Marvel movie madness is set to continue with the August 1st release of ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’. The film introduces us to a brand new team of heroes and Hasbro’s got a brand new set of toys to accompany the movie. Let’s take a look at some of these new toys, starting with the Marvel Legends Rocket Raccoon. Yesterday I warmed up with Iron Man, today I get to the real good stuff.
Bio: Intergalactic bounty hunter ROCKET RACCOON and his partner GROOT are hot on the trail of their next big payday: the human known as STAR-LORD!
Thoughts: Let’s get the packaging out of the way first…it’s the same Legends packaging but with purple art and text and a Guardians of the Galaxy logo. This is the same thing I said yesterday.
Rocket Raccoon, being an alien that looks like a raccoon is a pretty small guy. The figure measures about 3.5″ tall, from feet to tip of his ears. The articulation is a little different than most Legends – Rocket’s only lower body articulation is his tail – which is good, as you’ll need to use the tail to make him stand. Rocket’s waist is articulated on a ball joint, he also has articulated shoulders, elbows, wrists and neck. Some articulation at his feet would have been helpful so he could stand without his tail serving as a third point, but fitting a joint into his ankle would have been pretty tough considering how small it is. I don’t have any issue with the “limited” articulation in this case because the sculpt is fantastic. This figure looks as much as a space faring raccoon resembling alien as I could hope. The detailing on the sculpt is quite good, from the fur to his jump suit. The fantastic sculpt is joined by a solid deco, particularly in his face. A second “yelling” or “snarling” head would have been a great addition though, as it is Rocket has a very neutral expression. While he’s small, there’s a ton of fantastic work in this little guy.
He is small though, so Rocket includes two accessories – a big huge gun and, uh – some space thing. The gun is fantastic, Rocket holds it with no problems despite the fact that it is as tall as he is. The space thing is…nice, I guess. I’m not really sure what it is, or how Rocket is supposed to use it (Google actually says that Star Lord uses it in a trailer). While it was nice to get something extra in the package – this accessory is one that’s destined for the bin of random parts.
Finally, as this is a build-a-figure wave, Rocket Raccoon includes the upper torso and head of his buddy Groot. Again, the sculpt is fantastic – particularly his face which is quite expressive. His neck joint is articulated.
Summary: This is probably the figure from the wave you’d want to pick up and it’s a very good, not great, figure. A few small tweaks would have really made it top notch. The biggest disappointment is the big accessory that’s just superflous…a second head would have been preferred. Regardless, you’re going to buy this figure and not feel too bad about spending your $20 on it.
Rocket was purchased at my local friendly neighborhood Toys R Us.
