When the Avengers Age of Ultron movie hit theaters, Hasbro had a bit of a missed opportunity with the Marvel Legends Ultron Build-A-Figure not hitting stores until months after the movie. Hasbro won’t be making the same mistake again, however, as the main Infinity War antagonist is available right out of the gate! You have to buy 6 of the 7 Marvel Legends Infinity War Wave 1 figures to build Thanos—is he worth the investment?

The Right:

I was all prepared to hate the Hasbro Thanos Marvel Legends Build-A-Figure right up until a magic thing happened: I built him for myself.

See, because of restrictions put on toy companies by licensing, collectibles companies weren’t allowed to even reveal their Avengers Infinity War toys until last week. As a result, the first glimpse we got of this ML Thanos Series wasn’t exactly the flattering assortment of hi-res photos we’re accustomed to.

But once I had Thanos in-hand and put together for myself (props to Hasbro for not forcing collectors to buy Infinity War Iron Man to get a Build-A-Figure piece), I was satisfied to see that he’s a solid (albeit certainly not perfect) movie figure.

The sculpting on Thanos’ costume is much better than I had anticipated. The detailed texture on his upper body and the armor on his belt and knees look really cool, and the folds and creases of his pants look surprisingly realistic.

I was unsure of how I liked the sleeveless look of this iteration of Thanos, but on the toy it really makes the big guy look like a beefy, formidable threat. I don’t know if Thanos will be punching out Hulk or anything in the movie, but he looks like he could at least put up a good fight.

The Infinity Gauntlet itself is nicely sculpted and looks quite good in person (although not necessarily in huge, hi-res photos). The individual stones might look a bit sloppily-painted in photos, but to the naked eye they look perfectly fine to me.

While the movie Thanos Marvel Legends figure isn’t sculpted to Spider-Man levels or anything (alas, there’s no double-hinge elbows—much less butterfly swivels), I had no problems getting him into some fun fighting/boxing stances.

For a character who’s a powerhouse and not an acrobat, I think collectors will be content with the articulation scheme.

The Wrong:

I teetered with throwing this into “The Ridiculous”, but ultimately, it just would be right. Many of you have probably seen the jokes about how the movie Thanos looks like a purple Josh Whedon. Well if that’s the case, this Thanos BAF’s head looks like a high Joss Whedon.

In case you couldn’t tell, I straight-up hate the almost charming smile that Hasbro has sculpted on the Build-A-Figure Thanos head. Yes, I gather he’s meant to look self-satisfied and smug (or something), but to me the facial expression on this figure looks downright absurd and wildly misses the mark.

It’s not that I think the sculpting on the head is bad, per se—the detailing actually looks very accurate—it’s just that I think the expression makes Thanos look really, really silly. The feel of the head is important to me, and the awkward feel of this one is the main reason I already pre-ordered the Bandai SH Figuarts Thanos figure as a replacement.

The other thing I think some collectors will be unhappy with is the size of the BAF overall. The scale on Thanos isn’t BAD, but I really wish he had been just a tad larger. While he still towers over the Iron Spider figure, the poor Mad Titan feels a bit undersized standing with Proxima Midnight.

Overall: My jaw dropped in horror when I saw the first low-quality photographs of this Marvel Legends Avengers Infinity War Thanos figure, but it turns out that it’s actually a mostly nice figure. I think he could certainly be a mite larger—and I hate the goofy facial expression on him with a passion—but this is otherwise a very solid entry in the Marvel Legends MCU lineup.

This figure is selling for nearly as much as the Thanos Figuarts figure on the aftermarket right now—which I personally think is a bit too high for this figure. But if you’re buying this Infinity War Legends wave anyway, I think you’ll be more than happy with this Thanos BAF as a free bonus.

GRADE: B