Pulp Arcana Studios: To Me, My (Retro) X-Men

Growing up as a comic book loving kid in the 80’s, you kinda pledged your allegiance. A little like being either a Coke person or a Pepsi person, you ended up leaning towards either Marvel or DC. For me, Marvel was always my comic universe of choice. And not just any Marvel, oh no. I was deep into Chris Claremont and John Byrne’s run on The Uncanny X-Men. This is often cited as one of the definitive runs for the marvelous Marvel mutants, and rightly so. This run gives us the Hellfire Club, Alpha Flight, and the absolutely iconic Dark Phoenix saga.

The designs of the characters from this era have always been my favorite for these characters, so when I saw that Hasbro Pulse was putting out a two-pack of Jean Grey in her Marvel Girl green outfit and a classic comic Cyclops, I knew I was in. The figures are being released under the X-Men 97 subline, but they absolutely work for comic figures. Now that I’ve got them in hand, let’s see how these figures match their legendary comic counterparts.

A PULP ARCANA FIGURE FIELD REPORT Mission Brief:

Artifact Identified:

Jean Grey and Cyclops

Marvel Legends Hasbro Pulse Exclusive X-Men 97

Hasbro

OUT OF THE CRATE:

The packaging for the two-pack is simple but effective. The box has bold, bright colors, evoking the vibrant art style of the fantastic X-Men 97 show. The color combination of black, blue, red, and yellow is striking and would look great on a shelf for all of you in-box collectors.

The figures themselves are fully on display in a clear plastic window, allowing us to see the sculpts and paint work, as well as the accompanying accessories. Art work on the sides show the characters and the back has some nice photo work showing off the figures in some striking poses. There’s nothing overtly amazing about the packaging, but it does look great.

THE DEVIL’S IN THE DETAILS:

With the figures in hand, let’s look at each one individually. Starting with Jean Grey, the first thing that stands out is the color palette. The green of the dress is slightly muted, and not quite a full emerald. It looks good, especially when contrasted with the rich orange of the hair. The mask, gloves, and boots are definitely more of a gold color rather than a yellow. While I like the choice in theory, in execution, the gold paint feels a little more dull than I might like for something with comic and cartoon roots.

The gold also draws attention to one of the more disappointing aspects of the Jean Grey figure. Rather than any sculpting for the boots, they are defined strictly by paint. Gold for the boots, with a black line down the middle. At a distance, it looks fine, but up close, it is very noticeable. Further, if your main use for the figures is photography, like me, then this is not ideal.

Included with the figure are two head sculpts. The standard head has a neutral expression, with the hair more in a more natural, falling pose. The face looks great, with the eyes, well-painted behind the mask. The second head has things I like both better and worse. The second portrait is more of a fighting grimace, with the hair flowing a bit. This is definitely my preferred head, as when I pose Jean, I want her showing off her tremendous psionic power, and the hair is a good way to capture that. However, the expression on the mouth doesn’t quite work as well I hoped. It is not bad, but it just doesn’t quite hit the mark.

In addition to the two heads, Jean also comes with a set of expressive hands and translucent effect pieces that that fit over them. These are a nice expression of her powers and definitely a welcome addition to the pack.

Moving on to Cyclops, the design and colors are note perfect to the comic and cartoon design. A lot of people prefer the Jim Lee era Cyclops design, with the exposed hair and the yellow harness breaking up the blue. I can acknowledge that is an objectively cooler design, but this solid blue, with the covered head and the yellow boots and gloves look exactly like the Byrne era design. This is what I was looking for, and I am super happy with it.

One thing to mention is that there is a noticeable ab crunch cut that breaks up the silhouette of the blue body suit a little bit. This is always a double edged sword.

Cyclops comes with some interesting accessories. The head that comes in the package is a neutral expression with translucent red in the visor. While slim, the red in the visor does catch the light really nicely. The second head is more interesting though. It has a grimacing combat portrait, but what really makes it cool is the visor has a slot that allows the included effect part to fit right in. Admittedly, I had a bit of a time getting the effect part to fit snugly at first, but once I flipped it over, it fit beautifully, even holding up the substantial weight of the effect. Now, this means the textured side of the optic blast effect is on the bottom rather than the top, but it is a very small price to pay for how good this effect looks when in place. The optic blast effect is a wide crimson beam that comes with an explosive splash that attaches to the end. This looks shockingly good when attached to Cyclops visor.

Cyclops also comes with two fists, an open right hand, and a left hand with the first two fingers extended in a sort of “finger gun.” This is great for posing, but where it shines is allowing Cyclops to touch his visor and look like he is firing the optic blast manually. We’ll see how this plays out when we take a look at articulation.

Overall, both figures look great. However, I do feel that Cyclops, while a simple design, is the stronger figure in terms of aesthetics. Jean Grey has some drawbacks that, once noticed, detract from her overall visual impact.

MOBILITY AND MANEUVERS:

On to articulation, and here the difference between the figures in this two pack becomes much more pronounced. With Jean Grey, there are some definite limitations when it comes to articulation. The molded plastic of her skirt, while flexible, absolutely inhibits movement at the hips. In all directions, actually. She has a limited front kick up because of the skirt and really no backwards movement of the leg at all. The skirt piece also inhibits the splits quite a bit.

The knees are double-jointed pinless joints, as per the usual for modern Marvel Legends. However, a number of people online have reported breakage of their Jean Greys at the knees. I don’t usually apply heat to Marvel Legends figures, but I absolutely took the hair dryer to Jean Grey when I got her out of the box, and during posing sessions for photos. This helped the joints move smoothly.

Perhaps the most frustrating aspect of trying to pose Jean Grey is an issue that affects a number of female characters in the Marvel Legends line. High heels. Her high heels make standing this character far more of a process than is needed, and they do not do much to enhance the overall look, especially with the lack of sculpted boots. It may seem like a small thing, but for anyone who is looking to display her on a shelf or especially if you are trying to get a photo taken with careful posing and props, it’s an issue.

The second head sculpt, the one with the more dynamic hair, does have some limitations because of that hair. It restricts movement of the head quite a bit, especially when trying to get her to turn her head. The default head allows for a bit more freedom, but not by much.

When put all together, this is easily one of the more disappointing articulation packages I have gotten from a Marvel Legends figure.

Cyclops, on the other hand, is far more impressive when it comes to articulation. With the sleek character design, there is nothing to impede movement on the figure, so the pinless, double jointed elbows and knees get full range. For the legs, there is both a boot cut and a thigh swivel which, when combined with the nice ankle joints, gives a great range of poses and stability.

I’ve admittedly become a sucker for a good butterfly joint, and Cyclops definitely sports some impressive shoulder movement. These allow some fantastic posing options when firing the optic blast effect. Combined with the expressive hands and a surprisingly good neck, the figure is able to achieve some great posing.

A shout out has to be given for the way the effect fits into the visor. As I mentioned above, once you figure out how it goes in, it stays in really well. Even better, the neck can hold the extra weight just fine.

Between the two figures, Cyclops is the clear winner in terms of articulation. It is a bit of a shame that Jean can’t match him, and it does limit the options when you are posing them as a pair.

RECOVERED EVIDENCE:

FINAL RECKONING:

As a two-pack, this is a bit of a mixed bag. Cyclops is a great figure, doing everything that you want a Marvel Legend to do. Jean Grey however is a bit disappointing, especially after some of the recent great figures that have been coming from Hasbro in this line. If, like me, you have a particular affinity for these particular costumes, then this two-pack is definitely worth it. However, if you are just looking to add to a general X-Men collection, there are stronger alternatives available in the line.