Cyclops is a character that has oftentimes been accused of being boring over the years (perhaps because of his straight-laced boy scout personality). But in the Age of Apocalypse, Cyclops was a badass rebel with stubbly facial hair and only one eye remaining after a brutal battle where he blasted off Wolverine’s left hand. Scott Summers was a lock for the recently released Age of Apocalypse Legends Wave 2, but ironically, Cyclops’ alternate reality 6” figure ends up as boring as his 616 character is accused of being…

It was a genuine shocker when it turned out that the goodie-goodie iconic leader of the X-Men was a prelate of Apocalypse and working under Sinister in the breeding pits of this post-apocalyptic (no pun intended) alternate universe.

This Cyclops, with long Fabio hair and stubble, had a bit more of an edge to him and was more compelling off the bat than the vanilla version X-Men fans had known for many years.

So when the popular and recognizable Scott Summers didn’t make it into the inaugural wave of AOA Legends, I had little doubt we’d see him released in some form down the road. And now he has arrived! Here’s my review, although I’m sad to say Age of Apocalypse Cyclops is somewhat less excellent than I had hoped…

Remember how in the intro I mentioned that this iteration of Cyclops was a badass rebel with facial hair…? Apparently Hasbro forgot that tidbit, and made their 6” Cyclops AOA figure clean-shaven and smooth as a baby’s butt. This is a big omission in my book, and just not how I visualize Age of Apocalypse Cyclops in my mind at all. Thumbs down.

The best part of this figure, in my opinion, is the gold strapped belt and shoulder pad that acts as an add-on piece over the basic body mold. The add-on is covered in “battle damage” deco that adds a lot of intrigue to the overall aesthetic of the figure, and the multitude of pouches all over definitely makes this feel authentic to the 90s. The add-on costume bits also fit perfectly snug and don’t wiggle around at all. The ideal fit I always dream of for add-on costume pieces.

For actual accessories, unfortunately, Marvel Legends AOA Cyclops gets “Jack” and “shit” besides an obligatory Marvel Legends XMen Age of Apocalypse Colossus Build-A-Figure piece (the left leg).

Forget anything awesome like an angry, open-mouthed head or optic blast effects piece—we can’t even get a pointing hand or “optic blast aiming” hand for this Cyke. It boggles the mind that Hasbro chose to give zippo accessories of his own to the most dull action figure in this wave, condemning morally deficient Scott Summers to fighting via hand-to-hand fisticuffs for all eternity with his sole set of hands: two closed fists.

This leaves AOA Legends Cyclops with very limited potential for fun poses, despite having the usual solid articulation set of a modern Hasbro six inch figure. His full list of articulation includes:

—Ball-hinge head and shoulders
—Upper torso ab crunch
—Swivel waist, biceps, thighs and boots
—Pinless double-hinged elbows
—Double-hinged knees
—Hinged feet with ankle rockers

On paper all of this poseability sounds real good. But in execution, ML AOA Cyclops falls rather short on the posing front. His rebellious long hair gets in the way and inhibits a lot of his head’s range of motion, and his forearm armor mucks up the degree to which the pin-less elbows can bend.

I was surprised to see pinned knees that are a mismatch with the pin-less elbows, but much more frustrated to feel how rubbery and cheap the actual dark blue plastic used for the knee joints is. It’s been a while since I worried about the joints on a Hasbro Legends figure ripping off or breaking, but I do have that concern this time out.

Overall: rarely do I gave Hasbro a sub-par review score on their modern Marvel Legends figures, but AOA Cyclops really disappointed me. His complete lack of accessories, omitted facial hair, pinned knee joints with cheap-feeling plastic, restricted articulation and baffling choice of fists for hands make this the X-Men Legends figure I’ve liked the least in a very long time. With limited interesting poses that can be achieved and no extras to speak of, this is a ML Cyclops figure that I think may disappoint many.