Review: Hasbro Marvel Legends Allfather/King Thor Build-a-Figure
I don’t mind admitting here I’ve got mixed emotions when it comes to Build-a-Figures (BAF). For the most part, I’ve been able to avoid them over the years. Mostly because I haven’t been all that interested in the figure Hasbro (or in DC’s case, Mattel) has offered up as the BAF.
The other reason I’ve been able to avoid the Build-a-Figure? I’m not a completist. There are usually one or two figures per line I don’t want that leave me uninterested in collecting the BAF. On top of that, at upwards of 20 bucks a pop (22 if you shop at a certain toy store with the letter ‘r’ prominent in its name), buying two figures you’re not really interested in just to get a BAF that you feel “meh” about isn’t really cost effective.
But if we’re really honest with one another, hobbies generally aren’t very cost effective.
Suresuresure. There’s the eBay route. The ol’ “just-buy-the-pieces-you-want/need” routine. But spending 10 odd bucks on one piece (not including shipping), again, sn’t very cost effective. And I’d rather just put the money toward one of the other millions of things on my list to buy.
So when the production pics of the Marvel Legends Avengers Wave 1 2015 Build-a-Figure: Allfather hit the internets, I was really in a pickle. The assortment included Hawkeye, Iron Fist, Machine Man, Thor, The Sentry, Captain Marvel and Scarlet Witch. Once again, there were a couple figures I wasn’t interested in, but the Odin BAF? Oh, yeah, he was cool.
And those cats at Hasbro really have gotten clever over the years. Because it wasn’t good enough for them making you buy four figures to complete the Build-a-Figure. Nope. This time around, they stuck different pieces inside the variant figures of the line, too. They included alternate pieces inside Captain Marvel and Machine Man packages to convert Odin to King Thor.
That’s what did me in for this wave. That’s what pushed me over the edge. The Odin/King Thor BAF was cool enough to force me to track down all the figures. I ended up buying a case from freshfigures.com. Yea. A case of figures. suffer for my art.
So, is it worth it? Is it worth all the time and energy tracking down all the figures? Well … I can’t give it a resounding “hells yea” like I typically would. Don’t get me wrong. Odin/Thor are wicked cool. Very cool. All the pieces surprisingly pop together nicely. None feel too sloppily loose or anything. All the articulation you expect is there too.
Both heads have great sculpts on them. I thought I’d prefer King Thor over Odin, but after seeing both in person, Odin’s sculpt is the superior of the two. To differentiate the two figures, King Thor has his trademark red cape, Jarnbjorn (Thor’s handy-dandy axe) and a different set of arms (the left arm being all “metal”).
The problem is, I want to display BOTH Odin and King Thor. At the same time, preferably. And there’s no way on god’s green planet I’m buying duplicates of Iron Fist, Thor and Hawkeye (even though those are probably the best figures of the line). I can’t bring myself to spend another 70 bucks (with tax) just to get a whole other figure BAF body.
And there’s the rub. The reason I can’t give Allfather/King Thor the resounding “hells yea” the figure(s) deserves. In my right (or left) mind, I can’t possibly recommend you burn your hard earned cash (not to mention time) getting all these figures, either.
BTW, if you’re thinking, “My friendly neighborhood jman … just sell the duplicates on eBay. Make your money back,” you clearly haven’t visited eBay lately. Because everyone’s got that same idea. And all those extra loose figures everyone bought? They’re selling for less than seven bucks each.
If you did put the money/time out for the BAF, let me know what you think of him.
Next: DC Collectibles Arkham Knight Red Hood figure review
[recentposts