My final top 5 for 2021 is for Marvel Legends, and just to position this list I do only collect Marvel movie figures from the MCU. So while there was a wealth of Marvel Legends figures in 2021 (over 150 figures in total), my choices are - in my opinion - the five best movie figures for the year.
After a very barren year in 2020 for Marvel Movie Legends driven by a lack of MCU movies in 2020 itself, 2021's MCU figures kicked off with the Shang Chi wave - which contained 4 solid figures, and one not so accurate exclusive. Like many MCU figures released ahead of the movie itself, the Shang Chi figures suffered a little from being based on early designs and concepts so I haven't chosen any for my list. The next release for the year - the Red Guardian & Melina pack from Black Widow - missed my list narrowly as it corrected a figure from the previous year to be more screen accurate. And then we moved to the Infinity Saga collection - a ten-release set for Summer 2021 that revisited many of the Infinity Saga movies and either fixed older releases or brought us characters that had been missed at the time.
My first choice for the Top 5 of 2021 comes from the Infinity Saga collection and is the biggest general Marvel Legend to date. Surtur breaks new boundaries on figure sizing going beyond the sizing for Deluxe and BAF figures and looking pretty impressive at the same time with translucent body parts and that giant sword. A true centrepiece!
I stick with the Infinity Saga for my 2nd choice and again bigger is better. The original 2008 Iron Monger was undersized to a 6-inch scale and so in 2021 Hasbro gave us a brand new Iron Monger suit alongside a new Obadiah Stane figure to flesh out the key characters from the MCU's first film.
Iron Monger is big and hefty and still features impressive articulation - including some moving pistons. It comes with a minigun that features firing and smoking effect pieces and an ammunition roll. Like Surtur, Iron Monger is a statement piece and he pairs so well with Stane and the original Mk3 Iron-Man also released in the Infinity Saga collection.
2021 saw the Marvel Disney+ series kick off with Wandavision, followed soon after by Falcon & The Winter Soldier and Loki. This prompted a full wave of Disney+ figures with characters from all three shows. The stand-out figure of the wave is my 3rd choice, the wonderful Scarlet Witch from Wandavision.
The figure is not only a great likeness to Elizabeth Olsen and her new fully powered Scarlet Witch costume but it also features alternative magic glowing hands and effect pieces and a solid level of articulation. The figure is already sought after on the secondary market, and I suspect that interest will rise in 2022 if this costume makes its way into the Multiverse of Madness.
After Shang Chi, the next MCU movie for 2021 was the Eternals in November and while the film has had a mixed reception - Hasbro has to be applauded for bringing us all ten of the main characters, plus the villain, across a full Marvel Legends wave and some excluives. Out of all of the eleven figures released - the visuals are fantastic and the group coordinates so well for display.
For my Top 5, I have picked Makkari from the Eternals main wave. Makkari for me as one of the stand-out characters in Eternals despite her limited screentime. The figure features a great head sculpt and face print tech and a good level of articulation. While there are no accessories as such for any of the Eternals - Makkari features a selection of expressive hands which can be used for posing her using sign language. I know this will be a choice few agree with, but I am delighted to have her - and the rest of the Eternals - in my collection.
The year ended with Hawkeye on Disney+ (no figures for that yet) and the event that was Spider-Man: No Way Home. As usual, Hasbro pre-empted the film with a wave of Spider-Man figures + an exclusive and brought us three new Spider-Man figures, a Doctor Strange, and the final figure in our Top 5, J. Jonah Jameson.
Now again this is probably a surprising choice considering it is another 'man in a suit' and a re-use of the existing suited body. For me, the figure nails Jameson as we see him in the movie and Hasbro has included a number of J. Jonah expressive hands so he can point, clench his fist and bang his desk as he rants about Spider-Man. The figure also represents a link to this wider Multiverse and some of the older movies we all love and J. Jonah Jameson is hopefully the first of many figures from the Spider-Man Multiverse.
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About Me : As a child of the '70s and '80s I grew up in a golden age for action figures and in my youth bought and sold myself through collections of Star Wars, G.I. Joe (Action Force), and M.A.S.K. while also dabbling in He-Man, Transformers and Ghostbusters. Roll forward and I am now reliving that Youth with the action figures of today and am a collector and fan of the larger 6-8 inch figures from my favourite movie and TV licenses - including the ones mentioned above, but also the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Doctor Who, and the Aliens. I launched The Mephitsu Archives in 2015 with a view of creating a UK-focused site or these figures where fans can pick up the latest action figure news, read reviews and get information on where to buy their figures and what is currently on store shelves. I hope I am delivering that to you guys...
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