REVIEW: Marvel Legends Namor 6″ Figure (2018 Black Panther Series)

Black Panther doesn’t exactly have the most mainstream cast of supporting characters, so when it came time to fill out the Black Panther Marvel Legends figures series with comic-based figures, Hasbro had to stretch a bit and slot in other “kings”. It was sort of a reach, but few fans were complaining about getting new, classic versions of the Kings of the Inhumans and of Atlantis! Supply has caught up to demand and Marvel Legends Namor is available now online for MSRP, but is this the best toy ever of the character?

Marvel Legends Namor Review 2018 Black Panther Series
The Right:

When the 2016 Walgreens Exclusive Namor was wearing his black costume and not the iconic green speedo, a lot of collectors voiced their displeasure with the costume selection.

Whether or not Hasbro heard those complaints or already had a classic Namor in the works we’ll never know (I’d strongly bet on the latter), but not that long after the Walgreens Namor, a new classic Namor Marvel Legends 6” figure has  now arrived!

Marvel Legends Sub-Mariner Figure Packaged Okoye WaveNow, to be truthful, Namor’s classic costume isn’t exactly the most amazing design in the world: it’s a pair of green swim briefs. It would have been a simple matter for Hasbro to paint a “smooth” crotch green and pop it on this figure.

Close-Up of Namor Marvel Legends 2018 Action FigureThankfully, that’s not what they did. The layered texture and shiny green paint on Namor’s swim trunks makes them the most eye-grabbing part of the whole figure (let’s all stare at Namor’s crotch—haha). Even the gold band has a seashell design on it to look less plain. Nice work here.

2018 Marvel Legends Namor Figure Winged Feet and SpeedoThe other two aspects of this figure that make Black Panther Legends Namor not just a naked dude are his wristbands and the wings on his feet.  They’re simple, well-sculpted, and break up the otherwise flesh-toned figure well.

Black Panther Marvel Legends Namor Bearded Head FigureHasbro included one of my absolute favorite accessory choices with this 6” Namor: an alternate head. Now, there’s no question that clean-shaven is the iconic look for the King of Atlantis, but I did see quite a few collectors excited about a bearded Namor head, so I’m happy for those fans.

2018 ML Namor Figure and AccessoriesWhile it’s not the portrait I’ll be displaying the figure with, I have to admit that the Namor bearded head looks more angry and determined than the almost friendly default head.

Marvel Legends Namor the Sub-Mariner Figure with TridentNamor comes with just one weapon, but it’s a good one: a trident that is really cool. The trident is noticeably taller than the Namor figure itself, and is cast in a very nice satin, glossy gold plastic.

Hasbro Black Panther Movie Marvel Legends Namor 6 Inch Figure ReviewThe trident is wonderfully designed, with a seahorse dorsal fin and snake coils sculpted onto it. The weapon looks quite regal and adds some real “oomph” to a figure that otherwise is a bit plain-looking.

Namor Marvel Legends Figure Review Hasbro 2018Articulation-wise, this is a Marvel Legends figure, so the posing possibilities are off the charts. He’s got swivel calves/biceps/thighs/waist; ab crunch; double-hinge elbows and knees; ball-hinge neck and shoulders; swivel-hinge wrists; hinged ankles with rockers and ball hips.

Back of Hasbro Namor Black Panther Legends FigureNothing in the sculpt restricts the movement, Namor can hold his trident one- or two-handed without a hitch, and stable deep crouches aren’t a problem. As far as posing goes, this is a delight.

Marvel Legends 2018 Namor Figure WavingThe Wrong:

While Namor isn’t exactly tops on my list of favorite Marvel characters (or even Marvel characters with ‘Namor’ in their name), this toy comes extremely close to being the “perfect” figure version of the character. I’ve got just three minor gripes about Namor, which is pretty small given how much I like to grumble.

First up, while I do think that the default, beardless head for this figure looks like Namor, it doesn’t feel like Namor. I just don’t feel Namor’s overwhelming ego and arrogance radiating from the portrait–he just looks too polite for a guy who’s generally either aggro or rudely snobby.

Black Panther Legends Namor Figure Karate Chop HandsMinor gripe #2: Namor’s hands. We get two pairs of interchangeable hands here: grasping hands (for the trident) and Kung-Fu (okay, swimming) hands. Since Namor typically punches his foes into submission, I’m really surprised there’s no fists here. I’d really prefer my Namor be able to punch instead of having to karate chop some b*tches.

Marvel Legends Black Panther Series Namor Holding TridentLast trivial complaint: no paint deco whatsoever on the trident. Hasbro picked a nice color and Namor’s trident typically doesn’t have much decoration on it in the comics, but I’d have liked at least a red jewel or some paint deco on the handle… something… so it doesn’t just look like a nicely-colored, molded piece of plastic.

Review Black Panther Marvel Legends Namor 6" FigureOverall: I was initially going to score this figure a bit lower, but as I laid out my thoughts in words, I discovered that the handful of things I don’t like about this Marvel Legends Namor figure are pretty minor. While I would have liked fists, a more angry/arrogant head and a bit more deco on the trident, that’s about where my complaints end.

The articulation is the usual level of excellence, it’s fun posing Namor with the trident, the green speedo has outstanding paint and texture, and the bearded head is great for those who want that look. I wouldn’t quite call this figure perfection, but it is the best Namor action figure we’re likely to get for quite some time (if not ever).

GRADE: A-

Comments

REVIEW: Marvel Legends Namor 6″ Figure (2018 Black Panther Series) — 16 Comments

  1. The Right: He is listed on the packaging as “Sub-Mariner”.

    I’ll be honest. I have always hated people calling him “Namor”. Yes, I know that is his name. But the man’s superhero name is “The Sub-Mariner”. The “Namor” thing has always irked me.

    I’m so glad we got a classic version besides the Ronan the Accuser wave figure. Most of that wave sucked.

  2. The conundrum of Namor….
    The Walgreens exclusive black suit version is a waaaaaaaaaaaay better looking character design, but this is classic Namor. Who gets the spot on the shelf?

  3. Why has no one complained about how the new crotch piece doesn’t line up with the torso? That’s the one thing that’s making this a perfect figure.

  4. I have this right in front of me and it really is a great figure approaching perfection. You can recreate the cover of Sub-Mariner no 1.

    • LOL
      It’s one of the weakest waves in a long time.

      None of the figures are bad, but the movie figures are just…..who even cares?
      The Black Panther figure would be great if he weren’t so close to being the same as the Civil War version.
      Mostly it’s a great Iron Man and Namor, and a good-ish Black Bolt.

      • I agree. Sadly I couldn’t care less about the movie figures. I did pick up Black Bolt and the Panther, although I already have the Civil War version, and I’m definitely looking for this Namor figure, but that’s it for me.

      • I love this wave!!
        I think it really shows that Hasbro has been listening to the fans.

        * 1/2 the line comes with alternate heads and hands
        * Almost everyone has an accessory,
        * Butterfly shoulder joints
        * Beautiful sculpts & paint details (on the woman figs esp)
        * Secondary characters relevant to the mythos (New avengers),
        * A previous exclusive

        …the only complaint would be the size of the BAF, but I’m confident that once the movie comes out Nakia will be a breakout character.

        Soooo much stronger than the Onslaught wave, Vulture wave, or Ultron wave IMO

        • Ultron wave was pretty much an all-time low.
          Vulture Wave was fantastic, and Onslaught Wave was slightly better than this.

          Vulture wave was fantastic, aside from Tombstone.

          Onslaught wave had Taskmaster and Mockingbird which are both great, a decent classic Cap and Scourge which are both good, AND the Onslaught BAF.

      • It really depends on personal character/universe affinities.

        If you like MCU any waves that have movie figures are great.
        If you are a comic fan you begrudge them whenever they are included. Especially if the BAF is comic based.

        But, even as one of the latter type of collectors, I really enjoyed this wave:

        The Black Bolt was awesome to see since I never got the Thanos Imperative.
        This Namor was a great redo of the classic version and my first opportunity to get him in this style since I was not collecting during the Hasblow Dark Ages and missed the Ronan Wave entirely.
        The Invincible Iron Man was stellar, fleshing out a full team roster (ANAD Avengers) as well as including an awesome Tony Stark (non-RDJ) head sculpt.

        I didn’t care to get any others since they are movie based but I did get Killmonger simply because I doubt they’ll do a comic version and the figure itself is really well done. So I wouldn’t say its the weakest in a long time although it has contended against some star-studded line-ups with the recent waves.

        My vote would go for Ragnarok being weaker. Mostly because I couldn’t care less about Thor. I got Hela because she is close enough to fit in as a comic version for me, and the Ares redo was decent. Lady Thor was meh – one that appealed to me more to round out ANAD Avengers than for the character herself. But having the movie “Gladiator” Hulk BAF, Movie sword-wielding Thor, Movie lumpy-headed Loki, Movie Hela, and Young Thor (*yaaawn*) – it was like a wet fart to me.

        I am looking forward to the next 2 waves more excitedly than for this one but I still think wave strength is usually more a personal preference than a standardized measurable quality. Unless you base it off the sales data – but I’m sure a lot of comic waves would suffer from that comparison since the MCU is more popular right now.

        • I would agree that the Ragnarok wave was weak, but I’d still put it way above this.
          Hela, Ares, Jane FosThor, and Gladiator Hulk alone are better than this whole wave.
          MCU Thor and Loki, and Young Thor couldn’t bring down the average far enough.

          I’m a comics AND MCU fan, but this wave feels like it’s half made of filler.
          If they had ditched Killmonger and both bodyguards and replaced them with the new exclusive Klaw and Shuri figures, and the pink-patterned vibranium power ANAD Black Panther exclusive, this would be a pretty solid wave.

          Those bodyguards better be AMAZING characters in the movie, because going by the trailer I’d rather have the MCU Shuri, MCU Klaw, MCU M’Baku, or the version of Killmonger we see in the trailer before he becomes a knock-off of Black Panther.

          Killmonger was the WRONG time to start making the “evil doppleganger” villain figures.
          I would’ve MUCH rather have had Iron Monger, Abomination, Red Skull, Yellow Jacket, etc, who all had actual substantially unique character designs. I really didn’t need “gold trimmed evil Black Panther”.

    • It seems like a wave that is more controversial than most – fans of comic book fans don’t seem to dig the MCU figs, while Black Panther fans are upset that the illuminati-related characters were included at the expense of characters more closely associated with BP. Add in the controversy over another ordinary sized BAF.
      For me, I do like the look of the MCU figs altho Nakia is the only must-get for me (Okoye would be as well if she was single-card). While I would have preferred to see characters like Nightshade or Man-Ape in lieu of another Iron Man, I will probably get Black Bolt and/or Namor if the price on them drops (Killmonger too). The BP figure itself is cool but not different enough from Civil War to justify paying full retail for it. of course all this is IMO

  5. As for Minor gripe #2, just imagine those are not swimming or karate chopping hands, but rather slapping hands. No egotistical tyrant would be complete without a hand that’s capable of dealing out the backhand slap of dis-satisfaction.