Saturday, April 23, 2022

Marvel Basic Series - KING VALKYRIE!

Thor: Love and Thunder - Basic Series 1 - King Valkyrie - Hasbro 2022

Basic figures are improving with every movie cycle. Years ago they looked like glorified dollar store toys, but lately they're just slightly simplified versions of Marvel Legends. The big advancement this time is the addition of an action feature. Of course the prices are also increasing. These ten dollar toys are suddenly fifteen (but Legends are now $25, so it's still significantly cheaper). But the sculpting is great, and they fill an interesting role of typically being the first movie product on the shelves. In Thor: Love and Thunder, Tessa Thompson's character is now apparently called King Valkyrie. I guess we won't know the context until July, but her costume is not too drastically different from her two previous looks. I was hoping for something more distinctive, maybe with some head ornamentation. But who knows, maybe we'll get a mid-movie costume upgrade like she had in Ragnarok (and then we won't get another figure of her for two years). Let's check out the basic series King Valkyrie figure below!







This figure is the first Marvel product I have purchased in their new plastic-free packaging. I'm a very eco-minded person, so I appreciate the effort. However, as a collector, I'm super picky about paint and like to choose my own figures. Also, the graphics on the box make her look oddly short.




This King Valkyrie figure is permanently holding her blades. It looks the same as her previous weapon, but now there are two (The Legends figure has the blade(s) in blue like her blade in the previous two movies).



















King Valkyrie has really simple articulation: Swivel head, swivel shoulders, swivel wrists, and swivel waist.
The legs also can be squeezed together to activate her "sword slashing" action feature.





The trailers so far only show one glimpse of Tessa Thompson, and she's in dressed like a CEO in a board meeting. 
These figures are quite a spoiler for her costume and new title.













Time for some Group and Comparison Pics!


Here is King Valkyrie with her two previous Marvel Legends figures: Avengers Endgame and Thor Ragnarok.





And here is the Basic Series King Valkyrie with the Basic Series Jane Foster Thor.




And here she is with the Marvel Legends King Valkyrie on the Left.




The headsculpts appear to be identical with some minor retooling for the hair and neck peg.
The plastic and paint quality is much cheaper on the Basic version.




The neck pegs differ, but with some simple retooling the basic King Valkyrie head 
could be used on a Legends custom.






Here are all the MCU Basic Series figures so far (plus Kamala from video games). The new Thor figures are fractionally taller than the previous figures. From Left to Right:  Infinity War Black Widow, Infinity War Scarlet Witch, Endgame Captain Marvel, Love and Thunder King Valkyrie, Love and Thunder ThorGamerVerse Ms. Marvel, Black Panther Shuri, and Infinity War Gamora. (I forgot to include Endgame Rescue). 






Cheers!





1 comment:

  1. Oh she got promoted to King Valkyrie after the events of Avengers: Endgame after Thor left with the Guardians of the Galaxy at the end.

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