Marvel Legends Dormammu — BAF Xemnu wave
I’m hopelessly classic when it comes to costumes. There was a simplicity to the looks of the 70s and 80s that work for me more than a lot of modern interpretations. Dormammu got a Marvel Legends release a while back in an SDCC pack. While it looked cool, it wasn’t the co-conspirator that sparked the Avengers/Defenders War to me.
Hasbro has been pretty good about going back to relatively important characters after releasing an attire fans were split on. When Dormammu was revealed for the Marvel Super Villains aka Bring on the Bad Guys wave, I was thrilled to finally get “my” version of Doctor Strange’s arch-enemy. Let’s see how much magic Hasbro brought with this figure.
Packaging: I really like the color scheme of this wave with the light green and purple accents. This color combination is something we haven’t seen from another ML wave and helps to make it stand out particularly with the light green interior.
Again, the bio team was inspired with this set as Dormammu’s bio sums him up very well. The lone improvement would be mentioning who he consistently fights for folks who might have forgotten his role in the movie.
Likeness: Dormammu has a wild look that strongly hints his creation in the 70s. There’s so many fantastic design elements to him beyond dude with flaming head.
The new Red Skull mold was so much fun Hasbro decided to roll with it again with this wave. That’s a smart move as this buck has some size to it and works for formidable characters like Dormammu.
Dormammu does have enough new elements that it doesn’t feel like a simple reuse. The head sculpt is fantastic. It captures that sinister visual Steve Ditko made look so easy even with that wide smile. I appreciate how the sculpt has that Jack O’Lantern cut.
Next up is his massive shoulder pads, which flare out just like they do in the comic. This is the kind of thing companies would have done the most cost effective method and it would have looked terrible. It’s a good thing that Hasbro waited until they could get it right.
He’s got his gold/yellow belt while the top portion of his gloves include new parts for the spikes. I wouldn’t have noticed if they were missing.
Finally, he’s got spiked edges at the top of his boots. I always appreciate when a company adds those small details just to get a likely one and done character right.
Since he’s reusing the Skull buck he also gets the default trigger hands, which is an odd initial option for him. Fortunately, he’s got some better choices.
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Paint: Here’s the slightly controversial aspect of the figure. Dormammu is typically portrayed with his head on fire with a yellow flame encircling his red head.
It’s done in a way that it manages not to look too closely to the Human Torch. His head features a red translucent design that will light up correctly with the proper lighting setup, but the base really should be more yellow than red.
The rest of the paintwork is very basic with no additional paint applications on any of the sculpted parts. That’s another point for a simple design.
Scale: Dormammu doesn’t tend to hang around a lot of people, but from reference pics he’s about the same height as Doctor Strange. At this point we really need a classic style Strange…and Baron Mordu, Clea and Wong.
Articulation: The Red Skull buck provides excellent range of motion and movement.
Dormammu is more of a point and aim fighter, but the option is available to do more when he really wants to throw down with Doctor Strange.
Dormammu has:
- neck
- ball-jointed shoulders
- elbow (double-jointed)
- wrist
- wrist hinge (up and down)
- torso
- waist
- hip
- thigh
- knee (double-jointed)
- shin
- ankle
Accessories: Dormammu isn’t overflowing with extras.
He seemed like a good candidate to get a new energy blast effect, but we certainly have enough carryovers that he can use an old one.
Dormammu basically gets The Red Skull hand package of a set of fists and grasping hands. Additionally, he’s got the small flame effects we’ve previously seen with Human Torch.
Finally, he’s got the left arm for the BAF Xemnu.
Worth it? I got Dormammu from Target before the price hike beyond $20. I’m curious how the increased price point will affect the line and if we’ll see more ‘peg warmers’ as a result.
Rating: 9.7 out of 10
Head paint aside, this is exactly what I wanted from a classic Dormammu. The only thing that would make this better is the reveal of a classic 70s/80s Doctor Strange figure.
Where to get it? This wave just became available to buy at retail and I’ve seen remnants at enough Target stores now to know they’re getting out on shelves even if they don’t last long.
Expect Wal-Mart and GameStop to get them soon too. You can also grab him from Amazon or Entertainment Earth.