At this point, Hasbro has updated many more Toybiz Marvel Legends figures with their own versions than there are Toybiz ML that haven’t been re-done. But with the subject of today’s review, Hasbro is going for broke by updating a Toybiz figure, doing a new version of a character we’ve seen many times, and also covering a never-before-done character! The Marvel Legends Howard the Duck figure (with Scott Lang head and Khonshu BAF torso) is now beginning to ship out early! Is this unorthodox sorta-three-pack a worthwhile pickup?

The era of Marvel Legends Build-A-Figure Series figures coming in the new plastic-free window-less boxes has finally arrived, much to the chagrin of vocal collectors everywhere.

And what better way for Hasbro to kick off this new age than with a controversial, unorthodox 3-in-1 figure pack like this one, right? Let’s take a look at this trio of what would ordinarily be considered pack-ins…

First, we’ve got the first 6” scale Howard the Duck Legends figure since the Toybiz pack-in with Silver Surfer over two and a half decades ago. This is the headliner of the package, so to speak, and I’ll be treating it as such.

While the Toybiz Marvel Legends Howard the Duck figure was exceptionally classic feeling, Hasbro has gone all-modern here with a What If?-styled figure that I think can easily double as a comic book iteration.

Howard is dressed in his now-familiar burgundy suit and hat with brown tie. We got a 3.75” scaled figurine of this for SDCC a few years back as an exclusive, and I’m glad to see a larger version for our shelves now.

As you might expect from a smaller figure with a 100% unique mold like Howard, the articulation scheme isn’t up to snuff. That said, it’s not quite as bad as I feared and includes:

—Ball Jointed Head
—Ball-Hinge Shoulders and Elbows
—Swivel Hands
—Ball-Jointed Waist
—Swivel Feet

The articulation set could’ve been worse, but it also could’ve been much better. The lack of hinges on the hands sucks out more personality than you’d think, and the lack of hinges on the feet makes getting him to balance stably a challenge on surfaces that aren’t totally ideal. A greater range of motion on Howard’s head also would have been a huge improvement for fun poses.

The head and body sculpts are both great, with the look of the toy really evoking the cover of the most recent Howard the Duck comic book series. Regardless of any other flaws, this a genuinely great-looking action figure.

Howard’s sole accessory of his own (sort of) is the disembodied Scott Lang head in a jar from the Zombies episode of What If. This Howard figure is from a different episode, but with two other Marvel Zombies figures in this wave (Zombie Scarlet Witch and Iron Man), the Scott Lang head doesn’t feel fully out of place.

While I think Hasbro captured Scott Lang’s design from that episode fine, I think the character model itself was awful in the cartoon. This just doesn’t look like MCU Scott Lang to me at all—instead, I constantly see Scott Bakula as Captain Archer from Star Trek Enterprise when I look at this figure.

The dome is removable (it won’t click into place in any way even if you’d like it to), but I just plain don’t like this personality-free, expression-less head accessory.

Additional accessories for Howard would have been warmly welcomed. Alternate hands or a bar drink would’ve been swell, though there was obviously zero chance for a cigar. With open just open hands and merely swivel wrists, there’s simply not that much to pose this fun-looking cartoon duck doing.

The other item included in this box is the limbless oversized torso of the Marvel Legends Khonshu Build-A-Figure. This is the biggest part of this “set”, and also the primary weight when holding the box. It reminds me somewhat of the Mattel Necron BAF from a decade-plus ago.

Obviously I’ll be reviewing the Khonshu BAF on its own (if I buy the remainder of this exceedingly weak wave), but what I see with my first piece here looks quite promising. The sculpted details and paint on Khonshu are impressive, and I really dig the translucent neck joint.

Overall: This is such a bizarre item to try to assign a grade to. In the end, I’m mostly happy with the new Marvel Legends Howard the Duck despite the articulation woes, I don’t particularly like the Scott Lang head at all, and I think the Khonshu Build-A-Figure torso looks awesome. I’m not convinced the $23-$25 value is here for this package, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t like it at all. If you’re planning to build Khonshu or just crave a new Howard the Duck, this is probably worth picking up. If either of those isn’t true, this is an absolute pass.

GRADE: C+