Friday, April 17, 2015

X-Men Ninja Force - DEATHBIRD!

Marvel Comics - X-Men Ninja Force: Space Ninja Deathbird - ToyBiz 1997

Deathbird is one of my favorite villains in the Marvel Universe. My first exposure to her was in the Spotlight on Starjammers special from 1990. Soon she was making regular cameos during Jim Lee's run on X-Men. It wasn't long before I was seeking out her earliest appearances in Ms. Marvel. I was pretty smitten. Deathbird is a Shi'ar mutant and sister of Lilandra (Empress of the Shi-ar Empire and love interest of Charles Xavier). She is a delightfully wicked character. (Plus her renewed popularity paved the way for Cerise, my favorite new addition to Excalibur in 1992). This Deathbird figure epitomizes what was awesome about ToyBiz figures in the 90s. It's an amazing character choice and it's a great, non-gimmicky execution (all "ninja" naming conventions to the contrary). The only critique I have of this figure is that she has a pretty busted face. Luckily she was always sporting some hideous growl in the comics and her headpiece obscures much of her face. Let's check out Deathbird below!



































The posts on the backs of her elbows are meant to fit in the holes on her wings and enable a wing action.  When you move her arms, her wings are supposed to move along with them - But I couldn't get it to work (it actually immobilized both her arms and wings when I tried it).





Deathbird comes with multiple pink metallic snap-on armor pieces 
(her Exoshield and leg armor) as well as a staff.














Here are come images of Deathbird from the Comics and Television.




























Time for some Comparison Pics!


Here she is with her Eaglemoss figurine.  This is the only other Deathbird merchandise aside from a couple Heroclix pieces.







Cheers!





3 comments:

  1. I remember her! She would be an awesome addition to Marvel Legends; though with Hasbro seemingly steering clear of X-Men related characters, I'm afraid she would be far off form becoming part of he Legends. Shame.

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    1. I think she would make an amazing Marvel Legends figure. I like the classic look best. And with the rumored Captain Marvel film, it's actually a possibility that we might see some of the early Ms Marvel rogues showing up!

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  2. She's pretty cool. I'm completely unfamiliar with her, ToyBiz really was able to dig deep back in the day!

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