Pulp Arcana Studios: Baring Her Claws

Marvel Legends X-23

Here at the Pulp Arcana Studios corner of Fanboy Planet, the Marvel Legends Deadpool and Wolverine wave has gotten some attention. The brown suit Wolverine may have taken the top spot in my collection for favorite Wolverine. The ridiculous Cowboypool turned out to be a ridiculous amount of fun. In fact, both of these figures were so good that they inspired me to seek out an additional figure from the wave. I wanted to see if they could keep the hits coming.

So that brings us to today, and our look at the Marvel Legends Deadpool and Wolverine X-23. I’ve found the Legends female characters to be occasionally lacking in the past, but I have high hopes that this MCU X-23 may be the one to break the slump. Come along and let’s see if this figure can hang with the other bangers.

A PULP ARCANA FIGURE FIELD REPORT Mission Brief:

Artifact Identified:

X-23

Marvel Legends Deadpool and Wolverine

Hasbro

OUT OF THE CRATE:

This is our third figure in the Deadpool and Wolverine wave, so not a lot of surprises here on the packaging. I do like that Marvel Legends does lean into differences for the different waves, and the little touches that they have added to this packaging works nicely.

I mentioned it in a previous review, but it bears repeating here. Whenever you are getting a Wolverine (or Wolverine adjacent) figure, you really want to look at the claws. This X-23 is absolutely no exception. I got mine through Big Bad Toy Store, and it was a bit of a risk. A lot of the X-23’s that I have seen on the shelves have some janky claws. However, I am very pleased that mine arrived in flawless condition. Still, it was a little dicey going in blind.

THE DEVIL’S IN THE DETAILS:

Once freed from the plastic prison, X-23 looks really good. We have to start with the two included head sculpts. Both portraits are spot-on representations of Dafne Keen. When we have these MCU figures that need to emulate the appearance of a real person, we can really see how impressive the work on these figures really is. You get two different portraits, one with straight hair and one with wind-blown hair. However, as good as the faces look, they look almost identical. There is no variation in the expression, only in the hair. And while I love the look of the neutral expression, I would have loved an angry face to capture X-23’s feral combat style.

The rest of the figure looks great as well. The proportions for the arms and legs seem just a little better on this figure than on some of the previous female Marvel Legends I’ve looked at. I’ve found that for a lot of the female characters, there is something slightly off about them. X-23 looks fantastic, and whether this is due to the Legends team improving or that with street clothes, the look of the figure just works better, I don’t know. But I am glad to see it.

In regards to the look of the clothing, it is accurate to what we see in the film. The colors are not eye-popping in the way that we might see with the comic or cartoon sublines, but the outfit works well and brings a piece of the movie to your shelf. There is a nice bit of deco on the shirt, and the removable vest adds a great bit of texture and complicates the silhouette in a really good way.

In terms of accessories, X-23 gets a pair of clawed hands of course, as well as a gripping hand and an open and expressive hand. Now, it is a little odd that the clawed hands come with the fists wrapped in black while other hands are bare. It is a small matter, but it is an interesting choice.

Attached to the feet, X-23 has a single claw blade on each foot. These can be removed, but when taken out they leave a little slot still in the boot. It is barely noticeable unless you look very closely, but I did feel like I wanted to point it out. Especially since without the claws, this figure would work well as a non-super hero in your shots or scenes. I love this flexibility.

The remaining accessories are a fun mix. She comes with her iconic sunglasses that appear in both Deadpool and Wolverine and Logan where the character of Laura/x-23 first made it to the screen. These fit great on both heads and remain on the head surprisingly well. The figure comes with a backpack that sits comfortably on the shoulders and a Juggernaut helmet from the movie as well. All told, this is a nice collection of fun accessories that capture some fun cinematic moments.

MOBILITY AND MANEUVERS:

Both Cowboypool and Brown Suit Wolverine were shockingly good in the mobility department, so I was excited to get X-23 out and posing. This was definitely fun, but I’d be lying if I said there weren’t some minor disappointments in the movement department.

Let’s start with the good. I found the upper body posed really nicely. The arms have good elbow joints and move well at the shoulder. I do wish it had some butterfly joints to help with the combat posing, but it is a relatively small matter. I was pleasantly surprised at what I could do with the ab joint. While It doesn’t give a huge crunch, there was some nice, subtle posing I was able to get in the upper torso that looked great on camera.

Now for the not so great. The lower body kind of falls short. Movement at the hips was more limited than I would have liked. You can kind of cheat a bit to get the legs to kick higher, however when I did this, I noticed that it was grinding the upper leg into the lower torso piece quite a bit. The addition of drop down hips to this figure would have done wonders for what you could do with the legs. Once you are past the hips, things get better. There is a thigh cut and some really good double jointed knees, and the ankles work well. Thankfully, X-23 is rocking some combat boots as opposed to the dreaded high heels that we have seen in the past with Jean Grey.

RECOVERED EVIDENCE:

FINAL RECKONING:

So where does that leave us with X-23? I don’t think she quite reaches the heights of fun that I got with the other figures in the wave. However, she looks fantastic and does pose well. The face portraits are fantastic. I found I had more fun shooting her than posing her though. I would recommend the figure because I think with the removable vest, the backpack, and the sunglasses, you not only get a great X-23, but a really good civilian figure as well, and I love that versatility.