X-Men Marvel Legends 2022 has been a little bit of a disappointment to me so far, as I felt like Siryn, Darwin and Sabretooth all missed the mark and earned average or below review scores. Hopefully today’s review subject will break that trend, though, as it’s another first-time-ever release. He’s the sometimes-Emperor of the Shi’ar and the third (or maybe fourth now) summers Brother: Marvel Legends Vulcan is now available! Is this Hasbro 6” figure as much of a powerhouse as the Omega-level mutant it represents?

Gabriel Summers is another one of those mutants created in the last two decades who’s not exactly a household name. While Adam-X would eventually be revealed a year or so ago to be one of the Summers brothers (as intended in the 90s), by the time that happened, Vulcan had already also been revealed as a sibling to Cyclops and Havok. Vulcan would go on to depose Lilandra and become Shi’ar Emperor for a time, before seemingly (but not really) being killed in battle with Black Bolt.

Vulcan was a big deal for quite a while, so it’s a mite surprising Hasbro didn’t hit up Vulcan for a figure earlier, honestly. Now that he has, is it the only action figure of him we’ll ever need?

I hate when I have to be a negative voice in the Marvel collecting community, but thus far I’ve been sadly underwhelmed with the Marvel Legends Bonebreaker Series.

Let’s start with the big pluses of this release: X-Men Marvel Legends Vulcan is a brand new character with a brand new body mold. That’s right—Vulcan won’t have to suffer the ignominy of getting his first mass release toy ever on a repainted Bucky Cap mold being reused for the gazillionth time. “All new” is how Gabriel Summers rolls.

The new body’s joints are all the perfect amount of tight, and he’s got every point of articulation I’d want:

• Ball-hinge neck and shoulders
• Butterfly swivels on the shoulders
• Ab crunch
• Swivel biceps, waist, thighs and boots
• Pin-less double-hinged knees and elbows
• Swivel-hinge wrists
• Hinged feet with ankle rocker pivots

Between the pin-less knees/elbows and butterfly shoulders, every bit of modern articulation is present, and none of it is hindered by rubbery, cheap plastic on this Omega-level mutant. In fact, even the belt is essentially a perfect fit—the QC here is a home run.

ML Vulcan has a fairly simple costume, and the figure’s costume colors are captured almost entirely by the colored plastic. The red, blue and gold costume does look really nice, though, even if there is a minimal amount of actual paint deco on this action figure.

Where this figure dramatically falls short is accessories, however. Just like the previous three toys I reviewed in this wave, Vulcan gets virtually nothing for his own accessories (although he does come with the upper body of the Bonebreaker Build-A-Figure).

Vulcan has a pair of default fists, a pair of interchangeable open hands… and that’s it. For a character that can replicate other mutants’ powers, absorb and redirect energy, fire eye beams, create force fields and all other manner of flashy things, the fact that Hasbro gave him nada to demonstrate his powers is unspeakably frustrating.

On the bright side, Vulcan does have painted yellow eyes so he can at least feel a bit like he’s teeming with energy (or insanity), but that’s really the most exciting characteristic of this six inch figure (although I also really dig his unkempt hair). Sadly, this is mostly just another boring “stand there” figure, because Hasbro has given collectors too little to work with again here despite the newly increased retail price.

Overall: As a basic figure release, X-Men Legends Vulcan is decent. The new body mold debuting here is a bonafide hit, and an ‘A+’ and the head sculpt looks appropriately intimidating. The deco isn’t especially exciting, nor are the accessories for Vulcan himself—just some hands. Additionally, effects pieces—especially considering the hefty new $24.99 MSRP—were badly needed to spice this up. This scores some points for being a debut character with an awesome all-new mold for the body, but Vulcan’s potential on the shelf is still pretty bland.

GRADE: B+