Review : Marvel Legends Ebony Maw, Children of Thanos Set, Avengers Infinity War

When Hasbro released the first Marvel Legends figures from Avengers : Infinity War in 2017, a number of the earlier figures were based on concept art and early designs. That led figures like Proxima Midnight and the BAF Cull Obsidian to be quite a bit different in figure form than what actually turned up on screen in Infinity War. In 2020 Hasbro announced their intention to right a few of these figures with a new exclusive set called The Children of Thanos. The set, exclusive to Amazon, would include screen accurate figures of Cull Obsidian and Proxima Midnight as well as tweaked figures of Ebony Maw and Corvus Glaive and a new variant of Thanos.

When you consider that Thanos and Cull Obsidian are essentially Deluxe figures, the packaging for this set was always going to be enormous - but it is still quite a surprise as to how expansive it actually is. The set uses a rectangular window box format with a black base colour and gold highlight colours as per the Infinity War movie logo. The figure window is shaped and bordered in the gold with the Legends logo top right and Infinity War logo base and centre. Underneath this is a gold flash with the set name "Children of Thanos", and this goes on to be repeated in a number of other languages.

The figures themsevels are arranged with Thanos in the centre and two either side with accessories slotted into the space around each figure. The side of the box are headed with the Legends logo again and then a checklist of characters Both sides include Thanos at the top. The right hand (as we look) then shows illustrations of Cull Obsidian and Corvus Glaive. The left features Proxima Midnight and Ebony Maw.

The back of the box has a large colour illustration of Thanos, surrounded by his children with Proxima's spear protruding from the illustration to the black border underneath. To the side of this is the background text we see on all Legends releases

"The Children of Thanos, powerful and vicious warriors, will stop at nothing to harness the power of the Infinity Stones"

The package opens via the top or bottom flap, and the figures are set into a plastic tray, there are no ties to hold the figures. The tray is then sat into a cardboard inner tray that has also been providing the figure backdrop. With the figures removed, you can see this carries a design of an exploding Avengers "A".

4.0

Ebony Maw is essentially the same figure sculpt as the original released in 2019 with one crucial update. This new Children of Thanos release has seen the back of his head and hair re-sculpted which does wonders for the overall look of the character and brings him much more screen accurate to his Infinity War appearance.

With the shape of the head corrected, the skin tone is taken to a grey colour with deep set dark eyes and a frowning mouth. The costume is made up of a textured base suit with overlaid panels in grey and trimmed in bright gold.

The robes are much darker then the original 2019 release, which gives Ebony Maw a more sinister look and again matches more closely with the character we see on screen. The paint application across the figure is good, with clean lines on the various grey panels and a defined and crisp application of the gold trims.

When you compare the 2019 version to this 2020 version you can see the enormous difference the hair piece makes to the look of the head and the overall figure. It takes a disappointing figure to a really great looking one and why on earth Hasbro couldn't have brought us this version originally considering this figure was released well after Infinity War and therefore the usual issue of concept art / early designs would not apply.

4.5

As per his role on screen, Ebony Maw is not packed with any accessories. He did not use any weapons on screen that could have been included, but considering that he levitates around quite a bit in Infinity War - a flight stand would have been a welcome inclusion.

The other potential inclusion, as I mentioned in the review of the 2019 figure, would have been an alternative hand with the finger raised in the shushing motion that the character displays in the movie in such a sinister fashion.

Maw, for such a tall figure, is really well articulated with 18 points of articulation in total. These are all unrestricted as such with full motion.

Head - ball joint with pivot

Body - torso ball joint

Arms - ball joint shoulders, bicep swivel, double jointed elbows, pivot wrist

Legs - ball joint hips, thigh swivel, single joint knee, ankle rocker

The arms, long and slim as they are, allow for some expressive poses including being able to touch his own head. The head moves on the neck joint with good rotation and with the ability to tilt for further expressions. The torso joint adds a little motion to the upper body, but Maw stands so incredibly upright that using it ends up throwing the look of the figure.

Legs are fully mobile, with the rubberised skirt moving with the legs to some extent. Maw stands well enough with what sounds like a robust ratchet on the ankle rockers.

4.0

I must admit that when I first looked at the Children of Thanos set I saw very little change in Ebony Maw from the promo shots, and was more looking forward to the update to Cull Obsidian and the Proxima Midnight repaint over any of the other figures.

It is therefore a pleasant surprise to see that Hasbro have accepted there were issues with the first Maw release and have used the set as an opportunity to correct. The addition of the hair at the back of the head does wonders for the figure and he looks fantastic now compared to the older figure which was a little lacklustre and was relegated to the very back of my shelf.

The Children of Thanos exclusive set is very much the definitive versions of the Black Order and while Ebony Maw has much less extensive updates than Cull Obsidian or Proxima Midnight, the work done does improve the figure ten fold and he is a real surprise star of the set for me.

I score the Children of Thanos Ebony Maw a total of 4.5

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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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action figures, reviews, review, articulation, marvel. legends, hasbro, avengers, infinity war, thanos, children of thanos, the black order, cull obsidian, proxima midnight, ebony maw, corvus glaive.