Welcome to our review of the Marvel Legends Infinite Series 6 inch Star-Lord action figure from Guardians of the Galaxy. Released in 2014, Star-Lord was part of the Groot Build-a-figure wave that also included fellow Guardians Drax, Gamora and Rocket.
Packaging 3/5
The Infinite Series saw the Hasbro Marvel Legends move from the blister card design to what would go on to be the standard scooped window box for the Legends line.
The Guardians wave with Groot as the BAF would use a purple hue as the colour scheme and this is reflected in the top of the card, character name panel and the two identical side images of Star-Lord.
On the back is an image of the figure and a checklist of the rest of the Groot wave. A short piece of text to the top right reads...
"With the Universe in peril, interstellar adventurer Peter Quill (a.k.a. STAR-LORD) assembles a ragtag team of cosmic misfits to defend it : the Guardians of the Galaxy"
Paint & Sculpt 3/5
As he comes out of the box, Peter Quill is wearing his helmet and this appears to be sculpted and cast to what we see on screen. The colours are crisp, but not majorly accurate as the helmet is too dark overall and needs a gunmetal type finish. The lenses of the eyes are painted and that makes them look a bit bland and flat, and we also have elements of paint bleed here.
From the helmet sprouts Quill's hair which is nicely done but then painted in a single brown that is perhaps too glossy.
The rest of Star-Lords outfit is well executed. It is the longer coat we see at the start of the movie as he looks for the Orb on Morag. The coat is full of details and neat touches accurate to the coat in the movie. It is cast in a burgundy with painted detail on the shoulder panel. The whole thing is washed to dirty it up, which works brilliantly. The only criticism I can level is the lack of paint to the logo on his left lapel.
The shirt underneath is a plain grey, also accurate, and the trousers are a darker grey - almost blue. Ideally these should have brown leather panels, but as the coat obscures where these would be you can forgive Hasbro.
Peter's boots are replicated well with their boosters painted in silver. he also has his back pack which is an individual piece in softer plastic. It circumvents the torso by means of three straps and ends in the actual bag piece round the back - this does not open.
Quill also gets an unmasked head in the pack. It is a passing likeness to Chris Pratt - but could just as easily be a comic book approximation of Star-Lord. The forehead is a little too large with the hair sat a bit too far back. The hair itself is done as well as the helmet version, and there is some paint application here to add depth. The eyes are a little cartoonish and the beard too thick when it should be more of a stubble.
Articulation 5/5
Star-Lord comes with 19 points of articulation, starting with the ball joint neck that supports both heads being able to rotate and tilt. The chest section has a ratcheted t-joint to bend the torso forward and back, and to help it rotate we have a simple twist joint at the waist.
Shoulders are ball jointed and have full movement. There is a bicep swivel and double jointed elbows. While the elbows allow a huge level of movement, they to sacrifice some looks to do so and the elbow joint can look a little odd and unnatural in certain poses.
The legs have hip ball joints that have full movement, but have to work around the coat for posing. The thigh is then cut with a swivel, knees double jointed and ankles fitted with rockers. All the leg joints are tight and ratcheted and Star-Lord has no issues standing.
Accessories 5/5
Star-Lord comes with a whole raft of accessories starting with his guns. These are identical in terms of casting and are cast in a grey plastic with a metallic finish and some gold panels painted on.
They fit in either hand with both hands having a trigger finger to slot into place. When not in use the guns will have to be returned to the bits box as there is no working holster (as we get on the GOTG2 figures).
Accessory two is the Orb that Star-Lord recovers on Morag, the one that contains the Infinity Stone. The piece is cast with a pot marked surface, that is not quite a pattern, but that looks great once painted. Star-Lord can hold the Orb in his hand which is great for display.
The final accessories are Peter's Walkman and headphones.
These have a few issues in that the Walkman is yellow, when it should be blue and silver. It is also too small. It can be held in Peter's hand, but there is no way of attaching it to the belt. I'd have preferred to see it as a sculpted piece than a separate accessory.
The headphones are cast in a grey plastic. If we are being totally accurate then these should have yellow ear pieces. These are too big and don't sit great on the unmasked head and have two odd points on either side. They can also go round Star-Lord's neck.
Summary
Star-Lord is another strong figure in the fledgling MCU releases of the Marvel Legends series. The helmeted head would not be out of place in current releases and the body and articulation are just as well executed as a more recent figure.
Accessories are extensive, even if the Walkman and Headphones are not that great.
For me the beauty of this figure, and the others in the wave, are when they are assembled as a team with the Groot BAF (or in our case the Evolution Groot in the image above).
I score the 2014 Star-Lord a strong 4 out of 5
