Marvel Legends X-Men 97 Wave 1 Review

X-Men 97 continues the storyline of the original 90’s X-Men cartoon, and thus, the 90’s kids-turned contemporary kidults can relish in the latest Marvel Legends toy engineering. The characters in the starting wave include Wolverene, Rogue, Storm, Bishop, Gambit and Magneto.

Okay, from the top, we want to give you a sneak peek of the final verdict. These figures are incredible! Some of the best we’ve seen from Marvel Legends. MCU figures have been getting better and better face sculpts, and now we are seeing that advancement in the more cartoonish figures. Looking at the face sculpts, you can see how sharp and simplified they are. In our opinion, there is just the right proportion of detail and paint. Too much paint and it won’t match the animated look. Same with detail. They’ve nailed it, absolutely. The shadow over Magneto’s eyes, and the windswept, almost anime-like hair of Gambit, Rogue and Storm are the highlights. This ‘goldilocks’ paint and sculpt is reflected throughout the rest of the figures too, with the only missing detail, perhaps, being a little paint on the Wolverine’s hirsute arms. Even so, the texture alone does a good enough job. The colors are super vibrant, again, just like in the show.

Articulation is as robust as you can expect from a comic-style Marvel Legends figure, there’s very little you can’t do. Even Gambit, with his long jacket, can still pull of gymnastic poses thanks to the flexible material yielding just enough. Wolverine wins the poseability competition though, since he has butterfly joints. Accessory wise, we get just enough for each character, and no extra. Most characters include alternate hands, Bishop has his blaster, Gambit includes his bo staff and charged playing card effects, and Wolverine has an alternate unmasked head and facemask. Other details of note include Storm’s cape, which is made from cloth, and Magneto’s cape, which unlike previous iterations, is permanently attached at the chest, but with the familiar peg in the back to allow for some give.

If we were to try and think of constructive feedback…accessories are a bit lean. We have the essentials, but then Gambit lacks a left gripping hand. Nitpicks, to be honest!