The MCU version of Death Dealer is part of the April 2021 Marvel Legends Mr. Hyde wave, sitting in the wave alongside the other Shang-Chi MCU figures and the Comic & Gamerverse releases that make up the full-wave.
He is packed in the usual scooped side box, with a gold nameplate, red Shang-Chi movie logo, and a grey backing card. An illustrated image of the MCU Death Dealer is used on the two side panels and again on the back of the box alongside a short piece of background text.
"Death Dealer is one of the most formidable opponents Shang-Chi has ever faced"
Death Dealer is a wonderful-looking character and has been translated well from screen to figure. The character wears what looks like a full face mask, painted a stark white with red and black markings. From beneath this a pair of black ringed, face tech printed, eyes peer out with real intensity. The lower half of the face is covered with the blue hood of the outfit and from this, a ponytail extends with a red tie, with the hair then hanging down over the back of the head.
The blue outfit is a quilted texture and includes an ornate orange trim and a red internal lining. There are armoured pieces added over the robes with wrist bracers and knee armour panels coloured in silver. The belt carries an ornate buckle, and round the back we find two tucked throwing knives (non-removable) that match the included accessories we will see shortly.
While not immediately obvious, if you look closely the base figure for Death Dealer is the MCU Ant-Man figure, The torso beneath the robes and the legs and boots are both directly taken from the Ant-Man figure with the robes placed over the top and new arms and head added. I have no issue with re-use like this, particularly as it works so well with Death Dealer.
Painting is pretty good across the figure, with just a few sections of the orange trim showing a bit too much blue underneath where the coverage is not what it should be. There is then a similar issue on the back end of the belt where the base blue is not fully covered by the black. It looks like the outer robes could be removed, with a clasp to on side - but this is glued shut. Opening this up would simply reveal the base Ant-Man figure body underneath.
Death Dealer does not come with a traditional weapon as such. Instead, we have two hand options each with a weapon built-in. There is an alternative right hand which is cast to include a pair of throwing knives that have just been released - similar to the throwing star hand used on Ronin from Endgame. There is a left hand which includes one knife, gripped by the blade and ready to throw. Each blade is painted in silver with a red shaft and both look the part when used on the figure either together or in isolation with the other hand options.
The other hand option in question is the set fitted when the figure arrives, a general open-handed pair. Considering that the other figures such as Shang-Chi, Wenwu and Xialiang come with extensive Martial Arts hands - it is a shame more weren't included with Death Dealer, particularly a set of clenched fists.
Death Dealer does struggle a little with articulation. The count is good, with 17 working joints and we know that because this is the MCU Ant-Man base we have a further waist swivel and T-Joint torso under the robes - although both of which are not really workable beneath the robes. This upper body joint is rendered useless by the way the robes are added as a full piece, and this, therefore, does not allow Death Dealer to articulate anywhere on his main body, so no crouching stances or twisting angles to release his throwing knives.
The legs too also suffer from the robes which extend down as far as the left knee. So while the legs are double-jointed at the knees, the reality is that you are very much tied into neutral stances.
The arms are thankfully unaffected by any of the figure's design and are fully mobile with double-jointed elbows and bicep swivels to help with throwing stances.
Death Dealer is probably the coolest looking of the Shang-Chi figures released in this first wave, but the look has been prioritised over the articulation in particular and that is a compromise that perhaps stops him from being posed in the more dynamic poses we'd expect to see him in. He also feels a little short-changed with the accessories and particularly alternative hands considering how many were included with other characters like Shang-Chi and Wenwu.
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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...
action figures, reviews, review, articulation, marvel, legends, shang-chi, legend of the ten rings, hasbro, death dealer