Oh man! I've wanted this Marvel Legends of Colossus for a long time now! When this one came to my crosshairs, I was actually pretty excited because I like this modern outfit (modern back then) of Colossus. So how does this action figure fare? Let's get right into the review.
Strength based characters are a popular trope in all kinds of mediums. Video games in all genres have them (fighting games, RPGs, etc), anime, and of course, comic books have a plethora of these characters and Colossus falls into this category. I have never been one to gravitate towards these muscle bound characters for a few reasons; I like nimble, skilled, and *magic/projectile* based characters and there are more than enough times that I find characters like Thing and Hulk to be boring. Sure it's all about the way the character's story is written and the art, but in general, I stray away from the strong types, but Colossus on other hand have always been a favorite of mine as a strong character and definitely one of my favorite X-Man. First reason is in the aesthetics; he's not just wearing normal clothes, or just trunks, or hardly anything; Colossus actually has a uniform and a good mix with his mutant power to change his skin into metal. Also that mutant power just makes him stand out from the two popular strong guys of Marvel (Thing and Hulk); he can control WHEN he will turn into a brute and when he is in that form, he still retains his mental sanity. That and again, he just looks cool. He also has a pretty fantastic signature move with Wolverine: the Fast Ball Special.
Oh man that's some good photo angling or just a really good looking prototype. I'll explain why when we get into the review on the head swap outs.
Piotr Rasputin comes with two alternate heads and the BAF pieces for Warlock. ALTERNATIVE HANDS! Need them!
Colossus has had a few costumes in his comic book lifetime and they have relatively stayed the same in terms of the color scheme and idea. This particular outfit that Hasbro decided with is not his more prominent one, but it is definitely the closest one to the classic with the modern take. I love the classic for what it is and I love this one for making that one more 'acceptable' by today's standard. All in all, I love how his metallic skin always plays with this costume's look. Piotr almost always has some kind of red and yellow on his costume so his silver/metallic skin adds that dark contrast to a bright color palette. As far as any of his design, Colossus' flare always depends on the era. His original costume had those shoulder pads and boots that would only work best during that time of his creation but through the course of his history, the modern times took reigns and eventually we got this version, which, agian, I'm fine with. It's simple, stays true to his original design, and it clearly labels him as a member of an X-Man. I think Hasbro did a fine job both picking a design and putting it into action figure form. Though if they do a classics X-Men, I do wish they give us a classic costume Colossus.
He has a lot of sculpting as I expected and wanted out of a Colossus action figure. His metallic skin has some attention to it so that part is something I can appreciate. He is also a decent size to him despite him being an 'average' action figure, which I appreciate. And while the body is fitting for Piotr, the 'classic' head/face doesn't seem to settle well with the body. I'll show more when I compare the alternate heads.
The paint application is good for Hasbro with very few mishaps. There some sloppiness in the back but nothing glaring. I like the choices of red and yellow (mustard like) to give a good contrast to the metallic/silver skin color without it being too bright--save that brightness for the classic look. As far as his metal skin, it's the only thing that gets paint detail, but I already expect lack of shading and anything like that when it comes to coloring when we are talking about Hasbro. All in all, it's a good paint job overall.
There are two things i have qualms with this alternate head: it looks odd on this body--mostly to blame the fact that it doesn't sit right. It gives Piotr a LONG neck. And even if the head sits right, the color is off from the rest of arms. Though I would have been able to forgive that if doesn't sit too high.
His second head is a more recent look for Colossus. It's not classic, but then again, neither is this costume. The bearded look gives him age and with that extra gruff on his chin, it gives the deception that his head sits right on the neck joint (honestly, it sits the same as the other head). The color of his skin is still off, but the beard gives more of an illusion that it has the same color. This is definitely the go-to face for this Colossus action figure.
Colossus' articulation is slightly harder to work with. It's not that it's bad nor is it really lacking anything in terms of joints, swivels, etc; I feel the real issue with this is once again, the lack of variation with his hands. Colossus is a melee character, obviously, so having two fists is a must. An angry face would do well too. And I'm not sure how far off is Hasbro thinking about some special effects that simulates getting struck (like comic book sounds or what not), but seriously, they need to start getting into it. But I'm putting thoughts on an action figure that is a little dated; it is a 2017 action figure so I suppose I should give it some slack.
I wanted to like this action figure a LOT more than I do. I mean, overall, I love it and Colossus is a character I always want in my collection but he lacks in this Marvel Legends form. Aesthetically, give him the bearded look and he looks fine and since I don't do too much reposing of my action figures, I'm not a safe bet. Here's to hoping that Hasbro rereleases this muscle based character with their vintage line!
Until Next Time!
