Marvel is introducing Magic into their Cinematic Universe and of course, it's Stephen Strange that is going to be opening the doors for it! With the movie coming out next month, Marvel Legends came in with their Dormamu BAF! First in the set for me to review is the Benedict version of Dr. Strange; it's how we are going to see him in the movie, folks! How does he fare?!
New wave and character settings means new color scheme for the box! The art on the side featuring Benedict Cumberbatch looks amazing. Or is it a photo? It's an artwork.
The Doctor Strange movie symbol; I think it might be the symbol of Dr. Strange's house, I'm not sure. I only know of Strange's lore through his interactions with the mainstays of Marvel(comic book wise). It looks cool in some aspect though but it also looks like a warped out basketball.
I usually show the figure first before the accessories, but this time, it makes more sense to go this route. Dr. Strange comes with a mediocre set when talking about his accessories. He comes with an extra pair of hands, a mystic arts affect, his cloak, and the eye of Agamotto. Of course, he is equipped with Dormamu's leg. Wish they had more mystic arts effect since this first one is kind of a letdown. Looks cool, but it fails to really capture Dr. Strange's magic aura. His standard effect is the most prominent one; a mystic symbol that has been shown in a lot of his promotional art. Not bad looking; comes off as a shield than a mystical aura. Now it's a neat touch to have the Eye and his cloak be separate from the mold. They didn't have to go that route of detail but they did.
This particular special effect was borrowed from another Dr. Strange in this set; the same effect recycled from Scarlet Witch! I knew they were going to rehash this more than once! And suffice to say, I had more fun using this than the movie official one.
The cinematic universe Dr. Strange has a 'monk' feel to him but the colors and some of his 'styling' truly pay homage to the comic book Strange. The amulet, which I truly assume is the Eye of Agamotto, isn't as fancy as the comic book version. The cloak itself is a far cry from its fancier comic counterpart, but then again, this might be the plastic impediment unable to capture what the movie version is able to do. All in all, the separation of some of his clothing attire from the figure is a nice little touch.
This is what the figure looks like without the cloak and the amulet. Lots of sculpting details put into him, which is really appreciated. Hasbro definitely put a lot of effort into this one; I don't think this is a recycled mold. The face is a new one as well.
Paint is also decent. There are some variations in the coloring and they made some effort to ensure that this is a pretty film accurate/friendly figure. I really have to give it to Hasbro for the details and the fine tuning to try and make sure that they set up Marvel's new Cinematic entity with success in his plastic presence.
The articulation section didn't seem to impress me as much. Some of the movements didn't quite agree with the mold. Because of the details in the figure, there are a lot of hindering. I mean, make a figure as accurate to its movie counterpart, and the movie version happens to have a ton of clothing... then we have plastic, stiff clothing... yeah. That about sums it up. The biggest thing that will deter some of the movements are his cloak and his sash/loincloth, but if it's not for those, he would have the basic movements of course that we all have to recognize with Hasbro's Marvel Legends. I didn't have that much fun posing him around, but the parts I did get with the magic effects were pretty cool. 
Having borrowed another figure's accessory is already a red flag. I could have borrowed Scarlet Witch's and Encantress', but that would be a bit too much color variation for the same looking effects. Dr. Strange has a ton of mystical auras that appears in the comics and it would be a bit too much for Hasbro to try and copy a few of them. But he does need a stand. He is a flier in the comics and I'm sure he'll do some flying in the movie... he needs a stand.
In the end, this figure to me is just a good looking one and not really something I can find myself posing a lot. A good intro to the wave, most definitely, and I guess we'll see just how awesome the movie is for me to like this figure more. All in all, it's a good addition to my collection. Dr. Strange is an iconic character in the Marvel Lore and he is the Sorcerer Supreme of Marvel(he lost the title once or twice, but I think he retains it even now; but I think there is something wacky going on with the magic. I don't know. I don't read comic books anymore). Good enough fiure. Honestly, it wouldn't have been a complete wave if he isn't around!
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