Welcome back to Dan's ToyBox. I'm really excited to talk about the new Hasbro Marvel Legends Pulse Exclusive X-Men '90's Animated VHS Cyclops action figure. I've long been a fan of the character and though I haven't purchased any of the other VHS figures, this was one I was not going to pass up. As excited as I was to land this figure, I'll admit that there are some disappointing features to it, but is it, overall, one of the better Cyclops figures out there? Let's find out.
Scott Summers, aka, Cyclops is the field leader for the X-Men. Orphaned as a child when Scott and his brother Alex jumped from the doomed plane that took their parents lives, Summers was eventually taken in by Charles Xavier at his School for Gifted Youngsters. It was here that Xavier fashioned the ruby quartz visor that helps Scott control his destructive mutant powers. Xavier theorized that the Scott must have been injured in the fall, resulting in his inability to control the optic blasts. The visor allows Cyclops to unleash his power at will, while allowing him to see everything going on around him. Cyclops is immune to his own power, which allows him to contain the blasts by closing his eyes. Even so, he must take extreme precautions, even wearing ruby quartz goggles to bed at night, in case he awakens suddenly. Cyclops quick mind and grasp of tactics and strategy made him a natural field leader for the X-Men and he quickly took his place, first leading the original team comprised of himself, Jean Grey, Iceman, Beast, and Angel, then leading the all-new, all-different X-Men team of Storm, Nightcrawler, Colossus, and Wolverine. Cyclops would lead different iterations of X-Men teams throughout the years, even forming X-Factor with the original X-team. His prowess in strategy is matched by the incredible power of his concussive optic blasts. During the Civil War storyline, Iron Man measured Cyclops power output to be an astonishing 2 Gigawatts per second, which is equal to a fully operational nuclear power station. Cyclops has, quite literally, leveled a mountain with nothing more than a look! In later years, it is revealed that Cyclops powers originate in another dimension and are channeled through his eyes. Whatever you may think of him, Cyclops is one of the most powerful beings in the Marvel Universe and if he had the ability to control them properly, would be even more dangerous. Cyclops/Scott Summers first appeared in "The X-Men" issue #1, September 1963 and was created by Stan "the Man" Lee and "The King" Jack Kirby.
As I mentioned, I've been a fan of Cyclops for a long time and I'm really looking forward to diving into this review. As usual, we will discuss Accessories, Appearance, Articulation, and Affordability and then give the figure an overall grade of zero to ten toyboxes. So, without making you wait any further... let's get after it!
ACCESSORIES
Cyclops comes with multiple hands: one pair of fists, one open/grasping right hand, one open/relaxed left hand, and one visor activation left hand and nothing else. I'll admit to being disappointed as I'd hoped we would get an alternate head sculpt with the screaming Cyclops face. I haven't yet, but I may see how the heads from the X-Men Love Triangle Cyclops look on this body. There may be some good, creative display options coming up. When I do, I'll post pictures. Overall, though, the hands are just your "run of the mill" nothing special poses we've seen before and it's a bit disappointing. I'm only giving 4 out of 10 for Accessories. I honestly can't think of any reason why an alternate head sculpt wasn't added.
Images © Dan's ToyBox 2022
APPEARANCE
The '90's Animated VHS X-Men wave is based on the animated series designs for the characters and comes cel shaded to help enhance the look. I'm really not sure where I stand on the cel shading, to be honest, but at least on Cyclops, though it's not terrible, it could be a bit better in spots. That aside for the moment... this is the Cyclops, I think, we've all been waiting for. My biggest gripe though is the visor sculpt. On every other Cyclops, the visor has had a clean sculpt, with a proper opening for the optic blasts. This visor has an odd shape to the slot that makes it almost look like a mouth. Even looking at the figure picture on the box, the visor has a nice, narrow, oval shape. I'm not too happy with the way this looks as it's a departure from how the visors have looked in the past. Other than that, though, the new Vulcan body mold is perfect for Cyclops as this looks like the definitive Jim Lee version of the character. Of special note is the fact that his harness is sculpted on the body and thus doesn't offer any hindrance when posing the torso!!! The hair sculpt is right out of the cartoon and on point and, best of all, the straps on his wrists and legs are sculpted and fixed in place, so no more worries about them sliding down around his ankles any longer! The paint applications on the figure are super clean, which is nice, and the "X" logos are very well done. I am very happy with the brilliant blues and yellows and even his mouth has a hint of paint as well, to set it apart from the flesh tones. Now... the cel shading... as I look at this, in my mind, I'm trying to match it up to how light sources would cast the darker shadows and I'm driving myself nuts as there really isn't much rhyme or reason as to how the little bit that was added, was laid out. To be honest, I do like the "highlights" on the yellow parts, but to me, whatever they added to the blue almost seems to give the shadows a greenish tint. Thankfully, it's relatively subtle enough that when looking at the figure, my eyes aren't immediately drawn to the shading, but rather take in the figure as a whole, with the shading providing a bit of illusory depth. Even with the oddities discussed, this is a nice-looking figure and has quickly become my favorite Cyclops... he gets a solid 8 out of 10 for appearance.
Images © Dan's ToyBox 2022
ARTICULATION
We've seen this new body mold a number of times now and though it's an improvement, there are still some issues, so keep that in mind as we go through articulation. Starting at the head, Cyclops will turn side to side easily and has great up and down looking range. There is almost no head tilt on my figure though. The shoulders are on butterflies, but as is common with this new mold, the longer peg restricts range of forward/backward movement, which is disappointing. The arms will raise out to a very nice T pose and the shoulders can rotate a full 360. The bicep swivel works just fine and the pinless, double-jointed elbows bend in fully, allowing Cyclops to touch his visor. All hands hinge and swivel at the wrist easily enough. The upper diaphragm joint allows for great forward and backward crunch, which isn't restricted thanks to the new sculpted design of his harness. The waist swivel works easily enough and isn't hindered by his belt at all. The legs will do fairly decent splits, can kick forward very well, but not backward much. The double-jointed knees bend in deep and allow for heel to back contact. The thigh and boot cuts work well, with both being hidden by the straps. Lastly, he has great ankle rocker and hinge motion. There's nothing really special about the articulation, but the butterflies need to be improved for this to go beyond a 7 out of 10.
Images © Dan's ToyBox 2022
AFFORDABILITY
This figure was offered on Hasbro Pulse for $27.99. As an exclusive, I figured it might run a bit higher than in regular retail and wasn't wrong. I do think, for the extra few bucks though, adding either an alternate head sculpt or an optic blast effect would have been an option. I'm also disappointed that we can get larger figures (McFarlane) for less money and yet Hasbro doesn't seem to comprehend this as a possibility. If you really want this figure though, the price isn't out of this world, but still only deserving of a 6 out of 10.
Overall, complaints and gripes aside, I really do like this figure. He looks great on my X-Men shelf and, as mentioned, once I get some shots with some different headsculpts, I'll be posting those. If you are a fan of Cyclops or of the 90's animated series, this is certainly a good figure for your collection and I'm happy to give him an overall grade of
8 out of 10 ToyBoxes!!!
Thank you for stopping by Dan's ToyBox. I hope you enjoyed this review and I'm looking forward to bringing you a bunch more after the holidays! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all, and as always, until next time... GEEK OUT!!!