Thor; Love and Thunder storms into movie theaters this week and the Hasbro Marvel Legends: Thor; Love and Thunder: Ravager Thor Action Figure storms into Dan's ToyBox for our next review! Let the lightning flash and the thunder roll as we dive into our latest review.
Thor, the God of Thunder has played a pivotal role in the MCU since his introduction onscreen back in 2011. Joining the ranks of the Avengers, he battled alongside Earth's Mightiest Heroes to combat the Chitauri invasion, Ultron's plans for global domination and the hideous machinations of the Mad Titan, Thanos as he sought to wipe out half of all life in the universe and, for a brief time, succeeded. As the Avengers once again overcame the odds and Thor helped restore the universe, he chose to leave New Asgard under the reign of Valkyrie and strike out into the cosmos with Star Lord and the rest of The Guardians of the Galaxy. Thor: Love and Thunder continues the story as Thor seeks to find inner peace amidst all of the turmoil he's endured.
If you are a returning reader, thanks for stopping back, and if you are a new visitor, welcome to Dan's ToyBox. We use a simple grading system based on a figure's: Accessories, Appearance, Articulation, and Affordability. Once discussed, these four categories help determine our overall rating of zero to five Toyboxes, with five being a "must add" to your collection and, of course, zero being a "must avoid" collectible. So, without any further ado, let's take a good look at the Ravager Thor from Marvel Legends.
Ravager Thor comes with: Stormbreaker and the left arm for the Korg Build a Figure. Hasbro really has a lot of nerve to increase the prices on these figures (and yes, I understand that there are external reasons for doing so) while reducing the number of accessories packed within. One weapon, not even counting the BAF piece. No alternate hands? Granted, I've not yet seen the movie (going this weekend) so I'm not certain what else this version of Thor COULD have, but c'mon, Hasbro you could have added at least one set of different hands. Admittedly, the vest is removable, but really? That hardly counts as an accessory. This is exceptionally disappointing and NOT deserving of the accessory rating. Sorry Thor, ain't no love for your lack of gear.
As with the other figures in this wave, Hasbro may have dropped the ball with accessories, but more than makes up for it with the appearance. From the trailers I've seen, this figure is about as screen accurate as it can be. From the design on his tank top to the details on his vest. The back of the vest has clearly been "bedazzled" and looks really good. The paint apps and sculpted detail are really outstanding as well. Starting at the top, once again Hasbro nails the photo realistic look of Chris Hemsworth's facial features. The flesh tones are done very well and both of Thor's eyes are painted very nicely and centered properly! The hair has a nice wash to it, giving it a dirty blonde look that we're so familiar with. What really impressed me was the faint scar above his right eye, from his battle with Hela back in Thor: Ragnarok. The black highlights on the vest are painted very well, though not all of the silver highlights for buckles and buttons is applied as consistently as they should be. This could be a flaw on my figure, so hopefully there are more out there with the proper amount of silver detailing. The tank top design looks to be screen accurate as well, with a light touch of blue around the bottom of the design. I'm also really blown away by the sculpting that adds texture to the shirt. That was a stunner to find! I'm looking forward to watching the film to see just how close they got it. The belt is a nice brown, with a brass-colored buckle and the belt loops are all painted accurately. I looked to see if there was any paint slop but couldn't find any on mine. The paints are molded blue, but have nice sculpting added for detail. What I really like most on the figure though is that, unlike our last review of the Ragnarok figure, this figure has painted black boots and beige wraps around them. Hasbro actually took the time to accurately detail the boots and wrappings. Now, why couldn't they have done that on other figures? Stormbreaker is also done nicely, though the handle is simply molded in brown plastic. The axe/hammer head is a very nice gunmetal silver and upon closer inspection, you can see the silver detail where the handle wrapped around the weapon head. There are silver painted details, giving us the impression of small gaps in the wood as it wrapped and formed the handle. This is nice attention to detail and what really pushes Hasbro into the realm of being solid competition with their foreign manufacturers. Suffice it to say, I do like the look of this figure a lot and thereby, give it an A+ for Appearance.
Is Ravager Thor plagued with some of the articulation issues that previous releases from this wave suffer? Let's find out. Thor's hair is soft, and somewhat pliable, allowing for easy side to side motion. However, he won't look up and can only look down a limited bit. The head on mine can actually tilt quite a bit to the left, but not as much to the right, due mostly to the hair sculpt. His shoulders raise the arms out very high, beyond a T pose and can easily rotate a full 360 degrees. The bicep swivels work fine, and the pinless double-jointed elbows bend in very deeply. The wrists hinge and pivot easy enough. Thor has the upper diaphragm hinge which allows for a nice crunch forward, but is limited backward, due to the vest. If you remove the vest, he will crunch back nicely. The waist swivel works well enough and, thankfully, doesn't have that awkward flat break we see so often. The sculpt of the figure hides the cut nicely. Thor's legs will split amazingly well, more than enough to make a certain arachnid-based character jealous of the flexibility. The upper thigh cuts are good and the pinless double-jointed knees bend in very deeply. There is no boot cut, but the ankles hinge beautifully and have excellent pivot motion. Next to the Jane Foster Mighty Thor, this might be the best articulated figure in the wave (that I have so far.) I'll give him an easy A for Articulation.
What's it worth to ya? Well, the Marvel Legends: Thor; Love and Thunder Ravager Thor Action Figure retails at $24.99, base price for the figures in this wave. To be honest, I'm actually very disappointed in the pricing for this wave. So far, of the figures I've purchased, only The Mighty Thor figure has come with a decent number of accessories, partially justifying the increased price. This one does not. I like this figure, but man, I didn't like paying almost $25 for it. I kind of feel like Hasbro really has no clue about their pricing structure. I've discussed the pricing differential in their deluxe packaged figures in previous reviews and to see the inconsistency in the "base" level figures is just frustrating. Hasbro is charging too much and not giving me enough in return. I know, as a collector, I'm partly to blame because I keep buying but it is still a frustration. Sorry, Thor... you aren't really affordable for what you have to offer. No grade for you.
Well folks, in the grand scheme of things, this is a decent figure that is just good enough to be added to your collection, especially if you are an MCU completist and with that being said, I'll give the Marvel Legends Thor, Thor Love and Thunder Ravager Thor Action Figure a solid:
THREE TOYBOXES OUT OF FIVE
It's not a terrible figure, by any means, but it certainly could use a bit more to boost the rating. Thank you, as always, for stopping by for our latest review and until next time... GEEK OUT!!!