Hawkeye (Marvel Legends Vintage)

The Avenging Archer, Hawkeye! Clint Barton was a circus performer who became a villain while trying to get into Black Widow's pants but then saw the error of his ways and joined the Avengers by tying up their butler. Because it was the 60's!

This figure comes in the fun retro-90's packaging but is an example of a character who didn't get a release in the original Marvel Superheroes line. 

Arnim Zola (Ultimate Spider-Man vs. the Sinister Six)

Arnim Zola is a classic Marvel villain created by Jack Kirby in the pages of Captain America in the 1970's. A Nazi scientist who worked with the Red Skull, Zola created a distinctive robotic body to house his consciousness and allowing him to cheat death. 

This figure comes from the Ultimate Spider-Man animated series toyline. Though the character first appeared in season three (Web Warriors) he was released under the season four "Ultimate Spider-Man vs. the Sinister 6" title.

As an animated figure at a lower price point Arnim Zola has only 5 points of articulation, lacking elbow and knee joints but the colours are fantastic and he looks like he jumped off the page of a classic comic book.

Tombstone (Marvel Legends Series)

Tombstone is Lonnie Lincoln an albino black man (oh comics...) who was shunned by his peers except for Joe Robertson who would become an editor at the Daily Bugle even as Lincoln was falling into a life of crime. Somewhere along the line he got super strong and durable and took the name "Tombstone." Tombstone is generally used as a rival crime boss to the Kingpin and others in New York.

This is a pretty basic Marvel Legends figure with no accessories but all the articulation you'd expect. He was paired up with another Spider-Man villain, the Beetle, on the box art because his daughter would eventually take on the Beetle identity and join the incompetent version of the Sinister Six.

Mysterio (Marvel Legends Series)

Disgruntled special effects artist Quentin Beck takes revenge by framing Spider-man for a museum robbery only for his criminal scheme to be revealed by our friendly neighbourhood web-slinger. Mysterio is probably one of the goofiest looking villains Spidey has faced but he's got that Ditko charm that's endeared him to many a Marvel fanatic.

I really really wanted this figure and managed to track him down online for probably way too much money but that'll be forgotten as he takes a place of prominence in my display. I love Ditko's art and this figure is positively oozing with Ditko hallmarks and a hint of Lovecraftian horror.

Moon Knight (Marvel Legends Series)

Mercenary Marc Spector is Moon Knight! Or is he millionaire Steven Grant? Or taxi driver Jake Lockley? Or does he even know anymore?

Apparently I lost the insides of the box before I took pictures.

The hook for Moon Knight is that he struggles maintaining his various identities and in more modern stories he's developed full-on multiple personality disorder and has become an exploration of mental health to varying degrees of sensitivity and success. There are Moon Knight series I love, there are Moon Knight series I hate, but generally I have a fondness for this character and feel he is more than just a Batman ripoff.

This costume is from the (excellent) 2014 Moon Knight series by Warren Ellis and Declan Shalvey.

Batroc the Leaper (Marvel Legends)

Georges Batroc is an expert in the French martial art of Savate and uses those skills as a mercenary who often runs afoul of Captain America. But recently was a member of the cast of "The Unbelievable Gwenpool" written by Christopher Hastings of Dr. McNinja fame. That was a great comic, well worth reading.

At any rate, Batroc is great because he has a silly moustache and a ridiculous purple costume. Two things that are A+ in my books.

Shocker (Marvel Legends Series)

Herman Schulz is an early post-Ditko Spider-Man villain called the Shocker. It was the sixties. His gauntlets produce powerful shockwaves and his quilted suit protects him from their vibrations. Shocker has been a lower tier villain for a long time but his profile was raised when he was part of the Sinister Six team that appeared in "The Superior Foes of Spider-Man" which was a great comic. Keep an eye out for more of those lovable villains in the future.

Taskmaster (Marvel Legends Series)

Taskmaster is a super-villain with the power to instantly mimic any skill he witnesses another person using. This makes him one of the Avengers most formidable foes though his main claim to fame is setting up an academy to train henchmen for other supervillains.

Here he's in his classic costume which was designed by the legendary George Pérez. Articulation is the standard Marvel Legends though his cape kind of gets in the way of some more dynamic poses.
His gun is the same as Nick Fury's but cast in gold, I'm sure his sword is also reused from another figure but I don't know where it first popped up. His shield is quite appropriately a repaint of Captain America's.

Taskmaster is a great villain and his gaudy costume is lots of fun. Can't go wrong with skull face.

Stinger (Marvel Legends Series)

Capping off Ant-Man Family Week is one of my favourite characters actually.

Back in 1998 Marvel started publishing adventures of an alternate future world where Peter Parker and Mary Jane's teenage daughter May began adventuring as Spider-Girl. This was one of the first comics I seriously collected and soon they spun off titles featuring the Fantastic Five, J2 (Son of Juggernaut), and A-Next (the Next Generation of Avengers). Cassie Lang joined this new team of Avengers as the sensational Stinger. I voraciously collected all the MC2 titles and Stinger was a great character. She had a connection to the Fantastic Five from her father's stint with Marvel's first family in the early '90s and wore that striking lavender costume with confidence. In the mainstream comics at that time Cassie was still portrayed as a younger adolescent, not yet even a teen so this was a fun glimpse of what was to come.

Eventually she aged in the main timeline and joined the Young Avengers as "Stature" then some bad stuff happened but she eventually got better and in the pages of the more recent Ant-Man series (I'm sounding like a broken record but they're damn good comics) she uses a new app called "Hench" to regain her powers despite its shady reputation and we finally get the debut of Stinger in the "present."

Unfortunately this figure doesn't "stand up" to my high expectations. For whatever reason I had a really hard time getting Cassie to stand without falling over. Marvel Legends still hasn't quite figured out female bodies yet I guess? Okoye and Nakia didn't have this problem. Oh well I'm still pumped to have a new Stinger figure (the last one came out in 1999 and is boxed up at my dad's place).

The Astonishing Ant-Man (Marvel Legends Series)

To wrap up Ant-Man Family week I figured I'd end with the most familial characters. Marvel Legends has released a Toys'r'us exclusive two pack of Scott Lang in his modern costume with his daughter Cassie in her MC2 Stinger costume.

At the beginning of this week I mentioned how I liked this Ant-Man costume a lot and this figure does it more justice than the smaller Avengers dude. The details are a bit sharper and there's just more paint. Plus the articulation is significantly better, though it's nice to have a shrinking guy in different scales. Makes for some fun photos. Come back later today (like in 2 hours) for Stinger!

Wasp "Ant-Man & the Wasp" Costume (Marvel Legends Series)

The Wasp was probably my favourite character in "Ant-Man & the Wasp." Evangeline Lilly portrayed Hope Van Dyne as a strong, capable butt-kicker who understood the amazing possibilities of size-changing superpowers.

This figure was the one I was really looking for over Ant-Man but I found him first. Luckily I was able to acquire her at the mall after a recent haircut. Her suit looks pretty good. It still fits in with the greater Marvel Cinematic Universe style and I'm glad she got her own colour scheme so as to not look as much like an offshoot Ant-Man. Again I'm floored by the likeness on the unmasked head. I was mentioning to Mrs. ISMOTU that my Magneto figure from the first X-Men film did not really look much like Ian McKellen.  Stay tuned for a DOUBLE update tomorrow!

Ant-Man "Ant-Man & the Wasp" Costume (Marvel Legends Series)

So I was able to track down the Marvel Legends movie Ant-Man figure in his new suit from "Ant-Man & the Wasp." I like the film, it was definitely a sequel and lower stakes than "Infinity War" but you can't have reality in peril every time. This movie was a lot of fun and I quite enjoyed it. It continues the visual creativity of shrinking and give us another trippy look at the Quantum Realm.

Honestly I might've passed on this figure were it not for the unmasked Scott Lang head that has Paul Rudd pulling a silly face. The detail is amazing and the facial expression looks natural. Otherwise the costume has the typical MCU design elements that seem a bit busy to me generally. The articulation is standard but his accessory count is nil. Come back tomorrow to see Ant-Man's arguably more capable partner the Wonderful Wasp.

Yellowjacket (Marvel Infinite Series 3.75")

Hank Pym has a history of mental instability. The price of genius I guess. After some kind of psychotic break Pym created the identity of Yellowjacket. It's an interesting departure from his Ant-Man/Giant-Man/Goliath looks. This figure seems to be the same base as Ant-Man but with a different head and added shoulder "wings." In this suit he included the bio-electric stings he gave the Wasp. It's fun even if a bit more generic superhero.

The Wasp (Marvel Infinite Series 3.75")

Janet Van Dyne is the Wonderful Wasp. She's Hank Pym's partner is shrinking, a founding member of the Avengers, and quite possibly the superhero with the most different costumes over the years. This outfit is from the mid-2000's. It's a sleek gold and black number that hints at her insectoid alter ego but doesn't really pop as an awesome costume. It's certainly not her worst, just not very memorable. I think I picked up this figure because it was beside Ant-Man and I had the thought "you shouldn't really have Ant-Man without the Wasp." My brain hates my wallet sometimes.  She's a perfectly good little Marvel Universe/Marvel Infinite figure who doesn't suffer from stupidly skinny limbs like some female figures do at larger scales.

Ant-Man (Marvel Infinite Series 3.75")

Here's Ant-Man in his classic costume. I bought this guy to represent two different dudes under the helmet. First he's obviously Hank Pym, the man who invented the shrinking and growing technology used in the Marvel Universe. There was also a brief time when the "Irredeemable Ant-Man" Eric O'Grady sported this look when serving with the original incarnation of Secret Avengers. Oh and I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that this is the outfit Scott Lang originally stole from Pym to embark on his superheroic career.

Obviously the helmet's antennae were omitted because they would just get deformed or broken too easily at this scale. The only other real difference between this figure and the comics is the lack of Pym particle shrinking and growing gas capsules on his belt. Funnily enough the shrunken Ant-Man included does have them. Weird.

Ant-Man (Marvel Avengers)

I saw "Ant-Man & the Wasp" opening weekend and it was lots of fun and it so happens that I have a few Ant-Man related figures to spotlight so this is beginning of Ant-Man Family Week.

Scott Lang is the second hero to call himself Ant-Man and the character chosen to star in the Ant-Man film. He's worked with the Avengers and the Fantastic Four, he died for a while but then came back and this costume is his current one. It's a nice mix of modern and classic design elements. The Ant-Man comic in which this costume debuted was a lot of fun so I have some added affection for it.

This Avengers line is perhaps sort of tied in with the current Avengers cartoon. I'm not sure, I haven't been keeping up with that one. The scale and articulation is comparable to the Guardians of the Galaxy Animated toyline. So he only has about 7 point of articulation but he's great for being ant-sized. If I'd known Marvel Legends was releasing a two-pack with this Ant-Man costume and Cassie Lang as Stinger in her MC2 outfit (more on that in the future) I'd probably just skipped him but he wasn't very expensive. Plus cool little ant guy.