I raised myself with the value that a man has to stand strong in his beliefs, and it’s for that reason that I’ve fought off the urges to buy any Marvel Super Hero Mashers figures, even after Hasbro started choosing characters like Loki that I’m a total mark for. But every man has his limits, and I gave in to temptation this week and ordered the Marvel Mashers Deadpool figure online. My first Marvel Super Hero Mashers figure has come home… and god help me, now I think I need (re: want) more of these Marvel Mashers action figures…

The Right:

My apologies in advance to those hoping to read a Marvel Mashers review where I all-out bash this Hasbro toy line. As much as I might have loathed this figure line (and disbelieved that it actually existed) when it first came out, now that I own a figure from the line, I have to (grudgingly) admit that these Marvel Super Heroes Mashers are pretty dang fun.

I know there are a lot of collectors out there who hear the word “fun” used in discussion of an action figure and recoil as if you’d just spewed out a vile curse word, but in the case of these Marvel Super Hero Masher action figures, fun is definitely a good thing.

The exaggerated GI Joe Sigma Six-like proportions of the Marvel Super Hero Mashers line work surprisingly well on the Marvel Super Hero Mashers Deadpool figure. In fact, I’d say that this stylization works better for Deadpool than it does for any other figure I’ve seen in the line thus far.

Despite being a “kiddie” toy, the paint applications on this Deadpool are actually pretty fantastic. I think Hasbro’s factory did a better job with making the paint applications neat and even on this Deadpool Mashers figure than most of the Marvel Legends figures (and all of the Marvel Infinite Series figures) that I bought this year!

And while it’s not perfect, the articulation on this Deadpool Marvel Masher figure totally surprised me as well. While he’s missing some key points of articulation I’ve grown accustomed to (like a swivel waist and upper torso ab crunch), I was taken aback to discover that this figure still has a very healthy amount of flexibility, including 20 points of articulation!

Marvel Mashers Deadpool has a ball-hinge neck, ball-hinge shoulders, ball-hinge forearms, ball-hinge hips, ball-hinge knees, and even hinge ankles with ankle rockers. I never expected a figure of this “children’s toy” nature to have ankle rockers that even some Marvel Legends and Marvel Infinite Series figures are missing! Thanks to all the ball-hinge joints, Deadpool can take on a lot more poses than you might think.

The Marvel Super Hero Masher Deadpool figure includes a whopping eight accessories: two swords, three shuriken, a rocket launcher, a missile and a “mash up” accessory (which I’ll talk about momentarily). The swords are an obvious accessory, and Deadpool looks terrific holding a sword or having both attached to his back. It also looks pretty nifty attaching a shuriken to Deadpool’s leg.

The giant rocket launcher… Well, that’s a little silly (as is the fact that it can be attached to Deadpool’s biceps). But Deadpool is a crazy character that I could totally see Wade Wilson carrying around an oversized missile launcher like this one. It seems straight out of “Looney Tunes”, and that’s just perfect for this character.

Deadpool comes with one “mash up” accessory: a Marvel Mashers Venom arm! In most instances I think that these “mash up” pieces are absolutely ridiculous. But again: in this case, Deadpool himself is such a ridiculous, zany character that giving him a symbiote arm doesn’t bother my sensibilities in the slightest. In fact, it’s actually a real blast to pose Deadpool with the Venom symbiote arm!

The Wrong:

As unexpectedly nice as the Deadpool Super Heroes Masher figure is, I’ve always got complaints with any figure I buy. In Deadpool’s case, there are two main things that bother me.

First–and most irritating–is the fact that Deadpool comes with two swords, but only one of his hands has an open grip to hold a sword. Yes, you can force the tip of a sword into his closed-fist other hand–but it looks stupid when you do so. A tight open grip would have been able to hold both the second sword and the rocket launcher, and I’m annoyed that Hasbro didn’t go in that direction.

Secondly, the fact that Deadpool is a “deluxe” Marvel Masher figure is a real pain, as it means that Deadpool costs $5-$7 more than the basic figures. For the 50-70% price increase, all you get is a Venom hand and a missile launched that many people don’t want to begin with, so it’s a real nuisance that Hasbro picked Deadpool to be a deluxe.

Overall: I can’t believe this is happening, but I’m about to a Marvel Masher action figure a high grade and a strong recommendation. The Marvel Masher Deadpool figure looks great, has unexpectedly good articulation and paint deco, and comes with a variety of cool accessories.

And most of all…? This Marvel Mashers Deadpool figure is fun. I love the aesthetics of this Deadpool action figure, I enjoy posing him, and I feel more compelled to play with this Deadpool Mashers figure than any toy in recent memory. If you’re at all curious about the Marvel Super Hero Mashers figures line, Deadpool gets my strongest recommendation for the figure to start with.

GRADE: A-