Pros : Ego is the stand out figure with two awesome, subtly different head sculpts
Cons : Star-Lord has unsightly pegs for his blasters. He could also do with a wash on the outfit to weather him up
The Marvel Legends Movie 2-packs are a relatively new addition to the Legends line. The formula used is essentially to repack a figure from the single line along with a more obscure figure who perhaps wouldn't normally be viable as a single release. The repack does generally get a tweak with either a new head or paint aps and overall this format is working to give us recent figures like the Mk47 Iron-Man, Valkyrie and the figure we are looking at here - Ego.
The packaging is essentially a widened version of the usual scalloped sided Legends packaging. Being a two pack the two scooped sides re turned over too different characters in line with the pack contents. These images are taken from the movie
Round the back and the images turn to ones of the figures themselves alongside a short piece of text which covers Ego & Star-Lord's relationship and confirms them as father and son (as did the trailer). The figure arrived after the movie so spoilers were not a huge issue by this point.
The figures are clipped, without ties, into the inner tray which slides out by either of the side flaps.
The card back , surrounding the figures, is actually a thing of beauty in its own right with a large Guardians logo over the top of a multi-coloured nebula.
Starting with Star-Lord, and the figure comes fitted with a Chris Pratt head which is achieved by the Digital Face Printing that Hasbro introduced with the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 releases. The likeness is impressive, particularly when you consider the step change it is making from the usual head sculpts from Hasbro.
The printing allows for a more natural stubble/beard which Star-Lord sports in the movie. It also does a much cleaner and realistic job of the eyes and mouth.
One downside, on Star-Lord at least, is how glossy the head is around the chin area. This is only really noticeable up close or when under a direct light.
This figure is a direct re-release of the single carded Star-Lord from the first Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 wave. There is very little paint difference between the figures.
Star-Lord's T-Shirt sports the "Yeah Baby" logo which extends fully under the jacket. I can't decide if this is a decal (if it is I can't see the edges) or if it itself is digitally printed. Over the top of this is the shorter coat. This is panelled with two varying colours - dark burgundy over the shoulders and a brighter finish over the rest of the coat.
If there is a criticism, the coat is a bit too clean and bright and would benefit from a wash to dirty it up a little. There are also other details missing like the Ravagers badge and the shoulder pauldron we see over the right shoulder in the movie.
The trousers are a grey single tone colour at first glance but do have a brown tinge. These could also do with a wash and there is also an issue between upper and lower thighs where the upper piece is glossier than the rest of the legs. The boots are the same in terms of being a single grey colour despite having plenty of strapping detail and buckles which is screaming out for some paint details.
Articulation is an impressive 21 points, starting with a ball jointed head. The torso gets a joint just under the T-Shirt logo but hidden by the jacket and the waist also swivels. Arms are ball jointed shoulders, bicep swivels, double jointed elbows and pivot wrists.
The legs start with ball jointed hips, which like most legends do make the crotch area look a litte unnatural. There is then the thigh cut joint which marks the point the colour changes slightly on the legs. The knees are also double jointed and lead into a further swivel at the top of the boot. We end with an ankle pivot that keeps Star-Lord standing perfectly well.
Out of the box all joints are tight and you can feel a nice ratchet on most joints. You will not have an issue posing Star-Lord with some good replication of key mannerisms and poses from the movie available.
If you want the masked head, this is also included in the pack. The heads pop off with a satisfying pop. They do require a little more force than I might normally have to apply, particularly to clip the head back in place on the ball joint.
The mask is very well proportioned and detailed with plenty of accuracy around the eyes and that iconic face plate. The colouring is a neat dark grey with bright gold and silver parts and deep red eyes.
If you already have, or want to buy, the single release these two heads do give you two different options for displaying Star-Lord.
Star-Lord comes with both his blasters. These are cast in a smooth black plastic and are trimmed with silver. The single release also has some gold on the blasters, which has not translated to this release. The guns fit well into either hand, with both hands having a flexible trigger finger that can be teased into the trigger position on the weapon.
By now you should have noticed the very unsightly pegs on either side of Star-Lords thighs? These serve to allow the two blasters to be holstered by means of the peg being shaped to the trigger of the blaster. They can be hung pointing downward, although this is tricky (perhaps my pegs are warped) or side on like you see in my images.
While the ability to holster the blasters is a good idea in practice, the pegs are unsightly and the whole thing is not well executed - the blasters may even be a touch too large to hang on the belt. I'd have preferred the peg to be on the gun itself and a socket in the leg, or perhaps just remove the holstering option and stick the blasters in the bits box if they aren't being used.
There is an additional accessory in this 2-pack release which wasn't included in the single release. This is meant to be Star-Lords Walkman - but it is simply a black plastic moulded piece with a socket on the back. The colouring is of course wrong, but up super close (you can't tell on our images) you can see the lines of the Walkman and the tape window. It is crying out for a purple/blue Sony colouring.
It is designed to slot onto a peg on the belt, just under the coat. The fit only works tight one way so it is worth checking which way you have it orientated. The coat does more to hold it in place rather than the socket design.
Figure number two is Ego, as played by Kurt Russell. The head sculpt, also using digital print technology, is a fantastic likeness to the bearded Russell although the hair line is a touch too crisp and there is appears to be a gap between the head and hair piece.
It seems all the paint apps and washed that Star-Lord was missing have been applied to Ego to what makes a stunning looking figure. The upper piece is a dirty washed tunic with an ornate silver belt, shoulder panels and wrists pieces. The legs are a dark grey with brown strapping and brown boots - there is no wash or detailing on the lower legs.
The figure is enclosed in a cloak which is sculpted in soft plastic yet still carries some great detail around the way the cloth wraps around the neck and flows down the back.
The cloak does force the head up a little and therefore it is a positive move that the whole thing can be removed. Simply pop off the head, remove the cloak and pop the head back in place. With the cloak off you can see much more of the torso detail. Without the cloak the head is also more manoeuvrable.
Ego has 20 points of articulation, one less than Star-Lord with the waist not moving on Ego. Everything else is there with a ball jointed head and a torso joint which is a ball joint rather than the ratchet T-section.
Arms are ball jointed shoulder, bicep swivel, double jointed elbows and a pivot rotating wrist. Legs are ball jointed at the hips, and thanks the belt this joint is well disguised. We then have a thigh swivel, double jointed knees, a rotation at the top of the boots and a robust ankle rocker. As with Star-Lord all the joints are tight, ratcheted in most cases and there is no issue standing Ego on display.
Ego comes with an alternative head, and at first glance you may think the two heads are the same. Up close there is a subtle difference with the first head being more jolly and smiling to reflect Ego through most of the movie. The 2nd head has a subtle change around the eyes and mouth to make this a more serious / angry Ego. It is impressive that the heads can look so similar and yet change the feel of the figure once applied.
Both heads pop off with a similar amount of force to Star-Lord.
Ego did not really adopt a great deal of action poses in the movie, so most people will pose Ego in quite a neutral pose. You an of course use those 20 points of articulation for a more dynamic look to Ego.
The two figures scale well together and look great, and Ego will look just as good alongside Mantis, or indeed in a wider Guardians of the Galaxy group situation.
While Star-Lord is nothing new and lacks a bit of weathering, Ego steals the show in this box set and is a very impressive addition to the MCU figures - and of course without repacking that Star-Lord it is foreseeable that Ego wouldn't have made it to retail so I am happy to take the hit.
Breaking the set down I would score Star-Lord a middle of the road 3 out of 5, while giving Ego a full 5 out of 5 score.
I score the set overall 4 out of 5
As individual figures we score them as follows
Star-Lord
Ego
Comments