Wednesday, December 16, 2020

Marvel Legends Toy Biz - PHOENIX!

Marvel Legends Series VI - Jean Grey Phoenix (Standard Ver) - Toy Biz 2004

When Marvel Legends began back in 2002, I was instantly smitten. At the time I was a year into my first professional job and making decent money, yet still paying a mere $350/mo rent. That translated into a lot of expendable income. And as soon as I bought a series of young adult necessities (Ikea furniture, my first DVD player, etc), I was quick to revisit all my old hobbies. I found a comic shop near my office and quickly became a regular. My favorite toys at the time were the DC Direct LOSH, which I thought were amazingly advanced. But soon came the fateful day when I stopped in and found the first wave of Marvel Legends. I bought Captain America and Iron Man and was so excited to see the line eventually include female characters. But I think we all know how awkward most of those early attempts were. I didn't buy any for years, and even then it was under duress. But then last week I saw this Phoenix in a toy shop and suddenly thought she looked pretty great. Let's check her out!









Despite having the excessive articulation that made so many early female figures look like spidery Tim Burton creations, this Phoenix looks very normal. She can hold her posture and her proportions seem natural. The ball-joints at the shoulders and hips are a bit of a distraction, but it's not as bad as I remember.



















She actually has very complex shoulder articulation hidden inside her torso. 
It sort of telescopes out and lets you put her in a raised-arm pose easily.





Phoenix comes with her iconic Phoenix Force flames as a base accessory.
Note the waist clip in the middle to hold her like a flight stand.




The Phoenix flame has a hinged base. Both the base and the center of the wings have nail holes for wall mounting.




The jointed fingers are pretty nice for poses like this.













In predictable Marvel toy fashion, Jean was released in her red Dark Phoenix look as a variant.
The red version was a little more rare, but they weren't true chases. I personally saw her in stores several times.













Time for some Group and Comparison Pics!


Here is Jean with my more modern version. Note this is the Juggernaut Series Body with the TRU Dark Phoenix head.




And in case you were wondering what the modern bodies looked liked on the flames.






Cheers!





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