But no one has ever done it quite like Toybiz is doing it. Rather than just build another figure in the series, you get to build characters that should tower over the rest of the line, characters in the Marvel Universe that just don't stand tall - they stand ginormous.

Marvel Legends 12 is just starting to hit stores in any quantity, so now is the time to snag the series if you want them. The main line consists of Iron Fist, Wolverine, Maestro, Sasquatch, Bishop and X-23. I have a full review of the regular series as well, if you're interested in the individual figures. There are variants of course, with a screaming head Iron Fist, a bald version of Bishop, a white Sasquatch, a slightly different color for X-23, and an unmasked version of Wolverine. You'd assume there's something for Maestro too, but I haven't heard about it yet.

But let's not worry about those 'regular' figures here. Let's talk about Apocalypse, the BAF that you get if you're lucky enough - or gullible enough, depending on your point of view - to pick up the full set.

If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, you can always reach me at mwc@mwctoys.com. If you enjoy this review, take a minute to check out my other site at Michael's Review of the Week, and let me know what you think. Now on to the review!

"Marvel Legends 12 Apocalypse"

Apocalypse is a fairly new villain in the X-men universe, not arriving on the scene til the mid-80's. His mutant ability is pretty straight forward - immortality. There's quite a bit you can do if you can never die. He also harnessed the power of some alien technology that allows him complete control over his form at a molecular level. Thus, he could alter his size, and become the huge figure this version represents.

Packaging - ***
His packaging is the same as ML 12 of course, since each individual figure in that line comes with one hunk of his body. Take the six pieces and put them together, and you get the complete mutant. The packaging is sturdy, and ist shows off both the individual figure and the overall Apocalypse fairly well.

Sculpting - ****
Apocalypse stands a whopping 14" tall, towering over the rest of the Marvel Legends line. There's standard comic book muscle definition, with some nice smooth texturing for the more 'robotic' sections of his custom. Considering the scale, there's not a ton of small detail work, but the sculpt has a nice sharpness to it that looks very much like a higher end statue.

The majority of the articulation is well hidden by the design of the character, so it's very likely that people will not recognize this as an action figure at first. He can certainly hold his own on the shelf with higher end collectibles.

The small detail work that is here is mostly in the face, and evil scowl that implies he's serious about crushing all humans.

Paint - ***
The paint ops follow the same standard level of quality as the Marvel Legends line in general. There's some slop, particularly where the silver and dark blue of his costume meet, but most of the paint ops are clean and neat.

The face work is the most critical of course, and here there's absolutely no slop. A little more use of different finishes would have given him some personality, and the metallic silver could have been applied with a little more consistency, but overall the work is solid.

Articulation - ***1/2
Perhaps the most amazing thing about these BAF's is that they have *almost* as good of articulation as the small ML figures. In some ways, it's better, because there isn't quite as much, allowing the figure plenty of poses without the sometimes weak points that the smaller figures suffer from.

Pocky has a cut and pin neck, so that it can turn side to side, and move foreward and back. It's not a full ball - there's no tilting - but it's still extremely useful.

He also has ball jointed shoulders and hips, pin elbows, double jointed knees, cut waist, pin chest, peg and pin wrists, pin fingers (with each finger moving independently of the others), pin and swivel ankles, and half foot. The cuffs over each ankle are also on pins, so they can move foreward and back, out of the way of the foot.

That's plenty of articulation for a figure of this kind of bulk, and I had no trouble getting him standing, keeping him standing, or coming up with a variety of poses.

Accessories - **
Technically, he IS the accessory, so he's not going to have much. There are two bendy tubes though that run from the back of each arm to his waist in back.

Sasquatch and Maestro came with the two arms, and both should have come with the tubes. However, most people are not getting a tube with their Maestro, me included, as you can see from the photo. However, Toybiz is owning the problem, and if you call 1-800-728-2018 and explain that you have not received yours, they'll pop one in the mail for you. That's nice customer service on the part of Toybiz.

Fun Factor - ***1/2
A huge, well articulated, well sculpted, bad guy has got to be on the top of every little boy's list of cool figures. This is a figure so well built that even with all the articulation, there's little chance for breakage under normal play conditions. Throw him off the roof onto the driveway (which might constitute 'normal' play around your house), and you might have some problems, but short of that you should be okay.

Value - **
I'm being a little rough on the figure here, because to get this figure you have to spend around $42, assuming you get a good price on all six figures. You could spend $60 from most online retailers. While he's pretty damn cool, he's not a $50 figure. $30 just for him? Sure, but $40 - $60.

Of course, some of this value pain is offset if you have an interest in the actual ML 12 figures themselves. If you were going to pick up at least 3 or 4 of the series anyway, spending the extra $15 or $20 now becomes a real bargain. How good of a value Apocalypse is depends entirely on how much or how little you want the rest of the series.

Overall - ***1/2
The BAF concept is one of the best of the year, and Apocalypse was an excellent choice. He fits in great with the previous Galactus and Sentinel, and bodes well for future ML lines. Let's hope they get creative with the BAF concept, and leave behind some of the less stellar ideas like 'legendary riders'. Whoever thought putting the Thing on a scooter needs a good smack upside the head with an Apocalypse.

Where to Buy -
I picked these up at Target for under $7.  Online options include:

- Amazing Toyz has pre-orders up for $10 each, or $60 for the set of six.

- OMGToys has pre-orders for series 12 at $10 each, or $59 for the set.

- CornerStoreComics has sold out of some of these, but still has a few individuals for $10 each.

- Yikes Comics has some of the individuals for $13 - $15 each, or the variants at $30.

Related Links -
I've had plenty of Marvel Legends reviews:

- there's the guest review of the Fearsome Foes of Spider-man boxed set, Urban Legends box set, X-men Legends boxed set, and the Fantastic Four boxed set. 

- The previous Sentinel BAF was guest reviewed.

- then there's the various series reviews, including series 9 (including Galactus), series 8 Captain America and Doc Ock, series 7 Vision, series 6 Juggernaut, Wolverine and Deadpool, series 5 Blade, Nick Fury, Sabertooth and Colossus, along with series 5 Red Skull, Silver Surfer and Mr. Fantastic, series 4 Goliath, Punisher, Beast, Gambit, and Elektra, series 3 Daredevil and then the rest of the series, series 2 Thing and Namor, and finally, from three and a half years ago, the series 1 review,