Marvel Legends Bishop figure review

Diversity in comics has become a contentious topic these days, but it’s long overdue. I remember my excitement over the arrival of the first black male X-Men. The fact that Bishop had a unique look and great powers made him even cooler.

Bishop is returning to a role of prominence in Marvel’s umpteenth Uncanny X-Men relaunch. But Hasbro realized it was long overdue to recognize the character in its Marvel Legends line as part of the Deadpool Build-a-Figure Sauron wave.

Package: Like most of this wave, this package is stuffed. Hasbro knows how to maximize the package space to show what you’re getting for your money. In a rarity for Marvel Legends, the side portrait is in full color. Normally, Hasbro just goes with one accent color and sticks with it.

It seems a little late in the game to switch things up, but there’s no other way to differentiate the Deadpool red packaging from Spider-Man. The bio is also better than average nicely summarizing Bishop’s agenda.

Likeness: Bishop looks like he stepped right out of the 90s with his focused expression, exquisite mullet and large physique. All the necessary details are here from the rolled up sleeves and gloves, harness, belt and scarf. I don’t tend to like open mouth expressions, but the intensity fits Bishop and reflects his determination well.

Bishop has trigger fingers on both hands so he can hold his shotgun blaster with your preference. He can also hold the smaller of the two Toy Biz Bishop shotguns.

Unlike the Toy Biz Bishop, which I didn’t really like back then, there’s no wonky hips and ball shoulders. With more and more of the 90s era X-Men getting figures, Bishop kept looking worse. Finally we’ve got a far more impressive version that isn’t oddly constructed.

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Paint: I’ve always liked how Bishop’s outfit made such great use of the primary colors. The blue is strong and the red scarf is striking.

If you’ve seen enough of my reviews you know yellow doesn’t play well with other colors. It doesn’t always line up properly thanks to its weaker hue resulting in bleeding and poor coverage.

My first Bishop had some sketchiness with the line work. The second was much better save some fading along the leg stripes. I’m not sure if there will be a perfectly painted Bishop, but I would recommend grabbing one when you see him.

Scale: Like Cable, Bishop is taller than the average mutant and his figure reflects that nicely. He’s also got the right amount of size width wise. Bishop looks like he could play linebacker and demolish quarterbacks. He’s the guy on the Gold Team nobody wants to see coming.

Articulation: I’m not sure if Bishop has a new body, but all of the signature Marvel Legends articulation is here. Despite his size, Bishop isn’t much of a melee fighter and is more suited for projectile style posing. You’ll be able to hit most of the shotgun gunslinger poses you can conceive.

Bishop has:

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

Accessories: Bishop has his trusty shotgun. It’s sculpted with a good amount of detail and painted with some solid metallic black elements. He’s also got the massive right arm and wing of the BAF Sauron.

As if you needed any encouragement, getting one piece of Sauron will likely get you excited about completing one of the likely nominees of best BAF in 2018.

Maybe the one thing I would add would be a projectile/gesturing hand to show off Bishop’s energy generation power. Otherwise this is a pretty complete take on Bishop.

Worth It? I paid $23 for Bishop. Slightly higher than traditional retail, but I don’t regret it as this is a fantastic take on Bishop. The extra size also helps feel like there’s an additional value.

Rating: 10 out of 10

If I were to conceive my ideal version of an updated Bishop this would pretty much be it. Hasbro really knocked this one out. I’m looking forward to wrapping up the Gold Team now with his arrival.

Where to Get it? Time it right and you’ll catch him in stock at Hasbro Toy Shop or Amazon.com. The better bet is tracking him down at GameStop or Target.