Marvel Legends BAF: Onslaught

(Kitty Pryde), Whirlwind, Mockingbird, Taskmaster, Scourge, Cottonmouth, Captain America, Agent 13

This is going to be a BAF review that definitely stands out compared to my other ones. First and foremost, I did NOT get the wave as a whole; I bought the completed BAF through Ebay and the ONLY figure that I purchased was another figure from another wave that just happens to carry the alternate(original) head of Onslaught, which is Kitty Pryde from the Juggernaut BAF(which I did not and am not planning on completing). So this review will more or less be a figure focused review, but I will touch base on the notion as to why I didn't go ahead and finish (Red) Onslaught by buying every figure.

So this BAF was not exactly the Onslaught I was introduced to way back in Marvel's X-Men days. This BAF is actually the newest form of Onslaught known as "Red Onslaught". Basically, Red Skull managed to use the Onslaught powers and.... there we have it. The thing is, Onslaught is dominantly red and instead of getting a newer version of Onslaught's armor, he just replaces the cool "Magneto" helmet with his Red Skull face.

I don't read comic books anymore to get a grasp of how good that storyline was (which turned into Axis), but I will say that Red Onslaught does not interest me. Basically, just like that Captain America from the Trio Pack, I will be shelving the idea of Red Onslaught; or at least his variant head. Just to give the Red Skull head a quick review, it looks pretty detailed; it looks like Red Skull. But I only took two photos of it. So this review will go on as just "Onslaught".

Right off the get go, we can see that this is definitely a vibrant looking figure. I mean, Onslaught was pretty colorful with the Magneto colors, but the color palette on this figure is really animated. And as always, aside from the Red Skull alternate head, Onslaught comes with NO paint details, no shadowing, nothing to signify some kind of attention to detail to make him look slightly less cartoony. The plastic used is shiny, and it does serve its purpose to make him look like the Onslaught that I remember from the major crossover of Marvel in those days.

As for his sculpt, there is plenty to like. Right off the get go, this is a unique mold, and perhaps no one else will use it; I can see Hasbro recycle some pieces, but for the most part, it is for Onslaught to own. Every rivets, every cracks, design, armor details... this is Onslaught, and it looks awesome. He does look menacing, but as I mentioned earlier, the cartoony coloring does take some of it away... but it stays faithful to his first comic book appearances, for the most part.

Now to compare him with another BAF I just recently reviewed, Dormamu. He is pretty much in scale with the recent BAF addition in my collection. He towers a standard 6 inch, but he isn't gargantuan like BAF of days passed. He is a bit bulkier so I suppose that's something. But just to get right on to another comparison:

People complained that Toybiz's Onslaught BAF from way back when was too small and had 'fragile', rubbery material... Putting the new and the old together and... My verdict is on the original Toybiz Onslaught BAF and there are several reasons: DETAILS. The Toybiz Onslaught has way more attention to details, paint articulation, nooks and crevices, and much more darker theme; he looks menacing in a 'realistic' way, if that makes sense. In terms of size, they are just about the same size wth Toybiz Onslaught slightly taller if legs are fully extended. Lastly, Toybiz Onslaught as a set was a bit more 'special themed'; as in it was all villains and it wasn't a bad set either.

Now this is Onslaught's biggest downfall: his articulation. For some reason, despite him having some standard and expected range of movements, Onslaught fails to deliver a lot of dynamic poses that are convincing. I'm not quite sure how to put it, but I will lean on the notion that he just needs some kind of special effects. His whole "behold my mighty hand" phrase does not quite flare up with just him just being vanilla. The stands I have are also unable to hold his weight so no flying poses there. Without alternate hands or anything of the sort, I feel as if there are only 'standing' poses I can accomplish easily.

Really, I think adding some special effects on him is something that would have amped him up. I think Hasbro needs to really start getting into that department.

Seriously, behold his mighty hand because it's just about what you are going to be seeing. Less intimidating though without that special affect. As for the Set grading:

I didn't exactly purchase the set and I only have one figure who is an OPTIONAL figure from another wave. But IF I would have bought the set and judging from what I have seen...

(Would have been)My Favorite: Scourge OR Mockingbird
(Would have been) My least favorite figure: Cottonmouth

Obviously I can't give the set a proper grade BUT since it didn't convince me to BUY it, it's a little bit below mediocre for me. A couple of figures I want like Mockingbird, Scourge, Whirlwind, and MAYBE the new Taskmaster, but not enough to get me to buy the BAF. Though I did buy Kitty Pryde with the knowledge that I will have this BAF by itself in the future.

Onslaught was an anticipated BAF for many especially this version of him and suffice to say, Hasbro delivered. I wouldn't say he is a failure, but I can't say that he surpassed the Toybiz version. Then again, I always liked the Toybiz figure since it offered so much that a lot of BAF collectors just can't see. But regardless, I do like this. I don't think he offers much, but he does look great and he is the definitive figure of Onslaught that we are going to get... unless we get another one in the future (I doubt it).

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Marvel BAFs: Asunder

BAFs: Terrax, Blob, Fin Fang Foom, Anihilus, Armin Zola

Collecting can vary with the myriad of genres that supply tangible trinkets for people to purchase and 'collect'. The crowd of collectors can vary from Jordan collectors, Autographs, China Set, Books, and while there are a dozen others out there in the waters, obviously I fall in the category of Toy Collecting. Even in Toy Collecting there are sub sections to delve into! Comic books, Anime, Video game paraphernalia! Then we can even scrutinize even further by splitting comic books into their respected companies such as Marvel and DC ... etc. So now let's go into the meat! Toy collecting... I won't go in depth details as to it, but as of right now I am VERY much into the BAFs collecting craze. With the collection I have right now, I take full pride when I complete a certain character with the expensive and time strenuous effort through store searching and internet surfing.

BAFs completed: Iron Monger, Rulk, Onlsaught, and Apocalypse.

But just from the picture above, some have laid dormant in my collection and may or MAY never ever see full assembly. There are a couple of other missing pieces from other BAFs that I KNEW I wasn't going to collect from the get go so I threw away immediately(Brood, Mojo, and M.O.D.O.K.). But for some reason, I kept a couple and the picture above are what I have. Makes me ponder if I SHOULD. Let's delve into the complete 'family' tree of these BAFs shall we?

All pictures are from Marvellegends.net.

This was the first Marvel Legends that Hasbro produced that I came across with. Anihilus may have came first, but for some reason, I saw Blob first. Err... yeah no. And Movie Jean Grey? Wow. Atrocious.

I have Planet Hulk and Ultimate Iron Man. HAD Banshee... But as for the rest? White Drag Queen?! Err, I might've considered this guy, but seeing as I threw the wing of Anihilus away and we have a butch version of Emma Frost? Yeah No.

Now this guy! Hasbro made a lot of Legends BAFs and some of them are directed to certain characters. They made a FF BAF exclusive, a Spider-Man movie verse(yuck), and Hulk, which is where Fin Fang Foom omitted from. This Dragon is colossal! Probably the biggest BAF Hasbro has done. Suffice it to say, I'm not going to have Doc Samson or Absorbing man in my shelf or even SPEND the money on them. So... it may be a pass altogether.

The toy community raved when they announced Marvel Legends' return with a new BAF. With the exception of Klaw, these are all acceptable and enamoring characters! Thor doesn't come with a piece for some reason though so he is more of a fan service than a piece to build. Suffice it to say... this guy might see the light! (MIGHT is a very loose term for 'hell yeah').

Yup. So that concludes my rant in regards to this toy line. There are a few more coming out from Hasbro and ... believe me... I may have more problems with the lack of space in my room in the near/far future. 

Marvel Legends BAF: Onslaught

Onslaught Series: Loki, Abomination, Pyro, Lady Deathtrike, Blackheart, Green Goblin

Toybiz came out with a BAF version of one of the most nefarious(and one of the messiest story line) Villain of the Marvel Universe and that is none other than Onslaught. Not to touch on that storyline or TOO much into the character's life line, I will say that in regards to my comment in my previous Apocalypse BAF Post about prudence and buying these figures while they were cheaper, well, Onslaught wasn't one of those. Again I only have a couple COMPLETE BAFs and sadly, only one was from Toybiz(well two now) and the other was from Hasbro. So Onslaught was a hefty price since a couple of the figures like Abomination and Green Goblin costed about a good $45 each. The six pieces total probably costed me about a good $100 more or less which is pretty damn frugal for an older BAF. But there is a reason as to why this said BAF was a bit on the cheaper side!

Compared to Apocalypse, he really is quite shorter. This was the controversy with this series. Honestly, I'm not griping about it because the figure itself is rather intricate in details and its accuracy(from what I remember) is pretty good!

BEHOLD MY MIGHTY HAND!

So for a BAF this guy has great articulation. Apocalypse has less pose-ability with his hands, feet, legs, and so forth. That and the way he is built alone isn't entirely your norm humanoid frame so he has a bit more fun factor than what the controversy is giving him credit for.

Side profile gives a bit more of a vantage point in regards to the details put there. I like how the gauntlets came out and the way his legs are just gives him a bit more of a nefarious like stance rather than the normal humanoid legs. Torso details giving him that 'deathly' stature but with all that armoring still makes him devoid of any sense of depletion in nourishment. And of course the backside is another unique part of this figure. His armor plating makes surprises from behind scarce... okay bad joke.

I do not jest you, Human! BEHOLD MY MIGHTY HAND RIGHT NOW!

Again what he lacks in height I think he makes up for in his details. He is just made to be a beast! He has a feral but yet a very regal presence to him. The bulkiness isn't something to shy away from since he is after all still exuberant in his villainous ambiance. 

I mean let's put him next to one of the most popular characters of Marvel right now. He may not look as daunting as the picture in my Apocalypse post with Wolverine being the said Pharaoh's adversary, but still! If anyone thinks that Onslaught will get his armored behind handed to him by Stark, well one is sadly mistaken. That and he just looks freaking mean.

Okay then how about that then? Mean enough for you? 

So the amalgam of Professor X and Magneto(yes, that is his story line in a terse few words) is now the 'leader' of my second bay of villains. One of these days if I keep up this BAF hunting, I'm going to have to consider using my comic book wall for more toy shelves. 

The Red Game Room

Seriously. Behold his mighty hand.

Other than that! I can't stress that this is a good find for anyone in the genre of BAF hunting. He is cheaper than most and even though he lacks in size, it still gives a good sense of 'completion'. That and the said details I have written down about him. That and if you are like me and lacking some villains, this series will force you to have a few on hand; six to be exact. 

Marvel Legends: Villains!!!

There is a slight change in my 'shelf one'. As a collector of this genre, I have recently rekindled my 'BAF'(build a figure) love. While I am not going to go all out and purchase EVERY SINGLE one that I seem to have touched base with because of certain characters I decided to buy have a piece of a BAF(Spider-Woman, Heroes Reborn Iron Man, etc etc).  Certain ones from the days of Toybiz do catch my Collector eyes(and pride) and perhaps I'll be tackling them when I have the means. As of right now though, I'm just going to flaunt some of my rogue of Villains from the Marvel Universe!

Abomination

I'm not going to claim I know EVERYTHING about these characters so I'll touch on the most important points that I know! With that said, Abomination is Hulk's rival. From what I can gather, he has equal strength for the most part. As to his other origins, well, that's where wiki will come in handy! He's green and looks like the creature of the black lagoon! Onslaught Series.

Blackheart

The son of Mephisto. He rules a certain part of hell and his powers seems to fall in the genre like all dark lords would! He controls evil minions, has deception on his side, immortal, and has the tendency to find himself hunted down by the magical forces of the Marvel Universe! Onslaught Series.

Green Goblin

So Norman Osborn is a man I am a bit more equipped to capsulize but I'll leave it a bit more terse. Spider-Man's greatest rival who has bestowed enough tragedy on the Wall Crawler's life that almost pushed him to the edge. Armed with advanced gadgets such as bombs, a glider, dangerous sharp blades , and able to omit beams out of his hand, this guy has more tricks than he has treats! Onslaught Series.

The Kingpin

Wilson Fisk has no super powers. He has strength and intelligence that surpasses your average man, however he is lethal enough that the likes of Spider-Man, Daredevil, Moon Knight, and Iron Fist fears fights him with caution. That is if these said heroes can even get  close enough to him with the amount of resources and henchmen that he seems to control on the whim. The Versus Series.

Lady Deathstrike

Yuriko Oyama! Somehow I am more enamored by her X2 aberration! But no matter. A woman who has the fire for Logan(good ole Canuckle head!); and what I mean by fire is, Vengeance! She resents him so much that she altered her whole body to make her into a cyborg! She got a really violent manicure suffice to say! Amongst other things. Onslaught series.

Loki

The Thor and the Avengers movie pretty much got the main points of Thor's brother. Let's see where the Dark World is heading to though... but enough of that. This figure(the variant) is awful. The 'crown of lies' makes him look so defective that I don't even have the will to talk about the character instead ridicule the damn figure! An honest mistake since the original version has a resemblance of his 'reindeer games' helmet. Oh well. It's the piece that counts. Onslaught series.

Pyro

I don't have a clue why he has 'bug eyes'. Perhaps he is trying to be a 'fire fly' or a 'fire ant'? I don't know. Regardless, I know VERY little about this character. I know he can control fire and whimsically make them into anything he desires! It's why he wears a fire apparatus maker on his back! Putting the character aside, this is my favorite figure from the Onslaught series! Vibrant! Great posing capability and rather hilarious as well. Onslaught series.

Taskmaster

He can copy any fighting skill and moves of any known hero just by watching them. So is he 'karate trash'? He can use a shield like Captain America! Shoot arrows like Hawkeye! Agile like Daredevil and Spider-Man! He uses a sword like... I don't know! Silver Samurai??? He shoots a gun like... Punisher. And why he walks around looking like a grim reaper with pirate boots? One can only fathom! Rider Series.

Well, that concludes this post. It is July after all and there will be a plethora of other toy posts coming soon! Just this post alone insinuates 'someone' coming! Anyways!!!