has very faithfully recreated here. His upper torso has a wonderful armor-like metal look to it, while the rest of his torso is covered in a plain black garment that looks more smooth and spandex-like.
Beta Ray Bill’s armored chestplate is visually the most visually compelling part of the whole costume, so it’s a bit of a bummer that the rest of the body is so plain. Accurate—but boring.
The rest of BRB’s costume consists of his winged helmet, red cape, grey wrist wraps, and gold shoulder pads. There’s not a lot of paint deco on these, and the shoulder pads look disappointingly flat to me color-wise. I think a little bit of weathering paint wash in one or two more places on this ML Beta Ray Bill could have gone a long way to making it look more exciting.
And speaking of things that could potentially benefit from paint deco: while Beta Ray Bill’s hammer—Stormbreaker—does have the brown-painted strap loop at the end of its handle, the hammer is otherwise unpainted gold plastic. The color is correct, but I think it needed a more metallic plastic or some sort of wash to really shine.
One other thing I wanted to mention about the hammer is that, while it can slot into Beta Ray Bill’s right hand easily, it seems to pop out of his grip constantly and flop around when I move him. It’s a little quibble, but also one that was rather annoying while posing him for photos—especially combined with the fact that his right wrist joints isn’t strong enough to support the hammer well.
The articulation set on the Hasbro Beta Ray Bill has some highs and some lows. Along with the aforementioned wrist looseness, the red cape drapes flat against Bill’s back, which is annoying and makes him a bit back-heavy. However, it unpegs from the back while still being attached at the shoulders, which allows more flexibility with posing than you might expect.
The high point of the whole figure for me is the opening and closing jaw joint. The orange ball joint inside the mouth is a little distracting if you focus on it too much, but I can look past that. This is tons of fun and adds a lot of expressiveness and personality to Beta Ray—if this jaw joint wasn’t present, I’d be rating this figure an entire grade lower. It’s a game-changer!
Otherwise, the articulation is the usual level of excellence, including:
- Ball Hinge Neck and Shoulders
- Hinged Jaw
- Ball-Jointed Upper Torso
- Double-Jointed Knees and Elbows
- Swivel Hinge Wrists
- Swivel Waist, Biceps, Thighs and Boots
- Hinged Ankles with Rockers
I always prefer ball-jointed upper torsos to an ab crunch, and I am overall very pleased with the range of motion and achievable poses on this anthropomorphic alien horse man.
Overall: This is an overall solidly-executed action figure of Beta Ray Bill—albeit one that happens to depict a costume choice that just isn’t all that popular. There are certainly nits to pick: the cape is rather static, his orange jaw joint really stands out when his jaw is open, Stormbreaker is lacking deco, and his wrist joint isn’t strong enough to reliably hold Stormbreaker aloft.
All that said—I like this toy. I think the head sculpt likeness is excellent, and Hasbro has really nailed the modern (unpopular) costume. The opening jaw is loads of fun, and the articulation scheme is expansive. I’m not amazed by this 6” Beta Ray Bill Legends figure—and it’s certainly not in the upper echelon of Hasbro’s best entries for the year—but it is a very good figure that I think will tide fans over until we get an (inevitable) updated classic ML version of the character.