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It’s taken a few… decades… but the continuation of the legendary X-Men The Animated Series (sometimes affectionately referred to as X-Men ‘92) is finally almost upon us (sort of)! There was still no firm premiere date announced at SDCC 2023, but at least we know the series will arrive in the near-ish future. And new show means new toys! In fact, the first X-Men 97 toys have already started shipping, including this 4” X-Men 97 Epic Hero Series Rogue figure I ordered to review…
Hasbro announced a first wave of 6” Marvel Legends X-Men 97 figures during San Diego Comic Con 2023, which will likely go up for order this August. But before we get to the most-collected scale of Marvel action figures in existence, Hasbro has some kid-aimed X-Men ‘97 toys on the way! In fact, some of them have already begun arriving.
The inaugural series of X-Men 97 Epic Hero toys includes three individual 4” figures (Cyclops, Wolverine and Rogue), a 12” Titan Heroes style Sentinel and a 4” scaled [Blackbird] “X-jet” (with Storm figure). I haven’t gotten my grubby hands on a Sentinel yet, so I decided to review the next best thing: the 4” Epic Hero Rogue figure.
Toybiz released hundreds of X-related figures in the 90s, but it surprisingly took them quite a few waves to get to Rogue, a mainstay of X-Men TAS (Toybiz also never got around to producing an animated style Jubilee at all). And so, I am very pleased to see Rogue appear here as one of the first 3 solo figures in the X-Men ‘97 range available from Hasbro.
Epic Hero Rogue comes in a plastic-free cardboard box with a large open window to show off the figure. There’s no bio or anything on the box back, nor photos of any other toys in the line—just a photo of Rogue and her singular accessory.
The sole accessory Rogue gets is a green semi-translucent punching effects piece. It’s a bit weird, but Rogue is traditionally a hard figure to accessorize (especially in a range without the possibility of swap-out hands(, so I’m okay with it. The effects piece fits snugly on her arm and can look sort of neat, though I doubt many adults will opt to utilize it.
This figure retails for about $11, which is a buck or two cheaper than the MSRP hat the long-running Hasbro Marvel Universe 4” figure line ended its run at half a decade ago—so this is clearly a “value” line aimed at getting the figures into the hands of kiddos and not just adult collectors.
Visually, the Rogue figure itself looks tremendous. The costume colors are all spot-on (though I might like her hair to be slightly more brown than reddish), Rogue’s face is soft and appealing, and her boots and belt and gloves and jacket are all recognizable.
Rogue feels incredibly light in my hands—more so than a vintage GI Joe or Marvel Universe figure. The lack of heft reminds me more of an old school Happy Meal toy than anything else, though this is obviously vastly superior to such a thing.
The articulation on this Rogue Epic Hero is a mixed bag, and where I feel like it really suffers. It blows away retro-styled 5 points of articulation action figures, but comes up harshly short against Hasbro’s best modern Star Wars and Hasbro figures.
The articulation scheme includes:
—Ball Neck and Hips (Both with severely limited range of motion)
—Ball-Hinge Shoulders and Elbows
—Swivel-Hinge Knees
…And that’s it. No foot, waist or ankle articulation at all, which will shell shock those accustomed to modern articulation.
Rogue’s limbs felt like they were quickly becoming overly loose just when I posed her for review photos, which was already a bit of a challenge with the semi-limited articulation. It’s not the worst I’ve ever seen by far, but it also feels inferior to $2 GI Joes from 40 years ago.
Overall: I need to be careful to grade this as the $11 kids’ toy it is and not the more expensive action figure I want it to be. While a bit light and petite, this is a lovely representation of animated Rogue that many kids will likely be overjoyed to have a chance to own. Even so, the articulation and joint quality definitely do not feel up to snuff, and leave me wishing I had a more fun or interesting toy to play around with at my desk. Epic Hero Rogue isn’t a -bad- action figure, but it’s also not one I’m particularly hyped about having bought. Very average feeling to me, with nice aesthetics but disappointing playability.