Sunday, April 27, 2025

Action Figure Review: Marrow from Marvel Legends Series: X-Men by Hasbro

 

   I'm going to go ahead and throw out another Marvel Legends Series review from the most recent X-Men series: Let's check out Marrow! What's Marrow's power? In addition to enhanced healing and constitution, Marrow can grow and enhance her skeletal structure, even creating weapons out of her bones. Crazy! Marrow has been a pretty common part of the mutant side of the Marvel Universe since her first appearance in 1994, though she might be most well known as a playable character in 2000's "Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes." Hasbro looks like they're going to start releasing a lot of the Marvel characters from those games starting this year (and Jada's Ultra Street Fighter 2: The New Challengers figures are a perfect fit) and they've made sure that Marrow is absolutely based off of her appearance in that game. Marrow's never had a Marvel Legends figure before; in fact, it's been 30 years since she had an action figure in Toy Biz's X-Men: Generation X line. She's a very welcome addition to the collection! Let's check out Marrow after the break...





The Facts:

Height: 6 1/8ths inches

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

Accessories: 4 swappable hands, 2 glove tops, 2 daggers, and left arm and two swappable hands for Nemesis/ Holocaust build-a-figure.

Non-Scalper Price: $25 dollars







The Positives:

* As I mentioned above, Hasbro went with Marrow's look in Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes, which was a pretty smart move. It's interesting when you look at how both Marvel and DC Comics characters in the 70s, 80s, and very early 90s had very specific character and costume looks that stuck with characters over multiple books and artists, but starting in the early to mid 1990s, characters changed their looks like crazy. Marrow's had multiple looks, sure, but this one is the most recognizable and has some fairly unique colors, plus all of the bone ornamentation growing out of her skin in different places. Her knees and torso are all very unique.






* Marrow's also pretty easy on the eyes. Early on she was pretty frightening looking at times, but later on she learned to both control her powers better and her appearance was changed while being treated on the Skrull home world, making her appear quite attractive. That's a look we've got here (which, again, matches MvC2). She also makes a pretty decent Rachel Summers from the 1980s if you're desperate for a custom of that character (one of the big ones Hasbro seems to still be holding back on). 





* Here's a shot of Marrow's backside so you can see the bones growing out of her body, both in weird directions and along her spine. This is a really cool look, though I'm not sure what purpose the bones serve here. Maybe they're like extra weapons she can break off if needed. Early on she really just used her bones as weapons, but later on she started growing them in different ways and using them as armor, too. Honestly, she's kind of like Wolverine power wise (temperament wise, too, really). I mean, to grow extra bones out of your body, you'd have to be able to heal quickly and be disease/ infection resistant, or you'd have a largely worthless power. Heck, she even has two hearts, like a Time Lord, so she's a pretty stout individual. 




* Need some kneepads? You or I would have to go to the store and pick some up, maybe order them online if we're not nearby to anywhere. But Marrow? She can grow them. There's a bit of a paint effect here, marveling the white with a bit of tan to make them look extra boney. 







* Marrow has a lot of brand new pieces, so she's got all pinless joints, smooth motion, and a sturdy build.  She doesn't have the lateral shoulder hinges, which many of Hasbro's female figures still don't have, and she's always missing any kind of waist articulation due to wearing some pretty low-cut pants. Still, I don't think those are deal breakers as everything else moves just fine. You can get some great poses out of her and, since she's such a dynamic character, you'll have a lot of fun doing so.






* Four swappable hands are included. A flat karate chop for her right hand, a left handed fist, and two grips. I do wish Hasbro would just give us a full pair of each, though. Still, these aren't bad and do offer a bit of variety. They swap easily, so that's a plus do.










* For really reaching out and delivering a hurting to her does, Marrow comes with a pair of bone daggers. They're cool sculpts with the same brown paint apps as the other bone elements to keep them from looking too plain and clean.


 * The Nemesis/ Holocaust build-a-figure is definitely one of the coolest BAFs in some time. Marrow comes with the left arm and two swappable hands, one a normal fist and one gesturing or grasping.  



The Negatives:

* My only complaint about Marrow is that if you look closely you can see a weird splotch on the front of hair. it's not terribly noticeable in person but I caught it when taking pictures. It looks like a molding error of some sort. Minor, but it reminds me of a certain 90's comedy with Ben Stiller and Cameron Diaz...





   Marrow's another hit in this series in my opinion. This is a really strong series of figures and Marrow's a pretty well known mutant, it's her first time getting a Marvel Legends figure, she's quite a decent figure in her own right, and she's going to help fill out the Marvel vs Capcom rosters that folks are clearly wanting to collect. Besides the little issue with the front of her hair, I would have liked for Hasbro to included a right and left hand for each pose and possibly a portrait based on Marrow's original appearances before she had a Skrull medical makeover. Still, she's a Great figure, and including a BAF piece is always a cool extra, especially when the figure seems to be as good as Holocaust/ Nemesis is going to be. 


This is the first figure of Marrow that I've reviewed. For more Marvel Legends Series figures check out the following:
Marvel Legends Series by Hasbro (2016)

Marvel Legends Series: 85th Anniversary by Hasbro (2024)

Marvel Legends Series: Avengers by Hasbro
Taskmaster
Yelena Belova

Marvel Legends Series: Black Panther by Hasbro (2017)
Black Panther 

Marvel Legends Series: Black Widow by Hasbro (2020)
Black Widow: Deadly Origin
 
Marvel Legends Series: Captain America by Hasbro (2016)
Black Panther
Demolition Man (Mercenaries of Mayhem)
Nick Fury 
Nuke 

Marvel Legends Series: Captain Marvel by Hasbro (2019)
Captain Marvel

Marvel Legends Series: Dark Avengers by Hasbro (2025)
 
Marvel Legends Series: Doctor Strange

Marvel Legends Series: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022) 
 
Marvel Legends Series: The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021)
Baron Zemo

Marvel Legends Series: Fantastic Four (2017)
Mr. Fantastic
Thing  
 
Marvel Legends Series: Gamerverse
Civil Warrior

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

Marvel Legends Series: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2 by Hasbro (2017)
Drax
Gamora (Daughters of Thanos)
Nebula (Daughters of Thanos)
Rocket Raccoon & Groot
Star-Lord 
Yondu 

Marvel Legends Series: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 by Hasbro (2023)
Mantis
 
Marvel Legends Series: The Infinity Gauntlet by Hasbro (2021)
 
Marvel Legends Series: The Infninity Saga by Hasbro
Captain Marvel & Rescue Armor

Marvel Legends Series: Inhumans by Hasbro (2017)
 
Marvel Legends Series: Ironheart by Hasbro (2021)
 
Marvel Legends Series: Iron Man by Hasbro  
Vault Guardsman

Marvel Legends Series: Marvel Knights (2023)
Blade

Marvel Legends Series: Phoenix by Hasbro (2024)
Jean Grey and Phoenix Force

Marvel Legends Series: The Punisher by Hasbro (2019)
The Punisher (Walgreens Exclusive)
 
Marvel Legends Series: She-Hulk by Hasbro
She-Hulk 

Marvel Legends Series: Silk by Hasbro
Silk and Doc Ock

Marvel Legends Series: Silver Surfer by Hasbro (2018)
Silver Surfer

Marvel Legends Series: Spider-Man by Hasbro
Hallow's Eve
King in Black: Knull and Venom

Marvel Legends Series: Strange Tales (2024)

Marvel Legends Series: Super Villains by Hasbro (2021)
Xemnu

Marvel Legends Series: Thor by Hasbro
Gorr
Ragnarok

Marvel Legends Series: Thor: Love and Thunder by Hasbro (2022)
Mighty Thor

Marvel Legends Series: Typhoid Mary by Hasbro (2018)
Typhoid Mary

Marvel Legends Series: The Unbelievable Gwenpool by Hasbro (2018)
Gwenpool

Marvel Legends Series: Venom by Hasbro (2018)
Carnage  
 
Marvel Legends Series: WandaVision by Hasbro (2021)
 
Marvel Legends Series: What If? by Hasbro (2021)

Marvel Legends Series: Wolverine by Hasbro
Wolverine & Lilandra Neramani
Wolverine & Psylocke

Marvel Legends Series: X-Men by Hasbro (2016)
Angel

Posted by at

1 comment:

  1. CarniviusApril 27, 2025 at 5:49 PM

    I had a fondness for Marrow back in the 90s. I dunno why. Something just clicked for me. I was never a fan of Marvel vs Capcom 2 though but she was well done in it.

    ReplyDelete

What'chu talkin' 'bout?

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)