Marvel Legends What If ...? Wave (Watcher BAF)

Though unfamiliar with the Disney+ show, Marvel What If...?, I knew I'd be getting this Marvel Legends wave upon first solicitation. I've since enjoyed the first season, but my initial enthusiasm for these unfamiliar Marvel character mash-ups was based solely on their fantastic designs. Check out the video:

Aside from some small nitpicks, I was not disappointed with any of these figures. Zombie Captain America may be the standout, but Captain Carter seems to also be a fan favorite among the action figure community. And Doctor Strange Supreme just makes a fine stand-in for Doctor Strange, in spite of the character's alternate reality in the What If ...? animated series. The same goes for Zombie Hunter Spider-Man- without the cloak, he's just a good, albeit grungy, Spider-Man. Below, some of the other Marvel Legends that make an appearance in the video: Far From Home Spider-Man, Guardians of the Galaxy 2 Star-Lord, Doctor Strange, Infinity Gauntlet Thanos, and Ragnarok Thor...

Pictured below, The Watcher BAF with my Marvel Legends Fantastic Four, Obsidian Surfer, and my old ToyBiz Cosmic Power Galactus. You won't get a great deal of extreme poses with this BAF, but that's not typical of the character anyway. I didn't buy the recent HasLab oversized Sentinel or Galactus due to their prohibitive cost, and wish they would just release some simpler, large figures for a lower price to complement the Marvel Legends line.

This was truly a great Marvel Legends wave, largely full of characters I didn't know I wanted a figure of. I did enjoy What if ...?, Loki, and WandaVision recently on Disney+, however, but it helped that I'd watched most of the MCU films off the last ten years. And while this isn't a "classic" Watcher figure, the character has been rendered differently often enough in the comics that it works for me. There has been speculation the Hasbro will release a more vintage styled Watcher like Marvel Select has, but I like this modern update. Recommended! 

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Marvel Legends Dr. Strange

Marvel fans truly live in an Age of Wonder, enjoying a movie like Dr. Strange in these times- who could have imagined we would see something like that all these years later? It was certainly one of my favorite MCU productions, having gone back to explore some of the earlier Steve Ditko material, and later Defenders just a few years ago. I had admired the spectacular detail on this figure upon his release, but had not yet hopped back on the Marvel Legends train in 2016. He had gained some worth in the time since, so I was glad to snag him recently for his original retail price on eBay, shipped free.

The sculpted fabric of Dr. Strange's cloak and clothes are superb, and the portrait of actor Benedict Cumberbatch is reasonably close. Magic effect accessory and extra conjuring hands set are more than one could ask for with such a figure, but one or two more magic accessories could have been fun. He did include a leg for the Dormammu BAF, which may be fiscally irresponsible to pursue currently. Dr. Strange also includes the Eye of Agamatto necklace around his neck, which to my delight is removable. Paint is sparse on throughout, but is present where it counts, particularly effective in the small studs and hoop on Strange's belt. By the time this figure was produced, Hasbro was already taking it's Marvel Legends line to a new level, and this beautiful action figure is a prime example.

Dr. Strange with Marvel Legends Nico Minoru and Magik, the former also part of the 2016 Dr. Strange Wave. Though based on comic versions of these ladies, Strange make an appropriately mystic ally...

Below, Dr. Strange with Star-Lord, Iron Spider, Capt. Marvel, and Mark XLVII Iron Man Sentry. While I enjoyed the recent Captain Marvel movie, I'm really looking forward to Avengers: Endgame, and seeing our favorite Marvel heroes confront Thanos one and for all!

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BootLego Marvel Spider-Gwen, Flipside Spidey, Dr. Strange, Greenpool, & Capt. America

More Spider-Verse characters to add to my collection of minifigs! Spider-Gwen and Flipside Spidey are two more unique decos to complement the Spider-Man, Iron Spider, and Ultimate Spider-Man I posted on this past Christmas...

I loved the recent Dr. Strange film, the minifig pictured below styled after actor Benedict Cumberbatch's outfit. The clear spell orb accessories are a nice touch, detailed with hieroglyph...

There are so many variants of BootLego Deadpool out there, several of which are intricately detailed, like this green variant I refer to as Greenpool. He came packed with twin pistols and katanas, the swords sheathed on his backpack. I'm not sure what is supposed to go in the breifcase, but one of his pistols does fit inside, so he can carry everything!

Greenpool's deco is different from my conventional red BootLego Deadpool, perhaps a little more complex...

I loved this white variant Capt. America with the Mighty Micro Captain America, both from the same seller. Both are very different styles of Lego deco, one a more detailed, modern outfit, the other more classic and simple. Quite whimsical together!

The third Capt. America I picked up was in the Marvel All-New All-Different deco with the chevron shield, another variant of the character unusual enough to catch my interest...

Quite the patriotic trio ...!

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More From the Dollar Comics Bin...

While digging up the remainder of the X-Force/"X-Cutioner's Song" crossover event in the dollar comic bins at V-Stock this week, I found some real gems, including the Dr. Strange #32 pictured above! I mean, will you look at that cover? You know that'll be fun  :D

*Warlock Chronicles #1 & #2, 1993

Since reading Infinity Gauntlet this summer, my interest in Thanos, Adam Warlock, & Dr. Strange has piqued. They are all characters I knew little or nothing of just a couple years ago before I started this blog & started reading comics again, and though I always thought of myself as a meat-and-potatoes kinda superhero fan, these cosmic characters were an unexpectedly fun read. That #1 has a  foil/prizm background, and embossed Adam Warlock on the front- really great! This should be entertaining  :D

*The Silver Surfer/Warlock Resurrection #1  and What If... #49, 1993

Again, more Adam Warlock WITH Silver Surfer, AND Drax the Destroyer on the cover! Cannot wait to dig into that! I've never had A What If.. issue, and read this from front to back last night before bed. Wasn't head-over-heels about the art, but I was entertained by the story.

On an earlier trip I picked up some Infinity Gauntlet-related 1991 issues of  Dr. Strange and Silver Surfer, in which the good Doctor must take on Adam Warlock and the Sentinel of the Spaceways, comrades against the Mad Titan Thanos in the Infinity Gauntlet, and Silver Surfer suffers the mind-bending vengance of Thanos- far out! I've also read Defenders # 78 & #79 from 1979-80, which feature the reluctant teamates Sub-Mariner & the Hulk- intense!

 

I sincerely enjoyed all these, and at a dollar an issue, that's hard to beat. I finally broke down last month and got a couple boxes to help keep me organized, but will need another soon as the "Have Read" box on the left, below is nearly full. Keep in mind there's also a huge tote full of comics from my youth, and a bookshelf in my room packed with trade hardbacks, paperbacks, and single issues. I wish I had time to write about each and every one of these, but I read A LOT of comics- far more than I ever did as a kid :D

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Defenders #109, 1982

I started writing this post a month ago, so it's time to play catch-up here at the Super-DuperToyBox  :D My interest in the Marvel non-team the Defenders grew after reading  Avengers Defenders War recently, and I've scrounged up some random issues from the dollar comics bin, including this well-worn copy of Defenders #109 from 1982. Look at that cover- rockin' !  

Valkyrie's announces the Enchantress' pending doom, repayment for trapping her in the host body of Barbara Norris, ironically to help the-allies the Defenders. Her eternal soul escaped it's centuries long containment in the crystal Globe of Souls, and Brunnhilde now having regained her true body thanks to Dr. Strange's magic, the Asgardian goddess commands the mystic to cast a spell to contain the confrontation & for the Defenders to stand down while she finishes her battle with Amora.  

Brunnhilde flies into a rage against Amora, shocking fellow Defenders as well as Amora herself, who returns the attack with some spells, the final one rooting Brunnhilde to the ground, like a tree! Before Amora deals the final blow, Brunnhilde mentally rolls the crystal globe into Amora's leg, breaking her spell and sucking her soul into it- horrific! The gleefully vengeful Valkyrie tosses Dr. Strange the globe to Strange for safekeeping while she attends to her All-Father Odin on Asgard.

Though the spirit of Barbars Norris gone & back in her own body, Brunnhilde's vengeance is not quite undone by the reversal of fortune, Amora now having been imprisoned in the crystal globe Dr. Strange keeps. She departs for Asgard to confront the All-Father! Her demand for retribution for the old god's negligence is met with surprising tenderness by a repentant Odin. The two embrace following his confession, forgiveness not given, but acknowledgement expressed.

Meanwhile, interdimesionally lost comrades Hulk, Hellstrom & Namor are pulled through a rip in the universe, dispatched there by the Enchantress earlier. The land clumsily on solid ground before someone they re shocked to see... !

Dr. Strange manages to find Hellcat while searching for the other three lost Defenders, and they pay a visit to Vera, Beast's librarian girlfriend, along with Spider-Man & Gargoyle. Dr. Strange feels some indistinct force pulling his lost teammates away from the spell he cast, and disappears to search the dimensional pathways for them. Still upset over the death of Nighthawk, caused by her demonic father's spell, Patsy (Hellcat) stays to confide in houskeeper Dolly in lieu of dinner with Beast & Vera. Later in the evening, Patsy slips away whileDolly sleeps, in search of her identity as an individual woman, the recent turn of events having been difficult to digest.

Finally, Dr. Strange finds his way to the other three lost Defenders, found earlier by the presumed-dead Nighthawk (Kyle)! Great last page!

While I was initially unfamiliar with the surrounding continuity, this story sucked me into this issue! Dropping into the series here 11 years after it's inception is only a mild handicap, the action whooshing my imagination off on an exciting adventure from the first page. As stated earlier, I've since read a couple more odd issues of Defenders and Dr. Strange found in the dollar comics bins at V-Stock (pictured below), and Defenders: Indefensible which I picked up in December at Comic Headquarters. I enjoy super-group/team books in general, and am becoming a little more familiar with Dr. Strange and his non-team of heroes.

*See my post on The Avengers-Defenders War!

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