Hey, remember that time when I used to put reviews on this site? Yeah, good times. Yes, it has been nearly three months since my last review and I’m a little rusty. First review of the year and it goes definitively to the main character of the movie that may be one of the biggest films of all time. Of course it’s T’Challa, the Black Panther.
As of this writing, Black Panther has made $700 million worldwide in just 10 days…and it hasn’t even opened in China or Japan (I think it just opened in Russia today). It’s easy to say at this point that this movie will easily be $1 billion plus when all is said and done.
So how do you capitalize on this momentum? Bring on the licensed merchandise! Just went to Target today where a kid can make their room into a giant shrine to the Black Panther and various characters…what I would have done to have a life-size wall print of Nakia and Okoye on my bedroom wall growing up…but er, I digress (big time).
First up, Hasbro’s 6″ Marvel Legends line…the first time Hasbro has ever featured four Black characters in one Marvel Legends wave. Did getting a new T’Challa figure gear me up for the rest of the wave? Check out the review… (WARNING! This review may contain ***SPOILERS*** so if you have not seen the movie and wish to keep it a surprise, please either proceed with caution, or do not read).
I LOVE the color scheme of the packaging. It is of course reminiscent of the coloring of the comic book Black Panther with a mixture of blacks and blues to signify shadows. It totally stands out compared to the colorful mixture of the other waves.
Even with the awesome coloring, it is still the standard Marvel Legends packaging. On the front, we get an awesome picture window feature Black Panther and an alternate head. I thought it was two alternate heads, but that was because I forgot that the Build-A-Figure this time round is Okoye, and the Black Panther figure includes the head.
On the back, we see pictures of the whole wave. To note, somehow comic book versions of Namor, Black Bolt and Iron Man got mixed up in the wave. The only connection I can think of is that these are his comic book cohorts in the Illuminati group in which he belongs. I needed the Black Bolt figure, and I guess Namor is okay, but whoever put another freakin’ Iron Man in the line needs to kill themselves, slowly.
Packaging Score: 7.5 out of 10 
This figure comes with a switchable head without the mask and an extra set of hands in the closed fist position. More on the head in the next section.
This is really the bare minimum they could have included with this figure. Even the Build-A-Figure part is a single head. With the success of the movie, I could think of several things they could have included. Most notably, the spear that was in the movie. That could have been a good accessory.
Nevertheless, we got what we got and once again, we are victims to the sparseness of the Hasbro gang.
Accessories Score: 5 out of 10
Whew, this one is going to take me a sec. You see, as I was reviewing this figure, I thought it would be a good idea to compare it with the Black Panther figure from “Captain America: Civil War”.
With the mask on, it is not surprising what we get – an updated version of the costume with striking similarities to the original, but different enough where you can tell the difference from head to toe.
Design wise, I think I like the original figure better. He seems to “devolve” into the look of the new costume, but that could up for argument.
It wasn’t until I put their corresponding additional heads on that I had to stop and look…then sadly shake my head in sheer disbelief. Taking a look at the second picture, we see these are two absolutely different characters. And not only two different characters, but two different characters that in no way, shape or form look like Chadwick Boseman.
Looking at the original figure, it looks like the standard non-descript Marvel Legends head. It actually could be anybody. For this Black Panther figure, it looks like they tried to 3D image the actor’s face…and the result is disturbing. First of all, who thought it would be a good idea to have this Black Panther be 10 shades lighter than the original figure? It’s like they replaced Chadwick Boseman with…with ….Terrence Howard! (see what I did there?)
Ralph Carter
In all reality, I was trying to figure out whose face is on my figure, because it is apparently not Chadwick Boseman. Then it clicked as soon as someone in the house turned on the television. “Good Times” started playing. This is not Chadwick Boseman, it’s MICHAEL from “Good Times”! How dare they replace Chadwick for Michael!
I see Hasbro is trying to be more accurate with their sculpts. But please Hasbro, quality control. Stop recoloring actors on your figures, making them lighter than in real life. And it’s 2018…if Elon Musk can launch a car into space, we can get some semblance of high definition likeness even on our $19.99 action figures, right?!
Sculpt/Likeness Score: 5 out of10
Right off the bat, I knew this figure was going to be special in the articulation department. As soon as I took it out, it practically stood on its own…the balance on this figure is crazy!
This figure has an insane 32+ points of articulation! That’s nearly unheard of at this price-point. Definitely a couple of things made the difference. For one, this figure unlike the last iteration has an additional shoulder swivel a la “Pizza Spider-Man” (Google it…) giving the arms the ability to rotate inward and outward better. Also included is the additional hinge in the neck allowing the figure to look all the way up or down. Still genius.
If I were to list anything as a con, it would probably be the lack of swivel in the leg area…a minor complaint if anything, but a shin swivel would have been great and that much nicer.
Articulation Score: 9 out of10
First of all, if you have not seen the movie, drop what you’re doing right now and go out and see it. It is freaking amazing and absolutely gorgeous all the way through. I made my mom watch “Captain America: Civil War” first, and she was appreciative since it contained some backstory. And once we calm down on the Black Panther movie, “Avengers: Infinity War” is right around the corner where we’ll not only get more Black Panther and Okoye, but most of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
That being said, this figure is just okay. Besides the two low scores (Accessories and Sculpt/Likeness), I do recommend buying this figure. It is an awesome figure to have in your collection. I will be buying other various versions including a Figuarts version, a Marvel Select version, and a One:12 version just to name a few, so I will have plenty of the same figure to compare it against.
Thank y’all for welcoming me back. As always I let life get in the way and I had to be a little motivated to get my next review out. Fortunately, the Black Panther movie did it for me. I’m really excited about the movie and the product that comes with it.
