Marvel Legends Sandman figure review

I was pretty underwhelmed with The Sandman figure that came with the SDCC 2016 exclusive Raft set. It didn’t help that the Toy Biz version still holds up just fine despite being made over a decade ago now. I also wasn’t thrilled since Sandman was announced as the BAF for a Spider-Man wave. After the Raft version misfire, could the BAF version turn my thoughts around on the Toy Biz Sandman’s supremacy? Maybe. Let’s find out in this review.

Packaging:   Build A Figures don’t get packaging. I still think it’d be cool for Hasbro to add a bio for the BAF.

Likeness:  I really like how the arms turned out. Hasbro’s sculptors did a great job capturing a sand-like texture. I wish more areas throughout the figure had those components — maybe like a sand leg? I know this body was chosen for the reuse abilities, but some areas like the veins in the chest don’t quite mesh with a guy turning into sand.

Similar to The Raft version, the belt is sculpted separately and drops down. You’ll need to superglue this part and it’s a little annoying that with so many bodies Hasbro hasn’t fixed this yet.

I love the addition of two head sculpts. Clearly, the sand blasted one is more striking and dynamic, but the regular sculpt is pretty nice as well. The Toy Biz version still reigns in this category thanks to some really phenomenal right out of the comic sculpting.

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Scale:  I wasn’t a fan of the giant size body used for Sandman in The Raft set, but it’s more understandable in this instance thanks to the growing arms. We get the sense of Sandman powering up and going into full on intimidation mode.

Paint:  The paint is largely pretty basic. Toy Biz took advantage of the sculpt to work in some light brown washes to convey a body composed of sand. Hasbro keeps it simple. There’s no washes to the shirt and legs. The shirt line work is strong and the collar work is good. Sandman’s shirt occasionally had a black collar, which would have been nice here in breaking up the smooth transition from skin to shirt.

Once again the arms come out ahead. There’s good blending of a darker brown to help with that sand illusion. That paint job is really important in this case because if they were just light brown the figure would look a little cheap.

Articulation:  On first glance, the arms look like they could pose some posing problems. That’s not the case though as they feature the standard Marvel Legends articulation even with their larger size.

Sandman has:

• neck
• ball-jointed shoulders
• bicep
• elbow
• wrist
• wrist hinge
• torso
• waist
• hip
• thigh
• knee (double jointed)
• ankle

Accessories:  Typically, the BAFs don’t get any accessories, but Sandman comes with an extra pair of hands — one in the form of a spiked ball and the other as a sand block.

I really dig these as it allows for some display options. Add in the alternate head and you’ve got a pretty well stocked BAF.

Worth it? To complete Sandman you’d need to get seven figures. If you were fortunate enough to take advantage of the Target or recent Toys R Us sale when the figures weren’t the full $20 that’s a great deal. Sandman isn’t worth $140, but the excellent figures in this overall amazingly strong wave essentially make him one of the best ‘freebies’ yet.

Rating: 9 out of 10

For a dynamic in-action Sandman, Hasbro’s version blows the Toy Biz figure away. For a more natural version, I’m still going to hold onto the Toy Biz version so we can call this a draw.

Where to get it?  Toys R Us and Target are still stocking this wave, but some figures are going to be harder to track down now. I’d suggest going the case route from Entertainment Earth or getting the remaining figures you need from Amazon.