Red Skull (Marvel Legends)

Marvel Legends Red Skull (Infinite Series)

He may not be your ideal valentino but this Red Skull action figure looked a lot handsome than the ones released by Toy Biz. While still looking so damn menacing and horrifying, what's even more horrifying is the fact that he got this freaking red gun! I know it looks stupid but I mean, that's scary right there! You can easily see that Hasbro used the ML Nick Fury or the ML Punisher mold, which made me a little disappointed but then grateful that I finally got a Red Skull in my collection. He is part of the Mandroid Build-A-Figure Wave or the Captain America Infinite Series Wave, which is a recent release by Marvel Legends Hasbro.













Let's get on with the paint apps. The black and gray paint ruling over Red Skull's body makes this figure elegant with a  dose of badassery. And with only his big head painted in red (because he is the Red Skull), your eyeballs may never stray and bother to look at the paint works on other areas. But then it's really very obvious that there is nothing really much to look at other than these solid colours with no shading or whatsoever. The only thing Hasbro added are these Hydra symbols on both his shoulders. However, the head has some great paint details with a black wash that gives accent to his infamous facial feature.

As far as the sculpt of the figure goes, almost everything is basically a Marvel Legends Punisher body mold but the added holster partially hidden underneath his coat and his left hand which may be used only for holding the Tesseract. Then again, the head is what makes this figure impressive with a sculpt (along with paint job) that almost captured the Hugo Weaving Red Skull; an actor who I think is perfect for the role.

What feels kinda strange to me are Red Skull's weapons. Probably the idea here is that- since Captain America fashions his weapon by matching it with that of his features,... and so why can't it be with Red Skull? Good thinking Hasbro! This red gun surely does look as intimidating as his face, does it? Fortunately, we got two holsters to hide and conceal this red hot smoking mama!! One under his coat and the other one at side of the leg. However, the other gun- "the space gun" as I call it, doesn't have its home. And then you also got this "Red Skull-theme" on the other gun, which I believe totally not necessary.

The Tesseract is probably the only good accessory that he comes with. I love how this little cube is made of this almost translucent type of blue plastic that seem to glow when directed to light. Having Red Skull holding the Tesseract can be a little tricky; you just need to find that perfect center of gravity for it to stay in place without falling.

The articulation on this figure is as frustrating as that of the ML Punisher. With his trench coat literally engulfing his body, it is hard to pull off some dynamic poses not to mention his lack of ankle pivots, which makes it a lot worse. But Red Skull got a good head-neck articulation as well as a diaphragm swivel that got a decent range. He got ball-hinged shoulders and swivel at the biceps that is hard to manage. He got double-jointed shoulders and hinges at the wrists that flex and rotate. Red Skull doesn't have my favourite T-jointed hips but he got double-jointed knees and hinges at the ankles.

Maybe the only issue that the Marvel Legends Infinite Series Red Skull has is the articulation... and oh that ridiculous gun that he got. Hasbro could have used a different body mold for this figure but I can't think of any body mold that might work with this figure other than this one. Perhaps it's time for Hasbro to create a newer one. This figure stands at 6.3 inches tall and if you're hoping to get a better looking Red Skull, I'd suggest this version here over any other.