Typically, most reviewers would finish the rest of the figures in a wave before reviewing the Build A Figure. I'm not most reviewers, so today, we're going to look at the Infinity Ultron BAF. The Disney+ What If...? series was an animated treasure, and this figure is based on the 8th episode of season one, titled "What If... Ultron Won?"
In the What If...? series fans are treated to alternate views of the Marvel universe. Alternate realities based on a singular different event, creating an entirely new story, asking us the question... What if? In this variation, Ultron succeeds in uploading his consciousness into the vibranium body that would have been The Vision in our universe. Using the power of the Mind Stone, Ultron manages to kill Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Bruce Banner, and Thor. He then annihilates earth using the planet's nuclear arsenal. Soon after, Thanos arrives with the remaining Infinity Stones, and is almost as quickly destroyed by Ultron. Taking the other stones for himself, Ultron revels in his newfound omnipotence and begins his plan to bring his version of "peace" to the newly revealed multiverse. This episode aired on September 29, 2021, as the penultimate episode of the first season. I, personally, enjoyed the What If...? series and am eagerly awaiting season 2, which is scheduled to launch sometime this year.
Build A Figures tend to be light on parts/accessories, as each individual piece comes packed with a specific figure in the wave. So, the Accessory portion of today's review will brief. We will still talk appearance, articulation, and affordability though, concluding with an overall grade of Zero to Ten ToyBoxes.
ACCESSORIES
Ultron comes with his staff/spear combo weapon. Sadly, in spite of repeated heating attempts. I have been unable to straighten both ends, which is frustrating. The design of the staff is really nice though and there is a lot of detail to it, including some cleanly applied gold paint. I would have loved to see an "unmasked" version with Vision's face from the series, so that we could also see the Mind Stone. It wouldn't surprise me to see a "Deluxe" version of this figure hit stores at some point, with alternate head sculpts and perhaps extra hands. For now, though, we are getting exactly what we saw in the show. Unfortunately, the bent ends detract from the score, so Ultron's staff/spear accessory gets a meager 5 out of 10.
APPEARANCE
As with the other figures from this wave, Hasbro absolutely crushed it with Ultron. The gunmetal silver looks of his armor and sculpted design really match up well with the television counterpart. It's easy to tell the amount of attention that went into the detail on this figure. As with many armored figures, there is a distinct marble look, which is supposed to give the metallic look. On this, the marbling actually gives the look of burnished metal which adds to the illusion. The gold paint details spread across the figure really enhance the look as well. It's hard to notice at first, but there are gold lines connecting each of the Infinity Stones on the chestplate of his armor and they are very fine and intricately applied. This, coupled with the gold highlights on his arms, legs, and torso help to break up the gunmetal silver and draws the eye closer for a better look. The red paint apps on his face are also applied cleanly, but what really is neat, is that you can see his mouth sculpted if you look closely and you can see the green paint apps on the side of what would have been Vision's face. The five visible Infinity Stones are also painted cleanly and stand out really well on his chest. As I mentioned before, an unmasked head sculpt would be nice, in order to see the Mind Stone set in his forehead. The vibrant red of his cape, along with the gold trim painted on it stands out in stark contrast to the cold, metallic look of the figure. I think that the red gives the figure a really malevolent air, especially coupled with the face of a beloved character (the Vision) below that terrifying Ultron helmet. All in all, the detailing and paint apps on this figure definitely do justice to the cartoon inspiration. It was kind of a surprise that this BAF was included in this particular wave, as the rest of the figures were based on live action shows. Conversely, the second "What If...?" wave of figures carries the BAF pieces for Khonshu from the live action Moon Knight series. (Sneaky Hasbro... very sneaky). Sorry for the digression, back to the figure. This is a really good-looking figure for being based on an animated design and as such, I'll give him a 9 out of 10.
ARTICULATION
There are a lot of problems with the articulation on this figure. I want to get that out of the way, right up front. The first major issue I encountered was actually plugging the arms into the shoulder sockets. His HUGE shoulder pieces made it difficult to angle the plug properly. It took me a bit longer than I expected to get the arms secured. The shoulder pieces limit the arms ability to raise out to the sides and prevent the full 360-degree rotation. They also manage to interfere with the bicep rotation. Yes, they look good, but the upper arm movement suffers horribly due to the design. Not really sure why they weren't attached to the arms, instead. His head will look up and down very far and can turn side to side nicely, which is good. The elbows are pinless and bend in surprisingly well, given the design. Both wrists hinge and pivot easily, though honestly, the right hand on my figure feels very loose. The only torso joint is at the upper part of the diaphragm and though it does turn side to side and has some tilt, forward crunch is limited to about one click, as is the back bend. Really, the torso turn is about all the joint is good for. There is no waist pivot either. Remarkably, Ultron is capable of doing some really good splits and can kick forward very well. The upper thigh cut is, obviously, where the legs port together and it works fine. The double-jointed knees also work very nicely, though there is a bit of limit to how far they'll bend, due to the sculpted design of what would be the calves. Both ankles hinge very nicely and have great ankle pivot as well. I do understand that the design of a character will, at times, hinder the engineering for articulation. In this case, Ultron's lack of good movement is testament to his design. Thanks to the great look of the figure, we are stuck with limited articulation. He'll look good on the shelf in a menacing stance, but I don't imagine there will be many great "action shots" available. Sorry to say, Ultron gets a 5 out of 10 for articulation.
AFFORDABILITY
In order to fully assemble this figure, you'll have to purchase at least six of the seven figures in this wave. Mr. Knight has the right arm, Hawkeye the left, Ms. Marvel the torso, She Hulk the right leg, Kate Bishop the left, and Sharon Carter has his weapon and head. Each of these figures retails at about $25, which means you'll be spending $150 (at full retail) to complete the figure. Of course, if you get the rest, you'll also want Moon Knight himself, so tack another $25 on to that total. Is $175 reasonable for 8 figures? It actually reduces the overall average price to $21.88 per figure, which isn't bad. I do know that there are collectors finding these figures on clearance for lower prices as well. I'm quite ok with paying an average of $21.88 each for 8 figures, given Hasbro's predilection for skewed pricing. So, with that in mind, I'll give this an affordability rating of 8 out of 10.
Overall, while this is a great-looking figure and goes very well with the rest of my MCU collection, the issues I have with the staff and the articulation really bog the figure down for me. With that in mind the Marvel Legends Disney+ Wave Infinity Ultron BAF earns a just above average rating of:
6.75 ToyBoxes out of 10
Thank you for stopping by the ToyBox today. I hope you found this review helpful, and I invite you to come back again next week as we discuss the last two figures in this wave, and we bring another Retro Review. Until next time... GEEK OUT!