Welcome to our review of the 2019 release of Black Panther from the Marvel Legends 6 inch line of action figures. Black Panther is part of the 2nd wave of figures from Black Panther, a complete wave of Marvel Cinematic Universe figures with a build-a-figure of M'Baku.
Packaging 4/5
The 2nd wave of Black Panther figures retains the design of the original wave with a gold Panther Head backing for the figures, a blue name strip and a blue and gold theme to the side artwork panels.
There is a change to the rear of the packaging with the promotional image of the figures now replaced with an illustration from the movie. While this looks great, it is a shame to lose all images of the figure from the box. Even the BAF checklist now uses movie images and not the figures.
"After the death of his father T'Chaka, T'Challa must assume the Black Panther mantle as the next king of Wakanda."
Black Panther sits in an inner tray and is held in place only by the design of the insert with no ties or bands. An alternative head sits to one side, while the arm of M'Baku sits underneath this.
Paint & Sculpt 3/5
This version of Black Panther is the original suit that we first saw in Civil War and that T'Challa dons in the movie to battle Killmonger. The masked head is fantastic, cast in a black plastic with sculpted detail and textures. The silver lines are sharp and crisp and the eyes a blank and unnerving white.
Similar detail and panels extend down the body. Again this is all cast in black plastic, but there as has been no attempt to enhance the sculpt with some different black apps - either shade or matt/gloss finish. This leaves the body looking a little flat and with only the odd silver piece here and there.
Sadly, where there is silver paint applied to the body the finish is not great with bleeding around nearly all areas like the neck piece and the claws.
I will touch on this more in articulation, but the arm articulation does leave the arms sticking out in some poses. This is an issue with the figure base - the original Civil War figure - and has not been rectified
There is an unmasked T'Challa head included - and not the one that originally came with the Civil War release. This head is a bearded T'Challa from Black Panther and uses the Face Print Technology.
Like a few of the other newer releases, Hasbro have tried to put some expression into the figure with a slight upturn of the mouth to create a half smile / half smirk from T'Challa. This doesn't quite work and for me is not completely in character with the oft serious King of Wakanda.
Accessories N/A
There are no accessories or parts included outside the two head options.
Articulation 3/5
Black Panther has a 19 point of articulation count, consistent with most modern male Legends figures.
The arms are ball jointed at the shoulder with a bicep swivel underneath. This joint, as we saw earlier, is a little problematic with the arm not quite falling in to the body enough for a neutral pose. You can work round this with the bicep swivel but even turning the bicep in see's the arm sticking out. Under these shoulder joints is a double jointed elbow and a pivot wrist.
I am pleased to see the arms are articulated enough for T'Challa to hold his helmet under his arm.
The torso has a ball jointed pivot head with a ratchet T-Joint in the torso. Rotation is achieved by a simple waist joint. Legs are ball jointed hips, thigh swivel, double jointed knees and ankle rockers. The ankle rockers are not the most stable, the left being very loose on my figure. While Black Panther stands fine now I suspect I may have an issue going forward.
Summary
Black Panther is essentially a re-release of the original Civil War figure and add's nothing to that release other than the updated T'Challa unmasked head. The same issues exist as did in 2016 such as the shoulder joint and the loose ankle rockers. I'd have liked to see some additional paint apps to give some interest to the black costume, and as a minimum the limited silver paint work should have been applied neatly.
That being said, Black Panther is a great looking figure and will work in a Black Panther display or as a Civil War figure if you missed out on the original release. I score him a basic 3 out of 5.
