



Movie based waves of Legends usually have a fairly even mix of comic and movie figures, if not a majority of movie based, but the recent Hulk wave is an exception. Not counting the enormous green rage monster BAF, only three figures in the assortment are movie based. The rest are comic themed, including the two we'll look at today: Loki, the God of Mischief, and Beta Ray Bill, the Space Horse Who Dresses Like Thor.





Packaging:





The packaging is excellent, as expected. It's branded with the wave the figures belong to, have art and bios, and give a great view of the included figure and accessories.





Sculpting:





Loki is somebody I, like a lot of other collectors, have been wanting a definitive classic version of for quite a while. The Toybiz one is a great sculpt, but he's based on specific art and looks like an old man. The movie ones are, well, movie ones. The Walmart one based on modern Loki was ok, but good luck finding him now.

This new one is pretty excellent! I expected he'd be a smaller figure, on the Bucky Cap mold, but he's actually on the Grim Reaper body, most recently used for Captain America.









This means he's as tall and bulky as Loki's supposed to be, and isn't sized like a teenager next to other figures. Finally! I can't wait to pose him alongside the 80'th anniversary Thor when he comes out.

I'm especially fond of his head sculpt. The horns are great, and his mischievous smile is excellent, looking straight like it's been translated from a comic panel. His ponytail is a bit disappointing, since it's not articulated, it's stuck in that one position, which may interfere with some poses. The collar and belt are separate pieces, so you can alter them a bit to aid in posing.









Beta Ray Bill is someone I'm only passingly familiar with, but based on this figure, he's a bipedal horse man, who dresses like he robbed Thor's closet, and carries a huge war hammer called "Stormbreaker" and that sentence is amazing.

He's got the legs and arms from the Hyperion body, recently used by Venom, for instance, and it gives him an impressive heft and weight.









The cape is pretty good, it stays on well and can help with certain deep poses, without getting in the way. His helmet is great, resembling Thor's while also being unique, and I really got to hand it to Hasbro for the detail on his teeth, each one is sculpted and detailed well.





Articulation:





Since Loki is built on Cap's body, he shares much of the same articulation scheme, including : Ball jointed head, ball shoulders, bicep swivel, ab crunch, double pin elbows, waist swivel, pin/swivel wrists, ball hips, thigh swivel, double pin knees, boot cut, and rocker ankles. The joints are all tight and secured, and I had no issues posing him. One minor nit is that, like Cap, the shoulders and hips don't have as much range of motion as I'd like. He's by no means terrible, or even bad, but those four joints are a bit stiff.









Bill is a big, imposing pony, but that doesn't mean he's not articulated. Far from it, as he has: A ball jointed head, a hinged jaw (!), ball joint shoulders, bicep cuts, upper body swivel, double pin elbows, hinge/swivel wrists, cut waist, ball hips, thigh cut, double knees, and rocker ankles.

All of his points are firm, and he can take some surprisingly deep stances. I'm really impressed with the jaw especially, he's probably the first Legend since Ghost Rider to have that.





Accessories:





Loki comes with one of Hulk's big meaty thighs, and one personal inclusion: a sword. I'm pretty sure it's reused from Angela, but it's been given a new paint job, with a green gem to match Loki's color scheme. Also, it makes sense for Loki to have one, so no complaint there. It would be nice if he came with something else, fortunately though, he does look pretty good if you put some spare magic effects on him.













Beta Ray Bill comes with two of Hulk's heads, and technically two personal accessories. The first, obviously, is Stormbreaker. This is an awesome weapon, sculpted beautifully. Its cast is solid plastic, so it feels weighty and powerful. The strap is also sturdy enough that with some careful posing, you could easily display him spinning the hammer by the strap.





The handle is also long enough that you can easily put Bill in some two handed stances, if so inclined.





The second inclusion is his cape, which is removeable. It attaches with a peg in his back, and with two clasps in the front, which snap onto the bolts on his shoulder pads. The interior has a nifty cloth pattern sculpted on, which is a very nice detail that adds to the realism factor.





Paint:









Loki's paint job does a great job of depicting a classic, almost retro version of the character. He's mainly painted a dark green, with a metallic yellow, almost gold, on the helmet, gloves, boots, and torso. My favorite detail is the scale effect on his torso, a very nice touch.

His face is the stand out, with the eyebrows, eyes, and especially the mouth and teeth being painted excellently.









Bill has a mostly exemplary paint job, with many different applications on his costume. The suit is mostly black, with silver on his breast plate, and golden shoulder pads. His skin is a dull orange, with some good texturing. Most all the paint has been applied evenly and neatly, with one exception: His teeth, as nice as the sculpt is, have large sections unpainted. Making it seems worse is that it's mostly the teeth in front that were effected, which makes it more noticeable.





Overall:

These figures, despite some drawbacks, are pretty dang good all things considered. We've gotten a pretty good classic Loki, and a more modern update to a cool lesser known character. The sculpting, accessories, and articulation are all excellent, and though some paint issues made it through, I suggest you pick these guys up if you like the characters. I have no issue recommending them.





Gallery:



































