It’s a slow start to the week as far as fresh Marvel toy news to report goes, but that’s okay, because it means I get to dig into my humongous cache of figures needing reviews! Last week I talked about the Marvel Select Groot figure that surpassed all expectations, and this week let’s take a look at the Guardians of the Galaxy team leader. The exclusive Marvel Select Star-Lord figure is now in-stock online–should you order one? Read on…

The Right:

Star-Lord is a character I didn’t give two figs about until the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie came out in 2014, but he quickly became a favorite character of mine after seeing the genius Chris Pratt portray of him.

I have a Hot Toys Star-Lord and several movie Marvel Legends of him that I love, but I’ve been seriously wanting a modern Marvel Comics version of Star-Lord for a while now. And thanks to Diamond Select Toys, now I have one that just may be unbeatable…

As soon as you get this figure out of the package, it hits you how very many things are going on with this Starlord figure and how much work went into it. The figure itself is a 100% new sculpt, featuring a shirt-wearing body with long jacket on top, belt at the waist, nicely-sculpted grey pants, metal knee pads, and wonderfully-detailed jet boots… with removable flame effects pieces!

The paint apps on the straps and panel linings on the rocket boots take an aspect that’s boring on many figures and make it something truly exceptional here. Their uniqueness makes these some of my favorite boots I can remember seeing on an action figure.

Meanwhile, the effects piece flames for the rocket boots are something we commonly get with Iron Man figures these days, but feel fresh and exciting coming with a Star Lord action figure.

There’s a clear flight stand with pole included that slots into the Marvel Select Star-Lord figure’s back which effectively holds him aloft in the air. It seemed a bit flimsy, but I’ve had no problems whatsoever getting it to do its job. (It is disappointing that the stand has no way to slot into the larger Guardians of the Galaxy interlocking base, though.)

I’ve heard some hate already for the paint color chosen for Star-Lord’s hair: a bright Pikachu yellow blonde. I think that this is a result of the color-fluid nature of Star-Lord’s hair in the comics, as I’ve seen Peter Quill with everything from brown hair to red hair to this bright blonde in the comics during the course of the last year or so.

Personally, I think the bright yellow hair really pops–I like it. Toy companies seem to as well, since the Gentle Giant Marvel Babies Animated Star-Lord statue has this same yellow hair. It gets a thumbs-up from me, but your aesthetic tastes may vary.

What makes me especially love the yellow hair is largely how well it contrasts to the dark gunmetal grey of the Star-Lord mask, which is slick-looking and well-sculpted. The opaque red lenses on the mask look tremendous as well.

Diamond Select Toys did their usual spectacular job with the paint on this action figure. Star-Lord’s jacket zipper and shoulder pad have paint deco, the aforementioned paint apps  on the boots are awesome, and even the shading on Star-Lord’s shirt really adds an air of realism to the figure. In the paint department, this figure gets an “A+” from me.

For accessories, Star-Lord gets two expertly-painted Element Guns, a satchel that straps over his shoulder and adds a lot of depth to the aesthetic of the figure, an alternate head (that I’ll talk about momentarily), a piece of interchangeable display base, a translucent pink crystal, an alternate left hand to hold the crystal, the jet boot effects piece flames and the flight stand.

Man–! That’s a ton of accessories! I can’t believe DST was able to cost it all out and still sell this newly-sculpted 7″ figure for a mere 5 bucks more than a Hasbro Marvel Legends…! The Element Guns can even peg onto Star-Lord’s thighs for storage!

The one area where I suspect some folks will say this figure falls short is the articulation, but I’m very happy with even that. Star-Lord features hinged ankles with rockers, double-jointed knees, swivel boots/thighs/biceps/waist, swivel-hinge hips, ball-jointed upper torso and head, and ball-hinge shoulders/elbows/wrists.

To be perfectly honest, Marvel Select is approaching Marvel Legends levels of articulation with this figure! In my opinion, the articulation is outstanding here. I’ve got no complaints about the huge range of possible poses for this figure.

The Wrong:

Almost equal to how much I love Star-Lord’s masked head sculpt is how much I hate his unmasked head sculpt. I defended this head when it was revealed, but in person, it looks just plain awful to me.

I absolutely should not–and do not–expect any likeness to Chris Pratt, as this is a comics-based Peter Quill. But the head sculpt we got here just does not look right to me at all. The unmasked head here lacks any charm or expression at all you’d expect from a guy like Star-Lord, and frankly looks like someone who’s old.

I feel like this looks closer to a mash-up of old Han Solo from The Force Awakens and Nathan Fillion than any version of Star-Lord I’ve ever seen, though my wife insists the head is the spitting image of John Smith from Pocahontas. For some unknown reason, the hair style and color are also completely different on the unmasked head. Regardless, it’s not a good Peter Quill head and is never going on my figure again.

In addition, the plastic used for the knees joints on this figure is pretty poor. While the knees on mine are just loose and wobbly, he can still stand up and pose without too much trouble. I’ve heard from other readers who have had to have theirs exchanged due to the knees being to weak to stand up, unfortunately.

Also, every time the peg on the backpack satchel comes loose, it is a total pain to get it to stay shut again due to the rubbery plastic used. And honesty, since the Star-Lord Marvel Select figure doesn’t even come with anything to put into the satchel, I wish it didn’t open at all. A small annoyance, but one my OCD forces me to point out.

Overall: I think the Diamond Marvel Select Star-Lord figure is a great-looking figure with incredible paint deco that’s a ton of fun to look at–until you try to stick his unmasked head on him, which just looks awful. My Star-Lord also has some wobbly knee joints and a satchel that won’t stay shut, and I’m a little frustrated with the flight stand not being integrated into the interlocking base.

Make no mistake, though: I love this figure. From the sculpting on the boots and jacket to the beautiful paint wash bringing out the details to the superb accessories such as the Element Guns and Jet Boot effects pieces, this figure is filled with cool touches. As a masked Star-Lord comics-based figure, I don’t see this being surpassed anytime soon–get this exclusive figure now before he sells out online and explodes on the aftermarket.

GRADE: B+