Wednesday, March 29, 2017

Action Figure Review: Yondu from Marvel Legends: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 by Hasbro



   I'm really looking forward to Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol 2 and, fortunately, Hasbro's Marvel Legends offerings for GOTG2 appear to be quite a bit more robust than their offerings for the first film. While we received the main Guardians of the Galaxy heroes in that line, that was it; no Nebula, no Yondu, and no Ronan the Accuser. Hasbro has been really weird about not making villains from many of the Marvel films, haven't they? Fortunately, this new series already has some other characters like Mantis, Ego, and Nebula revealed and Yondu was released as part of the first series. Michael Rooker always stands out in everything he is in and his role as Yondu, the father figure who see his decision to not eat a young Peter Quill as something to brag about, was a highlight in a film that was chock full of highlights. Hasbro has released a 1/18th scale Yondu in their smaller Marvel "Universe/Legends/ whatever they're calling it these days" line, but I'm looking at the 6 inch Yondu. Let's check him out after the break...



 The Facts:

Height: 6 3/8ths inches

Articulation: Swivel/hinge ankles, double hinged knees, thigh swivels, balljointed hips, swivel waist, mid-torso hinge, swivel/hinge shoulders, bicep swivels, double hinged elbows, swivel/hinge wrists, hinged neck, and a balljointed head.

Accessories: Trench coat, two interchangeable portraits, arrow, and the right arm of the Titus build-a-figure.

Non-Scalper Price: $20 dollars
 The Positives:

* First things first: Yondu has the same articulation scheme that most other Marvel Legends figures have, so you know it's pretty good. It's not a perfect as Star-Lord's, but it's still among the best on the market in this scale at mass retail. Nice, solid joints and plentiful articulation points make Yondu a fun guy to pose hanging out alongside the other Guardians.

 * The sculpt on Yondu is pretty impressive. When his jacket is removed you can see all of the detail on his shirt. The shirt has a really cool texture, too. This is a completely unique sculpt and it perfectly captures Yondu's look. It's very Firefly-ish.



 * Underneath the trench coat and attached to Yondu's belt is a cool little holster for his yaka arrow.

* Here's Yondu with the coat on. The coat looks awesome and is covered with sculpted and painted details. It's fairly flexible, so you can still get some good poses out of the figure even when he's wearing it.

 * Yondu includes two heads, the first of which is a smiling head from the first film. Yondu has a shorter crest on his head in that film. The sculpt on this is incredible. Hasbro is knocking the Guardians out of the park. The work on everything, from the goatee to his teeth, is excellent.

 * The second head has two unique features. First, we get a longer, fully extended crest that Yondu seems to be sporting in the second film (it's very similar to the design of the character from the original Guardians of the Galaxy comic). Second, we get a whistling headsculpt. Since Yondu uses sound waves to control his yaka arrow, this is him using whistling to control his whizzing little dart of death. I dig it.


 * Another very cool inclusion with this figure is Yondu's yaka arrow. It's a simple gold arrow sculpt attached to a whirling beam of translucent orange plastic. This really looks cool and does an admirable job of replicating the power of the arrow as seen in the first film.


 * Yondu also includes the right arm, which features a four barreled cannon, of the series' Build-a-Figure Titus. I don't know who Titus is and, while he is cool looking, this piece is for sale if you want it.
 The Negatives:

* The decision to make the yaka arrow look like it's flying is very inspired. Unfortunately, it is less impressive in execution. The problem is that the trail of the arrow, which rests in the holster on Yondu's right hip, doesn't really just out much from his body. The arrow really stays to close to the body for a convincing effect. A longer trail or a more severe curve at the end might have been much better.


* It's also kind of odd that the arrow is not removable from the energy trail nor is a separate arrow included. I guess Yondu just has to run around with an empty holster.
 Other than the problems with the yaka arrow, Yondu is a pretty impressive figure. Hasbro is really releasing some killer figures in the Marvel Legends line and they really do seem to be getting better and better. Yondu is a Great and a 1/2 figure and an excellent addition to the Guardians of the Galaxy line. His headsculpt and outfit are as impressive as anything else anyone is putting out in the 6 inch scale in this style and format.



This is the first Yondu figure I've reviews. I have looked at other Guardians of the Galaxy figures from Marvel Legends though, including:

Marvel Legends Infinite Series: Guardians of the Galaxy by Hasbro (2014)
Drax
Star-Lord

Marvel Legends Series: Guardians of the Galaxy by Hasbro (2017)
Groot Evolution

Marvel Legends Series: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2 by Hasbro (2017)
Drax
Star-Lord


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