Last year’s inaugural wave of X-Men Marvel Legends figures brought with it a new version of the patriarch of X-Force, Cable, and if the second wave is any indicator, it looks like we may get one member of X-Force in future waves as well. And in the X-Men Legends 2017 wave that hit stores this winter, that member is Shatterstar! Marvel Legends Shatterstar (and the rest of the X-Men Legends Series) are finally available online–and once you get him, you’ll have the best toy of the character ever…

The Right:

I’m not even going to try to start off with a blurb about Shatterstar’s backstory, because despite having bought and read all of the X-Force and X-Factor comic books that he’s appeared in, it’s so convoluted that I frankly do not understand it.

But even if you’re not too familiar with the sword-wielding gladiator from the Mojoverse (or unable to comprehend his history–like me!) who happens to be both the son and genetic father of Longshot, there’s no denying that this is one cool action figure.

Shatterstar has one of the more complicated head designed we’ve seen from Hasbro this year, what with the gladiator helmet and ponytail and braids and eye tattoo, but the Marvel Legends Shatterstar head has been sculpted to perfection.

The paint wash on Shatterstar’s helmet looks great, and the paint deco on his hair ties add more color and aesthetic charm to the figure that you’d expect. The sculpt of the hair is well-done, and the gold eye and black star tattoo are spot-on. This just may be one of the best Marvel Legends heads ever!

The basic figure mold used here has theee extra add-on parts that greatly enhance the figure: a leg band, a belt, and a one-piece cape/pauldron combination. All of these supplements fit reasonably tightly (unlike poor Jim Lee Cyclops), and the wash on the belt and shoulder pauldron make them look highly realistic. This is the way to do add-on costume parts right!

The articulation on the Shatterstar Marvel Legends figure is up to the usual standard level of excellence we’ve come to expect: double-hinge knees and elbows; swivel waist/boots/thighs/biceps; ab crunch; ball-hinge neck/shoulders/wrists; hinged ankles with rockers and ball-jointed hips.

There’s a good range of motion all-around, and the flexibility is more than enough to get Shatterstar into some awesome-looking sword-fighting poses.

And speaking of swords: Hasbro went above and beyond by giving us two brand new sword molds here: a double-bladed sword and a regular sword. I know some folks wanted two double-bladed swords, but I prefer the variety since ‘Star didn’t always have two double-bladed swords.

The swords aren’t perfect (more on that momentarily), but they do look fairly accurate and add a ton of authenticity to this Shatterstar action figure. I dig them.

The Wrong:

For the most part, Hasbro has absolutely nailed Shatterstar (in a different way than Rictor did, of course) with this X-Men Legends figure. But there’s two avoidable things that hold this figure back from perfection: the paint apps and the swords.

The paint deco in the X-Men Marvel Legends Warlock Series is mostly terrific, but Shatterstar is the exception. For whatever reason, the black paint painted over the white legs on mine is extremely sloppy.

The lines are uneven, there’s missing spots of black, there’s some black paint rubbed on the knee where it shouldn’t be… the paint applications just aren’t at the same level here as the rest of the wave.

In addition, while I hugely appreciate Hasbro giving us two all-new swords with Shatterstar, they look really, well… plastic. Both swords are totally unpainted, so they just look like matching grey plastic hilts and blades. I still like the swords, but they could have been a lot better with just a bit of paint wash and slightly sharper-looking edges.

Overall: With so many more prominent characters included in the Marvel Legends Warlock Series, I wasn’t really hyped for Shatterstar. But maybe that’s a good thing, because this figure blew my expectations out of the water.

The sculpt and design of this Marvel Legends Shatterstar figure are excellent, and his dynamic posing possibilities are hugely eye-grabbing. Some of the paint deco on my figure is a bit sloppy and I think the swords could have been designed to look more realistic, but otherwise this figure does everything right. Shatterstar isn’t a character I’m in love with, but I am enamored with this figure.

GRADE: A-