Marvel Legends Mystique action figure review (2025)

This Mystique update might be the easiest one the Marvel Legends team has had to do in years.

The last classic comic book version was released back in 2019. With the advancements in female molds and given that all of her Brotherhood of Evil Mutants squad got figures released within the last three years, it was time for an upgrade for their leader.

For the most part, this is a pretty basic upgrade, but let’s see if Mystique manages to pack in any surprises or if she’s a disappointment in disguise.

Packaging: Mystique is part of the Target exclusive Retro card X-Men wave styled like the old Toy Biz figures. Her upper corner box features most of the figures Hasbro has released under this banner with Weapon X, Professor X and Outback Storm alongside Mystique.

The artwork is done by David Nakayama, who can sometimes trip the Legends team up as he draws classic takes on the characters with references the ML team would do well to pay attention to — see the missing boots on the X-Factor Marvel Girl figure.

Villains in the X-Men line got a purple base with a green gradient background. Those colors work for Mystique, who gets the action feature tag of “shape-shifter supreme!” The bio is actually pretty well done summarizes her powers and her adversaries up in a succinct sentence.

Likeness: Mystique gets the Shriek mold as her base. That’s the default new base body for average female characters. It’s a solid fit for Mystique who isn’t too tall, skinny or voluptuous.

The new darker shade for her skin tone is making her head sculpt appear different, but I think the hair and face are the same as the 2019 version. The skull belt and skirt piece are reused although they fit better since the Shriek body isn’t as slender.

One change from the Shriek mold is Mystique has a bicep swivel at the lower bicep instead of the upper section. This creates a natural break point to give Mystique’s sleeved gloves a “sculpted” top. In fairness, the gloves have been incorrectly extended for Mystique figures as they should only go up as far as her forearms and definitely not past the elbow.

Also, the Shriek body is pinless now so for what it’s worth, there are no pins on her knees.

Scale: The last time I reviewed Mystique, I had Toy Biz stand-ins and the grotesque BAF Blob from Hasbro. Things have certainly changed as they’ve all been improved. Mystique should be about eye to eye with Pyro and Destiny while looking up at Avalanche, Spiral and Blob.

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Paint: Mystique’s hue of blue seems to vary depending on the colorist, but it seems like the most common shade is the one used with this figure. It’s more of a blue-grey hue. The previous figure had a brighter shade of blue. Either way, it doesn’t matter since the white outfit makes for a great contrast either way.

In addition to a changed skin tone hue, her hair is also a bit darker with a hint of a black wash in the mix as well. The smaller details like the skull on her forehead and the golden skull necklace all came out sharp as well.

Articulation:  Mystique definitely benefits — as do much of the female figures on older bucks — with the addition of the bicep joint and double-jointed elbows.

The Shriek mold also gives her more stability for running and more dynamic poses. Check out

Mystique has:

• neck
• ball-jointed shoulders
• bicep (swivel)
• elbows (double-jointed)
• wrists
• torso
• waist
• hips
• thighs
• knees
• ankles

Accessories:  When the 2019 figure came out, it was rare for a figure to come without a BAF part. Now that’s the norm. Hasbro doesn’t tend to add enough accessories to balance that out, but Mystique does have some useful extras.

First up is a pair of swappable open hands. Those are useful for gesturing and directing traffic to the Brotherhood/Freedom Force.

Next is a Jean Grey Black Queen head from the Hellfire Club set. This is an interesting one since it’s not like Mystique was anywhere near the X-Men during that time period and wouldn’t know about Black Queen Jean.

Finally, she’s got a pair of guns. One is a pistol with a silencer. The other is an assault rifle that she can hold in both hands. Like Morph, Mystique is a tougher figure to convey her abilities since she just totally takes on the guise of someone instead of an arm or a head.

Worth It? If you don’t have the Walgreens figure or the VHS version (available on Amazon), this is easily a worthwhile figure especially since she’s still listed under the old $24.99 price point.

Rating: 9.5 out of 10

Mystique gets a much-improved mold that is a welcome upgrade from the previous version. I didn’t think I needed this upgrade, but she was well worth picking up.

Where to Get It? This Retro Mystique is exclusive to Target so that’s your best option until resellers put her on Amazon.

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