Marvel Legends X-Factor Havok and Polaris figure review

I loved the original X-Factor and was a little annoyed when they got phased back in to the X-Men. Fortunately, X-Factor ver.2 proved just as — if not arguably more — entertaining as their predecessors. Like the first group, this squad’s foundation was based on a couple led by a Summers brother with Havok and Polaris. While radical departures from their classic attires, I liked this team look. Hasbro is on a team completion mode and decided to knock out two more members of X-Factor with the Havok and Polaris set. Let’s see if I’m the one crying havoc afterwards.

Packaging:  I appreciate Hasbro’s willingness to mix up the color scheme for these special sets. We get a very bright blue that’s sure to pop on the stands with a neon pink accent and yellow. The sides feature the art from the Jim Lee X-Men card set. I’m pretty sure I still have my set somewhere.

Hasbro even gives the cards a shot out and use the card backs as the bios. It’s a cool shift from the normal package presentation. Both figures are arranged so you can see all the main details with Polaris having a bit more flair as she’s positioned as if using her powers.

Likeness:  Trying to find consistent reference art for 90s characters is harder than I imagined. Costumes seemed to shift depending on which artist was drawing that month. That said, I’m giving Hasbro some leeway with the costumes.

Havok seems to be pretty on point. At times his outfit is drawn with yellow boots while others had him with just the yellow bands around his shins. The main elements of the costume are nicely done though from the funky headgear with hair flowing out, the big double breasted puffy jacket with rolled up sleeves, big zippers and circle zipper clasp. The bands on the thighs are hanging loose and will need to be super glued in place much like brother Scott.

I like the expression as it’s not too extreme, but definitely captures Alex Summers’ focusing to show he’s just as good a leader as Scott. The wild hair reminds me of Joe Quesdada’s take on the character and I love how Hasbro knocked out the big belt buckle as well. And the waffle pattern on the inside of the jacket is an impressive level of detail.

As for what’s not so great? Those forearms, which start and stop almost immediately. They definitely feel too short and unlike the similar Colossus figure with stubby forearms, Havok doesn’t have bracelets to hide it somewhat. Maybe even if Hasbro had painted/sculpted the bottoms of the gloves it would have looked better.

Polaris is simpler, but also doesn’t have a glaring issue like the forearms. The Hasbro sculptors did a nice job on her flowing hair, which was in full blown out 90s glory at this time. This attire was one of my favorite looks for Polaris after her original green empress costume. Hasbro sculpted her high collar and her circle clasp zipper. They also did right with her gloves and boots with the smaller wraps and it looks like she has an original belt that’s not just a reuse of Rogue’s from the Juggernaut wave.

It seems like Hasbro used a lot of the Vintage Storm figure for Polaris. At least the top half of the torso and arms seem reused with some slight changes to the neck and zipper area. I like the expression as well as Polaris was the calming influence on the team and helped everyone else stay in line.

The biggest botch with my figure is some scarring/scratch along her right cheek. I think that’s something that can be fixed with some sanding?

Paint:  Again Havok has the more complex paint requirements thanks to his busier outfit. Hasbro did a better than expected job with the zipper lining and the small details like the belt and jacket. The X-Factor circle on the jacket came out nice and clean as well. Hasbro gave Havok’s hair a wash to pump up the details. That always helps in making the hair sculpt stand out.

In a new version of Han Solo’s blue or brown jacket there’s some controversy with Havok’s jacket as it seems like it should be blue like the rest of his costume instead of black. I’ve always considered that jacket dark blue. I guess for the sake of breaking up the color Hasbro went with black. It’s not a deal breaker, but a weird choice.

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Polaris doesn’t have that extensive an outfit as Havok save her angled front piece. While Lee drew the bottom more as a curve other artists, including regular X-Factor artist Larry Strowman, gave it an angled appearance. Her X-Factor logo might be a tad too close to the edge, but it’s done well.

For some reason, I really like the metallic green Hasbro used for Polaris’ lipstick. It was darker than her hair and came out very nice.

Neither Havok nor Polaris’ yellow matches with the shade used for the Multiple Man figure, which featured a paler, flat yellow. Multiple Man’s looks less orange, but after Hasbro has used that shade so long for yellow in costumes, Polaris and Havok’s shade looks better.

Scale:  Havok seems scaled just fine with his jacket giving him a little extra padding. He looks to be using the same Bucky Cap mold so he’s not out of scale with Cyclops.

Polaris is also scaled properly as she’s just a little shorter, but taller than some of the average female figures. I like that as it kinda teases that time she was running around as an Amazon.

Articulation:  As energy manipulation and channeling fighters, Havok and Polaris don’t need hyper articulation.

While I thought Hasbro could have sized Storm up a bit, the articulation was great for cool flying/energy projection powers. That’s true as well for Polaris as she can hit some dynamic gesturing poses.

Havok is on that same spectrum and despite the bulkiness of the jacket and sleeves can strike some nice action stances. In some poses, the stubby forearms really look silly, but it’s the dainty feet on this mold that mean you’ll need to really look the stance in before expecting him to hold the pose.

Polaris has a really nice range of movement and can strike some very nice poses. Her hair doesn’t get in the way of many basic poses thanks to the way it’s sculpted. She can be a little top heavy based on you pose her, but I was impressed by how much fun I had changing up her stances.

Havok and Polaris have:

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

* = Havok only

 

Accessories:  Hasbro didn’t over think things here and just went with the exact same energy effect piece for both Havok and Polaris. That’s a little uninspired. Based on the amount of reuse we’ve seen with those pieces it’d be nice for Hasbro to throw in a third our fourth piece just to mix it some more.

Havok can barely keep his pieces on, which again I think is a problem due to the tiny forearms and wrist setup.

Polaris also has an alternate set of fists, which is a nice addition.

Worth it?  I got the set for $45, which is $5 more than most retailers, but with free shipping it balances out. Even for $20 a figure that’s not the best deal since there’s no Build A Figure. And with the releases we’ve seen come to retail it’s not like these two would have been that hard to get on shelves.

Rating:  9 out of 10

Havok is held back due to his forearms and after a trip to the super glue clinic, his bands aren’t a hassle. Polaris was the surprise here and assuming I can fix the face scar, she’s an excellent rendition of this version of the character. With this two pack, I’m the classic versions away from having a complete Havok and Polaris set for my display.

Where to get it?  Gamestop has the set available now. I think eventually these will be in specialty retailers, but online like Entertainment Earth or Best Buy might be the way to go to avoid any funny distribution issues later.