Marvel Legends 2023: Franklin/Valeria Richards! Yondu! PS5 Spider-Man! Squadron Supreme!

Hasbro didn’t hit us with a complete blitzkrieg of new Marvel Legends 2023 waves during this first month of the year, limiting themselves to just a singular new Build-A-Figure Series solicited (the X-Men Legends Ch’od BAF Series). But that doesn’t mean Hasbro wasn’t busy, as they instead announced a bunch of one-off releases (and put a few up for order), including Franklin & Valeria Richards, a new Advanced Suit PS5 Spider-Man, classic comics Yondu and more!

2023 Marvel Legends Fantastic Four Valeria Franklin Richards Box

Marvel Legends Franklin/Valeria Richards have been a mainstay of the Marvel Comic Books universe for decades now (as this iteration of Valeria was introduced around the new millennium), so it’s long overdue that we get modern-ish figures of Reed and Sue’s offspring for the Marvel Legends lineup. Val and Franklin are outfitted in the black and blue costumes worn by the main F4 members in the 2020 ML Super Skrull Series.

Hasbro Franklin Richards Valeria Two Pack

While neither figure has an alternate head, we do get interchangeable hands and some handheld accessories. Franklin isn’t exactly the academic-type that his sister is, so the official photos of him holding the flasks do seem a mite odd.

Marvel Legends Franklin Valeria 2-Pack Figures and Accessories

Fans had been asking for the Richards kiddos for years, but I suspect they were anticipating them as pack-ins or a singular 2-for-1 deal—they seem to be a mite lower-ranked on various retailer sites’ “Top Sellers” lists so far.

Box Hasbro 2023 Marvel Legends Action Figure

While these are important Fantastic Four family members in the comics, I’m skeptical there was a big appetite from collectors for a $50+ 2-pack of these characters in costumes that are several years outdated now. Props to Hasbro for doing these characters as toys at all, though—and I do dig the dyed-black hair on Franklin and the little pack-in Turg head.

Marvel Legends 2023 Gamerverse Spider-Man PS5 Figure

Joining Valeria and Franklin as a pre-order is a newly-updated Advanced Suit Spider-Man action figure from the upcoming Sony PS5 game. Supply definitely never met demand on the PS4 Spidey that was first exclusive at GameStop, so making the new GamerVerse Spider-Man 2 more readily available is clearly the right call.

PS5 Spider-Man 2 Marvel Legends Video Game Figure

That said, the Marvel Legends Spider-Man 2 figure is carrying a shocking ~$35 MSRP, making it a more expensive item than larger recent figures such as Retro Beast and Apocalypse. For a lot of fans, $35 for a normal-sized 6” figure will be a hard pill to swallow.

Hasbro Spider-Man 2 PS5 Action Figure 2023 Web Fists

On the plus side, we’re getting five web accessories with this Marvel Legends PS5 Spider-Man, including great web-line and web-fist effects. The pin-less super-articulation is also a win. As a sort of deluxe release to pair with the hype of the new game, I think this will sell just fine in spite of the inflated pricing.

Marvel Legends Squadron Supreme Two-Pack Box

What I think may not sell as strongly—at all—is the $50+ Squadron Supreme Marvel Legends 2-pack containing Doctor Spectrum and an updated Hyperion. This is the second ML Hyperion, as Hasbro previously released one in this costume in the Hit Monkey series about a decade ago.

Marvel Lregends Doctor Spectrum Figure with Effects Pieces

While getting a 6” Dr. Spectrum at all is a nice surprise, the mold being used for him is quite outdated and doesn’t seem worthy of being in a high-priced 2-pack. In fact, both toys have either pin-less elbows or pin-less knees, but not both. Awkward.

Hyperion Marvel Legends Figure Squadron Supreme

I also can’t imagine we’ll be seeing figures or Power Princess and Whizzer to add to the team any time soon either. I am real pleased that at least this is a version of Hyperion wearing his mask, though.

Marvel Legends Guardians of the Galaxy Classic Yondu Box

Finally, we’ve got a long-requested classic Guardians of the Galaxy Yondu Legends figure based on the original GOTG comic books coming exclusively to Target.

Classic Yondu Marvel Legends Action Figure

I’m a fan of the pre-MCU Guardians of the Galaxy comics, so it was a bit of a joy to see this version of Yondu finally revealed for the Marvel Legends series. Mega thumbs down on the antiquated tooling with pinned arms and legs being used, as well as a reused bow accessory that doesn’t feel cosmic at all.

Target Exclusive Yondu Marvel Legends 2023 Figure Close-Up
Overall, I’m satisfied with the character diversity from January’s reveals, but I’m not enthusiastic about many of the tooling choices made.

2023 Marvel Legends Revealed Fntastic Four PS5 Spider-Man Yondu Squadron Supreme

Pre-orders for Franklin/Valeria and PS5 Spider-Man are now available, with Yondu and the Squadron Supreme two-pack expected to open soon. I think the only one with a possibility of an early sellout at all is Spidey, though I’ll eventually buy the F4 kids no matter what.

Thoughts on this latest quintet of Hasbro Legends reveals, Marvel collectors? Will any of these toys be capturing -your- dollars?

Comments

Marvel Legends 2023: Franklin/Valeria Richards! Yondu! PS5 Spider-Man! Squadron Supreme! — 3 Comments

  1. I’ll be all over that Squadron Supreme 2-pack. I would love a complete Squadron set at some point in the next couple of years. The pins here but not there issue isn’t an issue at all for me. If one arm had a pin but not the other arm, then yeah, that would be wrong. At least the limbs match the same kind of limb. Good enough for me.

  2. PS5 Spidey for me even though you’re certainly right on that price point. Wish Hyperion was a solo act so the 2-pack is a pass for me. I have not a single GOTG figure in my collection so another pass but I definitely think it’ll be a highly sought after addition to the collections of fellow ML collectors. The Richards pack doesn’t interest me, either.

  3. I’m loving the Squadron Supreme and Yondu figures! Vance Astro was getting lonely as the only original Guardians figure. This is great news! Thanks for sharing.