Marvel Legends Guardians
of the Galaxy Star-Lord & Drax Review

NoisyDvL5

Not counting Iron Man (& who counts Iron Man), this is our last big review for Guardians of the Galaxy Week! Oh, and don’t think of it as a late review, I prefer to look at it as even more GOTG goodness that simply spills over into a second week!

Years ago, before Abnett & Lanning relaunched the Guardians of the Galaxy, my feelings on the two characters here, Star-Lord & Drax, couldn’t be more different. I enjoyed Star-Lord’s earlier stories (even if they weren’t always good) and I didn’t really care much about Drax at all. Abnett & Lanning made changes to both characters, subtle for Star-Lord and rather major for Drax, and in the process made me love both characters more. (Something the film did again).

Star-Lord’s film version mostly lines up with the comics. Both have thrown out the intergalactic alignment heralding his birth and near death at the hands of his stepfather. The movie did alter the circumstances of his mother’s death from being murdered by aliens to illness. It did make his abduction a little more left field, but we got payoff for that by the end of the film. In all, I was happy with Chris Pratt’s portrayal. I wasn’t a big fan of his going on, but I’m on a convert now (still not gonna watch Parks & Rec though).

Drax is a little more difficult to reconcile. In the comics, Drax the Destroyer is… human. Yep. It was Thanos, not Ronan, that killed his wife & daughter (well, not really, hold on) and him too. This coincided with some folks not particularly happy with Thanos having built the ultimate weapon against him, a being with flight, energy bursts, super-strength, and near invincibility. But it needed a soul and Arthur Douglas, fresh with a need for vengeance was chosen. That was Drax for over thirty years. When Abnett & Lanning came along, that Drax died and the current one emerged from the destroyed remains like a phoenix (saved him tons of money on those tattoos). After that he looks very similar to his movie appearance, leaving the film only to tweak him slightly and make his not human; thus preserving Quill’s uniqueness and sparing us a really complicated exposition. Personally, I loved him a lot more in the film than I was expecting too – I was worried from the trailers he would be dumbed down for comic relief. He was, but it, like many things in the movie, was kept balanced well with his other personality traits.

In figure form, Drax is pretty much the best figure in the wave (possibly by default, but still) and Star-Lord is the close second. They are both 100% new sculpts and both feature some great detail work as a result. For Drax, those are his extensive upper-body tattoos and the intricate details on his pants. I can’t say with much certainty that the tattoos are screen-accurate, but they look great here. This Drax is light years better than the comic-version released last year. Drax also gets points based on having the best head sculpt in the wave. Like the rest of the line-up, the blank expression is still present, but it works for Drax. Whereas Gamora looks stoned out, Drax looks intent and works with the character’s personality.

Star-Lord is either a great sculpt or has issues depending on what you consider his alternate, unmasked head. I’m going to call it an accessory and just say he has a great sculpt here. Some collectors find it a little odd that we got the not-so prominent trench coat version over the shorter jacket seen throughout the film. I’m in agreement. I’m not going to lop off the bottom of the coat like some have, but it is a tempting thought.

The trench coat, like the whole figure is well executed. From the little rocket packs on his ankles to the shoulder armor attached to his jacket, this is a well-sculpted piece throughout. And top it all off with that fantastic Star-Lord mask (seriously, I kinda want a prop version) and the figure pops off the shelf.

On top of that we have some mostly well done paint. On Drax, the paint work on his tattoos doesn’t quite line up with the sculpted areas, but it doesn’t come across as sloppy, possibly because it’s such a complicated design. The paintwork on the technical areas like the boots is sharply done and also helps compensate. Continue to Page 2…

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28 thoughts on “Marvel Legends Guardians
of the Galaxy Star-Lord & Drax Review”

  2. StarLord first:
    -face: I agree, that that is NOT Pratt’s face and the paint makes it vague enough that I can see the figure doubling for a DoFP Iceman with a simple paint job. Possibly even Hoyt from True Blood, if one were so inclined. I do not see “Burt Macklin, FBI” in there, however were I so inclined to pop the unmasked head onto a suit body.
    helmet: nice, but I think I now have some Viper helmets for my 6″ Joe customs, tho?

    -coat: aarrgghhh!! I wish they had taken thirty seconds to explain what was going on with the damned thing in the movie! Did he have a long coat, jacket, and vest, or were they all the same article, with zip on/off pieces? I bought a case, so I got two and trimmed mine along the curved hem, not the waistline, as others have done.
    Good news: it doesn’t look that bad. If I find a third (LOL), I’ll try the waistline trim. that blakc bit of trim looks like it could be a decent belt/bandolier, tho.
    Bad news: trimming the coat reveals how lanky the legs are, and brings down the figure a bit, imo. I’m not sure why they didn’t use the same crotch as Fury/Punisher or any other of their trench coated characters, but the hip area down to the boots is better left covered, imo. Great sculpting on it but it’s also hiding a bit questionable artic.
    and yeah, I do find the arms bit lanky, too, but that’s pretty much par for course on a lot of jacketed figures.

    -accessories: honestly, I haven’t bothered much with them, as the orb and walkman are too tiny. They went right in my small parts box along with the Skull’s Tesseract and some extra pistols and other assorted “easy to lose” small bits.
    I gave the knapsack(?) to Drax, just to add something to him.

    –

    Drax:
    Not a big wrestling fan anymore, and I was hesitant to see if Batista could pull off the role, which turned out better than what the Rock is up to, lately. The head sculpt looks like him, so that’s good.

    The torso sculpt is also done well, but my coloring seems “off” as well. then again, I’m not a fan of these colors. It makes him look drab rather than Drax. Legs/pants are good, but look like they belong on a different character than what we got.
    so…nice sculpting, but not a fan of the coloring. He comes off as “Hulk-lite”. I might just repaint his upper half into “space thug” or something?

    Thanks for the rundown on how he got his new look. I wasn’t aware of those circumstances. It did seem like you were going to mention Moony, but she got edited out/forgotten?

    –

    LOL at last shot. It’s the GotG COMIC armor, but it’s also hideous.

    1. oh, before I totally forget: Walgreens!
      They have the ML Agent Venom exclusive and it is reportedly starting to hit this past wkd. you might have to ask for it, DCPI 356713. He sold out online in a day, so I don’t know how many will be hitting, but look for exclusive endcaps.
      It was supposed to be released last year with numerous other MLs, then got shuffled to the ASM2 line, then bumped to Walgreens exclusive.

      and for those collecting Game of Thrones, they have “Tyrion as The Hand” variant, as well. there were reports he was hitting last week? He also has his own endcap display.

      No word on their 6″ Boba Fett (white?) exclusive, but he went on sale online same day as Venom and he is supposedly sold out, as well?

    2. They can never use that Fury/Punisher mold and I’d be okay wit… oh, too late. It’s already coming again! lol

      I did drop the Moonstone paragraph, but left that in. Oops. It was running long.

  3. The only fig I’ve pulled from this wave was drax, and I must say, I was disappointed by his lack of weight. He’s so light he feels cheap. The knives are that damned super soft plastic that everyone hates.

    By coincidence, I got drax and the next day found the newest triple h fig, who is way oversized, but having he and drax battle added to my disappointment, as h was loaded in gear and huge by comparison. He’s not a bad fig, just not up to standard, and I hope not setting a new standard.

      1. yeah, that’s a trend i though hasbro had been lectured on once before, and they seemed to get their act together. i hate backsliding.

  4. Well was gonna buy Quill yestarday but finally found the soundtrack and got it and that made me short (man I miss legends being $15) though was looking them over (bunch of him and he who couldn’t get it up with Gamora) and seen a few of the alt heads that didn’t look that dark. Weird or was the store lighting. (No sign literally at Target. Not even a marked peg, thats scary) If had the skill my Grandpa had would touch up that walkman a bit.

    Drax I saw once and agree looks better then the earlier easily. Heck Hasbro’s made an even better Batista if you ask me. Have to wait on a rehash restock to get. I blame the Nova want before the film on not popping on him or the others causd after seeing wanting to make Groot. (Then that news of the Comic 5 pack has me debating)

    Great review classic comics and great pics. Love the last one. Been reading Angela’s appearance into tge Marvel U story. Wonder how soon till we see her as a Legend.

    1. Wait, who couldn’t get it up with Gamora? If you’re talking about Tony, I think you’re misinterpreting that scene. It’s not that he couldn’t get it up, it’s that they went through with the deed and it physically hurt him.

      You’re thinking of this scene, yeah?

      http://37.media.tumblr.com/6c65fca6332ba6ab8d1bc5bec628a4ca/tumblr_mqtgl16Lg61s92w8eo5_1280.png

      I’ve been wondering how long ’til we get an Angela since Marvel announced she was coming over. Though we still can’t get comic versions of the main Guardians cast (if Gamora shows up in the 5 pack in her unikini, I’m not counting it). Then again, her acquisition was made a big deal, and it would be a big middle finger to McFarlane. Of course, the same could be said of Miracleman/Marvelman.

      1. My preference would be her original costume that lasted for a quarter century, but I’ll take her Annihilation look over the generic green spacesuit girl for sure.

        1. The current look is not only visually interesting, it’s also the only costume she’s had that’s not flat-out embarrassing. The old fishnet body stocking or the more recent unikini are just… ugh. She’s an intergalactic warrior and she’s dolled up like an under-dressed barbarian? To each their own, but that doesn’t work for me to an extreme degree.

      2. hah. my friend who recently opened a gaming (and eventually comics) shop bought a lot of early McFarlane figures, Angela included. a couple other guys were browsing and we commented on her addition to the MU, when I informed them of “Party Angela” and checked the figure. She wasn’t.

        LOL

      3. Okay I think did take that wrong. The face was what got me and the actions of Gamora just seemed bored. that or something was missing in the trade (picked up at library and missing pages are normal)

        I would like the green singlet from IW time but await and see. Need to get Annihilation (actually a lot of Marvel catch up is needed thanks my DC readings at the time)

      4. If they make Gamora, I would want her Annihilation costume first. That’s when her popularity soared and that should be her Legend look. Second to that would be her original costume, due to longevity. A far and distant third would be the current look. I appreciate the sentiment behind that costume, but it’s generic and boring.

    2. Gotta agree with this. I only knew Chris Pratt from Everwood. However, my wife made me watch Parks and Rec after seeing Guardians and I’m glad she did. Pretty funny stuff. Especially after I realized Greg Daniels was one of the guys who created it (love King of the Hill).

    3. Nada. It may be fantastic, but that type of humor is anything but to me. I can chuckle a few times at stuff like the Office and Parks/Rec, but it’s just not my thing.

      1. I take offense at that remark. I loved The Office (the first few seasons, at least. It started a bit of a slide after that, and by the time you got to season 6 or 7 it was pretty much unwatchable), but I’ve never been able to sit through an entire episode of Parks & Rec. None of the actors/characters do anything for me.

  6. I haven’t seen the movie, not especially bothered by the figures, and don’t know the comics (I’m kind of a DC snob, though they are making that hard these days)…

    But DAMN I want that trench coat!

  7. I picked up the GOTG wave from TRU ..$21.99 each…ugh…extremely rubbery joints on Star Lord makes his arms just hang weird. Nova has serious issues with his elbows, I’m not sure if they are in backwards or just warped. Drax is perfect, Rocket and Groot are great as well…even though my Groot has a messed up right arm. The peg that plugs into his bicep is warped to an oval shape and sticks ..i did try to heat and reset it but it didn’t help. Gamora looks stoned and does not want to stand up…Iron Man is perfect…weird…

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