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This year’s sole wave of Avengers Legends is a real anomaly in the modern era of Hasbro Marvel Legends in that, well… I don’t particularly want half the figures in the wave (including the Build-A-Figure!). Maybe I’ll turn around completely once the Square-Enix Avengers video game hits, but for the moment, this GamerVerse Marvel Legends Abomination Series is leaving me cold. Luckily, half the wave is composed of comic book characters, including the subject of today’s review: is it worth following The Leader Marvel Legends figure all the way to checkout?
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Apologies that I’m still catching up on my backlog of 2020 Marvel Legends figure reviews, and in particular this Avengers GamerVerse wave—for which I’ve never reviewed a singular figure up until now.
For whatever reason, the two figures in this wave I was actually enthusiastic about—Rage and The Leader—were also the two that eluded me in stores for months. But now that the Marvel Legends Leader figure has reared his bulbous head, does he meet my expectations?
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In some ways yes, in some ways no. Let’s start out with the few ways he falls short, as the positives of this figure are pretty straight-forward.
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Perhaps the most strange thing to me about this release is the utter lack of any kind of gun or weapon for The Leader to wield at all. He’s got a perfect grasping hand, but nada to grasp. And for a villain with zero physical abilities to fall back on, that’s just unforgivable.
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Although I hate photographing toys I review with accessories they don’t come with, I was so hard up for ideas on how to pose this accessory-less Leader Marvel Legends figure that I stole Spymaster’s awesome red ray gun to give poor Samuel Sterns to defend himself with.
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This unfortunately left my Black Widow Legends Spymaster figure weaponless—but I gotta say, the red gun looks fantastic with Leader. And it also gives him a display option other than just standing around and looking bored.
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And speaking of which—the other thing that puts me off about this figure is the expression chosen for the head sculpt. While the art on the box shows a deliciously evil Leader with a crazed smile on his face, the actual toy is sporting another of the ever-so-common impartial expressions.
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With a character as arrogant as The Leader, I would have much preferred a more disgusted sneer or a malevolent smile—the emotionless expression just feels really boring on a toy that has limited logical display options to begin with.
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On the flip side, the actual shaping of the humongous head—the defining trait of this character—is much more appealing than the Toybiz Faceoff Leader figures’ heads to me. The brain-looking variant head and rectangular head on those figures always kind of grossed me out, but I like this style of bulbous head as a sort of “not-quite-as-repulsive” alternative.
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Also visually different from the previous ML Toybiz Leader action figures are the bright yellow harness and belt add-on pieces, which make this the most citrus-colored Marvel Legends action figure ever. These add-one greatly enhance the look of the figure, and fit nice and snug.
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Quality-wise, I’ve got zero complaints this time out. The plastic and joint construction both feel solid, and the paint deco is cleanly applied with nothing really standing out to me and setting off my OCD. Leader isn’t the type to get himself dirty, so in this instance I don’t see a need for a paint wash.
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The thin Mr. Fantastic body mold was an excellent choice for correct proportions for this character. And articulation-wise, this has every point you’d ever need for a toy of a non-combatant supervillain, including:
- Ball-Hinge Head and Shoulders
- Upper Torso Ab Crunch
- Swivel Waist
- Double-Hinge Knees and Elbows
- Swivel-Hinge Wrists
- Ball Hips
- Swivel Biceps and Thighs
- Hinged Feet with Ankle Rockers
There’s really not a whole lot more I have to say about this guy. He is what he is. Which brings us to…
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Overall: While my total score for this figure is hindered by the plain expression and inexplicable omission of any kind of weapon for the Marvel Legends Leader figure to defend himself with, I’m still happy with this figure as a whole.
The yellow harness and much less repulsive head make this the most visually “attractive” Leader Legends figure that’s been released to-date, and the production quality, articulation and sculpt are all up to snuff. This is far from Hasbro’s most impressive figure of the year, but it’s certainly a “good” figure that could have been “great” with a few extras.
If you don’t have a ML Leader action figure already (or don’t have one you like), this is a solid release to pick up.