Pros : Great sculpt. Nice big figure consistent with his appearance
Cons : Is a BAF so harder to get in this format. Paint is a little bland in places
While there had been Marvel Legends MCU releases prior to 2014, the Guardians of the Galaxy wave was the first wave that had a majority of MCU figures in its makeup and the first MCU build-a-figure in the guise of Groot.
Collectors had to purchase all six figures to complete Groot. That included the four MCU Guardians of Star Lord, Gamora, Rocket and Groot. The wave was then rounded out by comic book based figures of Space Iron-Man and Nova.
With all six parts obtained, the figure is a plug and click assembly.
Once built, Groot is an impressive figure not only in height but also int he depth of sculptural detail. The head is very expressive, without being specifically expressive (if that makes sense) and is a fantastic likeness to Groot from his 2014 debut in Guardians. The eyes make the figure for me and actually look old and ancient.
The top of the head is sculpted with bark and new growth and this circles the head but leaves a blank space in the centre
Size wise and Groot stands just under 9" tall which dwarfs the standard MCU figures. Groot's height seems to flex through the film, but the figure is pretty spot on against that now iconic police style line-up.
The sculpt that was so impressive on the head does carry on down the body and into the arms and legs. This is however just cast in brown plastic and has just the briefest touches of green and a lighter brown wash to bring out this detail. This does make Legends Groot look a lot lighter than on screen Groot and the addition of a dark brown / black wash to flow into the recesses would have done the figure wonders.
While Groot is a big figure and a BAF, he does still carry a good amount of articulated joints - 16 in total. The main trunk of the figure includes a ball jointed head and a ball jointed torso. This furthers the expressive nature of the figure as you can hunch Groot forward, or lean him back as well as cock his head to either side.
The arms start with ball jointed shoulders with a bicep swivel underneath. The elbows are then double-jointed allowing the arms to pretty much fold in on themselves. The arms end with a jointed wrists with a pivot which means the hand can rotate and be pivoted forward. The legs are less manoeuvrable. They start with ball jointed hips and then a single jointed knee. The legs terminate with ankle rockers under those huge tree root legs. Standing Groot is not an issue and he can be posed and remains standing in numerous poses.
Save a wash of paint, Groot is a fantastic figure with a beautifully expressive sculpt and articulation to match. He adds some real height and depth to your display and the only pity is he only appeared in a single movie in this form.
The BAF version is getting a touch harder to find now, particularly the Rocket piece. But there is an alternative for collectors with the Toys R Us exclusive "Evolution of Groot" being available for now (pending Toys R Us closures) at retail price. For me this tweeked Toys R Us version misses the emotion of this release as it gets an alternative smiling head.
In this form I score the BAF Groot a solid 4 out of 5.
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