Marvel Legends: Thanos

 

Man, Byron was right: April really is the cruelest month. What with Star Wars Celebration, numerous birthdays, the start of the NHL Playoffs, the winding down of the Spring semester, and this year, Avengers: Endgame to end not only the month, but the current cycle of the MCU. In honor of that last piece, let’s take a look at Marvel Legends Thanos, in his comic book, and thus best, appearance.

This Walmart exclusive figure first arrived last year, and was actually one of my C2E2 2018 buys. I got him from a booth that was selling them for much less than all the other booths I’d found him at, and after I’d purchased him, the woman running the booth raised her price to be more in line with everyone else. Not sure if that was really the best business move, but whatever, I got Legends Thanos and that was, and still is, all that mattered to me. This is Thanos as he appears on the page, in all his big, buff, purple faced, wild-grinning glory, and he is a gorgeous Legends figure. Full of character and personality and fun. You know, in that strange way that genocidal supervillains can occasionally be fun characters.

 

The paint is really glossy, and in certain light the figure actually shines. The main color is a gorgeous blue that looks slightly metallic, but is really just shiny. The shoulder pads are a separate gold plastic piece, and can be removed if the head is removed. There is a second, alternate head, so Thanos can be displayed either with a stern countenance, or with that marvelous, wild smile. A good smile can be a real asset when it comes to interacting with other people. Thanos’ only other accessories is an Infinity Gauntlet-gloved hand, so the right hand can be replaced with the Gauntlet. Exchanging hand and head are simple matters of just popping them off and then popping the new piece on, so changing up the display is never anything that requires much time or patience or effort.

All of the customary Legends or 6 inch figure joints are here, so Thanos is reasonably posable and stuff. Maybe a little less so than figures that are not of this large buck, and some poses just don’t work out well because of the size of the torso. Those inward and outward shoulders seem like they would have been a pretty good idea here. But Thanos’ size is really impressive, and he looks intimidating, even alongside other intimidating villain figures, or figures of comparable body size like Omega Red. This is a really excellent representation of the character, and a terrific figure in general. Probably the best joint on the figure is the ab crunch, which when used in correlation with Thanos’ intimidating size, can lead to some real nice looks. These are generally realized when Thanos is standing straight up with his shoulders slightly back, as it makes him look even taller.

A friend of the Coffin and I have discussed this a number of times, but I always prefer my comic book figures to look like their comic book selves, which means that in this house, we generally pass on the movie designs. Thanos in particular is a character who’s comic look is preferable to his live action movie design, and that’s not a purposeful slam on movie Thanos, who looks great and has really turned out to be a villain worth waiting the nearly ten years to develop and implement into the MCU. I’d just prefer this version of him on my shelf. This figure is a mixture of accuracy and menace and fun, and that is an excellent combination.

Ultimately, this is a post in anticipation of Endgame, which will finally resolve the events of last years’ Infinity War, and also will serve to close the first decade of Marvel films, while wrapping up the storylines for characters who’s human identities have reached the end of their contracts. Sad, yes, but also exciting, as we wait a few more days for the movie we’ve been waiting for since the end credits rolled on Infinity War. Frankly, no Marvel movie in the intervening time has really been that good, not because of anything that the movies themselves have done, but simply because they have not been another Avengers movie. Ant-man and the Wasp was fine, and Captain Marvel was good, but we have been waiting for Endgame for a year, and nothing has really been able to get me there, enthusiasm-wise. That waiting is the hardest part, but it is also almost over.

Because this Thanos was a store exclusive, it may be somewhat difficult to hunt one down now, a year later. I’ve seen it a number of times at conventions, for the predictable convention mark up, and am not sure what eBay says, or any other online outlet. To return to my C2E2 2018 story of buying this figure, I got him for $35 while almost every other booth I’d seen him at wanted $50 for him. This is still just a Legends figure, so $50 is way over the price that I’d feel good paying for Thanos, but at $35, it was in that just right spot for these figures: more than retail, but an acceptable amount above the retail price that it was easy to rationalize the price hike as taking the place of having to actively hunt for the figure. I think a concern would be that now, a year removed from stores, that $50 price may be more the norm than it was before. Whether or not that’s a price that you’d pay for this Thanos in your collection is up to you, but this is a gorgeous figure that is at very least worth looking in to buying.