Pros : The new head is brilliant. Paintwork is crisp. Plenty of articulation. Working knife holsters
Cons : Clutching at straws here, but you could argue another head might have been good for those who want a neutral posed group of Guardians
Drax the Destroyer made his MCU Legends debut in 2014 as part of the full Guardians wave of figures that would also allow you to build your own Groot. With the sequel in 2017, a new set of Guardians was released across two waves and this saw a new Drax in his updated blue trousers and complete with very big gun.
Drax was first released in 2017 as part of the Titus BAF wave, he would then go on to be re-released in the UK as part of the 2018 best of MCU wave. This is the release we are reviewing, the only difference being the BAF part which is now a Hulk Ragnarok leg.
From everything I had seen up to actually owning this figure, I had thought it a brand new sculpt considering how much better it looked vs the 2014 release. To my surprise it is a complete re-use, just with a new head sculpt and updated paint apps.
The new head really captures Drax in terms of the angry shouting expression - you can almost see him launching himself at the Abilisk at the start of the movie. The facial tattoos are all sculpted and beneath them are the very neatly painted eyes. The only niggle with the head sculpt is the lack of a 2nd version should you want a more neutral Drax for your display.
Everything below the head has been released before. However, this time round Hasbro have upped their game on the execution of the decoration which is why it looks and feels like a much better figure. The body art is all sculpted and now is painted more crisply against a more realistic and contrasting blue skin.
The blue trousers, while one tone with no weathering, also add a contrast to the skin decor and it makes the whole upper torso pop. The figure finishes with black boots, complete with knife holsters and brushed metal effect straps.
Articulation for Drax is impressive, and there is absolutely no issue in posing him in a variety of battle ready posed. With a sufficient action stand you could also replicate that leap into battle with the Abilisk if you wanted.
There are 19 points of articulation, most of which are ratcheted and click neatly when moved - although when you pick the figure up there is some looseness in the joints between the ratchets. The core of the body has a ball jointed head, t-joint ratchet torso and a rotating waist - although when you do move the waist the body looks quite peculiar where the two meet. Arms are ball jointed shoulders, rotating biceps, double jointed elbows and pivot rotating wrists. The legs follow the same setup with ball joint hips, thigh swivels, double jointed knees and ankle rockers.
Drax is dead easy to stand on his own, both in a neutral position but also in more dynamic positions.
Drax is armed with his dual knives, another carryover from the 2014 release. These are cast in a softer plastic but are still crisp in terms of looking like knives with their curling blade and intricate detail in the hilt. They are a dark grey in colour with dry brushing of silver over the top.
They fit into both hands, and can be positioned blade up or blade down depending on which of Drax's fighting styles you want on your display.
And when not in use these blades do fit into the working holsters either side of the boot. They slot in and hold in position and no not particularly impact the leg movement in any way.
Another new addition is the rocket launcher. This is cast in black plastic and has no paint applications of any kind. Drax's arm has to be stretched out to hold this while resting the rounded sectio over the shoulder. Once posed it looks pretty impressive, especially with the screaming head sculpt.
The Rocket Launcher is of course from the first Guardians movie, but I guess it is rude to nit pick when we get a new or extra accessory thrown into a release.
Hasbro have taken an average figure of Drax from 2014, and by changing the head and some paint apps they've made an infinitely better figure. With the screaming head, the working knife holsters and the impressive articulation I see no reason why we cannot award GOTG2 Drax top marks of 5 out of 5
