Marvel Legends Ronin figure review – BAF Thanos wave

I tend not to mix my MCU and comic book figures, but in the case of the Marvel Legends Ronin, I’m happy to make an exception.

While I didn’t love the New Avengers run, I did think Brian Michael Bendis added some cool layers to the Avengers lore. One of them was the mysterious ninja character Ronin. The first version was Echo, who then was replaced by everyone’s favorite bowman, Br’er Hawkeye.

Hasbro released a Ronin figure while they were still trying to figure out that whole Marvel Legends puzzle. The figure barely held up upon its initial release and the years haven’t been kind to it since. While the MCU version didn’t have a very lengthy role in Avengers: Endgame, it was enough for Hasbro to crank out a figure. There’s more than enough similarities with the comic book version to warrant this upgrade.

Packaging:  Avengers: Endgame has a subtle light blue packaging scheme that shows off the figure and his accessories nicely. After enough of them, I like the more lifelike portraits for the MCU characters and comic book art for the comic characters.

The bio covers all we need in terms of Clint Barton without explaining anything about Ronin. In this case that’s spoiler territory so I won’t hold it against Hasbro here.

Likeness:  Like I mentioned earlier, Ronin didn’t have a long stay in the film, but it was a memorable scene. That didn’t allow for the longest look at the outfit to verify the accuracy of the source material. What I like most about the figure is how it looks like a real world version of the comic outfit while retaining all of the important elements like the gold gauntlets and shin guards, flared sleeves and mask.

The texturing of the outfit is great and the level of detail for the shin guards and gauntlets are impressive. There’s so many elements here in this outfit, but the Hasbro team knocked it out with one of their best MCU figures yet.

My favorite part might be the hood, which is scaled properly, and the head sculpt where we can see the eyes and the mask. With a little effort you can also remove the tunic. The latter allows you to have a pretty close approximation to Hawkeye’s look after he reunites with the Avengers.

All you’d really need is a bow and the head sculpt from the two-pack with Black Widow. I love how clever Hasbro has become in adding value while encouraging buying extra figures. And if you’re building the Avengers Team suit looks anyway, this won’t be a problem.

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Scale:  Thankfully, this figure isn’t much bigger than the smaller scaled comic book version. That means he’ll fit in just fine with the rest of your New Avengers.

Paint:  The excellent sculpting wouldn’t mean as much if the paint job was crappy, but the figure is done right on that front too. There’s some precise work here from the various buckles, the mask lines and the decorative elements of the gauntlets and shin guards.

Articulation:  In a rarity for Hasbro, Ronin features some very tight articulation with almost stiff joints.

No danger of him not being able to hold a pose here. This does mean I had to be a little more careful than usual in moving him around.

Ronin has:

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

Accessories:  Ronin isn’t lacking for hardware as he’s sporting a sizable arsenal. There’s the two swords. They have different handles, which is helpful for distinguishing them.

One is slightly longer. There’s some nice detailing on them as well. He also comes with an alternate hand for his throwing stars. This is similar to the Bullseye, which was one of my favorite accessories. I wish we could have gotten a bow as well, but I get why since Clint didn’t use that as Ronin.

Ronin also comes with the left arm of the Build-A-Figure Thanos with the completed Infinity Gauntlet.

Worth it?  Ronin is the usual $20 price, but considering the unique sculpting and fantastic paint job, this is closer to some of the higher end releases and well worth that cost.

Rating:  10 out of 10

This is a really exceptional figure that packs a ton of original sculpting and offers a surprising amount of display variety when paired with the Quantum Suit Hawkeye. That this Ronin can double as the comic version is a nice bonus.

Where to get it?  I found the BAF Thanos wave at Wal-Mart, but I’ve heard folks have also found them at Target so check them or go the usual Amazon.com route as well.