While it hasn’t exactly been getting the ludicrous amount of hype that other movies coming out in the near future (*cough* Star Wars *cough*) are, there’s a superhero movie hitting theaters in just over three months called “Deadpool”. And while there won’t be a plethora of Deadpool toys at mass retail when the movie does drop, Hasbro has lined up at least one new(-ish) figure for fans to chase after: the Marvel Infinite Series Deadpool figure mold is an oldie, but is it still a goodie…?

The Right:

You know you’re getting over-the-hill when comics that you consider to be “modern” are actually over a decade old. Such is the case with the now-classic “Cable & Deadpool” series, a comic book that I’m lucky to have read in it’s entirety while it was coming out.

And while it may have only been a minor gag in one issue of that comic at the time, the orange and blue Deadpool X-Men costume has somehow become a fan-favorite with its own Marvel Legends 6″ figure, Funko Hikari and POP Vinyl, and now even a Hasbro Marvel Universe-style figure!

As much as I love both the red and grey X-Force costumes, it sure is nice to see a costume as zany as Deadpool himself getting more love.

Now, make no mistake, this is not a new Deadpool figure mold. In fact, there’s no new tooling used for this figure at all. The body mold is actually over five years old, as it was first used for a Wolverine: Origins Deadpool figure in 2009.

Even so, this mold has held up remarkably well. The tools for this action figure don’t seem to have degraded at all–in fact, my blue Deadpool figure has all-around tighter joints and feels sturdier than my original figure from 2009 ever did!

And although this mold is old, make no mistake: it has a very good articulation scheme (for the most part) and an outstanding level of sculpting detail.

This isn’t your typical MU-style figure with painted-on details–this X-Men costume Deadpool Infinite Series figure has raised lining all over his costume, cuffs on his forearms and lower legs, and even a usable sculpted holster.

In addition, Deadpool has an overlay  of webbing including a ton of Liefeld-esque pouches and a pair of sword sheaths on his back–with removable swords with paint detailing on them! I love having Deadpool dual-wielding swords, and opt for him to always have at least one sword out however I choose to pose him.

This Hasbro Infinite Series Deadpool action figure has also inherited the half-unmasked Deadpool Wade Wilson head from the SDCC Exclusive set.

I never like unmasked Deadpool heads (as Wade Wilson is a pretty nasty looking fellow), but the amused expression on Deadpool’s face feels really appropriate, and at this scale there’s not enough sculpting detail to see how gross Deadpool’s hamburger face really is.

As far as articulation goes–I’ll complain about an aspect of it in just a moment, but I’m mostly very pleased with it. Deadpool has a ball-jointed head, upper torso, shoulders, elbows and hips. In addition, he’s got swivel wrists, double-jointed knees and (badly) ball-jointed ankles. For the most part, this Hasbro Deadpool has awesome articulation.

For the most part…

The Wrong:

Because this Hasbro Deadpool 3 3/4″ figure is about six years old now, it’s missing some of the advancements we’ve been conditioned to expect in recent years.

And the most prevalent recent innovation missing from this figure is that of my favorite point of articulation: ankle rockers.

Wade Wilson is a freaking ninja, so it’s a real problem that this figure simply cannot stand in a lot of finesse-based poses due to the lack of ankle rockers. Even when you can get Deadpool into a particularly impressive dynamic pose, he often looks “off” with his feet just not able to touch the ground naturally.

I was definitely able to pose Deadpool in some fun and cool ways, but the lack of ankle rockers is sorely felt on this particular character. Hasbro’s gotten plenty of use out of this mold–it’s time to invest a bit into improving the ankle articulation.

In addition, while Deadpool comes with a great assortment of accessories, his guns and knife are not the greatest. The knife appears to be a bit oversized and out-of-scale, while both the bazooka and the pistol look like futuristic sci-fi weapons molded in toy-ish blue/grey plastic.

The pistol is even ridiculously oversized to fit in Deadpool’s holster!

While I always love getting a whole bunch of accessories with a figure (especially with Hasbro cheating out so much on other figures’ accessories), I’m let down by the poor aesthetic of these weapons.

Overall: While the old Marvel Universe 4″ scale Deadpool figure certainly hasn’t gotten better, it’s still vastly superior to the 5POA garbage molds Hasbro has begun creating this year.

Despite the fact that this 3 3/4″ Deadpool Marvel Infinite Series figure mold is over half a decade old now, it’s still an overall well-done figure. The accessories look cheap and junky in their unpainted blue-grey plastic, and the lack of ankle rockers is a real buzzkill, but this Marvel Infinite Series Deadpool action figure still blows away the 5POA molds Hasbro has created this year.

If you don’t already own this Deadpool mold–or you just happen to really love this Deadpool X-Men costume (I do)–then this figure is definitely worth picking up. With great articulation and superb sculpting detail, this Deadpool is a winner, even if he’s not quite up to the standards of a masterpiece.

GRADE: B+