Marvel Legends X-Men’97 Wolverine review

The buzz from X-Men’97 is growing and Hasbro is ready to further stoke the flames with an impressive looking lineup of figures. I decided to break down the X-Men’97 Wolverine first. Eventually, I plan to get most of these, but I figured an updated Wolverine warranted my attention first.

My comic OCD made for a love/hate relationship with the cartoon, but I am excited for its return on Disney+. And some of that is due to my hope this will eventually lead to a return of Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.

This is hardly the first Wolverine in my collection, but there were enough elements with this one to create some questions. Namely, will the X-Men’97 Wolverine be the definitive version? Let’s sharpen up those claws and find out.

Packaging: In kind of a workaround until the return of the plastic window packaging in full force, Hasbro has done a lot of retro style figures. There’s no nostalgia with these figures. X-Men’97 is a Marvel Studios effort based on the old 90s cartoon with updated animation.

The front features a wide window of Wolverine showcasing the figure and his accessories. The side features an animation model of Wolverine with claws out. On the front right there’s a collage of all the first wave of figures. Over on the back we get the cross sell, but no bio whatsoever. That’s a little disappointed.

Likeness:  This figure is largely based off the standard Wolverine buck. I like that one as it keeps Wolverine short and stocky. All of the outfit details are sculpted from the shoulder pads, belt with X logo and trunks.

The latter is a change from previous Wolverine as they’re done in the biker shorts style. I’m surprised Hasbro didn’t just reuse the trunk mold from the other figures.

His default look has the claws popped out. They look like small, curved blades capturing more of the aesthetic of the design. The default head sculpt is very well done. It manages to capture both a comic book and a cartoon aesthetic with a no-nonsense expression that’s fitting for Logan.

I especially like the eyebrows and the fleck of hair coming down near his right eye. His signature hairstyle has good detail and isn’t perfectly symetrical.

Another big change from previous Wolverine figures is this one has pinless joints. Wolverine’s outfit didn’t make pins as annoying as Spider-Man figures, but it does make for a smoother looking figure.

I do wish the sculpted eyes for the masked portrait were just a tad bit bigger.

Scale:  Hasbro didn’t do any funny sizing up for the X-Men’97 Wolverine so he is properly scaled compared to his teammates with the exception of Jubilee who is too tall herself.

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Paint:  Early Wolverine figures have had some issues getting the yellow and blue tones just right. The one that best captured the comic book look has been the Hulk vs. Wolverine version.

I’m still not sure if the blue is just right. Maybe it should be a little bit brighter? That’s just being picky. The linework of the tiger stripes is terrific with no fuzzy lines. Hasbro seemed to give the blacks a little sheen to help them stand out further. It’s a cool look.

Both head sculpts have solid paintwork. The X-Men’97 Wolverine cartoon model seems to have a little bit of a stubble. That’s reflected very subtly with the figure as well.

Although the arms have sculpted hair, they’re not painted. That’s weird and hopefully something that’s relatively easy to custom paint.

Articulation:  Hasbro cracked the shoulder pad restricting some articulation issue very early on. And this base body is great for posing as it’s capable of all of the signature Wolverine slashes, stabs and lunges. And even a Fastball Special or two.

Wolverine has always been one of my favorite Marvel Legends to pose thanks to the smooth and crisp articulation. This is no different with this figure.

X-Men’97 Wolverine has:

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

Accessories:  Considering the sparse accessories that come with some figures, Wolverine made out pretty well. He has the alternate masked portrait. It’s got great detail and clean paintwork all around for the classic Wolverine ready for action look.

He’s also got the mask down piece to fit around his neck to accurately reflect the mask removed look.

Finally, he’s got swappable claws down, fists. Those are always welcome with Wolverine figures.

Worth it?  I still don’t fully understand what’s led to the price hike of these figures to $24.99. Wolverine feels like a better value thanks to the swappable head, but I’d still feel better with some more accessories like what we see with the Mondo version.

I was able to use a Target deal to knock the price of Wolverine back down to the old school $20 price point. That’s a better price for a regular Marvel Legends figure.

Rating: 10 out of 10

This is pretty much the definitive Tiger Stripe Wolverine for me. The only thing that would make this better is if it had the old school belt as an extra accessory.

Where to get it?  I got Wolverine from Target, but he’s also available from Amazon and Entertainment Earth.

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