Marvel Legends Cable review – BAF Zabu (2024)

Cable was starting to look like the figure from the Marvel Legends Build-A-Figure Zabu wave that I was never going to be able to track down for a reasonable price. While most Marvel Legends figures have stayed around retail price if not lower of slightly higher, Cable is frequently listed for around twice the standard price.

Some of the hype with this Cable figure was due to it being based on his appearance in the mega popular Marvel vs. Capcom 2. That brought out more than just Marvel Legends figures clamoring for this figure. Thankfully my affiliate Entertainment Earth was able to secure more after the initial sell-out and I jumped at the opportunity to finally get thsi look for Cable (and a necessary piece for Zabu) in my collection.

Let’s see if this figure leaves me out of time or if I need to jettison this guy off to the future for all this trouble over a mediocre figure.

Packaging:  The BAF Zabu wave packaging uses black with a red trim while the accent color is orange yellow. That’s proven to be a bad choice since so many of the characters in this wave have a decent amount of orange or yellow that blend them in with the backdrop.

I really wish the ML team would reference the comic book and artist for the card art just to connect the comics and the figures tighter. His bio is pretty basic and lacks the charm of Mattel’s WWE or Masters of the Universe write-ups.

Likeness: Cable has had a few figures in the line. For sentimental reasons of a perfect recreation of his early appearances and the dead-on take of Rob Liefeld’s art, I love the New Mutants/X-Force figure, but this one is exceptional too.

This one is more of a solo Cable costume, but he did wear it for a stint when he was part of an X-Men team. It’s a pretty streamlined outfit as far as Cable costumes go. There’s no bulky armor or shoulder pads or pouches for the sake of pouches. His shoulder harness and belt with pouches has more detail than I was expecting. The paneling in the harness was a nice surprise. His bracelets also have slots and paneling.

Ditto for the thigh pads as well.

Cable has an excellent head sculpt from the hair strands to the scars around his right eye and the TK power burst in his left eye. The expression is fitting for him as he’s not a smiling or even cold character. He’s just constantly on guard and ready for the worst.

The ML team went with the updated Hyperion mold for Cable, which is definitely the best choice for him as it’s beefier and stockier than the Spidey UK mold. His metallic left arm seems to be a new sculpt as ironically, it’s the right, flesh arm that has the pins at the elbow joint.

Scale: Cable is typically portrayed as taller than the average X-Man though he’ll still be looking up at Colossus. He certainly should be taller than his father, Cyclops.

He scales very nicely with his Astonishing X-Men teammates.

Paint: Cable has a pretty basic paint setup. His outfit is all blue and the yellows are all mostly separate pieces with the exception of his calves and shins. Hasbro almost managed to match up the yellow paint with the yellow plastic bits.

More precise details like the red x with the black Xs actually sculpted in are very clean.

The bulk of the paintwork is saved for his head sculpt, which again is excellent. Cable’s scars have a realistic reddish hue to them. He might have the best five o’clock Hasbro has done in the Marvel Legends line so far.

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Articulation: Free of any armored harness or shoulder pads, this is the most articulated Marvel Legends Cable we’ve gotten easily. This allows for more movement and fun in terms of hitting some creative poses. Whether deep crouches to aim with his gun or to briefly tap into his telekinetic abilities, Cable has it covered.

Cable has:

• neck
• ball-jointed shoulders (with butterfly shoulder joint)
• bicep
• elbow (double-jointed)
• wrist
• wrist hinge
• upper torso
• waist
• hip
• thigh
• knee (double-jointed)
• ankle

Accessories: Cable has an ok allotment of accessories. He’s got a set of swappable hands with trigger fingers.

He has two guns, which we’ve seen before with the BAF Sasquatch Cable. They’re repainted silver with black accents, which really helps to make them look like different guns.

Finally, he’s got the left hind leg of the BAF Zabu.

Worth it?  Amazon most of the Zabu wave during the Christmas holiday for $15. Naturally, Cable wasn’t part of the sale, but I’m happy in this case to simply get him for $25.

Rating: 10 out of 10

Cable is definitely a standout figure in the Marvel Legends line. He’s very well executed and features a great sculpt. He could stand to have more accessories, but it’s easy to see why this figure is so sought after. If you can get it for retail price, run don’t walk to grab him.

Where to get it?  You can get Cable from Amazon or Entertainment Earth.

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