Marvel Legends - LADY DEATHSTRIKE!

Marvel Legends: Xenmu/Villains Series Series -  Deathstrike - Hasbro 2020

I have many unpopular opinions in life, and one of the biggest ones is that I just don't care for the character Wolverine. He was always so gruff and predictable. His consistent bull-headedness would always be counter-balanced with a softer side, like befriending Kitty or Jubilee. But I always viewed these relationships as formulaic. Even his romantic interest in Jean seemed forced and without depth. Plus he was the go-to character in my youth that everyone claimed was their favorite and he always gets the story focus in movies, cartoons, and comics. All these factors combine to me just ignoring most of his storyline. The downside is that interesting side characters also get ignored. Yuriko Oyama is the daughter of the scientist who created the adamantium-grafting process that we know so well from Logan's backstory. Yuriko, with the help of Spiral, underwent similar adamantium grafting (and other cybernetic enhancements) to become the mercenary assassin Lady Deathstrike hellbent on killing Wolverine.

Marvel Gallery - ALL-NEW WOLVERINE!

Marvel Gallery PVC Statues - X-23 as Wolverine - Diamond Select Toys 2018

I'm always torn on my opinion of PVC statues. I have always been reluctant to buy larger collectibles (for display reasons) and a good deterrent has always been the price. Then a new trend of PVC/Vinyl statues began and that price factor was eliminated. The first offerings I remember were the DC Direct Ame-Comi statues. While I appreciated those designs, all my purchases suffered from poor engineering - namely unsupportive ankles. Later efforts at PVC statues had overall designs that I just wasn't thrilled with (weird poses, face sculpts, etc). This includes the Bishoujos, Femme Fatales, and various DST lines (They're all decent products of course, I'm just picky). But the one line that I can't seem to resist is Marvel Gallery. I love the character selection, I love the statuesque poses, and I love that they get some heavy-hitter sculptors on the payroll. I always love a Sam Greenwell sculpt and this Laura Kinney Wolverine is no exception. Let's check out the glorious All-New Wolverine below!

Marvel Legends - ALL NEW WOLVERINE!

Deadpool Legends: Wave 2 (Sauron BAF) - All-New Wolverine - Hasbro 2018

I've always wanted there to be a female Wolverine. I thought Logan was so iconic, but his gruff personality and violent tendencies were a little too one-note for me. I thought a gender swap would be so much more interesting. We've been teased with several female Wolverines over the years.. my favorite being Wolverina in What The?! #11 which essentially highlighted how silly the concept of a female Wolverine was to the masses back then. Then I had high hopes for Rancor in Guardians of the Galaxy and Wild Thing from the MC2 universe. They were both fine characters, but I wasn't in love with their designs and ultimately they didn't have staying power. I was loving the comic NYX when Laura Kinney first appeared and bared her claws (I collect comics by artist and I've always loved Joshua Middleton's work). I was so excited to see this new character in costume, but those high expectations were dashed when all she wore for 11 years were (in my humble opinion) boring stealth-looking outfits...

Marvel Legends - X-23 (X-Force)!

Marvel Legends - Deadpool Wave (Sasquatch BaF) - X-23 - Hasbro 2018

I'll admit I've never been a big fan of the Uncanny X-Force comic. I always thought of X-Force as a colorful and fun team of second-string mutants. The roster changed a lot throughout the years and for the most part I enjoyed all the iterations. But when Uncanny X-Force rolled out with gritty plotlines, dark costumes, and major characters like Wolverine, Angel, Deadpool, and Psylocke, it just seemed off. I'm obviously a minority in this opinion because everyone I know loves it and it's been around for 10 years now. But one thing I definitely loved was that it propelled X-23 into the mainstream. Laura Kinney was a young runaway in the pages of NYX who turned out to be a clone of Logan. I thought she was cool, but I never expected her to become as popular as she has. I especially loved her run as the All-New Wolverine (and I really hope we get a Legends figure of her!) But in the meantime we get this awesome X-Force version which looks great (whether I liked the comics or not). Let's check her out below!

3.75" Marvel Legends - ALL-NEW WOLVERINE!

Marvel Legends 3.75" Series - Wave 4 - X-23 Wolverine - Hasbro 2017

Back in 2004 I was a big fan of the comic series NYX. I had been fascinated by Joshua Middleton's art since I picked up Sky Between Branches and was readily buying any title he lent his talents to. The book was a weird and fresh take on the X-universe and I was very surprised that the breakout star was X-23, the mute disturbed and murderous young prostitute. It took me a long time to warm up to her character. In fact, it wasn't until the recent All-Star Wolverine series that I truly embraced her. It took a while, but when I fall, I fall hard. She is in my top five Marvel heroes right now. Plus I just came back from seeing Logan tonight and she positively owned that movie. Hopefully she keeps the mantle of Wolverine for a long time. The classic costume looks great on her. I know Logan will come back and resume his role eventually, but my fingers are crossed for a 6" Legends figure of Laura before he does. In the meantime, we got this pretty great 3.75" figure to tide us over. Let's check her out below!

January 2017 Collection of MARVEL MINI-MATES!

Marvel Mini-Mates Series Series 69 and Blind Bag Series 01 - DST 2017

This has been an amazing month for Minimates. It's uncanny how they come in such surges (at least the interesting female characters). We can go through an eleven month dry spell only to have six new figures come out within a week of each other. It can be pretty overwhelming. I'm combining the Marvel Series 69 releases with the first series of Marvel Blind Bag figures for this review. The Mini-Mates Series 69 is dubbed "Most Wanted" and is definitely impressive for including both an Enchantress and Tigra. (Indeed two of my most wanted figures). The Series 01 Marvel Bling-Bags offered us amazing figures of Silk and X-23 Wolverine, a cool unhooded variant of Spider-Gwen, and an unexpected Deadpool 2099. I'm really excited to see what other figures they squeeze into future blind bag assortments. I'm hoping we'll see a Gwenpool, Moongirl, and Riri Ironheart at the very least. Toy Fair always has a few fun reveals and I'm certainly looking forward to it. Let's check out all the ladies below!

Marvel's M2 1st Appearances WILD THING!

Wild Thing: The Daughter of Wolverine  - M2 1st Appearances - ToyBiz 1999

Marvel's MC2 Universe is one of those odd blips in the comic world where the stars seemed perfectly aligned for my tastes, but I was somehow utterly uninterested. An entire female-centric Marvel spin-off universe? It seems tailor made for me. But the art and stories just were not my cup of tea. I even waited 17 years to complete the action figure line! Toy Biz created a 4-figure Previews-exclusive line of the most popular characters from the MC2 universe. I've reviewed the 3 others over the years, but only picked up Wild Thing a couple weeks ago. Wild Thing is Rina Logan, the daughter of Wolverine and Elektra in this alternate future storyline. She appeared in J2, Last Hero Standing, Spider-Girl, and her own shirt-lived solo series (not to mention the 2007 Avengers Next reboot). My real inspiration is my recent adoration of Laura Kinney as the All New Wolverine. I'm guessing we'll probably see her in Marvel Legends form soon and knew I couldn't not have Wild Thing by her side. Let's check her out below!