Marvel Legends Retro Mr. Fantastic review

It’s still kinda weird in 2018 we’d gone so long without Fantastic Four figures and now they’re fairly regular releases in theme Marvel Legends waves. It was both nerve-wracking and exhilarating to get Human Torch, Invisible Woman, Mr. Fantastic and The Thing one by one from Walgreens and far easier to get the modern looks in the Build-A-Figure Super Skrull wave.

Hasbro is once again going the BAF-less route for this latest release of the FF going with the Vintage Retro style based on their outfits from the 90s cartoon series. That’s still one of my all-time favorite cartoons — at least the second season. I’m also partial to the blue and white attire since this is what they wore during Secret Wars.

While the others arrived first, I had to start off my look at the FF with the leader so let’s stretch out and get comfortable with this look at Mr. Fantastic.

Package:  I love this packaging even if it’s not the most environmentally friendly setup. It features the logo from the original package with the team on the Fantasticar and a dark blue fading into a lighter blue. I really like the yellow with red drop shadow logo and the action shot of Mr. Fantastic getting ready for battle.

HIs bio is simple but sums up Reed’s abilities well. A major plus with this Retro wave is the picture of the other figures in the wave, which was the norm when I first started collecting. I like this so much more than renders or crammed shots of character portraits.

Likeness:  For the most part this figure is a combination of the two previous Reed figures. It features the amazing head sculpt from the Walgreens version. The raised eyebrow makes a lot of sense for Reed as if he’s pondering some fascinating new discovery or watching old Attitude Era WWF clips.

The torso also carries over and it’s such a great fit for Reed that I wish Hasbro would do more dedicated sculpts for characters. A character like Cyclops would benefit from his own athletically slim build.

All the folds and appropriate lack of definition carry over here and helps avoid making Reed look like he’s a super heavyweight.

Since he’s wearing it, the biggest change besides the paint scheme is the inclusion of a removable lab coat thanks to a few swappable parts. Reed is definitely a character that adding a lab coat is a great bonus and it fits perfectly with just the right amount of length.

Scale:  Reed should be 6’1″ making him shorter than the 6’2″ Captain America. Iron Man is also 6’1″ and the armor actually gives him some additional height.

Reed should be taller than the 5’10” Johnny Storm and the 5’6″ Sue Storm. Reed is too close in scale to the rest of the FF and of course, Ben Grimm’s height is all out of whack now.

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Paint:  Even with the Walgreens figure the biggest challenge with Reed is getting one without a botched eyebrow. Finding the best paintjob especially on the sides with this package set up is trickier than normal. My figure’s collar piece isn’t lined up properly, which is noticeable more from a top down look. It’s an annoyance and one that you can’t account for until you open the figure up.

I love the shade of blue Hasbro went with here and the white is pure white and not one with some greys and light blues seeping through. The blue could be lighter and more vibrant to truly capture the cartoon look and I’d probably happily double dip if Hasbro went with a black shading similar to the cartoon’s second season style.

Articulation:  Reed features standard ML articulation and doesn’t have any problems hitting fun poses. With him some of that fun is achieved through his swappable parts to best showcase his powers.

Mr. Fantastic has:

• neck
• ball-jointed shoulders
• bicep
• elbow
• wrist
• wrist hinge
• torso
• waist
• hip
• thigh
• knee
• ankle

Accessories:  Despite the lack of a Build-A-Figure piece, Reed does well in this category.

The lab coat definitely counts as an accessory. I wish it allowed him to sit easier.

He’s got swappable arms to allow for basic superhero action. Hasbro opted to go with the creepy extended fingers instead of the longer arms from the Walgreens set.

I wish they’d add a larger fist like the package art shows and an extended neck as well. Maybe the next version Reed?

Worth it?  Mr. Fantastic is the standard new ML price at $22.99. That’s not as great a deal considering there’s no BAF to assemble after completing the wave. Fortunately, there’s been an abundance of sales to knock this wave down more to older or even cheaper pricing.

Rating: 9.5 out of 10

I love the blue and white attire and the lab coat inclusion. If Hasbro added just one more new stretching ability accessory piece and fixed the collar paint, it would have been another 10 out of 10 figure.

Where to get it?  Target stores are just starting to get this wave in stores, but you can try Target.com, Entertainment Earth and GameStop. Amazon also has him although slightly above retail price.

As an Amazon and Target/Entertainment Earth affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases.