In 2019, Hasbro released an Ant-Man and the Wasp 2-pack of Luis and Ghost as part of their 80th Anniversary line of Marvel Legends figures. Ghost has two head options - masked and unmasked - and a hood piece to use with the unmasked head. The pack also includes a shrunk down building with suitcase handle and an oversized Ant.
Packaging 4/5
The 80th Anniversary MCU figures follow on with the same square box design as the 2018 First Ten Years sets. The window is bordered by a red band and this expands under each figure to contain the character names, X-Con Luis and Marvel's Ghost. The Ant-Man and the Wasp logo sits from and centre between these name plates and the Legends logo at the top o the box. Oddly there is no 80th Anniversary logo on the box?
The two side spines include images of the two characters against a bright red background which makes them very visual. Luis is on the left hand spine with Ghost on the right. On the back of the box we have a central panel containing a replication of the original movie poster. To either side is a head shot of the character, again on a red backdrop, with some biographical text underneath.
Marvel's Ghost
"Ava Starr gained the ability to become intangible after a quantum accident. She began working for S.H.I.E.L.D. at a young age, under the codename Ghost. Years later, she realizes that she is slowly dying, and makes plans to harness the energy of the Quantum Realm, putting her into direct conflict with Hank Pym, Hope Van Dyne, and Scott Lang."
The backdrop for the figures is not as impressive as the greyed MCU scenes from the First Ten Years sets, but certainly continues the stark red visuals with its exploding red design.
Paint & Sculpt 4/5
Ghost is one of my favourite designs from the suite of MCU villains that Marvel havebrought us over the last decade, and the figure is a very good recreation of the suit we see Ava wear on screen. The helmet, with the various red sensors, sits under a sculpted hood and the paint on these red panels is crisp to cover just the circular end piece with no bleed backwards onto the grey ares.
The costume includes two distinct shades of grey and very detailed panelling and sections - just check out the waist section! The body is ast in the darker grey, with the lighter pieces painted very neatly over the top. The only other paint apps are some blue sections on the wrists, lower legs and midsection.
We also get an unmasked Ava Starr with another top notch female likeness from Hasbro. The sculpt and paint job are amazing and very lifelike in relation to the actor Hannah John-Kamen including her green eyes.
The spare head comes with sculpted hair piece that is perhaps a little too thick. The highlights also don't quite work as the transition from the dark hair to lighter hair is a bit too linear. I would have preferred a tied back look or much less flowing over the shoulders.
The hood section is a separate piece that you install before the unmasked head, this gives the impression of the hood being pulled back - the hair then sits over the top of this.
Accessories 3/5
The set comes with two accessories. The shrunken building, which works as a part for both figures, is cast in a solid plastic with a lot of detail in each of the buildings faces and on top.
There is a suitcase handle inserted through the building and this can actually extend and contact like a real case. The handle can fit in the figures hands so you can display this being pulled along behind either Ghost or Luis. As you will see a bit further down the handle could have been a touch longer to help with this posing. It would have also been nice to have the handle fully retract so this can be posed with Ghost carrying it.
The second accessory is a blown up Ant. At first I thought this was a new piece, but on comparison it turns out to be a re-use of the original Ant-Man ant (Ant-thony the flying ant) from 2015 with the wings plucked off. The figure is OK, with some detail in the sculpt like the segmented legs, but all in all it feels and looks a bit cheap with soft blobby detail and basic paint apps with a deep red added over head and first body segment.
While the building inclusion is obvious. I don't totally get the inclusion of the Ant? It is not big enough to represent the Ant that Scott keeps at home, nor does it have much reference to the story.
Arguably it might have been nice to see the inclusion of the Hot Wheels case for Luis, or some alternative hands or FX pieces for Ghost?
Articulation 4/5
Ghost has a total of 16 points of articulation, a couple less than a male buck like Luis, but consistent with most other female figures.
Head : ball jointed pivot neck
Body : ball joint torso
Arms : ball joint shoulder, single joint rotating elbow, pivot wrists
Legs : ball joint hips, thigh swivel, double jointed knees, ankle rockers
The key difference is the single joint rotating elbow which removes the need for a bicep swivel above it. This doesn't affect posing too much and with no weapons to hold you can simply play around with arm positions for fighting stances or similar. I repeat at this point that I would have liked some alternative hands at this point considering one hand is a grip and the other is open palm. Alternative fists would have been great.
Let posing is full ranging with no bulky armour or capes, cloaks, skirts to get in the way. Ghost can kneel and sit if required.
Summary
Ghost is a stunning figure, both masked and unmasked - and is one of those releases that makes me consider buying a 2nd version to display both options. The costume, which was a great design to start with, is executed well and both heads are screen accurate - even with the slightly voluminous hair on the unmasked version.
Accessories in the set are made more for Luis than Ghost, but she can pull the suitcase building if needed. It would have been nice for the handle to fold flat so she could have picked it up under her arm like we see in the film.
It would also have been nice to maybe get some alternative hands as the right one in particular is pretty specific in its pose.
I score the Marvel Legends Ghost from Ant-Man and the Wasp 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, marvel legends, ghost, ava starr, hannah john-kamen, ant-man and the wasp, hasbro