You don’t need me to tell you that supply chains have been wacky. As such, not everyone is getting their figures at the same time, whether by in-store or pre-order. Sometimes, they come like a chain of fireworks. That’s been happening to me, as I had a number of figures from the Marvel Legends Infinity Saga arrive one right after the other. To that end, today I’ll be cover the following figures from that expression: Happy Hogan/Iron Man XXI, “Endgame” Thor, Odin, Quicksilver, and the Captain Marvel/Rescue two-pack. I’ll also throw in the Diamond Select/Marvel Select Titanium Man, which arrived in August but took a little more time to get to me. Let’s dive in.
The Infinity Saga Overview
The Marvel Legend Infinity Saga subset is an expression consisting entirely of MCU figures. It contains a few characters that have never been done before (Quicksilver, Odin, Surtur, Obidiah Stane, Happy Hogan), different undone versions of familiar characters (Endgame versions of Thor and Captain Marvel), and some that are more seen as updates (Rescue). On a personal level, I decided to give a few a miss (the individual Iron Man, the redo of Infinity War Cap, the Obidiah/Iron Monger two-pack). I remain curious about some characters that weren’t put into the Infinity Saga subline (notably Wong and Kraglin), but I suppose they could be tucked into a regular assortment down the road. As an overall concept, it’s a good idea for people that try to make as complete an MCU as possible, and I feel like quite a bit of work went into a few figures in particular.
Happy Hogan & Iron Man XXI: Let’s face it. I straight up ordered this for Happy. Jonny Favs is the man behind the scenes; after all, he made Iron Man work and he co-brought us The Mandalorian (and Swingers!). And I’ve particularly enjoyed the dynamic between Happy and Spider-Man in the movies. The design team absolutely nailed Favreau’s face here. That, coupled with Happy’s ever-present phone, makes for a great figure that can lend itself to some comedic posing. Parts of the body build have been used before, but there’s nothing wrong with repurposing suit elements.
Speaking of suit elements, I thought the XXI was a little meh until I looked at it in person. The thing that I like the most is use of gray in the joints. It adds a touch of color that a) you don’t see in most pictures and b) breaks up the monochrome. I know that some people tire of Iron Man versions, but I’m never down on another suit, given their ubiquity in both the comics and Iron Man 3 in particular. Would I like to see Igor someday? Of course, but this one is pretty cool if you get a close look, and fairly poseable.
Endgame Thor: Here’s a figure people have been asking for pretty much since Endgame premiered. Call him Final Battle Thor if you want, but it’s the version of the Odinson that we get near the film’s end. Having been on his traumatic journey and attempting to emerge on the other side, Thor summons both Mjolnir and Stormbreaker, adoring himself in armor once again and throwing in a great Vikings-inspired beard to boot. This is a tremendous figure. This wasn’t just slapping a belly on Thor and calling it a day. There is considerable new work in the heavier torso, the arms, the legs, and the intricacy of the armor design. We see quite a bit of detail in the face, beard, and hair. The powered-up blue eyes were a good choice as they sort of reflect the exact moment that Thor becomes this version of himself. Obviously the figure comes with the two weapons, as well as attachable lightning effects and an extra pair of hands. Putting this figure on the shelf really felt like I was adding a missing piece. It’s great.
Odin: It’s been 10 years since Odin appeared in the MCU for the first time, so . . . better late than never? Odin comes with two heads (one helmeted, one not and with his hair down) and his spear, Gungnir. I chose to go with the helmeted look. The figure looks nice; it’s certainly a good sculpt. And I’m glad there’s pop of red from the cape, because the brown, while fairly accurate to some of Odin’s onscreen scenes, is fairly drab here. I like the figure well enough, and I’m glad that it exists, but it’s not the most exciting of the batch.
Quicksilver: Turning back to missing pieces . . . Quicksilver made his MCU debut in the post-credits scene of Captain America: The Winter Soldier in 2014 and finally makes it into the Legends line here. Don’t let anyone dissuade you: this is a GREAT figure. While it certainly looks good (and the multi-toned hair is well-done), the major reason for its success is poseability. It rivals the recent MCU Shang-Chi on that level. You can do a number of running and fighting poses (the two sets of hands also lend themselves to sprinting and action). This guy just looks REALLY good. It struck me that there’s actually no Marvel Legends AoU Wanda counterpart for Quicksilver; Wanda’s film figures prior to WandaVision come from the very end of AoU or Civil War. Regardless, this Quicksilver is, again, GREAT. Well done, team.
Captain Marvel/Rescue: I sort of ordered this for completeness/accuracies sake in terms of my Endgame shelf, but I’m ultimately really glad I did. I like this set a lot. Captain Marvel accurately reflects the color-flip that the character’s costume got in Endgame, and the headsculpt over course recognizes that hairstyle that she sports after the five year jump. Like Quicksilver, the figure is very poseable, and the loose sash hangs well. The best accessory is the Stark Gauntlet, which can be tucked under Carol’s arm just like in the film. I like that they made this take on Carol; you really do need her for your Endgame set-up.
As for Rescue, this is basically a re-do. The body is similar to the original movie-time release, but the helmet sculpt has been improved and the pack includes two additional heads. One is a helmetless pony-tailed Pepper (essentially the look when she joins Captain Marvel in the “She’s got help” scene) and the other is the flipped-up faceplate look from when she enters the Assemble scene and lands by Tony. The biggest addition is that expanding set of weapon attachments that connect to the backpack. Special note here: there are two backpacks. You have to use the one with highlighted silver panels, and those panels have to come off in order in attach the expanded weapon array. With all that on, it’s a fairly impressive figure; for display purposes, I used the pony-tail head because that was the look my wife preferred.
And here’s another thing . . .
Diamond Select/Marvel Select Titanium Man: I don’t normally pick up Marvel Select figures, but I saw a couple of people online displaying this late-August arrival with their Winter Guard and I had to pick it up. This figure is monstrous. I mean it’s HUGE. In package, it was bigger than the steering wheel on my Hyundai. I took a picture of the package next to the Expanded Version of The Stand because it’s almost comically big. But wow, does it look great. There’s a ton of detail here. The Boris head is suitably angry, and the “helmet head” captures the original feel of the character. Lots of care was taken with the sculpt, from the bumps on the armor to the treads on the boots. It’s also surprisingly poseable for such a big figure. It might not be to everyone’s tastes and purists may want a Legends-only display, but I think he looks great with my own Winter Guard and adds a dimension and density to it that I otherwise would not have had.
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Source: Graphic Policy
