Marvel Legends Warbird review

Warbird has one of my favorite 70s/80s costumes, but it wasn’t until Kurt Busiek and George Perez’s run that she became one of my favorites Avengers. Until Marvel went overboard trying to make her their equivalent of Wonder Woman and she became written insufferably.

Hasbro released their Marvel Legends Warbird years ago in a three pack with Ultimate Captain America and Radioactive Man. That was long enough ago that Hasbro’s made significant strides with sculpting and articulation and it was time for an update.

But that could be a tall order as the original Hasbro ML Warbird still holds up pretty well. Let’s see if this update is worth the upgrade or if Hasbro will have to work harder to top their first crack at Warbird.

Packaging: Warbird is part of the Marvel Comics 85th Anniversary wave. The releases under that banner all seem to be contenders for Top 10 honors.

Although I’m not loving the packaging. It’s streamlined and skinner with a black and copper color scheme with some random tech piping.

I can’t immediately place the artwork, which seems a tad modern — at least from a more recent period she wore this outfit.

Likeness: Warbird has a cool design with what’s essentially a bathing suit with above the elbow gloves and thigh high boots. Hasbro didn’t skimp this time on that attire setup. Warbird’s gloves and boots are sculpted instead of just painted on.

The head sculpt is superb with an excellent head sculpt accentuated by the long flowing hair. And her domino mask is also sculpted. I dig the expression of the default head, which kind of gives Carol a slightly focused portrait as if she’s ready for things to go down ASAP. This smaller mask fits in better with the New Avengers stint of her career.

Her sash that rests on the left side of her waist with the knot on the right side at an angle was well executed. It also hides the articulation joint for her waist in another bonus.

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Paint: Black is Warbird’s primary color and most of her costume line work is sculpted. That makes for little stress in terms of finding a figure with a good paintjob.

The gold bolt through her costume is a sharp piercing shade, which really contrasts nicely against the black. Ditto for the red, which is a really vibrant hue as well.

Warbird’s head sculpt also got some love on the paint apps as her hair has a brown wash. This helps break up the blonde and eliminate that “toy-ish” look to it. The linework on the mask is sharp as well allowing for precise work on her eye shadow and a hint of blush.

Scale: And here’s the one thing that seems off. In my Beyond Earth’s Mightiest Black Widow review, I said that is the mold Hasbro should use going forward as the base female mold. I did not include Warbird, simply because she should stand taller and look more powerful than say Invisible Woman or Elektra.

The mold is slighter than Hasbro’s first Warbird, which had solid proportions that captured her powerhouse stature among the Avengers. This figure is far too small compared to Captain America or Scarlet Witch. It’s easily the biggest knock on the figure for me.

Articulation: While she’s too slight, this is easily the most articulated Warbird figure yet.

Thanks to the butterfly shoulders, she can really rear back to charge her powers or add more force behind a punch. The windup is important.

This new body makes other poses more fun thanks to the tilting upper torso and torso point. Carol’s hair does get in the way for posing however.

Warbird has:

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

Accessories:  Warbird comes with a decent number of accessories.

First is her alternate head sculpt. This one features a wider mask and a fuller, higher hair sculpt. Her portrait looks like a Byrne drawing in figure form.

It’s pretty impressive and definitely will my default one going forward.

Next is a swappable set of fingers spread out flying/unleashing power blasts hands. Other options are always welcome especially for a character who punches and shoots energy blasts.

Finally, she’s got the yellow orange translucent energy swirls that are the norm for Scarlet Witch figures.

Worth it?  Target has Warbird for $24.99, the standard Marvel Legends price. She’s a solid value, but I do really miss the days when a Marvel Legends figure had to come with a Build-A-Figure piece to help justify the cost.

Rating: 9.7 out of 10

This is a sensational Warbird figure that’s really only hurt by her smaller stature. If that doesn’t bother you she’s strong enough to bump up to a full 10.

Where to get it?  Target is the exclusive spot for Warbird figure. Right now, the website has her sold out, but keep checking the site and your local stores.