Marvel Legends Guardians of the Galaxy Drax the Destroyer and Moondragon review

Hasbro’s Marvel Legends team got two-pack hyped this year releasing a flurry of useful pairings of fan-demanded characters. Most were under the Beyond Earth’s Mightiest Avengers banner, but Guardians of the Galaxy fans also got in on the action thanks to a two-pack featuring an unusual family with Drax the Destroyer and Moondragon.

In a welcome bit of universe building, Hasbro added the classic version of Drax to the Marvel Legends line and added a Moondragon that could fit in with the still developing DNA version of the Guardians. This was a set I was highly anticipating and appreciative of considering the price.

Let’s see if this father/daughter set is out of this world or the worst family reunion ever.

Packaging: Do you hear that? That’s the sound of the end of the windowless packaging coming to an end. And it can’t arrive soon enough for me.

The front features both characters in poses fitting their nature. Over on the left side there’s a set of renders while on the right side is comic art. I’m pretty sure the Moondragon is from Brad Walker’s run on Guardians, but I can’t place the art for Drax.

It’s the back of this packaging that’s so disappointing with just another pair of pictures of the characters and their included accessories. Since the accessories are rarely that interesting it just draws more attention to what little is included.

Bios have now been ported to the Pulse website now: When his daughter Moondragon is kidnapped, Drax the Destroyer battles his way to Thanos, punching a hole through his back, and ripping out the Mad Titan’s heart.

Likeness: I’m very hyped that Hasbro went with this semi-classic version of Drax. I say “semi” as Drax started off at fairly average size before he got a Hulk-lite makeover making him thicker, broader and more formidable than a guy who started out more long the size of Iron Man and Thor.

And like other brawny heroes where Drax was once a relatively strategic thinker, as he gained power and size, he also took on more of a dumb Hulk mentality as well.

No complaints with this choice though since this is more his defining look before his Annihilation makeover got him leaner again and more svelte for combat. He’s using the Caliban mold like Puff Adder as this buck gets worked back into rotation.

Hasbro’s sculptors did a fantastic job with the head sculpt. It features a great severely perturbed expression like Drax is about to knock someone all the way out.

The likeness is excellent with the flow of the cape over his shoulders, the skull clasp in the center, the big Masters of the Universe style big gold belt and his prominent style bracelets. And I can’t discount the big flared, buccaneer boots either.

Drax’s cape hangs at the length at how he was when he was less Hulked-out. Typically, it was down to his boots in this size. This is a very minor issue for me, but it does dinge his full accuracy down somewhat.

Moondragon sports an outstanding head sculpt as well perfectly capturing her aloof, dismissive personality. It’s exceptionally done and feels like the sculptor knew exactly how to portray her.

Some ML fans were disappointed Moondragon was released in this attire, but I’m happy we got this look over her Avengers look to start as she fits right in with the DNA Guardians lineup joining Star-Lord, Gamora, Rocket, Groot, Vance Astro and Adam Warlock.

She has her high collar with crescent moon cape clasp and earrings. I was worried Hasbro was going to skirt on some of the sculpted details, but her sports bra and upper arm gloves are sculpted.

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Paint: Paintwork for both is solid. Hasbro can be off with the shades and tones from time to time, but they completely nailed Drax’s big, bright look with his bright yellow green skin tone.

That contrasts nicely with his purple gear. The linework from the shirt piece and shoulder tips are clean. The gold elements are cast in a pearlescent color that looks terrific. Of course, it’s an eyesore to see the purple pin carry on through to his green shoulder section. This is part of the reason why Hasbro so excitedly discussed pinless joints so these kinds of things didn’t happen again.

Moondragon’s head sculpt paint was phenomenal with the eye print and lipstick application turning out prototype quality.

Her top has some sections that could have been tricky areas for sloppy paint, but they were fine.

I wish Hasbro could have just sculpted her silver curved panels since it’s not like it hinders her articulation and the silver looks cheaply applied.

Scale:  Drax should be right at the same height as Thanos and The Hulk placing him considerably taller than most characters. I don’t mind that Incredible Hulk is the tallest although I’m now ready for a Hasbro Professor Hulk with swappable fuzzy slippers.

Moondragon just needs to be average height and not towering over Star-Lord or streamlined Drax.

Articulation:  Drax has tremendous articulation for a big guy.

He’s really just missing the butterfly shoulders for a more convincing swinging punch pose. He’s got good range in his neck joint and can otherwise hit some very good powerhouse style poses.

Moondragon takes a step in the past with the older female arm model. She’s got no bicep joint and is still using the older single joint elbow molds.

She’s not a melee fighter, but still at this point in 2023 Hasbro shouldn’t be using older molds when there’s much better options with the full articulation complement.

Drax the Destroyer and Moondragon have:

• neck
• ball-jointed shoulders
• bicep*
• elbow (double-jointed)*
• wrist
• wrist hinge
• torso*
• hip
• thigh
• knee (double-jointed)
• ankle
• * = Drax only

Accessories:  It hasn’t been a great year for accessory fans. Drax comes with a bit more than the norm as he’s got an alternate angrier head sculpt. This is a great additional display option as are the swappable grasping hands.

Moondragon comes up way shorter with just a pair of gesturing hands. She doesn’t really need an alternate head sculpt, but some new psychic effects would have been welcome.

Worth it?  This set is $49.99. That’s a very good price considering Drax is the kind of size of some Build-A-Figures that would cost more than this set alone to build. Moondragon has some outdated articulation but is otherwise a very well executed figure that mostly fits her powerset.

Rating:  9 out of 10

The value in this set is amazing. Drax alone would just about warrant that price these days. He turned out amazing with the lone exception of that purple pin joint. He’s sturdy, bulky and fun to pose. Moondragon is also really good but needed a bit more sculpted elements and bicep/double-jointed elbow articulation.

Where to get it?  I’m pretty sure this set is exclusive to Hasbro Pulse. At this price point, it’s a pretty good deal although if you want to play the sales game, they’ll probably be around for the Black Friday sale.