Marvel Legends Sub-Mariner figure review

With Hot Toys getting my movie money, I’m sticking to comic characters on the dedicated Black Panther Marvel Legends wave. That makes it a little weird that my first Black Panther wave figure is Namor the Sub–Mariner aka the destroyer of Wakanda. It’s hard to complain though when one of my biggest Marvel Legends wants finally gets an amazing figure treatment.

Package:  Despite being part of the Black Panther wave, Namor gets a Sub–Mariner logo on the front to go along with the side panels and small bio. The positioning of the accessories helps to fill out the space in the package and conveys the value well.

I like the shade of blue used for Sub–Mariner’s packaging. Like the rest of the wave, he’s got an orange inner lining.

Likeness:  Hasbro took a mighty swing and a miss on its first take on the classic Sub–Mariner look. The figure is best left on the island of misfit toys. This guy? Is it too early to start the figure of the year nominations? OK, maybe that’s a bit of overkill (maybe), but this figure delivers exactly what I’ve wanted from this old school version.

Hasbro seemed to give him an original sculpt with an appropriately ripped torso. The head sculpt looks solidly determined with just a trace of arrogance like he’s all set to tell off Reed Richards or Doctor Strange.

This swimsuit costume was never going to look as intricate as other costumes, but its simplicity makes sense for a guy who spends most of his time underwater. That didn’t mean Hasbro shortchanged him though as the scales are all sculpted and the belt has a sculpted seashell. It’s not as elaborate as some other figures, but Sub–Mariner looks exactly like he did in the comics from the pointy ears to the ankle wings.

Scale:  Sub–Mariner isn’t quite an average height guy and is appropriately taller than the average figure. He looks pretty impressive next to most figures.

Paint:  Hasbro didn’t have to worry about a taxing paint job here. Namor’s trunks get a great metallic green sheen and the gold bracelets and belt look good. Since no figure can fully be perfect, the gold spray on the belt was a little off with the green bleeding through.

Articulation:  There’s no real surprises even with the new body parts. Hasbro has engineered a very fluid articulation scheme that makes for easy and fun posing. Thanks to his various display options, Sub–Mariner proved very fun on this front.

Sub–Mariner has:

• Neck
• Shoulders
• Biceps
• Elbows (double-jointed)
• Torso
• Waist
• Hips
• Thighs
• Knees (double-jointed)
• Ankles

Accessories:  Thanks to the smaller size of the BAF, Hasbro could be more generous with the accessories. Namor comes with open palmed, swimming hands. These swap out easily with no concern of repeated hand switching causing any problem with either set.

Maybe the bigger surprise is the bearded head sculpt. I don’t recall a lot of bearded Namor eras, but this looks good and is a really nice alternate look. I love that Hasbro has started making alternate head sculpts more of a regular inclusion now.

Additionally, Namor comes with a trident. This looks a lot more fitting for the king of the seas than the wonky looking Odin spear the Walgreens version came with. While it lacks any paint apps, the sculpt packs a lot of detail and feels appropriately regal.

Finally, Namor gets the arms of the Build A Figure Okoye. This isn’t as impressive as the massive accessories the Thor: Ragnarok Ares had, but they can’t all be that astonishing.

Worth it?  The Walgreens version was $20 and lacked the alternate head sculpt and BAF parts. At $20, this one feels like a better value despite the nagging sense that Namor will likely be heavily discounted by November.

Rating: 10 out of 10

Just like Cyclops and Dark Phoenix, Hasbro finally gets to a long-awaited classic figure and delivers the goods. When the result is of this quality, it’d definitely worth the wait.

Where to Get It?  I saw remnants of the Black Panther wave at several Toys R Us stores, but happily got Sub–Mariner from Toysrus.com to avoid driving frustrations. The wave is also available at Gamestop and is arriving in Wal-Mart. Amazon is another route if you just want the Sub–Mariner figure, but the full set is available at Entertainment Earth.com