Marvel Legends 85th Anniversary Ghost Rider review

Ghost Rider, specifically the Dan Ketch version, has been one of the most requested characters for the Marvel Legends line in a while. It’s been a minute since that awesome Toy Biz one way back in ML Series 3. We’ve gotten a good number of Johnny Blaze Ghost Rider figures, but Dan’s version has been lacking in figure representation.

Hasbro’s ML team showed off most of the 85th Anniversary Marvel Comics wave and an easy highlight was the Dan Ketch Ghost Rider set.

Let’s see if this Ghost Rider is a fiery addition to my collection or just needs to burn in the flames.

Packaging:  All of the 85th Anniversary figures sport a similar color scheme with black and copper with some random tech piping.

And thankfully we’re back to the era of seeing the figure and all the accessories with the return of the big plastic window.

On the left side, there’s Daniel Picciotto’s artwork from Danny Ketch: Ghost Rider released in 2023 (check it out on Amazon). That’s an interesting choice considering Dan’s heyday as Ghost Rider was during the 90s Marvel Knights era with art from Javier Saltares and Mark Texeira.

There’s a decent enough bio explaining Dan’s history as Ghost Rider though it’s lacking in terms of explaining any of his powers.

Likeness: This is a pretty solid likeness to the source material though with any Ghost Rider figure there’s always that one glaring element figures can’t seem to do right — the flame encircling his head. It’s a challenge due to the limitations of an action figure.

If the flame is as wide around his head as it appears in comics it would limit his neck articulation more than it already does. Still, I wonder if the Hasbro sculptor could have started the wider flame above the neck joint and raised collar without it looking too much like a hairline?

This is the same head sculpt used with the Legendary Riders Johnny Blaze figure (on Amazon) with some different paint apps. That’s fine as that skull looked great and benefitted from the articulated jaw. There is a flame swirl around the base of the neck to weakly convey that flaming skull portrait from the comics.

All of the other aspects of the outfit are dead on from the leather jacket with the spiked shoulder pads. He’s got the pleated section along his upper chest leading to the front overlapped style closure. The spiked bracers have the proper count of three rows. His spiked belt with underlapping chain is present as well. I love the textured detailing on his pants and his boots are accurate right down to the spiked band on just the left boot.

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Paint: The paintwork is decent though Hasbro made some color choices that throw off the likeness. Let’s start again with the head. The translucent flames are nice but there should be far more yellow here than red and orange. Yes, it’s flames, but in the comics, it’s typically colored as yellow with the tips having some red and orange occasionally.

There’s a dark yellow wash along the skull to sell more of that flaming skull visual. I like this though a black wash probably would have been fine too. Hasbro opted to paint inside the eye sockets giving Ghost Rider a neat eyes wide open appearance.

This would be tremendous for the Penance Stare, but for a basic default head sculpt they could have just gone with the standard black in the eye sockets.

His leather jacket and pants are the right hues though his chain, bracers and belts are almost more of a silver shade of grey. These should be more of a gun metal and less obvious. A darker wash could accomplish the same thing so maybe I’ll give that a shot?

Scale: Ghost Rider is taller than his new Fantastic Four teammate Wolverine, but he’s too slight. Texeira drew him about the same height and width as The Punisher.

Even before the newer Punisher figure comes out, Ghost Rider doesn’t look as physically threatening. Not horribly so, but a little more mass would make him just right.

Articulation: Clearly the most important element of Ghost Rider’s articulation is to look right while posed on his motorcycle. That’s not a problem, nor is pulling off most action stances for him when he’s off the bike and battling bad guys.

The biggest issue is his neck articulation, which is restricted due to the flame collar. This is an older body so he doesn’t have the most advanced articulation namely the floating torso joint allowing for better side to side poseability. He’s got the old torso hinge joint, which is ok, but certainly dated now.

His shoulders are slightly hindered due to the shoulder pad positioning. You’re still able to get all of the poses, but they require some additional steps. Clearly, Ghost Rider is a character who would benefit from butterfly shoulders.

I do appreciate that his jaw has some measure of articulation.

 

Ghost Rider has:

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

Accessories:  Ghost Rider has a decent number of accessories.

He’s got a swappable open left hand and a right fist to help when he’s battling off his cycle.

Another essential accessory is his flaming chain. The ML team did a nice job with giving it the appearance of a lit-up chain with standard plastic giving way to a translucent section with a terrific gradient of yellow and orange.

I would have loved if the ML team could have included a swappable Dan Ketch head sculpt with a neck overlay to hide the flaming neck.

Of course, his biggest and by far most important accessory is his motorcycle. Hasbro has released a Ghost Rider figure without a motorcycle (see on Amazon) so its inclusion wasn’t a given.

The cycle seems scaled properly. It definitely has the proper layout of the paneling, knobs, suspension detail and the brown ribbed leather seat.

One of the cooler aspects of this design is the cycle’s cowl with the angular front and somewhat demonic eyes. It also has some weathering paint apps and scratches and dents. It’s Ghost Rider’s battering ram so that makes sense.

I also love the translucent plastic with yellow and orange shading used for the wheels to help convey that they’re on fire.

The motorcycle also has some accessories with two translucent flame pieces for the tires’ flame trails. Additionally, there’s a thinner base piece to use as a stand/flame platform when GR wants to send the cycle into the air.

That’s a welcome extra piece and allows for some more creativity when displaying it.

Worth it?  Ghost Rider is $50, which seems fair considering the motorcycle is clearly being regarded as the price of another figure in this case. And it’s definitely not the case of Hasbro jacking the price up for a bogus accessory. There’s a real value with it.

Rating: 9 out of 10

This is pretty close to being a great Dan Ketch figure, but the scale, partially correct flame and older articulation hold him back. The motorcycle and its accessories are terrific though so I split it down the middle.

Where to get it?  I still haven’t seen Ghost Rider in stores to the point where he’s basically another online exclusive. You can get him at Amazon or Entertainment Earth.

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