“Follow me and dare to face the unknown, and ponder the question... What if?"
The Watcher, an integral character in the Disney+ What If? series, was added to the Marvel Legends series in 2021 as a build-a-figure included across the first wave of What If? Figures. Collectors needed to buy six of the seven figures in the wave to assemble the parts - the Zombie Captain America did not include any BAF parts. Assembly followed the usual BAF format with a central torso onto which arms, head, and legs were clipped. In addition, the Watcher’s cape came in two parts with Nebula and was attached around the neck to finish the overall look.
Assembled, The Watcher measures 23.5cm tall which is about 9.25 inches. The upper torso and waist are cast in deep blue with a larger golden square panel on the chest sculpted with a central section and a hexagonal inner design. The right arm is also robed in blue with a flowing open sleeve. In contrast, the left arm is exposed skin in a deep olive tone with a golden bracer around the wrist. The lower robes are a slightly softer plastic, also in blue, that fully encloses the sculpted legs and feet which also use the olive skin colouring. An additional softer plastic cape in blue is shaped to sit around The Watcher’s neck and sit on his shoulders with the outfit concluded by the large rear collar that goes down under the cloak and sits in a socket on the figure's back.
The head sculpt is a representation of the animated Watcher from What If? It uses the olive skin tone as a base but has applied shading and depth around the eyes, nose and mouth. The eyes are then painted in a white that very much contrasts the skin tone and the bright blue robes.
There are no accessories included for The Watcher, not even any alternative hands to use for different gestures. You can vary the look marginally by removing the outer cloak and if you wish the upper collar although neither of these are drastically different and are not something we see on screen.
Articulation is more or less the same as a standard figure with 16 points of pinless articulation in total. 8 of these are in the legs, and they are hemmed in by the skirt and while they allow The Watcher to stand in a stable position - there is little variation available. The arms have a wider breadth of movement and can extend and gesticulate bearing in mind the way the right arm looks with the sleeve that should be subject to gravity. The torso aids in some of the posing, but it is with the neck joint that the final expressions are achieved thanks to the oversized head of The Watcher on a relatively small neck allowing for plenty of movement.
The character of The Watcher does not dictate he does a huge amount and therefore this BAF meets the requirements of standing in a relatively neutral pose on display overseeing your What If? Figures and the wider MCU. Because the figure is alien and has been designed to be quite non-descript in the source material it will also fit reasonably well into a comic book setting even if it's not fully accurate to the usual comic book depiction. The Watcher is certainly one of the most interesting BAFs we’ve had for some time and he does present a wonderful centrepiece to a Multiverse display.
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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...
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