Though it’s been lauded as perhaps the single best Hasbro Marvel Legends wave in history, even the strongest series is going to have its own weakest figures. And in the case of the 2016 Marvel Legends X-Men series, Kitty Pryde is definitely that weak link, in my opinion. Marvel Legends Kitty Pryde is available online now for 11 bucks, and like her or not, you’re going to need her to complete two different Build-A-Figures…

The Right:

Brace yourselves: while I’ve generally posted reviews full of gushing praise for the Hasbro Marvel Legends 6″ figures this year–particularly in this X-Men line–this isn’t going to be one of them.

But first, the positives. And the biggest positive here is character selection. There hasn’t been a Kitty Pryde six inch figure in a decade, and that was a Toybiz figure that doesn’t fit stylistically with modern figures. Kitty is a character integral to many X-Men lineups, so thumbs up to Hasbro for including her.

While Kitty’s generic yellow and black costume is authentically pretty boring, Hasbro did nail the design with her “V”-sharped upper torso and split-forearm gloves. They even remembers her yellow hair tie! It’s a costume, no doubt, but it is accurate.

And hey, you can’t have Kitty Pryde without her trust dragon, Lockheed, right? Lockheed may be a tad undersized, but he’s cute, well-sculpted, and even has paint deco on his eyes. A more action-posed Lockheed dragon would have been fun, but I’m not going to knock Hasbro for giving us a free bonus character. And speaking of a bonus character…

I honestly think that Hasbro sort of knew that this figure had the potential to be a sales dud, and that’s why they held back the Onslaught Build-A-Figure head for this wave. Thus, even folks who don’t care about Juggernaut are required to pick up the Kitty Pryde Marvel Legends figure if they want to complete their non-Red Onslaught figure.

I didn’t have my Red Skull Onslaught figure on hand when I was taking photos, so I slapped the Onslaught head onto Havok’s body. It looks good and will ultimately greatly increase my enjoyment of the existing Build-A-Figure.

The Wrong:

I don’t want to sound like I hate this figure–because I don’t–but I do have a lot of gripes and complaints about it.

First and foremost, I hate the head on this figure. While there’s little that Hasbro could do to make Kitty Pryde’s costume less plain, surely they could have given her a facial sculpt with some personality and not just a sour expression. Kitty’s blah expression makes her look totally lifeless and mannequin-like.

And while we’re on the subject of Kitty’s head–the front of her hair is actually a whole other add-on piece that’s glued to the back half of her hair. There’s a huge seam and it looks ridiculous. I don’t know why the head is designed this way, but it doesn’t work for me at all.

Anyone who’s read my other reviews knows that I despise the floppy belts in this series, and X-Men Legends Kitty Pryde has perhaps the floppiest of them all. Kitty’s belt is totally loose and gigantic, and functions better as a hula hoop than a belt. Incredibly obnoxious when moving and posing her.

Paint quality-wise, the Kitty Pryde 6″ figure is the most lacking figure in the entire wave for me. Random black splotches on her costume are unsightly and disappointing.

Even the articulation on the Kitty X-Men Legends figure is sub-par. Not only does she have the usual lack of swivel waist/boots/biceps and no double-jointed elbows, but the hard plastic “shoulders” of her costume stop her arms from going up past 45 degrees.

In addition, her hip articulation doesn’t come close to doing the splits or ninja kicks you might expect from a martial artist either.

Overall: I hate writing a bad review for a toy of a character I love, but this Marvel Legends Kitty Pryde figure is simply below the average outstanding figures we’ve come to expect from Hasbro this year. A zombie stare expression combined with sub-standard articulation, no phasing parts, a floppy belt, quality issues and a two part hair mold just make this figure feel “less” than what we’re accustomed to. I’m glad she comes with Lockheed and the classic Onslaught BAF head, but I wish I’d waited and got this figure for 11 dollars instead of twenty, as this simply doesn’t feel like a $20 quality figure to me.

GRADE: C-