Thor has some really nice articulation, but he was still maddening to pose. He has ball-joints at the head, shoulders, mid-torso, hips, and ankles. Swivels at the biceps, wrists, waist, and thighs, single hinge elbows and double hinge knees. I’m loving the waist and thigh swivels as those aren’t standard on all Marvel Universe figures. I don’t have a ton of MUs, but I do get annoyed with all the ones that don’t have these two points. Thor can really get into some great poses because of them, but there is one problem. Thor is – rather inappropriately – weak in the knees. When you combine that with the heavier cape and, well, Thor fell over a lot during the review process. That’s never good.
And, of course, Mjolnir is included. I’m not sure if something has changed in the comics, but this isn’t your daddy’s Mjolnir. My Secret Wars Thor & Ragnarok came with the hammer that I remember, the classic look with the THOR inscription. This Thor includes a slightly bigger hammer with a lot more detail & wear, plus no inscription. It looks great and, based on the rest of the figure, I’m going to guess it’s accurate to the new status quo in the Thor comics. It’s a cool sculpt with nice paint apps, and it fits great in his hand. Basically, it does everything a great accessory should do. My only complaint is a desire for the wrist strap to actually fit around his wrist, but that’s more of a nitpick. Thor also included a stand bearing his name & figure number as well as a “H.A.M.M.E.R.” file.
Overall, the biggest thing I took away from this figure was to laugh at myself for the sheer number of times I passed on him at the stores over the last year. Admittedly, his head sculpt is nothing to write home about, but he’s such a terrific figure that your brain really will try to accept the head sculpt as serviceable. He’s got a great sculpt and, if nothing else, this is easily the second best deco for said sculpt.
As I learn more about Thor, I really appreciate being able to buy great toys of the characters I encounter in the comics and picking up a figure that is so spot on to the modern/heroic age Thor was really pretty neat. It really makes me wish Hasbro had found it worthwhile to invest in a comic Thor line. I’d be happy to pick up Sif, Volstagg, the Executioner, et al.
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I have a handful of MU figures, and this is one of the best ones (up there with Juggernaut and Colossus). Unfortunately, the best MU still feels like a cheap toy when compared to G.I. Joe, Iron Man 2, or even Star Wars. I like the overall sculpt and paint, but you’re right that the head is bad. Mine also is plagued with loose joints, poor balance, hips that love to pop off, and plastic pegs that feel like they’ll snap if I move pose him too much.
I love Juggernaut & Colossus. I bought ’em late, so I haven’t looked for a spot to review ’em, but they’re great figures.
The Marvel figures are good, but you’re right about Joes and IM2 stuff in terms of quality.
Yeah, this figure is awesome. Of course, I do love Thor so very much. I like marvel Universe, but i wish i could find them in stores, well, figures that aren’t Iron man or Wolverine. I really need a frost giant and Bill Foster Goliath, but all of the Walmarts here in the wilds of western michigan are really lame… 😛
We got them everywhere that week and then I haven’t seen them since. Ironically, the Frost Giant blew out leaving poor Goliath stranded…
never fear mega, i’m only a short ways away from noisy, and have access to 5 walmarts in my area… and nary a single frost giant to be had in town.
Still none? That stinks!
Okay, I laughed. I could totally imagine Thor subjecting the Avengers to those kinds of shenanigans.
Verily! LOL
Great review. I’ve had this guy for a while now and agree with pretty much everything written. It’s a great looking toy with some impressive bulk to it spoiled by poor/strange design choices on the articulation and a really bad facial sculpt. Plus the fact that he cannot stand on his own and has to lean on something ticks me off. I know many are not fans of cloth capes, and to be fair this one looks great, but the weight of all that plastic on loose ball-hips is a bad idea.
I’ve relegated him to the very back of my MU shelf now that smaller but better made Battle-Hammer can at least stand up straight with Movie Iron Man and the small gap waiting for Movie Cap to complete my Big 3.
I really don’t like cloth capes… but, yeah the weight of plastic ones does get on my nerves.
I know what you mean, but the best examples of cloth-capery such as the original Matty Zipline Bats show that done with care they can really work great, when done as the generic Hasbro Jedi-bathrobe then they don’t.
I put a cloth cape on my DCSH Superman and it looks fantastic AND protects the fragile ankles at the same time. It’s the bulk of plastic/rubber that becomes an issue over time….at least for me.
You’re definitely right about the capes weighing the figures down, that it was the one drawback. And when they make them of a thinner, softer material – I’m always worried about the quality of the plastic…
And a movie “trinity” sounds like a cool idea!
Ah, finally a review for the modern form of the Thunderer.
I too felt a bit of annoyance when I saw the 2-pack version of this guy with the brighter paint, but I had less problem passing on him when the Bleeding Edge Iron Man came out and when I realized that the paint on Thor’s face wasn’t improved. As lackluster as the face sculpt is, I think a lot of it could have been remedied with better paint application.
I was going to get the classic Thor paired with Enchantress, but neither figure seemed that great to me, and I saw that there was a better classic Thor sculpt coming with the Avengers pack.
Paint can do crazy things for sculpts sometimes, so you’re probably right on.
It’s really funny about the Thor in the Enchantress 2pk when compared to what the sculpt is capable of. It’s hard to believe that Ragnarok/Clor is that figure with a new head. I’m hoping that Avengers 3pk one is awesome though. I gotta have that Iron Man for sure!
Me and a friend were noticeing that mine was from the early days when Thor was fetching well on e-bay and I have not had problems with the knees and his was from one of the refresh cases and his had very weak knees. I had the same problem with the comic pack one which again was later on and makes me wonder if something happened in the later production of this figure.
Great Review BTW
Zed! Great to see you over here!
It drives me nuts to hear that the early Thors had better knees! He’s such a good figure, but I wanted to kill him a time or two during the review. Unseen changes between releases isn’t fun for anyone.
And thanks!
If it makes you feel better, the Thor I was complaining about above was an early release. I bought him along with Extremis Iron Man when they first showed up in stores, so I think it’s just hit or miss with these guys.
Thanks, Clark. I do feel a bit better instead of being late to the party. 🙂
Like I said I am not sure, I just know I haven’t had those same problems I have heard as well as I had with the Comic pack repaint. The comic pack one is really bad cause I can never stand him on his own without leaning on something. I like that paint job just a bit better than the single pack, such is life I guess.
Oh and glad to be here BTW.
Great job. This is my favorite Thor figure, but I’m looking forward to getting a Marvel Legends version!!
Thanks! I’d forgotten about that the SDCC Thor is supposed to be this guy in ML scale. That should be pretty awesome!
I didn’t get any weak knees on my Thor thankfully.
Sounds like you got an early one like Zed reported above. Congrats!
Wow – this review really makes my tiny, plastic co-writers and I wish we hadn’t left him out of our recent post. We echo U-Hawg’s sentiment and just hope that there’ll be a ML version of his new duds when the line starts up again in earnest. @NoisyDvL5 – what’s this about a SDCC exclusive? Will it be under the Marvel Legends banner?
If I remember right, the ML SDCC exclusive is a Modern Thor. He’ll herald the return of the line.
Too bad you didn’t have the MS Thor to compare. Some finally cropped up online a few months back after searching high and low, and I finally have one. Those came in and immediately sold out at my (former/satellite?) LCS. then gingernuts had the audacity to have his on display IN the store window. ggrrrr….
I’ve been passing by a LOT of the MU line, only cherry-picking a very few characters, but I did get the Enchantress set for HER. I do wish Hasbro would have done a comic line like they did for Spidey and Iron Man…in 6″ scale. Here’s hoping we get an Asgard wave (Enchanttress, Sif, ODIN, W3, Balder, ERIC/T-strike/Thor II) in the new ML line! (Volstagg is an EASY slight retool of Blob!)
I don’t see too many of the MS figures around here, but I’ve seen pics and I kinda want to track one down.