Welcome to our review of the Marvel Legends Infinity War 3-pack of Thor, Rocket and Groot. We are breaking down each figure in the set and look at the pro's and cons as well as giving them our usual overall rating out of 5. We start here with Thor.
If you have arrived here after reading one of the other reviews from this 3-Pack then skip the first section on packaging which is repeated
Pros : Good likeness to Hemsworth using face print technology. Well articulated with tight joints
Cons : The lightning effect paint applications don't work. The Odinsword is poorly cast and arrives warped
One of the best "team-up" within Infinity War was the unlikely trio that saw a bruised and battered Thor team up with Rocket and the teenage Groot as they sought out a weapon to take down Thanos. Rather than include this trio in single carded Avengers waves, Hasbro went down the multi-pack route. The set includes Thor as seen in the first half of the movie with his eye patch and black outfit. Rocket who is essentially the figure released in 2017 in the Guardians of the Galaxy wave. And a brand new figure of Teenage Groot.
The set comes in a large scooped side Marvel Legend window box that uses the same design colouring as the other Avengers figures. The side panels have Thor at one side and Rocket and Groot on the other. The set was originally planned as a Toys R Us exclusive and is marked up with the silver embossed Toys R Us exclusive sticker.
The rear of the box is dominated by an image of the three figures posed in an action stance. To the side is a very short synopsis that talks about the journey of a "blaster-toting raccoon, a teenage tree and an Asgardian god".
All three figures are slotted into the inner plastic try without the need for any twisty ties or bands. The accessories are interspersed between each figure and are taped into place. The inner tray sits in a cardboard tray that is an explosion design with a large Avengers "A" symbol in the centre.
Thor has done well recently in the Legends figure stakes, with this Infinity War Thor being one of two from the movie and the fourth in the past 12-months after the two versions from Ragnarok. Like the Ragnarok figure, this version uses the face print technology to good effect. On top of this print the eye patch is painted black with scratched details. The other eye is then blanked out to show Thor as he was when imbued with Lightning. To the side of this is painted some silver lightning effects. These are quite subtle, but don't quite work and do look a little bit like Thor has adopted some 1970's Glam-Rock face paint.
The inclusion of the eye patch and the Lightning effects indicates that Hasbro were basing this on the early trailer where Thor is aligning the forge at Nidavellir. Of course the eye patch was dropped from the movie, with Rocket giving Thor a new prosthetic eye before their arrival. This can be forgiven as I do like the eye patch version and I suppose you could swap this head with Ragnarok (Valkyrie) 2-Pack to make both more screen accurate.
The hair, now short of course, is very nicely sculpted and textured. It is painted a dark brown and then is dry-brushed in a lighter brown to bring out that sculpted detail. The beard section is lighter still but is a touch lob-sided under the mouth.
Thor is wearing the plain black outfit he ends Ragnarok with, and as the Guardians find him after Thanos' attack. The whole costume on th figure initially looks like a single black tone, but up close there are some finishing differences and textures. The upper piece is a black gloss, while the trousers are bordering on very dark brown with a more matt finish. The boots are gloss with the touch of silver on each side.
The silver paint is more prominent on the chest piece with each of the six roundels painted in silver. Rather than stop there, the silver goes on to draw lightning patterns emanating out from each roundel to simulate that Lighting coursing through Thor. This works even less than the eye and looks again like Thor has some very odd costuming choices - maybe this time from a 1980's WWE superstar? I'd have much rather seen this lightning effect dropped, and Thor given a much darker wash to dirty him up to show him as he was floating in deep space.
Being a key MCU character, and a bulky buff figure at that, Thor gets the full range of articulation. There are 18 points of articulation that commences with the head and neck pivot which allows the head to rotate and look up and down by some distance. Under this is a torso ball joint, and while this is not as intricate as the T-joint chest, it means Thor can rotate and lean really well without throwing out the lines of his armour.
The arms are ball jointed shoulders with a bicep swivel underneath. Elbows are double jointed allowing the arms to bend back on themselves. From the elbows the arms end with a wrist pivot.
Thor's legs are ball jointed at the hips, and this does make them look a little rounded - but gives a whole range of motion. A thigh swivel is in place, but barely visible in the dark colouring of the trousers. Knees are double jointed and the ankles are rockers. Thor stands perfectly well in many poses and all joints are nice and tight.
Unfortunately, Hasbro held back Stormbreaker for the wave 2 single release - so this Thor is packed with the Odinsword that previously came with the Thor & Valkyrie 2-Pack from Ragnarok. That accessory was not particularly good, but this one gets even worse. The sword is still cast in a softer plastic and due to the way it is packed in the inner tray, it arrives warped and misshapen and is not easy to correct.
The colouring is also pretty basic with a silver blade, plasticy brown handle and black grip.
Thanks to that arm articulation, Thor can wield the Odinsword in either hand or in a two handed weapon pose. For me I plan to consign the weapon to the parts box and will choose to display Thor without a weapon.
We will look at Thor's teammates Rocket and Groot in separate reviews - see links at the bottom - but here they are together. Each figure is well proportioned to the other although Rocket and Groot as you will see get a bit of short change on articulation.
Thor, Infinity War, has the makings of an awesome figure. Sadly the attempt to include lightning effects have spoiled the figure and I'd have much rather have seen a dirty and weathered Thor as seen on his journey to Nidavellir. What we do get is a well articulated figure with tight joints. The paint, whether we like the design or not, is neat and well applied and the face print technology delivers a good likeness to Hemsworth. The accessory is a shame, and is one I could have skipped completely - including Stormbreaker but it would have not been exactly screen accurate, and would have likely impacted sales of the single release.
Weighing all this up I am scoring Thor from the Infinity War 3-Pack a 3 out of 5.
Taking this set as a combined entity, I am glad that the RRP on this didn't come in at around £60 for the three figures. The set is sensibly priced at around £45 and I think this is fair considering the size of Rocket and the articulation and limited paint job on Groot. Had we been looking at £60 for these three figures, then the scoring for the box as a whole would have dropped considerably in terms of value for money. As it stands the set for me has a stand out figure in Thor, that was then taken too far with that bizarre decor. Rocket, even with the paint variations, is essentially a repack and for me Groot is half finished and is missing a whole other paint application at least. The accessories all feel cheap with basic paint and very rubbery misshapen plastic. While the price is amicable, the contents still don't really make me feel "wow" what a great set - and I score the Thor, Rocket & Groot 3-Pack a mediocre 3 out of 5.
