Marvel Legends X-Factor Cyclops figure review – X-Men vintage wave

X-Factor was one of the first books I regularly grabbed outside of GI Joe. I loved the dynamic of the original X-Men reuniting and trying to train the next generation of mutants. Cyclops quickly became one of my favorite Marvel characters as a result. While I’ve always liked the original X-Factor attires, the second gen outfits were some of my favorite looks for the characters. When Hasbro revealed that look for Cyclops in the Vintage X-Men wave I was ecstatic even if this figure isn’t quite the home run I wanted.

Packaging:   Hasbro has impressively recreated the look of the Toy Biz 5-inch packaging.

While Cyclops is posed differently, the red and orange color scheme remains intact. The vintage one gets a bonus for having Cyclops’ optic blast shooting over the blue and grey X-Men logo. It’s been forever and the reference pictures don’t tend to focus on the back, but I think the bio is at least very similar to the old write-up.

Likeness:  I was always so disappointed with the Toy Biz version of this outfit as it had such a ridiculously slender X. I wasn’t a fan of the oversized gloves and boots or that brutish head sculpt.

Hasbro knocked out all my issues with this far superior version, while for some reason creating a unique problem all its own. More on that in a sec.

When he redesigned the X-Factor outfits, Walt Simonson added tighter boot and glove cuffs. It gave the uniform a nice flair while recalling earlier Cyclops’ costumes. Hasbro actually put in the work to make the unique boot and glove cuffs, which is appreciated.

But for some reason, Hasbro went a step further with the modifications and added an optic beam trail on either side of the visor. These aren’t removable, which was a very questionable decision. Basically that means Cyclops won’t ever have a neutral expression as he looks ready to blast someone away.

Paint:  I love the colors used here even if it’s not the exact shade of light blue used in the comics. It’s more of a pearlescent blue, but it pops nicely against the stark white. The white I a little sloppy at points and doesn’t properly connect along the arms.

I’ve seen several Cyclops figures and they all tend to have some consistency issues with the white paint so if you’re able check carefully you might want to do that instead of just grabbing the first figure you see.

Scale:  To stay consistent with the other figures, Cyclops once again uses the Bucky body. I know some people would prefer he had a thicker buck, but it makes sense for Cyke. The important thing is he’s not that short against the other X-Men.

Articulation:  Nothing groundbreaking here since this mold has been discussed a ton. Cyclops has good range with his arms, elbows and shoulders to pull of some convincing optic blast poses.

 

Cyclops has:

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

 

 

Accessories:  Despite the lack of a Build-A-Figure piece, Cyclops does come with another accessory. It’s an alternate head with an extreme head sculpt. This also features the flaring up optic blast. The paint job on this one isn’t great, but the full optic blast will cover a lot of those flaws.

I wish Hasbro had included the cowl down look of this attire as Cyclops started wearing his hair out here before Jim Lee’s more acclaimed update. Unless Hasbro released a debut X-Factor look with a bonus head, I’m not sure how we could get that figure beyond using one from the X-Men three pack with Jean and Wolverine.

Worth it?  I got Cyclops for $20. That’s a decent price for a Marvel Legend figure these days even without a BAF piece.

Rating: 9 out of 10

This figure comes so close to being my idealized version of X-Factor Cyclops, but the lack of a neutral head and a cowl down head take it down a few notches. Hopefully Hasbro will continue making more of X-Factor from this era

Where to get it?  I got Cyclops from GameStop during a sale, but the wave is apparently being spotted at Target or you can also order him from Amazon, Entertainment Earth or Hasbro Pulse.