Marvel Legends Nightcrawler figure review – BAF Wendigo wave
Hasbro is teasing me with releasing these killer updates of my favorite team — the Giant Sized X-Men squad — while there is a Storm-sized void in my display. At least I’m getting some amazing figures in the interim like this Marvel Legends Nightcrawler. I hated the Toy Biz head sculpt so much I customized a more fitting head using a DC Direct Aquaman. That left Nightcrawler to the back of my Toy Biz update list, but Hasbro made sure their version will be the new display choice.
Packaging: This is basically an X-Force wave of X-Men, but I won’t complain especially since Nightcrawler is in his classic outfit. It’s the standard orange yellow accent for the Marvel Legends packaging with the updated color side.
I miss when the character was in that same accent color as it made for a more uniform look. I think Ken Lashley did the package art this time. Nightcrawler is in ready to attack teleport mode.
The bio is a little odd as it calls him a trouble-making mutant and there’s also no mention of the X-Men, which always annoys me.
Likeness: I’ve read some complaints that people think Nightcrawler is built too slight. Hasbro used parts of the Pizza Spider-Man figure along with a lot of new parts for the fuzzy elf.
The default head is OK. This is one of those cases where I wish Hasbro would keep in mind various era of characters. With a mullet, this headsculpt would be perfect for the punk rock glam era of the X-Men right before the Mutant Massacre. The hair is a little too neatly cropped and lacks that sense of wildness Nightcrawler regularly had it. Here’s how the Hasbro figure (in the middle) matches up with the Toy Biz body and Marvel Select figure. Hasbro definitely wins this one in my book.
To maintain the articulation, Hasbro made the chest piece separate at the torso point, which was a smart move for aesthetics as well. His tail isn’t bendable, but Hasbro gave it enough curves that it has some character.
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Paint: My figure had some paint challenges with the red trim around the wrists and shins. There was also some overspray in the bottom portion of the chest piece.
Typically Nightcrawler’s forehead is shadowed with a subtle shading around his eyes as well. I think Hasbro opted not to do that since the eyebrows wouldn’t be very visible. Interestingly, Hasbro did add the blue in his hair just like how it appeared in the comics, which was a nice touch.
Scale: Nightcrawler typically hunched over, but as far as my unofficial scale by way of Byrne and Cockrum, at full height he was noticeably taller than Wolverine, just a tad taller than Banshee and a little shorter than Cyclops and Storm.
Hasbro captured that very well with this figure, which is all I wanted. They’re doing pretty well about accurately reflecting the scale of the Claremont-era X-Men.
Now I can do an update of one of my earlier X-Men shoots with all new Hasbro figures.
Articulation: Nightcrawler was easily the most athletic X-Man this side of Beast and Hasbro made sure this figure can achieve a slew of iconic poses.
While the tail isn’t bendable, it does rotate so you can position it in different places. That’s a huge plus and it allows you to have a little flexibility in terms of how you want to display it.
Nightcrawler has:
- neck
- ball-jointed shoulders
- bicep
- elbow (double-jointed)
- wrist
- wrist hinge
- torso
- waist
- hip
- thigh
- knee (double-jointed)
- ankle
Accessories: Nightcrawler is loaded with a ton of useful accessories. He’s got two alternate head sculpts. One is yelling, battle mode version with teeth open and fangs visible.
This is the only one of the three that has the shadow effect around his eyes. It’s not comic perfect since the shadow drops more like a mask ending at his mouth, but I appreciate the effort.
The second head is the one I assume will be most collectors’ default head as it features a wide smile more in keeping with Nightcrawler’s normal demeanor.
He also has a swappable right hand to hold his cutlass. This is the same one that came with Citizen V, but it’s a smart reuse.
This isn’t something he used all the time, but I love that as a bonus accessory.
Finally, Nightcrawler comes with the left arm of the Build-A-Figure Wendigo.
Worth it? I got Nightcrawler for $20. Honestly with all the extras I wouldn’t have felt ripped off if he were a Marvel’s 80th figure at $25. Not that I want to give Hasbro any ideas.
Rating: 10 out of 10
Yeesh, Hasbro is making it real tough to choose a winner for the best Marvel Legends figure of 2019. Nightcrawler absolutely deserves to be in the conversation though and I wouldn’t argue with anyone saying he’s the top choice. It’s another easy winner for Hasbro and one you really ought to track down.
Where to get it? I got Nightcrawler from HasbroPulse, but the wave is apparently being spotted at Target or you can also order him from LMF affiliates Amazon or Entertainment Earth.