Thunderbolts* seemingly turned the tides for the Marvel Cinematic Universe in theaters earlier this month, and Fantastic Four: First Steps is hoping to continue the trend in July. But while Thunderbolts* will still be waiting until fall for its toy tie-ins to arrive, the Marvel Legends Fantastic Four figures are raring to go with today’s preorder and should arrive while the film in still in theaters! Let’s have a look at the first MCU movie figures of Marvel’s first family…

Individual Figure Pre-Order Links:
The Thing ► Entertainment Earth ► Amazon
Human Torch ► Entertainment Earth ► Amazon
Invisible Woman ► Entertainment Earth ► Amazon
Mr. Fantastic ► Entertainment Earth ► Amazon
Silver Surfer ► Entertainment Earth ► Amazon
Johnny Storm ► Entertainment Earth ► Amazon

In what looks to be one of the best case assortments in Hasbro Marvel Legends history, the case ratios for the Fantastic Four First Steps Legends figures will be as follows:
(1) Mr. Fantastic
(1) Invisible Woman
(1) Human Torch
(1) The Thing
(1) Silver Surfer [Shalla-Bal]
(1)Johnny Storm

Yes, that’s a 6-figure-case for a series that includes 6 different figures, including every figure at an equal one-per-case.

I think this is ideal since most collectors will buy the whole team together if given the choice. The downside will be the potential for Shalla-Bal to pegwarm and the for The Thing to be harder to get if he’s a hit with casual fans. I might have added an extra Thing to the case over costumed Johnny Storm, but I like that Hasbro made the hard call here to include Flame-On and Flame-Off Johnny en masse.

I’m genuinely a bit surprised to see Shalla-Bal in the first wave, as I feared the obligatory “fan backlash” to the movie’s female Silver Surfer might push her back to a later series or to a store exclusive. Hasbro is being bold, though, so the MCU Surfer of the Spaceways will be here in the inaugural (and perhaps only) wave for the movie.

While I’m really pleased to see Shalla-Bal in this wave (as I suspect she’ll die in the movie and not be relevant for future MCU series), her action figure itself feels -really- bland and plain. I like the cosmic effects base for her surfboard, but I really think she needed more effects to make up for being a paint-less molded figure. This Silver Surfer just looks dull to me, sadly.

The Thing movie figure looks terrific, in my opinion. I was sort of expecting him to have a shirt like he’s wearing in all the trailers so far, but a craggy, topless Thing is always welcome in my book.

The ever-loving blue-eyed Thing gets fist and grasping hands as accessories, which is all I’d ever really expect for a unique-molded, bulky $25 Hasbro figure. Looks nice.

Invisible Woman I’m less enthused by. While I think she looks like the character Sue Storm, I’m not as convinced the figure resembles the actress playing the role, Vanessa Kirby.

Invisible Woman gets swap-out fists and an always-popular invisible force field effect, although what I -really- was dying for was a HERBIE robot or baby Franklin accessory. Hopefully both of those will still come eventually.

Sue’s brother, Johnny Storm, is the sole character with two figures in the wave. This is sort of necessitated by Johnny’s fire powers, and I’m glad that we’re not stuck in an either/or situation.

I actually really enjoyed Chris Evans as this character back in the day, so Joseph Quinn has to prove himself to me. This Johnny Storm only has a passing resemblance to Quinn, though, which is fine by me for the moment since I have a lot more attachment to this character than the guy playing him. I appreciate the flame effects pieces.

Though I’m a tad soft on the flamed-off Johnny Storm, the flamed-on Human Torch Legends figure looks really, really great to me. The ribbed texture costume makes logical sense for a reason to include the classic vertical stripes on the Torch in flaming form, and the translucent plastics here look slick.

Human Torch has alternate open hands (with flame effects) that also look swell. This is the other figure in the wave I think could be hot (no pun intended, I swear) if the character is a hit in the movie.

Finally, we’ve got the premiere Marvel Legends Reed Richards movie figure. I’m very used to bearded Reed from the comics, so I’m surprised the mustachioed Pedro Pascal Mr. Fantastic is still throwing me so hard.

Mr. Fantastic gets both swap-out fists and swap-out stretched arms, but this is a character that practically screams out for a deluxe version with more elongated parts. I’d be very surprised if we don’t see that by next year.

The Marvel Legends Fantastic Four First Steps wave is up for pre-order now at EE with a July ETA, and at other stores like Amazon and BBTS with an August anticipated delivery. I’m not in love with the set, but I also don’t see any huge misfires in it, so I’m happy enough to lock in a pre-order for the whole case of 6. Hopefully these arrive in time to thrive alongside the movie release.
What do you think of these Marvel Legends Fantastic 4 movie figures, Marvel collectors? Are you planning to snag any (or all) of them for your own MCU shelves?