Marvel Legends Black Widow figure review – Wal-Mart exclusive
There was a magical time in the 90s when it seemed like every hero got an extra bada$$ vibe from rocking a leather jacket or vest. Cyclops, Gambit and Rogue held it down for the X-Men, Mister Fantastic and Invisible Woman for the Fantastic Four, but no team was as into the trend as The Avengers. That was pretty much a uniform requirement for Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.
Of the team, Black Widow probably wore it best as it made for a nice contrast with her shorter haircut and grey outfit. Was it weird that both Black Canary and Black Widow cut their hair and went with a base color contrary to what their name would suggest? Anyway, today I’m looking at the Black Widow Wal-Mart exclusive figure harkening back to those wacky 90s days of yore. Let’s get extreme!
Packaging: This isn’t the norm, but every so often Hasbro will shake up the expected packaging layout. The base black is replaced with an appropriate grey color scheme and I’m pretty sure that’s Mike Deodado art on the side. On the back we get an action shot of Black Widow and a sentence for a bio. The rear seems like it has a lot of wasted space this time.
Likeness: I started getting into Avengers in terms of regularly reading it around the #300s when Vision was a wraith, Sersei was a prominent team member and Quasar was the new addition. That’s why I used to associate Natasha the most in this look.
Natasha also wore this grey outfit without the leather jacket. It would have been great if Hasbro was able to make the jacket removable so we could have the traditional variant look. On the plus side, Hasbro did take the time to add the paintwork to hint at the spider on her back.
That minor issue aside this is really well done version of Black Widow. The hair curl over her eyes adds an extra femme fatale element to the gorgeous headsculpt.
The uniform colors flares out beyond the jacket collar in a nice touch. I think this is mostly the Rogue jacket sculpt some slight changes to the opening.
Black Widow’s stingers and belt turned out very nice as well. And in an extra bonus she’s got fists instead of the wide open gesturing hand.
Paint: Hasbro’s painters got a little fancy with the makeup giving Natasha a darker shade of lipstick on her upper lip. The logo came out sharp and the stingers have a nice metallic sheen. As a utility belt it doesn’t mean bright colors although it looks flat and would’ve benefited from a wash to dirty it up some.
Scale: Black Widow is the same height as the standard female figure, which is fine as she shouldn’t be She-Hulk size or height.
Articulation: You kinda know what you’re in store for with the female Marvel Legends. There’s some limitations thanks to missing joints from the male figures, but overall she poses well.
Unlike most female figures, Black Widow has fists and open hands, which is great for additional posing options.
Black Widow has:
- neck
- ball-jointed shoulders
- elbow
- wrist
- wrist hinge
- torso
- hip
- thigh
- knee (double-jointed)
- ankle
Accessories: Although she doesn’t have any Build-A-Figure parts, Natasha comes pretty loaded with gear. First up, she’s got the sprawled open hands a lot of the female figures have set up as the default.
She also comes with two options for her stingers — one with a smoke vapor trail and the other with a blasting effect.
That’s really cool and something I wish more Marvel Legends figures had with respect to energy effects/projections.
Black Widow also has a SHIELD jetpack complete with some grey shading and blast effects.
That’s an impressive amount of accessories for an exclusive.
Worth it? Black Widow retailed at $20, which is a welcome price for an exclusive as they can sometimes get an extra bump solely for being specific to one retailer.
Rating: 10 out of 10
This is an exceptional exclusive figure and very well done. It’s a terrific variant and a welcome addition to one of the more intriguing time frames of The Avengers.
Where to get it? Black Widow is an exclusive to Wal-Mart, but you can find a package deal of the Target and Wal-Mart exclusives at Amazon.