Marvel Legends X-Men Cyclops, Jean Grey and Wolverine figure review
Staying at home has been helpful in terms of knocking out figure reviews. That means I can finally tackle the Marvel Legends X-Men three-pack of Cyclops, Jean Grey and Wolverine. This one is pretty old at this point, but multi-pack Marvel Legends sets always require a little extra time. Let’s see if this one was worth the wait.
Packaging: I really like when Hasbro mixes up the color scheme and gets away from the standard black and accent color. This neon blue with yellow and pink accents really pops. It’s a standard presentation of the figures and the yellow insert highlights them very well.
The side features the classic Jim Lee card art from the X-Men trading card set. I still have a complete set of them although it’s interesting in this case Cyclops isn’t exactly how he’s presented on the card.
There’s no bios here in the traditional sense as they’re replaced by the cards, which ironically provide far more info than the normal ML bios.
Likeness: During his brief run with the Blue Team, Jim Lee frequently put a bomber jacket on Cyclops. I think his use pre-dated all of the Avengers adopting that look. For whatever reason it works for Cyclops. Hasbro re-used the leather jacket mold from Old Man Logan.
Which is fine except for his harness being a little bulk underneath the jacket mold so it won’t lay flat. Everything else is the original Jim Lee Cyclops figure from the BAF Warlock wave.
That includes the straps that for whatever reason Hasbro just doesn’t want to glue down. They are a pain to deal with as they slide down with minimal movement. I have a glue stain on my Cyclops’ left leg, which further makes the whole ordeal annoying.
Likewise, Wolverine is mostly the Tiger Stripe figure with some alterations. The default in package version features Wolverine with his bone claws. These look great with an uneven appearance that contrasts nicely with the Adamantium versions.
He’s also got a battle damaged cowl with tears on the ear pieces and rips showing his hair. Combined with a ready to unleash berserker rage head sculpt this is a fantastic Wolverine variant sculpt.
The real gem of the set — and likely reason most folks got it — is Jean Grey. She’s not the spindly, poorly balanced chore that was the earlier Hasbro take on the X-Men’s resident redhead. She’s got a bit of an Instagram model sexy expression going, which isn’t necessarily the best choice for her. It’d be perfect for Emma Frost however although I’ve already warmed up to it as it’s not as drastic as it looks in pictures. But I get the notion that this expression captures Jean in mid-thought as she’s about to use her telepathy or telekinetic abilities.
Her hair sculpt is fantastic with nice bounce and natural flow to it. I think Jean is using the Storm body with a few adjustments for her pouches and gauntlets. Her belt will need to be glued in place so it doesn’t flop all around.
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Paint: Cyclops’ blue and yellow are noticeably brighter than the standalone version, which is a nice change up that provides some added value to this re-release.
This is more of a pure yellow as opposed to the yellow orange from the single release. I greatly prefer this color choice.
Wolverine’s colors are also brighter. For whatever reason, Hasbro was opting for the yellow orange in place of yellow. This version of Wolverine is closer to the one in the Hulk two-pack with the darker blue from the 90s.
Compared to the previous release, Jean has a different approach with a darker orange and blue. This seems more on model from the comic. The trick with Jean is the eyes and the lips, both of which came out just fine with my figure. The orange on her chest is a little weak as it needed another coat over the blue plastic however.
Scale: Jean is the same size as Rogue and a little taller than Psylocke. I’m still of the mindset that the Storm is too short for what it’s worth.
There are no changes to the height of Cyclops and Wolverine who are appropriately taller and shorter than each other.
Articulation: Cyclops loses the double jointed elbows with the jacket, but in all the important aspects he can hit all of the expected poses from the team leader.
Wolverine’s base body is perfect for what you’d want to pull off with him thanks to the butterfly joints and ability to hit deep stances thanks to his thicker legs.
Jean is also solid articulation-wise. She’s more of a force gesturing character. While I’d prefer the bicep articulation point, I don’t miss it as much with Jean.
The figures have:
- neck
- ball-jointed shoulders
- bicep
- elbow (double-jointed — Wolverine only)
- wrist
- wrist hinge
- torso
- waist (*except Jean)
- hip
- thigh
- knee (double-jointed)
- ankle
Accessories: Like other multi-pack sets, each figure comes with an accessory.
Cyclops gets two chill head sculpts featuring him with his more relaxed ruby quartz glasses. One is a more modern style like the cartoon while the other reflects more of a John Byrne style. Cyclops also has an alternate swappable left hand to trigger his optic blast.
Wolverine has a ton of accessories with an alternate set of hands with the Adamantium claws out. There’s an undamaged head sculpt, which is the same as what we’ve seen with other 80s/90s Wolverine figures. The claws are going to need a little work as they’re all over the place.
Additionally, he has the unmasked head with the squished hair and smirk, which doesn’t really capture Logan to me. There’s also a removed cowl to place around his neck. I’m assuming at some point we’ll get a better unmasked classic head sculpt, but this isn’t it.
Jean has an alternate head sculpt as well with a ponytail look that originated from the 90s cartoon.
I think the eyes are a smidge too wide in this one, but it’s nice to get both fan favorite versions of Jean here.
Worth it? You can get this set for $60. That’s a decent price for three figures despite the lack of a BAF. Wolverine and Cyclops are basically Vintage Set standalone figures with all their extras. It’s not quite the scenario where Jean wouldn’t sell on her own to warrant the box set release, but I’ll play along provided this is the only way to get her for a year or so.
Rating: 9.5 out of 10
There’s just a few random nitpicks: Cyclops’ straps and Wolverine’s claws that hold this back from a perfect score, but I really dig this set and am glad I picked it up.
Where to get it? You can get this set at retail from GameStop or go the online route via Entertainment Earth and Amazon.