Marvel Legends Black Panther – Civil War figure review – M’Baku BAF wave
Given the unexpected success of Black Panther, Hasbro was caught off guard and scrambled to crank out a second wave of Marvel Legends from the film. Along with some two-packs this helped fill in some of the notable gaps. Save for one fairly important character — W’Kabi. Why am I mentioning W’Kabi now in this Black Panther figure review?
It’s because I’d much rather have gotten T’Challa’s close ally who sides with Killmonger instead of a second take on the Civil War attire. Yes there’s some minor changes from the first figure, but not enough to warrant a double dip with other figures that would have been better choices.
Packaging: It’s the same blue and orange color scheme we’ve seen with the rest of the BP wave. It’s a smart color choice that helps the figure to pop in the packaging. I’m pretty sure the Black Panther portrait is the same as the Civil War packaging.
The bio briefly explains the time frame of this attire neatly enough.
Likeness: Black Panther’s Civil War suit was cool with some nice silver detailing to break up the all black motif. Hasbro did a tremendous job on the sculpt capturing the texture and patterns of the costume.
Maybe this was a case of Hasbro trying to get some more money out of a one and done sculpt? I like it just as much as I did before even if it find this repeat unnecessary.
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Paint: To mix it up a little from the first version, Hasbro brightened up the silver paint applications. It stands out fine, but it’s not something you would notice if you didn’t have the original figure to compare. Everything is clean without any slop or runoff.
Scale: Black Panther is a standard height, but since he’s not a super soldier, wearing a suit of armor or an Asgardian he’s not going to tower over anyone.
Articulation: The Civil War figure sports great articulation with easy posing for most of the signature Black Panther poses.
Black Panther has:
- neck
- ball-jointed shoulders
- bicep
- elbow (double-jointed)
- wrist
- wrist hinge
- torso
- waist
- hip
- thigh
- knee (double-jointed)
- ankle
Accessories: Black Panther features an unmasked T’Challa head sculpt with a slight smirk. It helps with his scene with Okoye as he prepares to reconnect with Nakia for those who like to do exact re-enactments of scenes with their figures.
A set of fists would have been welcome since he wasn’t always clawed-out in the films.
Most importantly, he comes with the left arm of the Build-A-Figure M’Baku.
Worth it? A rehash figure with a new head sculpt and an arm Build-A-Figure piece does not make for a great $20 value. Honestly, this is a case where you’d be better served just buying the M’Baku arm separately as there’s not enough to warrant tracking this guy down unless at a drastically reduced price.
I was able to get him for $12, which still feels too much, but the arm was going for that same price on eBay.
Rating: 7 out of 10
Hasbro has cranked out enough product that I can forgive a lackluster effort like this one. It’s not a bad figure, but just one that feels completely unnecessary when there were so many other worthwhile BP supporting characters worth tackling.
Where to get it? I got Black Panther from Amazon and some Target, Wal-Mart, GameStop and Best Buy stores has this wave on deep clearance now. You can always go the online route with LMF affiliates Amazon or order the full Build-A-Figure M’Baku wave at Entertainment Earth.
**As an Amazon affiliate, I receive a commission off qualifying purchases.