Review - Avengers: Infinity War Marvel Legends by Hasbro

Spring tends to be my favorite time of year and I'm not sure if that's because the cold Canadian winter is behind us, or because the next Marvel Studio's release is right around the corner. Maybe I'm just being nostalgic, but I have fond memories of seeing Iron Man, Thor, and The Avengers in high school and College. This year Marvel isn't holding anything back with the release of Avengers: Infinity War, ten years of story telling has lead to this unprecedented event.

Since Iron Man 3 Hasbro has done a wave of film related Marvel Legends figures for each release. For Infinity War, the first wave of figures includes Iron Man, Captain America, Spider-man, Proxima Midnight, and Thanos as the Build-a-Figure. The series also included a member of the Serpent Society, Taskmaster, and Songbird but I'm only going to be taking a look at the meat and potatoes of the wave.

If you've purchased a new Marvel Legends figure since 2014, you'll have seen this PACKAGING before. Same story here, just with a new coat of paint. I am getting a little tired of opening Legends figures though, I have to separate the plastic window from the cardboard box every time in order to recycle it properly. Becomes a pain when you've got 7 figures to open. Recycling is a nightmare in my city, but you're not here for that. The window box shows off the figures well, and there's actually some pretty nice photography on the back of the box this time around. The yellow of the interior tray is really vibrant and makes the figures pop really nicely too.

The PAINT and SCULPTING are great as always, and I was really impressed by the number of different textures on each figure. Iron Man's armor is sleek and smooth while Spidey's Iron Suit almost has a woven metal look to it. The metallic paints work really well on these two, Spider-man's new armor really pops. I also feel like they nailed the sculpt this time around, especially with the head. I had a few problems with the proportions last time as well but they're spot on this time. Iron Man's armor has a really organic kind of flow to it in this film and they managed to make the sculpt and articulation work really well together.

Captain America is a solid figure, but it's got an issue here or there. The body might be partial reuse from the previous Age of Ultron and Civil War figures but it's hard to tell. This time though his belt is a separate piece and is free to move around his body. I'm also not sure why he's only wearing one glove, it's not distracting if he's holding his new shield but otherwise it's a bit odd. His alternate left hand also doesn't have a sculpted glove which just adds to the confusion. I can't imagine it being a big enough of a story beat in the film for the toy to be so scene specific. The head sculpt is about 85% of the way there, I think the problem there is the hair and his big dead eyed expression. A couple little tweaks here and there and it could have been great.

Proxima Midnight is a surprisingly beefy figure, but what would you expect as a daughter of Thanos. Her costume has some more nice textures to it, this time in a much more random, free flowing pattern. She looks strong and imposing while still feeling feminine at the same time. Thanos is a beast of a figure and just looks like an extremely powerful character. I wasn't sold on the unarmored look at first, but like with most new designs it's really grown on me. With the power of the Infinity Gauntlet, who needs armor? The gauntlet looks great by the way and has great intricate detailing to it.

Just like the sculpts and paint, the ARTICULATION is exactly what you'd expect from Marvel Legends figures. However, I did notice some irregularities. Proxima, Thanos, Iron Man, and Spidey all don't have a cut shin and Thanos is only rocking single pin elbows. I don't know if this is Hasbro trimming away at the edges trying to keep the costs down or if these decisions were informed by the sculpts. The previous Spider-man Homecoming Legends figure, and the Civil War Iron Man both omitted the cut shin, and there isn't really a clear place for one without interfering with the sculpt so it's difficult to say. I will also mention the quality of the plastic seems softer than past releases, and I did have more loose joints that I was expecting for a modern Marvel figure. It's something to keep an eye on.

One other thing to note is these guys seem a little light on ACCESSORIES. Spider-man comes with a BAF piece and that's it. No extra head sculpt, no extra hands, nothing. Proxima too only comes with her staff and a Thanos piece but that's understandable because she is a big figure. Iron Man has a pair of extra hands and the same repulsor blast effect pieces from the Civil War figure, this time around though they only have a peg on the end and not a ball joint. Finally, Cap comes with an extra pair of closed fist hands and a Wakandan Shield. He's only got one shield, even though it looks like he's rocking two in the trailer, but T'Challa does say "...and get this man a shield" so... either way it fits in either hand nicely and looks great.

I do want to mention Iron Man's lack of a BAF piece. It seems odd that one of the main characters in the movie that this line is designed to support doesn't come with a BAF piece. This means you have to buy 7 figures instead of 6 to get all the movie characters plus Thanos. I think it's pretty low of Hasbro to remove the BAF from the figure they know will sell, otherwise why would he be two per case?

OVERALL, this is your typical Marvel Legends wave. Great looking figures packed with tons of articulation and a great looking Build-a-Figure. I would like to finally get to the day where we can get a solid assortment of movie figures and not have these mix and match waves anymore. Luckily for me though, Toys "R" Us has a buy 6 get 1 Free promotion going on when I bought the wave so it was an easier pill to swallow. Now I'm just going to be sitting here waiting for the Marvel Studios 10th Anniversary figures, boy they look spectacular.