Marvel Legends Retro Psycho-Man review

Hasbro is hitting me in the nostalgia feels with this retro Fantastic Four wave. This was the Toy Biz figure line that got me back hardcore into collecting after a brief hiatus in my first few years of college. In addition to getting the blue and white attire of the FF, we got a pair of first-time in the line for Hasbro classic villains. Psycho-Man has been around for awhile dating back to his debut in 1967.

He’s been a frequent nuisance for the team, but definitely his biggest impact was when he corrupted Invisible Girl into Malice prompting her evolution to Invisible Woman. Since he wasn’t going to be a simple amalgamation of existing parts it was going to be a minute for a wave that could account for a figure requiring a completely new sculpt.

Let’s see if Psycho-Man gets me all emotional in breaking down this review.

Package:  I love this packaging despite its massive size.  It features the logo from the original package with the team on the Fantasticar and a dark blue fading into a lighter blue. I love the yellow with red drop shadow logo along with the shot of Psycho-Man ready to play with people’s emotions.

HIs bio basically explains that Psycho-Man was ahead of his time and was a online troll using his device to whip up emotions while he sits back and revels in the chaos.

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:  I appreciate that comic book artists realized they couldn’t improve on Jack Kirby’s original design. This means we could get the iconic take on Psycho-Man without Hasbro deciding to go with the modern version and make us wait on the classic version.

His head seems somewhat undersized, which is odd as Psycho-Man tended to have more of an oversized head. Scaling that down loses some of the alien nature of the character.

That’s unfortunate as the rest of the figure is incredible truly showing how spot-on Hasbro can be when they get it right. All of the paneling, the patterns on his chest right down to the tubing on his legs is exactly how Kirby and Byrne drew him.

Seriously, the leg tubing is incredibly realized specifically getting the placement right as it starts in the middle of his thigh. The folds and wrinkles of his pants is also completely accurate.

Back to the head. The detail with the lining and helmet clasp is perfect too. His neck piece/collar is also accurate and remains uncompromised even though it could be a challenge to the articulation. I wouldn’t have been upset if he had a gritted teeth expression like the card art, but I’m fine with the neutral choice.

Scale:  Psycho-Man is right at the same height as the Mister Fantastic and Spider-Man figure. I don’t have any problem with that as I never envisioned him as some giant. Typically, he’s on his own anyway and isn’t facing off directly with any hero.

Occasionally he’d sprout up to giant size, but there’s no world in which I’d prefer that take over one that would fit comfortably on my regular shelf.

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Paint:  There was no funny paint hue decisions here. Psycho-Man has his clean vibrant white and a pearlescent dark green.

It’s a nice, striking contrast of colors. The paintwork is sharp requiring me to hunt down some areas where the lining wasn’t exact.

Articulation:  Psycho-Man is definitely not an active combatant and really just needs to be able to sit back and relish all the carnage he’s created.

He’s got more articulation than I expected and the thigh joints move just fine. You should make sure you’re grabbing the leg itself not the tubes as they seem likely to break if you apply too much force.

Psycho Man has:

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

Accessories:  Psycho-Man does get an accessory with his emotional manipulating tablet.

The tablet is a nice size and has a good amount of sculpted details. I love how the emotions are laid out with a clear font and bold yellow and red color scheme.

I would have been great if Hasbro included a left hand with a pointing index finger to indicate which emotion he’s conjuring up.

Worth it?  These Retro card figures are a bad value since they lack the Build-A-Figure piece that come with traditional Marvel Legends yet the price remains the same. That’s really not good since the price has raised to $22.99. On the positive side, Target had a Buy 2 Get 1 Free sale, which definitely helped make the price more feasible.

Rating: 9.8 out of 10

If his head were scaled up larger and he had a pointing left hand, this would have been a perfect figure. He comes real close though and is a wonderful addition to the Fantastic Four villains shelf.

Where to get it?  Target and Wal-Mart stores have this this wave in stock, but you can try Target.com, Entertainment Earth. Amazon also has him although slightly above retail price.

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