The 80th Anniversary of Marvel Comics saw Hasbro release a number of single Marvel Legends figures and sets to celebrate. The MCU sets included a 2-pack of Hela and Skurge from Thor : Ragnarok. Hela would use the existing figure with new heads and accessories, while Skurge was a brand new figure.
Packaging 5/5
The packaging follows the designs laid down in the 2018 First Ten Years Sets with a squared off box rather than the scooped sides we associate with Marvel Legends. The base colour is black with the Legends logo at the top of the box and the movie logo at the bottom. The figures are visible in a window that is bordered in red with the character names built into an extended panel in this red border.
The side art remains with Hela shown on the right and Skurge on the left. On the back of the box we get a central movie poster with character profile pictures either side and a short piece of background text.
"The ambitious Goddess of Death, Hela returns to Asgard to claim the throne after the death of her father, Odin. To further her dark goals, she raises an army of fallen Asgardian warriors to fight for her as her Berserkers"
Paint & Sculpt 4/5
The body of Hela is a direct re-use from the 2017 version, but it does offer improvements over the original with the green metallic colouring being brightened and enhancing the look of the figure.
The cloak is also coloured in a brighter tone. This remains a separate piece that is plugged into a socket on Hela's back. The shoulder panels then sit above the figure shoulder and it holds pretty well, but it can overbalance the figue backwards.
The first head we come to is the ornate crown that was also used on the first release. Here the face sculpt has changed to a scowling Hela with teeth bared. Face print technology is used to add the realism to the green eyes and shading around the eyes and nose.
Paint across the figure is good, with good execution of the green paint on the black cast body. The black base plastic does provide a problem with the shoulders where the flesh tone painted on top does not match the head and looks grubby.
The figure comes with two other heads, both new. The first is a straight haired Hela with a more neutral expression. The other is the bedraggled haired Hela we first see on the clifftop when she appears after Odin's death.
Like the first head, the face print brings out the likeness of the sculpt and gives the figure depth in terms of the eyes in particular.
If you have the original Hela release and this one you now have 5 heads to choose from, and they are all interchangeable across both bodies.
Accessories 4/5
The original Hela release came with her sword - but that has been dropped for this release. In its place we have an orange translucent magic effects piece. This has been re-purposed from Scarlet Witch and recoloured into orange. It is a softer plastic and designed to wrap and hold itself around an arm or a hand. Once in place it remains fixed and looks pretty impressive - would have perhaps been nice to get a pair.
The second accessory is brilliant, and helps recreate one of the iconic scenes in Ragnarok. This is essentially an alternative right hand, but sculpted to be holding Mjolnir as it flies towards her. Once swapped and the arm on Hela extended it recreates her catching and stopping the hammer in full flight. The hand is painted to a good standard including the black nails. Mjolnir is sculpted to still include the iconography around the face and the wrapped leather of the handle - it is smaller than previous Mjolnir releases.
Articulation 4/5
The articulation on Hela see's further improvements on the 2017 release. The loose hips that plagued the original release have gone, and Hela is much easier to stand and pose - even with the cape and enormous head piece often causing balancing issues.
She has a total of 16 points of articulation, a little less than the norm.
Head : ball joint pivot neck
Body : torso ball joint
Arms : ball joint shoulder, single rotating elbows, wrist pivot
Legs : ball joint hips, thigh swivel, double joint knees, ankle rockers
The head achieves the best movement in the crowned head, with the other two causing some resistance due to the flowing hair. The torso joint offers a bit of movement, but not much.
That leaves the arms and legs, which are fully mobile and poseable - but you would need to lose the cape if you wanted to do any posing with the legs other than a neutral stance.
Summary
Hela may be a re-release of a 2017 figure but it offers significant improvements on a release that was also pretty scarce at the time and quite sought after. All three new heads are brilliant, with the messy hair one my favourite - coupled with that awesome Mjolnir hand accessory. The other accessory, the magic effect, is a bit meh but does a job.
They haven't fixed the painting of the shoulder flesh tone yet and it remains grubby and messy, but this can be hidden by the hair with two of the heads. But they have resolved the loose joints and Hela now stand perfectly well.
I score Hela (2019) a 4 out of 5.
