Marvel Legends Vulture figure review – Demogoblin BAF wave
Vulture was one of those figures like Green Goblin where I wondered if Hasbro could top a figure Toy Biz made pretty much untouchable. It seems like Hasbro was leery of attempting it as well given how long it took before they tackled their take on the Marvel Legends Vulture. Does this figure fly or crash and burn? Time to find out.
Packaging: Nothing new to report on this front. Consistency for MOCs is great, but it doesn’t make for the most exciting packaging write-up. Everything is arranged neatly, which is always a plus.
The side portrait makes poor Vulture look more ancient than normal. His bio is pretty sparse and I always think it’s weird when the bio doesn’t at least mention their arch-enemy.
Likeness: Vulture is an old dude and over the years he’s managed to get a bit younger. Toy Biz’s sculptors seemed to have a lot of fun with him from the exaggerated beak-like nose, the bushy eyebrows and shriveled face.
Hasbro’s version has more of that modern take on him that restrains some of the knocking on death’s door visual from Vulture’s earlier appearances. I like the head sculpt as it’s got a cocky smile like he’s got Spider-Man cornered. The hands are a little gnarled to convey his age and he’s got a bit of a humped back to capture the appearance of an actual vulture.
In a win for the modern figure, the collar piece flows a little better and looks less like a pom-pom. And he doesn’t have the ball hips of its predecessor.
Before artists started streamlining their process with the costume, there were stripes throughout the attire. The Toy Biz figure sculpted all of that detail along with wrinkly, pruned fingers. In fairness to Hasbro, modern artists stopped doing that and just gave Vulture a green bodysuit so this look isn’t necessarily wrong. If anything it helps me appreciate just how much extra work Toy Biz put into every figure.
Toy Biz made the wings appear like feathers while Hasbro’s have more of a winged blade appearance. Again, this is more of a vintage vs. contemporary debate and neither side is wrong. The wings are removable and they attach into two holes on both arms. This is an interesting approach and will be fine so long as the plugs don’t get loose over time and the wings start falling out.
Paint: It doesn’t seem like Vulture would have a lot of paint, but he actually has a surprising amount thanks to some excellent shading.
Scale: Vulture clocks in around the same size as Spider-Man, which seems about right. He’s smaller than the rest of his Sinister Six buddies.
Articulation: Vulture has great articulation and is an improvement over the Toy Biz one, which feels very dated now. You want classic flying poses from this guy and this body accomplishes that with ease without the wings screwing up the visual.
Vulture has:
- neck
- ball-jointed shoulders
- bicep
- elbow (double-jointed)
- wrist
- wrist hinge
- torso
- hip
- thigh
- knee (double-jointed)
- ankle
Accessories: You could technically count the wings since they’re removable, but I wouldn’t since they’re such an essential part of his standard look. He does come with an alternate head sculpt. I’m sure I’ve seen him with this cowl, but it’s not my preferred look.
The cool thing is the option to mix up the look, which is always welcome.
Additionally, he comes with the head for the Build a Figure Demogoblin.
Worth it? Vulture is $20, but I’ve found him to be pretty tricky to track down at retail so you might end up paying $25 for him. I don’t think he’s worth more than retail especially if you have the Toy Biz figure and aren’t building Demogoblin.
Rating: 8 out of 10
Hasbro’s Vulture has better articulation while the Toy Biz one is the superior sculpt. It’s a matter of preference here and a no-brainer if you didn’t have the first version.
Where to get it? I found Vulture at Target, but the line is available at other retailers like Wal-Mart and GameStop. You can also try Amazon and Entertainment Earth.