Review : Star-Lord
Diamond Select Marvel Comics
Wave/Series : Disney Store Exclusive
Released : March 2017
Price : £19.99
When the original Guardians of the Galaxy movie was released in 2014, Diamond Select didn't release any characters from the movie or any related comic book characters - much to the disappointment of fans who only had the 6" Marvel Legend figures to choose from for their Galactic Heroes.
With the unprecedented success of the first Guardians movie, and the hype over the sequel this year, Diamond are now going all out to catch up Select collectors with Guardians. We know that Star-Lord & Rocket and Drax & Baby Groot are coming later in the year based directly on the Vol. 2 movie. What we didn't expect was for Disney Stores to go to Diamond and commission a full wave of Guardians figures based on their comic book (Marvel Now) appearance.
The new Guardians range gives you all 5 of the main characters across 4 releases - with Rocket & Gamorra doubling up in her pack. Here we take a look at Star-Lord.
Like most Disney Store Select exclusives, the packaging is slimmer than what you would normally get from Diamond. However, the rest of the design principles survive with a large blister over-wrapped to the left by an art panel. On the front of this we see the Marvel Select logo and then a lovely illustration of the Guardians as seen in the current Marvel Now comic series (and on TV in their Disney XD show). This team image runs the full length of the card side, ending in a GOTG logo and a new Disney Store exclusive badge which now contains the Disney Castle.
From this side panel projects a triangular piece out ontop of the blister. This is a light blue and purple star field with another repetition of the GOTG logo. The character name sits in a silver, purple and yellow design - replicating the colours of the Milano.
To the left spine of the box we find the now familiar full art panel, depicting Star-Lord in his helmet.
Returning to the front and through the blister you get a good look at the figure surrounded with his element guns, alternative head and crystal. You can also see the stand sat back behind the figure and the diorama base.
Spinning the card fully round, the back is not your usual Select fare as it skips any text or background information in favour of a large image of the figure and to the side of this the other figures in the series atop their assembled diorama base. The card back is trimmed in the same yellow and purple with the Guardians shield to top right and lower left.
Out of the box and you will find the figure and accessories secured into the inner tray with a wealth of twisty ties. The diorama base sits separately behind the inner tray. Attached to the card back is a Diamond mini catalogue in a plastic baggie - be careful not to dispose of this as it contains the connecting clips for the diorama base you will need in the future if you are collecting the full set of Guardians.
Star-Lord stands 7 1/4 tall, and looks pretty impressive as he comes out of the box with his helmeted head and rocket boot effects (we will look at them shortly).
Starting at the head and the helmet is really well detailed with plenty of panels, ridges and grills. The helmet is painted in a gun metal finish. The two eyes are perfectly circular and are a bright orangey red tone. The hair is well sculpted with individual strands that flow up and over the helmet and add some dynamism as though the wind is rushing through the hair as Star-Lord is in flight. The colouring of the hair on this head is perfect for the comic version.
From the head the muscular neck leads into a muscular tight t-shirted chest which is sculpted to show chest and ab detail. Its painted a flat grey. This ends in a grey belt with silve buckle and then goes down into some tight grey trousers complete with silver knee pads. The legs end in knee high brown rocket boots with black painted between the segmented panels.
Of course there is then coat, which is a lovely deep red and cast in a rubbery plastic to give it some flexibility. To Star-Lord's left shoulder is an added shoulder pane in gun metal grey and there is a second panel across the left forearm. The coat contains some very nice parts such as the sculpted zipper, with gun metal colouring. There is also buttons, seams and paneling. In areas the coat is also weathered with some darker red rubbed areas.
The arms end in brown gloves with black fingers. The two hands packed on the figure are designed to hold the Element blasters. These take some manoevering but once in place are gripped securely. Each blaster is a gun metal finish with gold detailing. When not in use, Diamond have designed a peg either side of Star-Lords thigh into which you can plug the blasters. While this is a nice idea, the peg is a little obtrusive being so visual when the guns aren't holstered.
While not listed as an accessory, there is also back pack that hooks over Star-Lord's shoulder and hangs over the back. This comes in a soft rubber to aid flexibility and is coloured in two brown tones. It is designed to have a closing clasp, but the rubber is too flexible for the clasp to hold - which is a shame. I am also not sure what the idea was behind this satchel being designed to open as there is nothing in the set that can go inside?
Star-Lord of course comes with a separate unmasked head. The head pops of easily and so swapping is pretty simple. My issue with the separate head is that it looks nothing like Star-Lord, in fact it looks more like Captain America. For one its clean shaven, when Star-Lord is usually depicted with stubble. The hair is the wrong colour too being too blond, and the fact it is a completely different colour to the hair on the helmeted head is just plain bizarre.
Another swap out part is the left hand. Here you can pop off the weapon holding hand and swap in an open palm. The swapping is far too easy, so easy in fact that the hands pop out with the least movement - very frustrating when trying to pose.
The open palm hand is designed to hold the purple crystal, which is cast in a clear plastic and isn't a bad design. It fits into the hand, but there is no peg or grip so it has to sit unsecured - be careful therefore if it falls out on display, particularly with the wrists being so weak.
Articulation on Star-Lord is a standard 16 points of movement that we see on most Selects. This starts with a ball jointed head with a good range of movement to either side as well as up and down. The arms have a ball jointed shoulder, bicep swivel and joined elbow. This lets you achieve a good range of poses, from firing to his hands up in surrender. The wrist joints will rotate as needed, but as I mention above watch out for the left hand popping out.
The torso has a torso joint and this helps for action poses, allowing the torso to twist and giving a touch of forward and backward motion.
The legs are the t-joint hips followed by a thigh swivel and double jointed knees. There is then an ankle joint to finish. All of these leg joints are incredibly loose, the worse I have seen on a Diamond figure for quite a long time. While Star-Lord will stand up straight it is tough to get him balanced right. You get more joy from a wider stance, and if you wish you can pose him kneeling.
What you will probably find however is your Star-Lord spends most of his time in a flying pose. To support this you get a two piece flight stand. The bar fits into a hole on Star-Lords back. This hole is usually hidden by the satchel which is less intrusive than say the weapon holsters. Ensure you slot the stand into the hole in the back of the figure, and not just through the hole in the coat - this can take some wiggling to find the hole and line up.
Once the bar is fitted you can slot the bottom section into the circular base. From here the stand will take the weight of Star-Lord in most flying poses. It can start to unbalance if you have too much weight out to the sides - for example having the arms out in a firing pose while the legs are out in the same direction.
One of the best parts of the release is the two rocket effects that come to help enhance the flying pose. These are cast in a clear plastic and start orange at the base and seem to variate out to a yellow flame at the tapered end. These slot into two holes on each boot, and once in place hold there really well - a nice tight fit.
Star-Lord fits scale wise with most Select figures - both movie and comic based. You can see him in our images with Doctor Strange and Ant-Man. He also scales with the Marvel Legends BAF Groot (if you choose not to go to the comic book Groot).
The diorama base is a solid piece that is designed to look like a mix of asteroid/rock with a metal platform. The rock is a little soft and not a great paint finish, while the metal section is angular with more gun-metal grey paint work. There are no peg holes or stands, and so this is simply a scenery piece. Like the way the Avengers Facility was engineered, this piece works well on it's own - or if you get them all will connect up (remember those connections I said to put safe) to the other bases. The base also works with the flying option as you can stick the flight stand at the back and have Star-Lord blasting up off the platform.
This Comic Star-Lord looks stunning with the helmeted head and the flight effects. Price wise you cant argue with the RRP of £19.99 and with the diorama and flight stand to boot.
It does however have some substantial flaws. None more so than a poor unmasked head that looks nothing like any comic book rendition of Peter Quill. The lower joints are really floppy to the detriment of posing. The left hand pops off to easy. And I don't like the pegs used for the guns - I'd rather have seen a hole on the thigh and peg on the gun.
Balancing up the RRP, visual looks and the flaws that probably puts Star-Lord at a 3 out of 5 result
