Welcome to our review of the 6 inch Marvel Legends Gamora action figure, released in 2014. Gamora was part of the early stages of the Marvel Cinematic Universe releases under what was initially badged the Infinite Series of Marvel Legends. The Guardians of the Galaxy wave was the first to include both figures from the MCU and an MCU build-a-figure in the guise of Groot.
Packaging 4/5
The Infinite Series packaging of 2014 defined the shape of the Marvel Legends packaging we see today. The familiar scooped sides and window are in place, but the movie logo sits atop the package, while the larger Marvel Legends Infinite Series logo sits under the figure window. The character name is listed in a bar at the very base of the box.
The overriding colour used is a purple hue for the Guardians figures and this is most notable on the two side art panels which are drawn in purple shapes. The artwork is quite basic and is not taken from the Guardians movie, and is rather illustrated comic-book style.
The rear of the card has an illustration of the figure itself and under this a visual checklist of the Groot BAF and which figures in the wave contain which parts. To the side of the Gamora figure image is the brief background text...
"The last survivor of an extinguished race, the assassin GAMORA trained from childhood to become the most dangerous woman in the galaxy"
Gamora sits centre of the tray against a grey card insert, she holds her sword in her hand. The leg of Groot sits to one side
Sculpt & Paint 3/5
This fledgling release in the MCU carries a generic likeness to Gamora, but not close to a good likeness to Zoe Saldana in full make up. The eyes are very cartoonish while the markings on the cheeks and above the eyes are incorrectly coloured. The lips are well coloured as is the hair with its variation from dark brown to deep red.
The hair piece does sit a little too high on the head giving Gamora a large forehead. It also doesn't flow quite right and is a little too short.
While the head has some inaccuracies, the costume is well realised. The body is proportioned pretty well, but like a lot of early MCU figures is still a little exaggerated rather than actual proportions. Gamora therefore has a very slim waist and also looks a little bow legged.
The outfit is a mix of black and blue hues. The pattern in the blue is not attempted and instead we get some silver hexagons around the collar piece. The belt is an individual piece that can be moved, it too carries some basic silver details.
Articulation 2/5
You will find 16 points of articulation across Gamora, which offers a good level of posing - helped by her slim build and the hips and waist we mentioned earlier.
The head is a ball joint but with the hair piece you will find only a rotation to Gamora's right is possible. Moving the head also throws the line of the hair out. More useful is the torso ball joint which can rotate and lean in and out.
Arms are ball jointed shoulders, but have only a single elbow joint that also serves to rotate the lower arm. We then have a pivot wrist which rotates and can bend on the pivot peg. The slimness of the arms help in the posing massively as we will see later on.
Legs too are very poseable, particularly thanks to the wider hips. We have a ball joint fully moveable hip followed by a thigh swivel. The knees here are double jointed and can almost bend fully back on themselves. There is an ankle rocker, but it can only rock backwards. Forward and sideway movement are restricted by the trousers.
Being quite slim and lightweight, Gamora is already quite difficult to stand and that isn't helped by the thick wedged soles of the boots. The figure also suffers from a loose hip joint so the legs do have a habit of sliding around. While I got Gamora to stand for some of our images, you will see others where we've had to employ a stand.
Accessories 2/5
Gamora is packed with a single accessory, her sword. This is cast as the fully extended sword. It is cast quite well with a good level of detailing around the hilt and the split blade.
It is cast in a dull grey plastic and has zero paint application. This does end up making it look cheap.
Gamora can hold the weapon in either hand, although both grips are not tight. The elbows will just about allow a two handed pose but this is more of a neutral stance and not with the sword raised in any combat pose.
Even with the belt piece, there is no ability to holster the weapon - of course Gamora actually does this by retracting the sword, so were we to have a holster clip of sorts we'd also have needed a second version of the sword.
Summary
Gamora is a difficult figure to judge considering she was released some years ago now in 2014. It is unfair to compare her to the more recent face printing releases, but that aside there are some concerns with the figure such as the high hairline, inaccurate face markings and the bandy legs and overly slim waist.
I score Gamora a 3 out of 5. Having her and the original Guardians from their 1st movie is probably a must for an MCU completist, but the newer GOTG2 figures offer much improved versions of all the characters.
