



The Marvel gravy train chugs on, with the next two figures from the brand spanking new Demogoblin wave. Shang Chi, Master of Kung-Fu, who predates Iron Fist as Marvel's first martial arts hero (and who's getting a movie soon, funny coincidence) and Superior Octopus, who I think is Doc Ock in an updated costume from a period in the comics that saw him possess Peter's body (I think so anyway, I really didn't follow that arc, like, at all.) Let's see if they make a good first impression in for their Legends debut.





Sculpting:

Shang Chi is a character I'm not very familiar with, but his upcoming film in phase 4 has piqued my interest. Good thing too, since his figure really knocks it out of the park. I believe he's on a tweaked Pizza Spidey, since he's leaner than people like Namor and Hercules.

That said, he's packed with new little details, most notably the face, and his funky kung fu bell bottoms.





His Ryu-esque head band is fantastic, sculpted in a soft, pliable plastic, and completes his look excellently.









Ock is built on an updated version of the PS4 Spidey mold, and it works great, giving him a more muscled appearance befitting the adult Peter of this arc. The only new piece here is the head, but fortunately, it's very cool. The green lens eyes add a sinister sci fi, almost alien effect, which helps this look stand out from the sea of other Spider-Man variants, as do his accessories, but that's for later.





Articulation:





Shang Chi is the Master of Kung Fu. Not a runner up, not like the second best, no. He's the MASTER of it. As such, he needs to be able to pull off all sorts of sick martial arts poses. Thankfully, he can. He has: a ball jointed head, ball/butterfly shoulders, bicep cuts, double pin elbows, pin wrists, an ab crunch, cut waist, ball hips, thigh cuts, double pin knees, ankle cuts, and rocker ankles. I would like more movement from the hips, but he's pretty much flawless otherwise. He's ready and able to strike nearly any Mortal Kombat attacks you can think of. Just aces.









Superior Ock is still Spider-Man, deep down, and as such he can do whatever a spider can. He has: ball jointed head, ball/butterfly shoulders, bicep cuts, double pin elbows, pin wrists, a ball jointed mid section, cut waist, ball hips, thigh cuts, double pin knees, boot cuts, and rocker ankles.

The mid ball is a really great addition, and I'd really like to see more Spideys use this going forward.

Everything on his sculpt is secure and holds poses great. no complaints here.





Accessories:

Shang Chi comes with Demogoblin's demonic torso, and an astounding 10 accessories!





The first is a set of fists.





A set of chopping hands.





Tiger claw hands.





Gripping hands.





And finally, two "kung fu grip" hands to hold his other accessories. These hands are all reused from the All Father wave Iron Fist, but they make perfect sense included here, and improve Shang's pose options Immensely.





He also comes with two sets of nunchucks. The first is a standard set, in a neutral straight position. They look great, especially the golden dragon heads on the grips.









The second set are posed at a right angle, either to imply action or to pose at Shang's side like Bruce Lee. Very cool stuff.









Ock comes with Demogoblin's sinister arms, and technically five accessories. The first it the tentacle box that plugs into his back. It has some nice detail, including vents and rivets.





The other four inclusions are, naturally, his four tentacles. They're brand new, thinner than the arms that came with SP/DR Doc Ock, and sadly just as static. No bending here, but they can move a tad where the tentacle attaches to the box. Aside from that, they do look amazing, with great segments and claw details, and when they're all in place the figure looks super cool.





There is a minor issue, in that the tentacles can come loose and fall out while posing him. It may just be a defect with mine, but keep that in mind if you decide to pick him up.





Paint:





Shang isn't wearing much of a costume, but his paint work is still excellent. The face somewhat resembles the legendary Bruce Lee, a nice touch. The design on his kung fu pants is clean, with no slop. He's also the first Legend I know of that actually has nipples! Even the aforementioned Hercules and Namor, famous for being allergic to shirts didn't have that. Nice bit of realism.









The coolest aspect of Superior Ock, at least to me, is his sleek new suit. It's largely black, with silver and green highlights. The octopus symbol came out fantastic, each leg is cleanly applied with no errors. The silver piping also looks amazing, and even for a figure I wasn't thrilled about, there's no complaints about how he came out.





Overall:

Like most Marvel Legends, these are terrific figures. Shang Chi is a very cool figure, even if you just use him as a generic martial arts guy, and who should be pretty popular once his movie comes out. Superior Ock is someone I know next to nothing about, but even without context he makes for a very cool alternate costume, or maybe a copycat villain. I have no problem recommending these guys, go and get them!





Gallery:











































