In 2020 Hasbro announced that they would be producing figures from the Fox X-Men Movies to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the original X-Men movie. The Fox Marvel Legends would sit as an anniversary line outside of the main Legends releases, and be made up of both single releases and two packs. Four sets were initially announced, with single figures of Wolverine and Mystique and a two-pack of Magneto and Charles Xavier. The line would expand further with releases from Deadpool 2 and exclusives - with two more Wolverine sets, including a 2-pack based on Logan, Wolverine's final outing in the X-Men Universe.
The X-Men Marvel Legends follow a different packaging design to the main line, using a squared off box in a similar style to the MCU First Ten Years Sets. The base colour moves away from black to a very bright blue/steel colour with a contrasting yellow backdrop behind the figures in the window. Under the window is a black X-Men logo and then the two character names in angled bold text - MAGNETO and PROFESSOR X.
The side art uses a silhouetted image of the characters with some very subtle highlights on their shoulders and then a bright white design on Magneto's helmet. These same images repeat on the back of the box, filling the entire space. There is therefore no character background, movie synopsis or replica movie poster - which would have been a nice touch for this 20th Anniversary line and echoing the First Ten Year sets from the MCU.
The set opens via either side flap and the inner trays slide out. The figures are all secured into the tray simply via its shaping - while the hands are taped into place. Make sure you bring out all the parts of the Wheelchair as you unpack - there is an axle piece that sits just under Magneto that may get missed. The background cardboard is now revealed fully to include another X-Men symbol.
3.5
While the Magneto figure in this set was a full new figure, Professor Xavier borrows a lot from previous figures - particularly the often used suited body from the original Agent Coulson and multiple figures since. To achieve the waistcoat look from X-Men Apocalypse - the movie on which this version of Xavier is based - a soft rubber sleeve has been added over the top of the shirt and tie in place of the jacket. This sits rather strangely and makes the shoulders look disjointed. It also bulks out the figure too much and makes Xavier look a little wider than he should do.
The suit colours are accurate to Apocalypse with a cast blue plastic for the legs and arms and the same on the coat with painted blue inner waistcoat. The waistcoat paint application is messy, with the top edge left unpainted and still in dark blue. The tie and pocket square are picked out in red.
Professor X is supplied with two head options, both executed using face print technology. The first is the James McAvoy version which has a decent likeness to McAvoy as we see him in Apocalypse. The second head gives us a Patrick Stewart Professor X, with a really good likeness to Stewart - although he was not see in this suit, or in the style of wheelchair provided in the set.
The heads are very difficult to swap over and the neck peg is particularly tight.
2.5
Professor X comes with his wheelchair, a very basic version and the same one used in the Logan set. It is not really accurate to Apocalypse where McAvoy was using a sleeker chair similar to that used by Patrick Stewart in the earlier movies. Another inaccuracy in the set sadly.
The wheelchair arrives in parts - most likely to save box space considering the chair in the Logan set arrived assembled. There are no assembly instructions, so there is a bit of working out how to get the axle into the socket when it is too long to insert? The answer is to pull the chair partially apart and then slide the axle in and push the whole lot back together. Once done the wheels click onto place on the outside - but this fit is far from secure and they have a habit of falling off.
The chair is pretty well executed if you put aside its accuracy to the movie. As a manual wheelchair it ticks the boxes with a leather look seat and back, black group handles, silver frame and black wheels with the outer hand grips to move the chair around.
The other accessories included for Professor X are hand variants. We have a pair of open reaching hands, a pair of gripping hands and a single right hand with a two finger pose. This last one does make me think of seeing Picard utter "make it so".
The hands swap in and out easily enough, and they give you a number of options for posing Xavier in the chair. It is however disappointing not to get a Cerebro helmet for use with the figure.
2.5
Having used an existing body, Professor X has a total of 18 points of articulation, with the torso joint snuck in behind the waistcoat piece.
Head : ball joint pivot neck
Body : ball joint torso, waist swivel
Arms : ball joint shoulder, bicep swivel, double jointed elbows, wrist pivot
Legs : ball jointed hips, thigh swivel, double jointed knees, ankle rocker
The Coulson body always had trouble standing, and this is still the case despite the overly large feet which don't seem to want to sit flat to the floor. Of course, for Xavier what we need is the ability to get into a seated position for use with the chair. This works pretty well, with the tails of the coat left a little higher so his butt sits cleanly into the seat of the chair. The figure has the same issue as the older Xavier from the Logan set and he constantly slides out of the chair.
The arms work fine to allow him to gesture and focus, while also being able to grip the wheels or the arms of the chair.
3.5
Professor Xavier feels like a figure that was put together on a limited budget. The original body from Coulson is actually fine as a re-use for Xavier and has enough articulation to have him seated in the chair. The issue is the waistcoat piece which is ill-fitting around the shoulders and make him look a little too bulky up top.
The two heads are both well done and while the suit is perhaps not quite what the Patrick Stewart Xavier wears in the earlier X-Men movies it is not too far away.
The chair should have been the more futuristic version seen in Apocalypse and what we get doesn't really fit with either the McAvoy or Stewart Professor X. Not only is it inaccurate, there is also a problem with construction with the wheels dropping off the axle too easily and the issue with the figure sliding out of the chair - some kind of clip or plug is needed really to support the posing.
In the two pack, Magento is certainly the leading role and while Xavier does a job he looks more like a custom / hybrid figure than I'd expect from an official release. I hope that we see enough interest in the line for Xavier to be revisited as there is certainly a good looking figure there trying to get out (keep scrolling to see).
I score the Professor X from the X-Men 20th Anniversary line a total of 2.5
Figure Hacks
Once I knew the Professor Xavier was arriving with two heads, I began to prepare some parts for an original Professor Xavier to let me use both heads. Because the figure uses the Coulson suit body, the head will fit on other versions of the figure such as the First Ten Year Stark figure which gives you a darker suited figure more akin to the Xavier from the early movies.
The chair from the original Toybiz X-Men figures can also be used to seat Xavier and this combination of the original X-Men chair and a slimmer Patrick Steward Xavier - in my opinion - looks much cleaner as a figure than the actual release.
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, x-men, days of future past, apocalypse, magneto, professor x, xavier, charles
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