Legendary Comic Book Heroes Series 2
The second series of Legendary Comic Book Heroes is here and they’re just as good (if not better!) than the first. This time around we collect six superarticulated figures to complete the monstrous ‘Monkeyman’ build-a-figure. In this assortment is Monkeyman’s companion Anne O’Brien, the celebrity/vigilante Star, three-armed cyborg Stryker, Sin City’s Marv, mafia hitman The Darkness, and Judge Dredd nemesis Judge Death. Expand the post for pics and reviews.
ANNE O’BRIEN
Apparently, Anne O’Brien is some sort of dimension-spanning partner/companion to Monkeyman. Not sure about much more than that. But what I do know is that this figure is awesome! I’m actually surprised at how much I like her. Anne is huge (think Marvel Legends She-Hulk). She stands about seven inches tall and towers above other figures. Her articulation and sculpt are both outstanding, and for some reason I love her huge orange hair and garish outfit. She also has some mighty fine ‘badunkadunk’ (see profile pic). While she’s not the sexiest superarticulated female I’ve picked up, she’s certainly one of the most original! Anne gets a costume variant in darker colors. I might snag that if I ever see it at retail.
VARIANT:
JUDGE DEATH
Judge Death has been up on my shelf for quite some time waiting for his Series 2 companions to join him. He was included in the launch of series 1 as a teaser for the next wave, so most collectors had him long before the rest of the Monkeyman figs. The figure is exactly what you’d expect from Marvel Toys - an extremely detailed, extremely well-articulated representation of the character. In fact, I think Judge Death’s paint job might just be the best so far in this line. He looks gritty, and dirty, and evil. Just like he should! He also gets a ghostly clear variant that I passed on but am seriously considering picking up next time I see one.
VARIANT:
THE DARKNESS
Ooh… The Darkness was easily the fan’s choice as ‘most anticipated’ figure so far from this line. It has a little less to do with association with the character than it does with the straight-up bad-ass look of this figure! The Darkness is some sort of mafioso hitman who channels dark energy to serve his will. In action figure form, what that translates to is an outstanding toy with a great look and nifty accessories (the two little demon guys in the pic). What I love most about The Darkness is his articulation. It’s perfect. He has 90 degree hips! This is exciting because the recent convention in superarticulated figures has been to work in those pesky angled 45 degree hips. This means The Darkness can sit, squat, kick, and lunge without having any weird bulbous anal protrusions! Hurray! If you don’t get the rest of this series, at least pick up this guy. He’s an excellent figure.
STAR
According to wikipedia (yeah, I looked it up…) Star is a vigilant hero with a confusing past. Evidently, there was a movie-star who wanted to moonlight as a hero for publicity. But he wasn’t so good with actual heroing, so he hired his body-guard to be the real Star while the celebrity took credit for the good deeds. Whatever. The figure is cool enough. His look is kinda silly. And he’s just a reuse of the old ToyBiz Bullseye body. But that’s alright. His paint job and little retooled trim is enough to set him apart. Overall, he’s probably the most mediocre offering from this series from a character design standpoint. But hey, his articulation is still great!
MARV
“Worth livin’ for. Worth dyin’ for. Worth goin’ to hell for.” Okay, so, maybe this figure isn’t that good, but it’s darn close. I really enjoyed Sin City, and of course Marv is the shining star of that series, so it made sense for him to be the debut denizen of Basin City to get done up in action figure form. Marv is an imposing beast. He’s huge, he’s dense, and he’s heavy. His trench coat is amazing in it’s detail and his head/face sculpt is kind of mind-blowing. Marvel Toys never ceases to impress me with the level of detail they’re able to squeeze into figures at this scale. While Marv’s not quite as poseable as the other characters in this series (he only gets single jointed knees and elbows because of his girth) he is still pretty well articulated and can hold some nice dynamic poses up on the shelf. Next to The Darkness, he’s my favorite figure from the set.
STRYKER
Ha! Oh my. Is there anything more ’90s’ than a comic book character who’s half machine, has a body-length pony-tail, and three robotic arms on one side of his body?! Well, that’s what Stryker is! And honestly… I love it! Marvel Toys has taken a ridiculous character design and turned it into one really nifty toy! In fact, Stryker might be the most articulated figure at this scale… ever! Each of his four arms is articulated just as much as the next making him one darn poseable little toy. He also gets lots of muddy paint detail slopped onto his boots and pants to grime him up a bit, like a war-torn soldier who just skulked off the field after a fierce battle. Complementing his many appendages are a couple of cool looking handguns. Marvel Toys continues to pack their figures full of detail and accessories, constantly upping the value of figures in their line. Stryker is another I highly recommend to ‘casual’ collectors. His unconventional design makes him too much fun not to have up on your shelf.
MONKEYMAN
And finally we get to the real star of the series - the build-a-figure. I had no idea who Monkeyman was prior to the announcement of his inclusion in this wave, so this is another good example of a toy getting me interested in a comic character. It’s actually sort of tough for Monkeyman to be the BAF that follows up Pitt, given that that figure was one of the best of all time. But, the big primate really holds his own. He’s huge, he’s detailed, and he is blowin’ up with articulation! I counted more than 60 POAs on this guy. Granted, a lot of that is in his fingers and toes, but he is still one of the most poseable BAFs ever. And Marvel Toys demonstrated their love for their work and attention to detail yet again by including removable reading glasses for the big lug. Pure awesomeness. This series would have been great even with a subpar BAF, but Monkeyman is far from that. He’s right up there with Pitt as one of the best build-a-figures ever.
GROUP SHOT
Tags: anne o-039brien, judge death, lcbh series 2, marv, monkey man, star, stryker, the darkness
I had trouble getting Monkeyman’s left arm on and finally found a 2nd Marv so I could give it another shot. That worked. This is a great series of figures and Monkeyman rocks it nicely. I would have loved it if he could scratch his head but at least his knuckles come close to dragging on the floor. Gonna put the defective BAF arm back in the Marv package and return it- don’t need two of him, as great as he is and all.
i got judge dreed, savage dragon, marv, darkness, judge death and witchblade the last weekend… and wooaaoo what a great figures, and now im reading witchblade and darkness comics that are also great, im thinking seriously to get all the figures to the build up, because even the couple of arms and legs that i have look so great spread on my floor that im given them a chance. by the way i saw a variant of mad man wich is white and yellow, now im wondering how many variants are out of there…could there be a marv colored variant??????
yep, mr cooltoy, this is an excellent line. unfortunately, the lack of any news regarding upcoming waves leads many to believe that it’s been/being canceled. i hope that’s not the case, so i’m waiting for toy fair before i start spouting doom and gloom.
as for variants - series 1 had a variant Savage Dragon (in white t-shirt) and a variant SuperPatriot (unmasked w/ different gun hand). the series 2 Judge Death variant (all clear) was packed in with series 1 as a teaser for the next wave.
the second series had a variant for Anne O’Brien (darker paint job) and a variant for Madman from series 1 (the yellow sleeves you mentioned you saw) was packed in with series 2 to offset the Judge Deaths that people already had from series 1.
there was a “blood-splattered” Marv variant planned for series 2 as an online exclusive, but it has been scrapped.