One of the fondest memories of this geek as a kid was waiting patiently for the clock to strike 5:00 PM so I can watch the X-Men cartoon. Some of my very first comic books were of the X-Men, so seeing them come to life on my TV screen is a core memory that shaped my life as a fan.
Cue guys like Hasbro, whose Marvel Legends line of action figures have been slowly giving us the old Blue and Gold X-Men team in toy form. Tapping into the nostalgia of an epic childhood, they recently put out a line of X-Men figures with a gimmick: they're painted to look like they're in a cartoon and packaged inside a box made to look like a VHS tape slipcover!
I've avoided this line for a while (to which my finances breathe a sigh of relief) but their latest release was a must-have for me. Now that it's in my hands, let's take a look at the new Marvel Legends X-Men VHS Cyclops figure!
A few crinkly sounds of unwrapped paper later, and I'm glad that I got a Cyclops without any noticeable QC issues. It's always a gamble with these plastic-free packaging, made even worse because I'm in a country that doesn't do returns for bad product. I have to live with what I get with my hard-earned money, boom or bust.
I've avoided the VHS line because of the very nature of its gimmick, which is extra paint apps to simulate the "cel shaded" look of the 90s X-Men cartoon. I don't want to have a figure with extra shadows standing beside one without. But with the Mavel Legends VHS Cyclops I bit the bullet simply because this is Cyclops on the new Marvel Legends Vulcan body, and I had a feeling the cel shading won't be too egregious.
Thankfully, I was right. If anything, the cel shading "enhanced" the figure in ways it failed to do so in other figures of the VHS line. Also, the paint is minimal enough that it's quite easy to erase if I wanted a basic figure without the shading!
There have been many 90's Cyclops figures released in the past couple of years alone, but I think VHS Cyclops is the best looking of the bunch. The bright yellows and blues capture the colors of the cartoon like he just stepped out of my TV screen. He also feels at home in the new Vulcan body, and it gives Cyclops quite the range of motion for radical 90s poses. It's not quite as buff as some male Marvel Legends bodies, so ol' "Slim" Summers here at least isn't too far off.
The only accessories that come with the Marvel Legends VHS Cyclops are some alternate hands. I guess the paint budget cut into the "optic blast effect" budget. Good thing they included a pointing/ruby visor activating hand, an iconic part of the character in any iteration.
There are also grasping and saluting hands included, for when you have a Ryu on hand to recreate the X-Men vs. Street Fighter intro.
Marvel Legends X-Men VHS Cyclops is quite an upgrade that it would be hard to top. With eye-catching colors and deco and a good use of a male body mold, this Cyclops a must have even if you're a generation or two removed from the era the figure is based in. It's a good year to be a Marvel Legends fan!
This figure makes me want to binge watch the old cartoon. Good thing Disney+ is now available in my country, and it has all the seasons!
I hope you found this review helpful. If you're a 90s baby, give us a shout in the comments! Thanks for reading!
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2 Comments
Blue and Gold team? What do you mean? There were blue and gold teams, plural, but only in the comics, the cartoons never used the two team idea.
ReplyDeleteHi, Anon! I just meant that in shorthand that they've been making figures of the teams from the comics, but I see how I wrote it to be misconstrued. My bad!
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