Pros : Figures are very well sculpted and articulated well Cons : Flesh tones on both are too glossy. All weaponry is flimsy and arrives bent and mishapen
Marvel Legends did a pretty decent job of covering off the key Thor Ragnarok characters with a wave of basic releases covering Thor, Loki and Hela and a BAF Hulk included with them (and a few comic characters).
This two pack added Valkyrie to that list - and gave us a variant Thor as seen towards the climax of the movie back on Asgard.
While being a 2-pack, this set still holds on to the key design traits of the current Legends line with its scooped rounded sides and large window. It also carries the same electric blue colour scheme as the Ragrarok single figures.
Thor sits to the right with Valkyrie on the left. They are separated by Heimdall's sword down the centre of the pack.
The side panels are decorated in artwork fromm the movie, but in a single colour scheme - electric blue. The left hand spine has an image of Thor, while the right had Valkyrie.
Round the back of the box we get an image of the figures themselves and a short piece of text which talks about "these Asgardian warriors proudly defend the legacy of they realm".
The box opens by either of the two side panels and the inner tray slides out. The figures are pushed into and held within the inner clear tray, there are no fiddly twisty ties.
We will look at Valkyrie first and she has a very good likeness to Tessa Thompson - a testament to the facial printing that Hasbro are using to good effect on the Legends figures at present. The head carries the same white facial paint that we see in the movie around Valkyries eyes. it doesn't however go up far enough onto the forehead.
The skin tone is glossy that does detract ever so slightly from the finish overall.
The figure represents Valkyrie as we see her in the first half of the movie. This armour is very well replicated onto the figure and there is a nice degree of detail in the specific armoured components. The belt in the centre is a loose piece that can be moved up and down. The cloak is cast from a similar flexible plastic and this hangs loose from a glued socket on the shoulder.
The legs are quite plain in contrast to the upper body. They have thigh holster strapped to each leg. While the knife hilts to protrude from these holsters, they are for show only.
Valkyrie has a standard 16 points of articulation. The head is ball jointed and an rotate fully with the hair able to flex as required. There is a torso joint that grants a lot of forward and backward motion - but with an annoying "click" as you do this as though something is catching within.
The arms are ball jointed at the shoulder and can be raised all the way up with a very satisfying ratchet click with each movement. The shoulder armour even flexes with the arms as they hit the highest point. The elbows are then a single rotating joint and we get a rotating pivot at the wrist.
The legs are ball jointed at the hips with a thigh swivel and double jointed knees. The skirt of the armour poses no issues to leg movement as it moves with the legs. The ankle rockers are tight and ratcheted too - standing Valkyrie is not a problem.
Valkyrie comes with her sword and a sheath to keep it in. Sadly it arrives warped and is made of an extremely rubbery plastic. The blade is a translucent blue colour while the hilt is painted silver.
The sword fits into the hands really well, and with the articulation in the arms you can get poses where Valkyrie is drawing the sword from the sheath as well as the standard action poses.
When not in use I expected the sheath to slot into the armour somewhere? Sadly not, and instead the best you can do is to tuck it into the flexible belt. This actually holds it well, but due to the shape of the back of the figure will further warp the sword blade.
Moving on to Thor now, and the face sculpt here is probably more impressive than Valkyrie. It captures Hemsworth pretty well especially the eyes. The beard is perhaps a touch too heavy and the hair isn't great as there are big gaps around the back where it would have been easier to have the hair meet the line of the head.
This is Thor was we see him on Asgard, so much of the Sakaar armour has been lost. We still get the shoulder amour with the blue sheen and red paint. This red paint continues down the armour and onto the left leg also. A loose strap crosses the chest and holds the top of the deep crimson cloak in place. The other end of the cloak then plugs into a socket on the figure's waist.
My one criticism is that Thor has perhaps had his upper torso over exaggerated by the sculptors and the shoulders seem very broad and then come in sharply to a disproportionately thin waist.
Thor carries a couple of extra points of articulation vs Valkyrie. 19 in total when you count them up.
We start with the head which is ball jointed, and also on a pivot so the head rotates and looks up and down. There is then an ab crunch mid torso in the familiar Legends style. Most of this joints movement is leaning backwards, but it can bow Thor forward a touch. And below this ab-crunch is a waist swivel for more upper torso movement.
Arms are ball jointed at the shoulder and both of these can be raised fully - the left arm does come up against that shoulder armour, but the amour flexes with the arm. The elbows are double jointed and because there is no rotation a bicep swivel sits above them. The wrists are then a pegged pivot - and here we have a couple of extra hand options to swap in and out depending if Thor is wielding the sword or summoning some lightning. These hands pop in and out easily.
The legs start with ball jointed hips and move down to a thigh swivel and double jointed knees. The ankles are pivots and like Valkyrie, Thor is easy to stand and pose.
Thor comes with Hofund, the sword usually wielded by Heimdall to open the Bifrost. It is quite ornately sculpted with engraving across the hilt. Sadly the engraving is lost by a very basic paint scheme - it needs a wash - and the final look is cheap and nasty. The plastic is also very flexible and Hofund is warped on arrival.
A more impressive accessory is the Lightning effect. This is cast in translucent rubbery plastic and wraps itself around either of Thor's forearms to look as though he is summoning the lightning power.
I would have preferred a couple of lightning pieces - perhaps even at the expense of Hofund. You can start to see the dynamism they add to Thor when in use. I guess the other ask, in a similar vein, for the god of Thunder might have been a secondary head with the electric blue eyes?
For those who follow my page and reviews - you will know my usual Marvel collection is from Diamond Select and not Hasbro. This purchase was made to suplement my Select display with Valkyrie as thankfully Hasbro have made her oversized - as they have done with Hela. You can see some comparison pictures in the gallery below.
That being said, I am pretty impressed with the full package here from packaging through to the figures decor, that face printing technology and the articulation. The weapons are less than impressive and are too flexible and poorly painted for my liking. The other issue for UK collectors is that this set has not been a mainstream release anywhere other than the US - meaning you will be paying a small premium to get this from your independent supplier.
I score Thor & Valkyrie a 4 out of 5.
As individual figures we score them as follows
Thor
Valkyrie
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