Marvel Legends Mister Sinister figure review – Build a Figure Wendigo wave
Mister Sinister emerged in the late 80s as arguably the main X-Men villain thanks to his role in The Mutant Massacre and Inferno. He was a guy I didn’t have to have a Hasbro update at this stage since the Toy Biz version still held up. I’m still impatiently waiting on a Giant-Sized X-Men Storm and Banshee. But when Hasbro commits to an update, who am I to say no?
Packaging: The one problem with Hasbro’s constant output of figures? There’s nothing fresh to say about the packaging. Mister Sinister gets the gold and black treatment for the X-Men line.
I don’t love the side portrait drawing for him as it makes him look more Mr. Creepy than Mr. Sinister. The bio is solid and does a little better than normal breakdown of the character.
Likeness: In his early appearances, Mister Sinister had this real ominous presence that was made even more intimidating with his menacing smile.
Artists like Marc Silvestri really made that a key part of his presentation so it’s very cool to get the figure with most of his pearly whites showing. Typically that wouldn’t work for a villain, but Mister Sinister’s smile was like he was sizing the X-Men up like dinner so it feels appropriate. Hasbro did an amazing job on the headsculpt as the smile doesn’t offer a trace of warmth and just oozes with insincerity like a cat that’s found a mouse.
There’s plenty to like beyond the smile though as the figure looks to be a 100% all-new sculpt with the flared collar, shoulder pads, lined armor, tiny gloves, thigh high boots and smaller booties. Then of course is the iconic cape, which flares out and has the appropriate high arc.
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Paint: There was a little concern with the release of the promotional pictures as the gloves, boots and cape appeared black instead of midnight blue like the comics. Fortunately that was just worrying over nothing as the figure came out just fine.
Some of that worry is because Mister Sinister has such a cool color scheme with the two tones of blue, red and the stark white. It’s a unique color combination and one of the better villain designs of the last 30 years.
I had a few black marks on the face and the black lipstick didn’t match up perfectly, but overall the paint job came out fine.
Scale: Mister Sinister has managed to avoid getting super-sized over the years despite being taller than the average character. Hasbro’s version is actually shorter than the Toy Biz one. I think Hasbro got Mister Sinister’s girth down better than Toy Biz, but he probably needed the Toy Biz height to avoid looking a little stubby.
Articulation: Mister Sinister is more the posing strategist so he doesn’t need to do handstands and side-kicks.
Still, he can hit all of the intimidating, threatening poses I need. I do wish Hasbro would get in on making more of the Marauders though to pose around him.
Mister Sinister has:
- neck
- ball-jointed shoulders
- bicep
- elbow (double-jointed)
- wrist
- wrist hinge
- torso
- waist
- hip
- thigh
- knee (double-jointed)
- ankle
Accessories: Mister Sinister’s cape could be considered an accessory I guess, but he rarely takes it off.
His only accessory is the right arm of the Build-A-Figure Wendigo, the final piece I needed to complete the BAF so the Wendigo review will be coming soon.
Worth it? Mister Sinister has typically been the one figure in the wave that’s been harder to find for less than retail even with Amazon and GameStop selling these guys cheaper at this point. Given his size and original sculpting it’s hard to feel cheated for paying the standard $20 for him.
Rating: 10 out of 10
The sculpt is tremendous and we get what seems to retire the need for an updated Mister Sinister figure. Even if you grabbed the Toy Biz figure, this is worth grabbing.
Where to get it? I got Mister Sinister from Target, but check Wal-Mart, GameStop and Best Buy too. You can always go the online route with LMF affiliates Amazon or order the full Build-A-Figure Wendigo wave at Entertainment Earth.