Review : Marvel Legends Luis, Ant-Man and the Wasp
- Mephitsu
- Mar 24, 2020
- 5 min read
Updated: Apr 5, 2020
In 2019, Hasbro released an Ant-Man and the Wasp 2-pack of Luis and Ghost as part of their 80th Anniversary line of Marvel Legends figures. Luis is sculpted in his X-Con blazer and tan trousers and the pack includes a shrunk down building with suitcase handle and an oversized Ant.
Packaging 4/5
The 80th Anniversary MCU figures follow on with the same square box design as the 2018 First Ten Years sets. The window is bordered by a red band and this expands under each figure to contain the character names, X-Con Luis and Marvel's Ghost. The Ant-Man and the Wasp logo sits from and centre between these name plates and the Legends logo at the top o the box. Oddly there is no 80th Anniversary logo on the box?
The two side spines include images of the two characters against a bright red background which makes them very visual. Luis is on the left hand spine with Ghost on the right. On the back of the box we have a central panel containing a replication of the original movie poster. To either side is a head shot of the character, again on a red backdrop, with some biographical text underneath.
X-Con Luis
"The best friend of Scott Lang, also known as Ant-Man, Luis is a fast-talking, wise-cracking former thief. After he, Scott and two of their other friends are hired to help Hank Pym steal his own technology, the group bands together to form their own company, X-Con Security Consultants."
The backdrop for the figures is not as impressive as the greyed MCU scenes from the First Ten Years sets, but certainly continues the stark red visuals with its exploding red design.
Paint & Sculpt 4/5
The head sculpt for Luis is a very good likeness to Michael Peña with his trademark wide grin captured rather than a neutral look, and this gives the figure real character. The face print tech gives Luis a much more realistic look on the sculpt with detailed eyes, lips, teeth and the facial hair.
The hair doesn't quite meet the back of the beck, leaving an odd gap when you look a the figure side on. This is obviously to allow movement, but it does sacrifice the looks a little bit.
The outfit is based on the blue X-Con blazer and tan trousers that Luis is wearing in the early scenes at the X-Con offices. The majority of the body is a direct re-use of the original Coulson suited body which has been used for figures such as the Purple Man and the Tony Stark suited figures.
We get new shoes with Luis wearing heavier work boots with thick soles and grips. And the jacket piece is new as this is a fastened jacket, not the original open version. The jacket fit is good, but it has huge gaps around the arms which reveals the white shirt underneath and this is sadly a bit unsightly from some angles - why Hasbro couldn't improve the fit like Stark or paint the parts underneath? The right hands is also a new part with a sculpted and painted with a ring on the little finger. The left hand is a re-use, but recoloured to Luis' skin tone.
Paint on the costume is limited to the tie which is a metallic gloss blue with gold stripes. The colours are correct, but the design is les intricate which is understandable at this scale. The X-Con logo is added as a decal under the breast pocket of the blazer. The text is clear and legible, but my figure does have a smudge as though someone put a finger on it before it was fully dry.
Accessories 3/5
The set comes with two accessories. The shrunken building, which works as a part for both figures, is cast in a solid plastic with a lot of detail in each of the buildings faces and on top.
There is a suitcase handle inserted through the building and this can actually extend and contact like a real case. The handle can fit in the figures hands so you can display this being pulled along behind either Ghost or Luis. As you will see a bit further down the handle could have been a touch longer to help with this posing. It would have also been nice to have the handle fully retract so this can be posed with Ghost carrying it.
The second accessory is a blown up Ant. At first I thought this was a new piece, but on comparison it turns out to be a re-use of the original Ant-Man ant (Ant-thony the flying ant) from 2015 with the wings plucked off. The figure is OK, with some detail in the sculpt like the segmented legs, but all in all it feels and looks a bit cheap with soft blobby detail and basic paint apps with a deep red added over head and first body segment.
While the building inclusion is obvious. I don't totally get the inclusion of the Ant? It is not big enough to represent the Ant that Scott keeps at home, nor does it have much reference to the story.
Arguably it might have been nice to see the inclusion of the Hot Wheels case for Luis, or even something tongue in cheek with the character like a rolled up security blueprint or some take out containers?
Articulation 4/5
Luis has a total of 18 points of articulation and with no bulky armour, capes or cloaks he is fully mobile for posing
Head : ball joint pivot neck
Body : waist ball joint
Arms : ball joint shoulders, bicep swivel, double jointed elbow, wrist pivot
Legs : ball joint hips, thigh swivel, double jointed knee, ankle rockers
Luis poses well, and I like that you can give him very character specific poses like have him straighten his tie or express with his arms as though he is giving one of his recaps. You will have to be mindful that raising the arms will open up that ugly gap in the coat and reveal more white shirt underneath.
The figure stands well, and can kneel and sit if you want - great if you want to get him a desk and chair like at the X-Con office. He can hold and pull the building case, although the handle of the case could do with being a touch longer
Summary
While Luis is an important part of the Ant-Man movies, only Hasbro would be bold enough to release him as a figure - after all he is just a guy in a suit. The execution is brilliant with a great likeness on the head sculpt, updated parts to match the character while re-using an existing body to good effect to keep costs low.
There are just two small gripes. The first is the gap under the arm which is unsightly. The second is the inclusion of the ant as an accessory.
All in all I score the X-Con Luis a very impressive 4 out of 5.
About Me : As a child of the 70's and 80's 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 licences - 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...
action figures, reviews, review, articulation, marvel legends, ant-man and the wasp, luis, michael pena, hasbro, X-con
Comments