Marvel Legends Thunderstrike figure review – BAF Joe Fixit
Thunderstrike was one of the more interesting of the 90s fill-in characters. He started off morphing with Thor and had a decent run with the Avengers before becoming his own character.
He’s one of those characters worthy of a Marvel Legends figure at this point in the line. And we kinda need his later version before we get the Masterson Thor. Let’s see if Thunderstrike brings the thunder.
Packaging: Thunderstrike gets the fairly basic Marvel Legends package with the black and red accents. The side package art really looks like Ron Frenz art, which would be cool if Hasbro got the classic Thor artist to contribute to the Thunderstrike figure.
I’m pretty sure the copywriter meant to say Eric instead of his son, Kevin, as the bio (and figure) otherwise seems to indicate this is the 90s era Thor replacement.
Likeness: Do a Google search and the first image will likely be the yelling Thunderstrike ready to bring the hammer…mace down. That’s about as close as the iconic image for him that you’ll find so it make sense to have a fired up head sculpt.
I love the 90s look with the extreme, fierce expression and both rows of teeth showing. His hair piece on the left side isn’t glued down firmly and raises up somewhat.
Thunderstrike’s outfit is classic 90s with the leather vest for no discernible reason and the influence of Thor’s classic costume. The vest might be superfluous but it is very well executed with a great amount of detail from the zipper to the folds to give it a true leather like appearance.
Hasbro smartly used Rage, another large scale figure, as the base body here so Thunderstrike shares the same arms, waist legs with some alterations to the torso.
The knee pads are new and reflect the source material well with some nice texturing.
Paint: Thunderstrike’s paintwork is solid. There’s no flaws with the head sculpt and I really love the metallic paint used for the circles. Ideally of course I’d like the sleeves could be sculpted yet the line work there is clean.
Even without a wash, the vest looks good. It might be needed a bit more with the kneepads though. The only flaw I spotted was with the right wristband. My one issue is the shoulders show the blue gap connector piece from the sides. I really wish Hasbro could crack the code to these visible joints.
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Scale: Thunderstrike should be tall around the height of Thor so his scale seems about right and he’s just a bit shorter while still being taller than Captain America.
Articulation: Thunderstrike isn’t restricted by the cape that hampered some of Thor’s poses. He’s got full range to toss bad guys around and fling his mace.
Thunderstrike has:
- neck
- ball-jointed shoulders
- elbow
- wrist
- wrist hinge
- torso
- hip
- thigh
- knee (double-jointed)
- ankle
Accessories: Thunderstrike comes with his trusty mace. His chain could have been a tad longer, but otherwise it looks great.
The uru-enhanced portion has some nice dents and rivets to show the damage it’s endured over the years. It features the same style wraps of Mjolnir.
He also comes with an alternate left fist for some punching action if his mace isn’t nearby.
Additionally, Thunderstrike has the head of the Build-A-Figure Joe Fixit. I do wish Hasbro had included an alternate neutral head for Thunderstrike so it doesn’t look like he’s about to rage out at Avengers mission briefings.
Worth it? I got Thunderstrike for the standard $20. That always seems like a better deal for these appropriately larger figures like him. I do imagine maybe by the spring this wave will be cheaper and he seems like a candidate for clearance prices.
Rating: 9.5 out of 10
Thunderstrike is a fun figure and a great addition to the ranks of the substitute heroes Avengers lineup. Now I want USAgent to become a priority for Hasbro to pair him with Thunderstrike and War Machine.
Where to get it? This wave is just about set to arrive in stores with a Nov. 1 street date and is set for release. You can order him now on Amazon, Target and Entertainment Earth.
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