The Black Widow Deluxe Marvel Legends figure was released in Spring 2020, ahead of the movie's original release date and before it was delayed by the Covid 19 global pandemic. The Deluxe format of the box allows for Hasbro to include a variety of parts and accessories, and for the first time a dynamic display stand.
Packaging 3/5
The packaging for Black Widow remains the same shape and scooped sides of a regular Legends box, but is wider for the Deluxe format. The contents are well laid out across the window with Widow to the right hand side and the various explosions, weapons and hands to the side of her.
The box uses the MCU movie logo at the bottom, but it does away with the usual coloured name plate underneath. The two sides have identical illustrations, one reversed, of Black Widow in her white suit. The images are essentially monochrome with her red hair the only colour - reminiscent of Russian propaganda of the Cold War era.
The back of the box shows an image of the figure on the new dynamic stand with the explosions placed underneath. To the right of this image is a red shaped insert showing the various features and articulation points for the display stand. To the left is the usual brief background text.
"Natasha Romanov reunites with a group of spies from her past to stop a lethal force"
The package opens, like standard Legends figures, via either of the two side panels. The figure slides out in a plastic tray that itself sits in a cardboard backing tray.
The top of the tray contains the figure and the bulk of the accessories. If you then lift this off a second part of the tray underneath contains the stand. The cardboard backing is done in a grey shade with the Black Widow logo in the centre.
Paint & Sculpt 5/5
The Black Widow MCU sculpts have been getting better and better in recent years, and Hasbro do seem to do a proportionally better job on female sculpts. This figure is no exception with a fantastic likeness to Scarlett Johansson. The face print does such a good job of bringing out the realism of the sculpt, and as normal the eyes are the key part. Do watch out though, the first Widow I bought had a misprint and the eyes were misaligned which threw the look of the figure.
The hairpiece is detailed, but is set to one side with longer hair on the left hand side of her face. It is painted in auburn with a darker wash to bring out the details.
The suit is a standard body suit, as worn by Widow through her MCU film appearances, but is now presented in white. The body is cast in a white plastic with painted details over the top such as the black strapping round the shoulders, and the red and silver panels and highlights. A belt piece is added as an individual piece and this is attached to the sculpted straps on her thighs. The whole ensemble is crisp and clean, but will suffer from build up of grime and dirt if handled too often.
The body and head is shared with the single release for Black Widow in her more traditional black bodysuit. Although visually similar, there is no re-use of parts as far as I can see with the Yelena Belova figure. The head on this figure can be interchanged with other recent Widow figures allowing for some alternative looks.
Accessories 4/5
This set is all about the accessories, it is these that take it above that of a General release and into Deluxe status.
We start with the weaponry. A pair of Kusarigama, and a pair of pistols. The Kusarigama are fairly detailed with the chain links obvious in the sculpt and with details on the grip and curved blade. The guns are a little basic with some detail around the trigger that is less defined. Both sets of weapons are cast in a hard black plastic with no paint apps added.
When not in use, the guns can be slotted into the holsters on Black Widow's thighs. The fit is snug and the guns are held in place securely.
To use these weapons, Widow has two alternative pairs of hands included. The first is a set of trigger finger hands to hold the pistols. These work OK, but the guns are a little too small and the trigger finger doesn't quite lock into place and hold them.
The second set is a wider grip for the Kusarigama. These grip the weapons well, and it is nice to get a specific set for melee weapons, and not simply use the same trigger hands.
The third pair of hands for the figure are the fists she comes fitted with. These are used for fighting stances and are also used with another pair of accessories - the stinger pieces. Each stinger FX piece is cast in translucent blue. You pop off the hands and remove the stinger wrist pieces which slide off - replacing them with the FX piece. The hand goes back on to hold them in place.
They look OK, but not brilliant and they remind me too much of the FX pieces used on magical characters as opposed to looking like an electric shock from a wrist stinger.
The next group of accessories are the explosions. There are 5 in total, each cast in a translucent orange plastic with some decor added at one end to blend the colour to a darker red. We have two individual blast pieces - one long, one short. There is then a group of blast pieces, a medium sized explosion and a large explosion.
Each of these is fitted with a plug at the end which will attach to the stand. They cannot be used without the stand that well as they do not freestand. That is a shame as the larger pieces would have been great as standalone pieces like those included in the Stormtrooper set in the Star Wars Black Series.
The stand arrives in a number of pieces. There is a square base with 9 larger holes, and the upright section slots into whichever of these you wish to use. the arm is height adjustable and the end of the arm is a spring loaded claw to grip the figure waste.
The larger explosions also fit into one of the free larger holes on the base. There are then smaller holes to plug in the smaller shot pieces. This means there is a quite a large number of combinations you can use.
The plastic used is good quality and all the connections are secure - I have seen and used many of these which are a cheaper plastic and do not hold together well. There is even a Hasbro logo on the bottom of the arm - indicating these may be destined for other Hasbro lines.
Articulation 4/5
The Widow figure has a total of 16 points of articulation and features the pinless joints at the elbows which does wonders for the overall upper body aesthetic.
Head : ball joint neck with pivot
Body : torso ball joint
Arms : ball joint shoulder, pinless rotating elbow, wrist pivot
Legs : ball joint hips, thigh swivel, double joint knees, ankle rockers
Overall the articulation is tight and ratcheted in places making Widow very secure and easy to pose. The lack of any armour or bulky clothing makes posing quite extensive including the ability to knee and crouch. As with most female Legends figures, there is a lack of elbow movement by means of only having a single joint and not double. The figure also suffers a little in the shoulders as they do not quite fold flat to the body and are left sticking out in many poses.
The stand brings a new dimension to displays and posing straight out of the box. It is designed along the same lines of the Japanese Dynamic stands with a secure base and a waist clip on a height adjustable arm.
The figure is held securely by the sprung loaded waist clip and then you can adjust the height and base position for jumping poses, or for flight for other characters. There are also pegs on the base, so you can peg the figure into the base and create running poses with the explosions either side.
Summary
The Black Widow Deluxe set is a fantastic looking figure with a great likeness to Scarlett Johansson. The value of the set is in the accessories and the stand. The accessories are OK, but not too much more than you'd get in a standard release. The stand is very well done and allows for a number of options for display with the FX explosions and ricochet pieces doing a great job - although it would have been nice to have an option to use them effectively without the stand.
For circa £30 at retail, the stand plus figure and accessories represents good value for money, and gets us another MCU Black Widow in a very different coloured outfit han all the black suits we have had to date.
I score the Deluxe Marvel Legends Black Widow a 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, hasbro, marvel legends, black widow, deluxe