{"id":30805,"date":"2015-03-01T22:16:57","date_gmt":"2015-03-02T04:16:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=30805"},"modified":"2015-03-01T22:56:20","modified_gmt":"2015-03-02T04:56:20","slug":"marvel-legends-odin-series-machine-man-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=30805","title":{"rendered":"Marvel Legends
Odin Series: Machine Man Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a> “They made him in their own image! Then they condemned him to death for being too human! Hunted! Hounded! He fights to survive in a hostile world!”<\/strong> <\/p>\n

That was the copy on the cover of Machine Man\u2019s first issue, though that wasn\u2019t his first appearance. Machine Man actually hails from a 2001: A Space Odyssey comic book adaptation. First, yes, Marvel did a 2001: A Space Odyssey comic written & drawn by the great Jack Kirby. It lasted ten issues. Second, I use the word adaptation loosely, because, as you may or may not recall, Machine Man didn\u2019t appear anywhere in the nineteen-hour long film. <\/p>\n

In the book, the government has created a line of highly intelligent robots that develop sentience. The problem? Well, they kinda turn psychotic when it happens. At least the first 50 of them did. The 51st, X-51, was taken home by the lead engineer and raised as his own son. The idea being that sentience slowly gained wouldn’t cause the mental break. He was right! Then he died and X-51 had to go on the run first as Machine Man in the final three issues of the 2001 series and then as Machine Man in his own 9-issue run. <\/p>\n

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I haven\u2019t read the entirety of Kirby\u2019s 2001 series \u2013 you just don\u2019t run across it that often, but from what I have read it was\u2026 not his best work. The problem is just that the Clark-verse, the Kubrick-verse, and the Kirby-verse just don\u2019t mesh really mesh up all that well. Clark & Kubrick kinda leave the fantastic to the imagination. Kirby bleeds the fantastic out on to the page. So the series more or less spirals out of control from the film and ends up in a weird place: adding a new character to the mainstream Marvel universe. <\/p>\n

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I\u2019m not exactly sure how Machine Man makes the transition from the 21st century into contemporary 70s Marvel comics when he gets his own series, but he does and then he worms his way into my heart. I mean, we\u2019re going to get a million Thors & Batmans, maybe a couple shots at Scarlet Witch & Green Arrow, but I love when a toy list can go C-list. Hell, C-list is generous here. Machine Man is a little more notable now, Earth-X did wonders for him and his awful (but acclaimed!) portrayal in Nextwave probably didn\u2019t hurt, but these are the characters I love to get in toy form. <\/p>\n

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And it\u2019s even better when they\u2019re pretty great toys at that! Machine Man is a pretty easy release for Hasbro. He shares packaging with the Sentry and requires almost no new parts. He may or may not have new hands I\u2019m not sure, but the main sculpt work here is just the belt and the head sculpt. <\/p>\n

And all that reuse works because this is the newer ML body that has fast become one of my favorites. The constant reuse of the same buck doesn\u2019t bother me if it\u2019s a good buck and that applies here. I think the only two nitpicks I have on this one is that the feet seem a little too small and that there is a little bit of teetering where the legs meet the lower torso. It can be tricky to pose in some instances as the figure\u2019s shifting has to be accounted for before you let it go. I\u2019ve had this happen on nearly all the versions of this buck, so it\u2019s just a weird quirk. <\/p>\n

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And the new pieces are great. The belt is pretty simple, so I can\u2019t really gush on that one, but I can on the head sculpt. It does this great job of not being artist-specific while being undeniably Kirby. Doesn\u2019t make sense? I know, but the head looks fantastic! Great representation of the character. Continue to Page 2…<\/a><\/p>\n

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The paintwork is simple, but sharp. The figure is molded in the metallic purple (making him a little translucent) and that just leaves a bit of silver paint for costume details and then the paint on the head sculpt. The paint here is well done on mine \u2013 I do kinda wish we\u2019d gotten a metallic gold or even a more Kirby-esque two-one design on the eyes. He sports the more modern red look which is fine, this is just more of a personal nitpick. <\/p>\n

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Articulation is pretty much the basic ML complement since this has become the default male buck: ball-joints at the neck, shoulders, wrists, hips, & inverted-ankles; swivels at the biceps, waist, thighs, and boots; double-hinges at the elbows & knees; and the ab crunch. Everything has great range and while I kinda punted that in the pictures, he gets into some great poses. He\u2019s been on my desk in a deep pose and punching back over his shoulder behind him. It\u2019s such a cool pose that I can\u2019t even describe it. <\/p>\n

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Machine Man comes with two extra arms for Odin. Well, they\u2019re actually for old, future Thor. He\u2019s the one that sports the Destroyer armor for a stand-in left arm. But, see, I\u2019m probably not buying Sentry so these are the arms I got. I may display old Thor sometimes, but it\u2019s mostly going to be Odin on my shelves and that Odin? Well, he\u2019s gonna have a kickass Destroyer arm. Try & stop me. <\/p>\n

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The other and arguably cooler set of accessories is Machine Man\u2019s trademark extending arms (his legs can extend too, but no such luck). He includes swappable open hands and fists and then two bendy-extensions that can also plug in between the hand and forearm. It\u2019s all pretty great and fun to use \u2013 you can even plug both extension on one side for one extra-long punch! Oh, and while they\u2019re bendy, they\u2019re not soft bendy. It actually take a bit of effort to move mine around, but they still work pretty well. <\/p>\n

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Overall, did I mention that I love when these giant toy lines get to characters like this? It\u2019s even better when it\u2019s Kirby-based too. I\u2019m thrilled to finally get a Machine Man (& Hellcat in the next wave!) in my display. The fact that he looks so slick with the metallic purple and plastic and great head sculpt is just the icing on the cake. I think the only thing that would make this better would be extensions for the legs, but the ones on the arms are pretty cool and this buck can make use of those for some cool poses. I\u2019m all around happy to get this figure, and, hey, we\u2019re halfway to Stilt Man! <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

For all our Marvel Reviews, check out our Review Index<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

<\/center><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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