Dig the Groovy New Bronze Age MARVEL Retro Figures From HASBRO

Best new toy line I’ve seen in awhile…

As I’m sure you’re aware, the paucity of major comics conventions this year has forced various publishers and companies to do their own at-home versions. Hasbro, for example, held Hasbro Pulsecon over the last couple of days and by the far the coolest thing that hit my radar was a new 3 3/4-inch line called Marvel Legends Retro — sort of a cross between Super Powers, Secret Wars and Star Wars figures.

The six in the initial wave? Spider-Man, Captain America, Iron Man, Black Panther, Cyclops and Electro.

Dig these:

Give me retro-styled figures in classic outfits (i.e. Silver/Bronze Age) and I am sold.

But get this: The figures, branded Kenner, are sold in two-packs at $19.99 each. That’s right: Twenty bucks for two figures. The pairs come in boxes but each figure also gets its own carded clamshell.

Here are the pairings:

Spider-Man and Electro (natch)

Captain America and Black Panther

Iron Man and Cyclops

A few thoughts:

— There’s so much to love here, from the figures themselves to the boxes with the classic “Marvel Comics Presents” iconography. I can’t be sure but that looks like a lot of John Byrne artwork there (or a reasonable facsimile).

— The Spidey and Electro figures remind me mightily of the Spider-Man ’67 dream figures designed by Brian Dailey. (Click here for much more on that.) Naturally, I’d still love an action-figure series based on the cartoon but I’ll take what I can get.

— I also like how the Spidey/Electro box recalls a Silver Age-style comics cover.

— Now, how to get them? Well, dig this: They’re already up for pre-order at Hasbro Pulse. (Click here.) They’re due to ship in December. And evidently, they’ll eventually go wide, as well.

— There’s also an option to buy the whole wave. If you do, the set comes with variant versions of Black Panther and Iron Man.

— I hope this line takes off because there are so many characters I would love to see — especially from Spidey’s world.

MORE

— Dig These Groovy SPIDER-MAN ’67 Cartoon Action Figure Designs. Click here.

— Dig EVEN MORE Groovy SPIDER-MAN ’67 Cartoon Action Figure Designs. Click here.

Author: Dan Greenfield

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3 Comments

  1. What intrigues me about these new retro figures is that they use the Kenner logo at the bottom. It was 20 years ago that Kenner was absorbed into Hasbro.

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  2. These seem to be a perfect mash-up of Mego Pocket Heroes, Secret Wars and even Kenner Super Powers, filtered through Kenner’s own Star Wars 3.75″ line. The packaging is just gorgeous. I have the Cap/Panther set on order!

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  3. My favorite sign of quality control: the stripe directly under Captain America’s star is red… LIKE IT SHOULD BE

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