Earlier this week, I reviewed a Marvel Legends Build-A-Figure that I thought was solid overall but just a little bit boring: the Deadpool Legends Sasquatch BAF. Today I’m going to the opposite extreme with a review of a Build-A-Figure that’s anything but boring! The Marvel Legends Lizard BAF is the most expensive on the aftermarket of this year’s Build-A-Figures thus far and is quite difficult to find all the pieces for at retail. Is this classic Spidey villain worth the hype (and secondary market prices)?
But Hasbro is putting an end to that injustice this year, as they’re finally rolling out a Lizard figure as part of their push to complete a Marvel Legends Sinister Six. However, this may not be the version of the Lizard that many fans are hoping for…
Rather than going for the “skinny” Lizard famous from the 90s Spider-Man Animated Series and classic Stan Lee Spidey comic books, Hasbro chose to go a different (and more controversial) route with a way more ripped and bulky Lizard design for this Build-A-Figure.
This choice is a divisive one, as modern comics readers tend to dig this dinosaur-looking iteration of the Lizard, whereas a lot of classic fans have a real hate-on for this velociraptor look.
Personally, I’m okay with the Lizard BAF being a bulky one, as it makes it more believable for me that this is a genuine powerhouse that could give Spidey a run for his money—something that’s harder to accept of the gangly Lizard. (Diamond Select Toys did an amazing Marvel Select Lizard for those who want a wholly classic version, BTW.)
I do think that Hasbro could have probably come closer to appeasing all Curt Connors fans by including a more traditional alternate head, though. I love me some dinosaur head, but not everybody does.
The head articulation on the Lizard Build-A-Figure adds loads of personality, as there’s an opening and closing jaw (with tongue!) in addition to the head and neck articulation. Love it or hate it, the head is probably the most fun part of this figure to pose.
While on the articulation front, I might as well run down the surprisingly large list of flexibility this figure has:
- Hinged Toes
- Hinged Jaw
- Hinged Ankles with Rockers
- Double-Hinged Knees
- Swivel Thighs
- Ball-Jointed Hips
- Ab Crunch
- Hinged Head
- Ball-Jointed Neck
- Swivel Waist
- Ball-Hinged Shoulders
- Swivel Biceps
- Double-Hinged Elbows
- Swivel-Hinge Wrists
- Ball-Jointed Tail with two Additional Ball-Hinged Points of Articulation
That’s a lot of articulation, but the poseability of this figure still left me a little disappointed. Because of the way the pants and knees are sculpted, the Lizard’s knee articulation is almost completely worthless. Not being able to make him stand up straight feel very awkward and clunky. The angular way that the tail poses also looks really bizarre and limiting.
While his articulation isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, Lizard’s sculpting is. The scales all over his body are beautifully textured, and I appreciate the effort put into the rips and tears on his shirt, coat and pants. The lab coat could probably stand to be a little more tattered, but what’s present is still nice.
The paint deco on the Marvel Legends Lizard Build-A-Figure is solid, if not anything special. The staining on the lab coat looks nice, but I would have liked a dark wash on the pants and maybe even the scales.
That said, the articulation in the neck and jaw make posing this villainous reptilian a lot of fun. And while his bulky, dinosaur design may not be classic, it definitely make for a formidable-looking, impressive action figure nemesis for Spider-Man to combat.
GRADE: B+
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There was a 6″ Marvel Legends figure. The Spiderman Fearsome Foes boxset had a Lizard figure.
Whoops–forgot the term “single-carded”. Amended! Thanks!
NP man. Love your site.
NP. I love your site man.
There was a Marvel Legends Lizard before. The Fearsome Foes Boxset had one.
True, and it’s very cool. As he says though, there’s never been a “single carded” 6″ Lizard, and knowing the box set exists is probably why he specifically said “single carded”. As nice as that figure is, there’s a lot of people who weren’t able or not willing to drop that much cash for the entire box set.
He corrected it. See above.
I haven’t finished building him yet and I can already tell there are some strange issues with the articulation, especially the legs. The tail, tongue, and head were weird design choices too, I especially don’t like the head and how you can see his neck through his jaws when his mouth is open. BAFs usually feel weird and cheap to me but this one is so bad it feels like a knock-off or something
I was only interested in some of the figures from the wave, so my BAF pieces got auctioned. Especially after looking through this review, my “meh” feelings are still there.
Getting a Mysterio to complete the set is probably the hang-up for a lot of people. As in demand as it is, you’d think they’d push out a few cases of just Mysterio. And people seem really interested in the non-white head hiding under the helmet, so maybe do a split case of the two colors…?
I realy don‘t like most of the Figure – most of all the very bad articulated Legs – that have the shape of Goatlegs ! Reptiles haven’t such shaped legs ! The Tail have a very ugly articulation ! And the Dinosaur head doesn’t work with a comic like Version of one of nine favorite Spidey foes ! To bulky – to much try to make art !
I appreciate the attempt on Hasbro’s part, and overall I like the figure. The tail in particular bothers me, it just doesn’t look good in most poses. I don’t get why they didn’t go with a bendy wire. the leg articulation is also annoying but at least they look good in crouching poses. I like the head sculpt even if it is not comics accurate.
Also, this being the most expensive after-market BAF probably has more to do with the scarcity of this wave than the figure itself. Most places near me have yet to stock with wave (although I did see some figs at a local gamestop recently) and even on amazon, 3-4 of the figures are still at above retail (with Mysterio being the most expensive, of course). Since it is not a movie wave I wouldn’t be suprised to see it show up at Walmart if/when there is a lull, kind of like how the sandman wave showed up in a lot of places early this year despite being initially released in early 2017.
Besides what people have mentioned, I wish that the tongue was removable. Of course, it’s glued, and if you yank it out, it looks like it will leave a very large hole! The tongue is Venom-levels absurd!
Is this guy really one of the most expensive BAFs? Other than Mysterio, I’ve seen all the other figures in the wild and getting more and more common now. Here in Canada this wave is already getting discounted in EB Games stores.
I actually like the dinosaur look, but the tail looks absolutely awful, and the leg articulation (or lack thereof) is very disappointing. I’m happily skipping this BAF and sticking to the Marvel Select one.
To any and willing to do a little boil-pop work – the stature and overall feel of the figure improve immensely if you take the upper thigh pieces, turn them backwards, and swap sides. I saw a youtube tutorial of it and tried it myself. While it does not drastically improve the range of articulation, it does give the figure a less hunched over feel and allow the Lizard to stand at a more menacing height.
Because Hasbro chose to create a large BAF, it’s ridiculous to believe that the size of lab coat, pants and tee is from a 6′ tall person (same goes for the Hulk). Hence, I prefer the Marvel Select version of the Lizard.
Here’s another “crazy, but true (and sad)” fact… There is a Marvel character that had its own title with over ONE HUNDRED issues, and yet no Marvel Legends (nor Marvel Select) figure has ever made. Can anyone correctly guess who?
Millie the Model.