Welcome to our review of Nakia, part of the Black Panther wave of Marvel Legends figures released in early 2018. We breakdown the figure and look at the sculpt, paint, articulation and accessories before delivering our usual rating out of 5.
Packaging 4/5
The Marvel Legend packaging is pretty recogniseable now with its wide figure window and scooped sides. The variation in each release is done via logos and colour schemes and for me the Black Panther releases are some of the most visual to date. There is an electric blue theme that runs around the BAF logo at the top to the character name at the bottom. This continues into the side art which is an image of Nakia in blue tones with just a touch of golden light bathing the side of her head. This rich gold is then used on the backing card behind the figure - and as you take this from the box you will see more clearly a large panther head logo built into the cardback.
The rear of the box doesn't paint Nakia in too good a light as the image used has a bit of an odd look created by the way the light and shadows fall on her face. Beneath this is the Build-a-Figure checklist. The Panther wave has Okoye as a BAF and the checklist confirms the 5 figures you will need to build Okoye - with her torso and spear coming with Nakia.
"A member of the Dora Milaje, Nakia protects the reigning Black Panther with strength and poise"
Sculpt & Painting 5/5
Nakia has a face print technology head which gives an exceptional likeness to Lupita Nyong'o. The skin tone is excellent and the eyes extremely realistic. The head even sports sculpted earrings on both ears which have a defined pattern and a re painted a pewter colour. Only the hairline slightly spoils the head sculpt as there is a slight gap where the hair piece (a separate piece to the head) is affixed.
The outfit is as intricate as the head detailing with a huge amount of patterning in each section. While a lot of the costume is left as the red base plastic, this patterning stops it looking dull. Other areas then have a gold dry brush to further draw out the pattern which is also trimmed in black and orange stitching patterns. The neck collars, wrist armour and shoulder armour is painted silver as is the panther emblem on the belt. The legs are plain brown and may have benefited from a wash. The boots are plain black.
Articulation 3/5
Nakia is designed with what is becoming a fairly standard suite of articulated options for female figures. 16 points of articulation is "ok" but it is still 2 or 3 short of what we see on the male characters like Black Panther and Killmonger in the same wave.
Leg articulation is spot on with all the movement you would need from double jointed knees supported by a thigh swivel, ankle rocker and ball joint hips - even the skirt section doesn't pose to much of an issue when the legs are being posed. The torso gets a ball joint just under the bust, and this does work well and is less intrusive than the T-Joint we see on a lot of the male figures. The head too is a ball joint and thanks to the thinner neck and pivot on the peg the head is wide ranging in its articulation.
The issue is in the arms where the double jointed elbows have been dropped in favour of a single rotating elbow. The trouble with this is that it only bends to 90 degrees, so there is some restriction on arm posing - in particular the Wakanda Forever arms crossed pose, the one Nakia herself sported in one of the movie posters. The rest of the arms work well enough with ball jointed shoulders and pivot wrists - it is just a shame that this one joint restricts the arms a little too much
Accessories 4/5
Nakia is armed with the two ring blades that she uses in the climax of the movie. These are cast in a softer plastic but aren't warped or misshapen like some other more recent pack-ins. They are cast in a grey metallic plastic with a load of symbols sculpted around the blades. It is a shame that a wash wasn't applied in dark grey or black to bring out these etchings. It is also a shame that the plastic was not painted to be more silver, perhaps with a silver dry brush - the blades do look dull.
The blades fit into either hand and supported by the articulation there are a wealth of action stances possible with Nakia
Summary
Nakia is a gorgeous looking figure and reflects the richness and depth of costuming and vibrant colours we saw in Black Panther. The likeness on the face print is excellent and the paint well applied. Articulation is standard for a female character but we continue to wish that those elbows could be double jointed to extend the posing options.
Accessories are OK but are a bit dull and the sculptural detailing is lost without another layer of paint. And for boxed collectors I love the vibrant contrasting blue and gold colourings around that sleek black packaging.
I score Nakia from Black Panther and impressive 4 out of 5.
