Marvel Legends Black Bolt Review Black Panther Series 2018

I had been planning to kick off my series of Marvel Legends Black Panther series reviews with Erik Killmonger, but to my surprise, the majority of readers asked for a non-movie figure as the first review instead. In fact, the most requested figure is not even a new figure at all—it’s a repaint with a new head! The Marvel Legends Black Bolt figure is up for order now as a single figure—is he worth having if you don’t have the previous SDCC version (or even if you do)?

Black Bolt Marvel Legends Black Panther Series Figure Review
The Right:

Marvel went “all-in” on the Inhumans during the past few years, with many new ongoing comic books (including a Black Bolt solo title!) and the Inhumans TV Series that debuted in IMAX theaters. With this monumental push going on, surely the Inhumans would become one of the most beloved Marvel franchises, right…?

Well… no. The Inhumans TV Series was an unmitigated disaster, and all of the comics have had catastrophic sales. Even so, Black Bolt remains a quasi-iconic character, and deserved to be made available to the masses outside of a long sold-out SDCC exclusive set—and now he is!

Black Bolt Marvel Legends 2014 SDCC Exclusive Hasbro Action FigureFor those who aren’t familiar with the previous ML Black Bolt six inch figure, he was included with the San Diego Comic Con 2017 Exclusive Thanos Imperative box set. That figure is basically the exact same as this new Marvel Legends Black Panther movie series figure, but with two key exceptions.

Back of Box Marvel Legends Black Panther Black Bolt FigureFirst, the original convention exclusive version of Black Bolt came wearing his more modern black costume, whereas this iteration comes in the more recognizable navy blue costume.

Black Bolt Marvel Legends Inhumans Figure BoxThe blue color tone chosen is exactly what I wanted for this character along, and the paint apps are all perfectly applied. Thumbs up.

Black Panther Marvel Legends Black Bolt 6" Figure New HeadBut the main selling point of this figure above any other is the inclusion of a brand new head depicting a power-using screaming Black Bolt. To be totally honest, I like this new head more than any other aspect of this action figure!

Black Panther Legends Black Bolt Screaming HeadThe head is downright gnarly, with whited-out eyes and a blue mouth and tongue. The coolest part of the head, though, is the translucent blue “cosmic energy” bubbles emanating from the tuning fork on Blackagar’s forehead. This head is freaking neat, no question about it.

Close-Up of Marvel Legends Black Bolt Head NeutralThe expressionless neutral head from the original 2014 SDCC release is also included. This is actually a really nice head sculpt, and may look more natural (though far less fun) on many collectors’ shelves. The turning fork is made of rubbery plastic so it doesn’t break off, which is a positive worth mentioning.

Hasbro Black Bolt Marvel Legends 2018 Action Figure ReviewWhile this isn’t my favorite Hasbro body mold, it works swell for Black Bolt’s body type and has ample articulation built in, including ball-hinge head and shoulders, double-hinged elbows and knees, swivel thighs/biceps/boots/waist, upper torso ab crunch, swivel-hinge wrists and hinged ankles with rockers.

Back of Marvel Legends Black Bolt 2018 FigureThe wings are permanently affixed to Marvel Legends Black Bolt’s upper arms (thank God—I couldn’t deal with them falling off constantly like Marvel Universe Darkhawk’s), and to my surprise, they really don’t get in the way when posing at all. The range of motion of the wrists is slightly restricted, but otherwise the articulation scheme here is aces.

Black Bolt Marvel Legends 6" Figure and AccessoriesThe Wrong:

The Black Bolt Marvel Legends figure is a bit of an odd duck in that it’s a fine figure overall, but I feel like not enough has been done to make this figure feel “new” for this release.

My main beef is the lack of any accessories beyond the interchangeable head (and the Okoye Build-A-Figure leg). A sonic scream effects piece would not only make for a very dynamic inclusion, but could be reused with this year’s ML Songbird and an inevitable new Banshee figure.

Black Bolt Marvel Legends 2018 Figure ReviewIn addition, I’m bummed that there’s no interchangeable hands for this figure. Open palms for flying poses or even gesturing hands would have been welcome additions to this figure and really opened up more posing possibilities As it is, Black Bolt is prepped for a fist fight and not much else.

2018 Marvel Legends Black Bolt Six Inch Figure ReviewOverall: The Black Panther Legends Black Bolt figure is a solid “good” release, but lacks that little bit of extra “oomph” to get over the hump and be a great one. I much prefer the blue Black Bolt costume to the previously released black one, and the new sonic screaming head is straight-up awesome. Even so, the lack of any kind of interchangeable hands or effect pieces limits the posing possibilities. As this figure is a full-on repaint with an extra head being the only “newness” that we get, I think Hasbro could have given us just a bit more to make this the ultimate 6” Black Bolt figure.

GRADE: B

Comments

Marvel Legends Black Bolt Review Black Panther Series 2018 — 12 Comments

  1. Hoping this sells well enough to convince Hasbro to make Crystal. I know Ms. Marvel is the only thing people like from the Inhumans push, but I have a soft spot for Crystal.

    • I hope we someday get Crystal, Karnak, Triton and Gorgon. And, of course, Lockjaw. Yeah, I know, wishful thinking.

  2. Whether it’s notable or not, there is a difference with the gauntlets. The SDCC figure has a “V” notch in the gauntlets.

    The screaming head with the energy bubbles certainly makes the figure lively. I have the SDCC figure and wished Hasbro had stayed with the black costume. I could have bought 2 of the new figures and displayed the 3 phases of Black Bolt in action. The first phase with him looking up using the regular head; the second phase looking up using the regular head again, but attaching the energy bubbles (taken the new screaming head); and the third phase with him looking up with new the screaming head. Now I would have to buy 3 if I were to do this.

    • Ignore my gauntlet comment. Didn’t see the “V” notch as the gauntlets can be rotated.

  3. This was the 1st figure I picked up from the series. I agree that an extra set of hands probably would have moved this figure from good to great, but overall I’m pretty happy with it, especially as I don’t have the SDCC one. I wish I could get a Medusa to go with it, but it doesn’t appear that any Canadian retailers got in on that exclusive.

    Since it might be a bit before you get to review the title character of the series, a quick question – if I’m only going to buy 1 version of ML T’Challa, which one is best? Civil War, BP movie, Walmart Excl w/ cape and spear, or should I wait to see the pink one before making a decision?

    • Oh geez! What a hard choice! That’s going to depend on if you want a movie BP or a comic based one.

      For a movie Black Panther, I think I prefer Civil War. The detailing on the costume is more obvious on that one, and I just like the overall look of it more.

      For comic-based… well, you can’t beat that crazy pink Vibranium Armor Black Panther—unless you want a standard, traditional Black Panther, in which case the other Walmart exclusive will do.

      So I guess in the end… I’m no help at all! Haha. Sorry! They’re all good! =D

  4. Good review as usual! BB is not someone I need urgently although it would be nice to have him to pose next to Medusa. If he drops to bargain prices I would certainly pick him up though. I do approve of the navy blue outfit over the black one, although I can understand why some might prefer the other way around.

  5. I really wish I had picked up BB at Toys R Us last week. I was surprised to see those figures out already. I really want to add this figure to my collection (the Walgreens Medusa is lonely!) but I just had kind of already spent enough $ last week on toys lol. The one thing that I don’t like about this figure is that those “wings” look really strange when BB’s arms are down. I know it would be a big challenge for Hasbro to find a good soltion here, but from my perspective, the figure really only “works” in that one arm positon.

    • Fyi, the old 2007 Hasbro Black Bolt used a silver color, pleated, nylon fabric.