Marvel Legends Iceman figure review – X-Men Vintage Wave

Iceman has been a guy who’s had a number of figures, but never had that blow away great figure. Hasbro’s first take was OK for a modern-esque version before the next 10 costume changes, but it didn’t really work for collectors wanting a classic version for their X-Factor or X-Men Gold display.  I’m going to spoil this review and say much like Spock, the search continues for the perfect Iceman figure.

Packaging:   Like the other Vintage figures, this sports the Marvel 80 Years tag and has an art style recalling Toy Biz’s old carding. I dig how the color scheme helps the figure pop out.

The package back shows a different take on Iceman that looks better from the final product. His bio is OK, but doesn’t mention his affiliation with X-Factor or being one of the founding X-Men.

Likeness:  I think this head sculpt is a case where the sculptor tried to do a more realistic version of an iced-up man would look like. It has more of a shell appearance than the mostly flattop and angular style Iceman traditionally was portrayed.  If any figure needed a blockhead it’s Iceman.

The head sculpt also lacks any kind of personality. Bobby is a clown — and I mean that in the most affectionate way possible — and he’s more commonly drawn with a big smile or smirk. This figure has more of a flat expression that would work better for Vision than Iceman. The head sculpt choice is equally confusing because Hasbro got it right with the first Iceman figure.

I’m not sure where this circle X-belt came from as Iceman always wore a square X-belt. I tend to favor when all of the uniform details are sculpted, but Iceman’s belt shouldn’t be a separate part from the rest of body when he’s iced up. The only time he wore an outer belt was when he lost control of his powers and needed a restrainer in X-Factor.

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Paint:  I see what Hasbro was trying here to give Iceman more of a pure ice version like you’d find in a grocery store. Iceman has a pearlescent white/silver paint job. It looks OK, but it lacks the blue shading I associate with his appearance.

The head sculpt is done in a way that some of the paint shading got “caught” in the middle effectively creating a sharp line in the middle of his face. Oh Bobby…

That pesky belt stands out again for the wrong reasons as it’s white instead of being the same tone as his iced up body.

Scale:  Iceman is typically drawn shorter than his peers. This figure is as well, but not as noticeable as he should be. He is shorter than the BAF Juggernaut wave Iceman, which was way too tall.

Articulation:  Iceman has a well articulated body with the Sunfire mold. The butterfly joints allow for some great movement so you’ll be able to get a lot of creative poses with him. Of course the lack of ice-spraying hands is very noticeable for a character with projection powers.

 

Iceman has:

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

Accessories:  Iceman comes with an ice slide! Wait, it’s more of ice slush like what you’d find on the side of the road after a brief shoveling session. Ironically, this piece is painted more ice-like than Iceman.

I wonder if Hasbro would try again with Iceman and give him the deluxe treatment like his X-Factor buddy Archangel? He would definitely benefit from ice spraying hands like is shown on the card, some ice power effects and a bigger ice slide. What we have here is seriously underwhelming.

Worth it?  Iceman was $20. His weak accessory doesn’t help his value, which was already shaky with the weird head sculpt and questionable paint job choice.

Rating: 7 out of 10

There’s so many compromises necessary for this figure that shouldn’t be the case given what Hasbro already did with the BAF Juggernaut Iceman. Following that formula with boots and a flat top head sculpt would have made this an easy winner.

Where to get it?  I got Iceman from Target, but you can also order him from LMF affiliates Entertainment Earth or Amazon.com