Marvel Legends Vintage - ELEKTRA DAREDEVIL!

Spider-Man Legends Vintage - Elektra Natchios as Daredevil - Hasbro 2023

When I started collecting Marvel Legends (my first purchase was Captain America from Wave 1 in 2002!), I had this dream of collecting three versions of all the main heroes. I wanted a classic modern version, a 1st Appearance version, and (this is a stretch) a female version. This meant having a modern Captain America, 1st Appearance, and maybe an American Dream or Miss America. Or a modern Thing, 1st Appearance Thing, and Sharon Ventura as She-Thing. Clearly the female wishes didn't pan out at first. But over time they kind of did. I have She-Hulk, Jane Foster Thor, Mayday Spider-Girl, Pepper Pots, Shuri as Black Panther, Kate Bishop, Laura Kinney as Wolverine, etc. It's pretty impressive. But the one roadblock was always Daredevil. We have had many iterations of Matt Murdock, but there just wasn't a female version of the character. Then in early 2021, my prayers were answered. Matt Murdock was in jail, and who would step in to protect Hell's Kitchen other than Elektra Natchios. 

Marvel Legends 3.75" Retro - ELEKTRA!

Marvel Legends 3.75" Retro Series 02 - Elektra Natchios - Hasbro 2021

Elektra has never been one of my favorite characters. For the majority of my youth I was forced to participate in martial arts. I say forced because my older brother was both passionate about it, yet afraid to do it alone. And as a middle child I had no say, so they just signed me up for six years of sparring and kata. No boy scouts or wrestling for this guy. And now, predictably so, martial arts in comic characters isn't a skillset that particularly thrills me. But flash forward to 2003 when I read my first Elektra comic (Elektra #23) and I was really intrigued. The story was from the eyes of a man who knew Elektra was coming to assassinate him. She was viewed as a myth, but as his lines of defense failed one by one in a flash of red ribbon, his fear and resignation grew.  I believe that story was used for the intro scene for the 2005 Elektra movie (although the comic writer is not given credit). Ever since that comic, and against all odds, I can say I finally genuinely like a martial arts character. Let's check out Elektra below!

Marvel Legends - ELEKTRA!

Marvel Legends - Twin Packs Series 01 - Elektra and Ronin - Hasbro 2008

With all the buzz about Elektra lately, I wanted to go back and review one of my favorite of her figures. (If you're unaware of what Elektra has been up to, go read about Daredevil #25 and let's all wish for a new figure of her soon!). Back around 2008-10, Marvel Legends released a series of twin packs exclusive to Toys R Us that gave us a lot of truly great female figures in quick succession. I think it was one of those situations where pairing them with a male character made them more marketable. This line included Maria Hill (with a Sharon Carter alt head), Black Widow (with a 90's alt head), Valkyrie, Invisible Woman, and Elektra (with bandana alt head). Most of these came with variant versions as well: Black widow and Maria Hill having different color bodysuits and Elektra having a Skrull variant. These figures marked a terrific improvement in Hasbro's female character design. Let's not forget that the dreadful White Queen was released just a year prior. Let's check out the 2008 Elektra below!

Marvel Legends - ELEKTRA!

Marvel Legends - Spider-Man (SP//dr BAF Wave) - Elektra - Hasbro 2018

Sorry for the lack of posts recently. It seems like every July I get hit with a crazy cold. I still have the energy to run around and hunt toys (which you can see if you follow me on instagram), but when I sit down at my computer I couldn't be less productive. Then it leads into SDCC and I'm too distracted with anticipation to be much good at anything but refreshing my toy news feeds. But all that is passed now and I have an exciting backlog of figures to post on. Sometimes I don't realize how absent a character is from my collection until a perfect classic version is released. It's pretty surprising that there hasn't been an Elektra figure since 2008. That 2-Pack with Ronin featured a very decent Elektra, but it was just too dated to blend in with a modern Marvel Legends display. So when this figure was announced last year, it wasn't a super exciting reveal to me. She has had several Legends releases already, after all. But once I had her in hand I realized how badly this figure was needed. Let's check her out below!

Marvel Legends - (Netflix) ELEKTRA!

Marvel Legends: Marvel Knights (Man-Thing Wave) - Elektra - Hasbro 2017

Someday I'm going to watch the rest of Daredevil. I started watching it a couple years ago but I got distracted and never picked it up again. I definitely will though because I've been a big fan of Charlie Cox since Stardust and I have a real soft spot for Elektra. In researching this post I read a pretty scathing review of the character (on Screenrant of course). Apparently her overall characterization and origin are way off base. But I'm still interested in seeing it and judging for myself. I know fans weren't too thrilled with the Elektra movie from 2005 either, but I personally love it. That solo comic series from the early 2000s was pretty great too. Despite her popularity and perseverance as a major Marvel character, Elektra really hasn't received many good action figures. The best one was the the Marvel Legends 2-Pack from 2008, but she has that spindly old body style. So although this Netflix version isn't a classic look, I would definitely say it's the best Elektra figure so far (in my humble opinion). Let's check her out below!

The Women of Marvel Universe NOG'NZ!

Seven Marvelously Squished Ladies - Nog'nz Blind Bag Series 1 - Zag Toys 2012

For those collectors who have a strong visceral reaction to Chibis and other abstracted superhero forms, you're going to just love these little monstrosities.  I definitely had a similar negative reaction when I first saw these.  It took me about a year to warm up to them, and now they just make me giggle.  When trying to describe them to someone who has never seen them, I can't seem to avoid the imagery of a small caramel candy that has been pinched and prodded into a shape.  This is especially true for Rogue whose hair gives her the right coloring for my analogy.  A big perk for me was also the character selection.   The first (and only) series had 45 characters, including seven females - pretty impressive for a debut aimed at kids.  They are made from a really dense plastic that click and clack like dice when jostled together.  There are actually some games you are supposed to play with these - seems like a cross between craps and marbles. (The tag line on all the packaging is "Heads will Roll!")  Let's check them out!

Marvel Universe ELEKTRA!

Marvel Universe: Wave 22 - Elektra - Hasbro 2013

Comic books need more ruthless female assassins.  Elektra Natchios first appeared as a Daredevil villain in 1981 and was originally intended to be a one-hit wonder character that would never appear again.  Fate intervened luckily and Elektra went on to became one of Marvel's most popular females (certainly one of the most merchandised).  she has been a villain, a love interest, an anti-hero, and of course, an assassin.  My favorite role for Elektra is that of the anti-hero - i.e. stalking and killing despicable people.  This was the general tone of the 2001 solo Elektra series, which I only caught the tail end of (when Robert Rodi started writing it) and loved every issue I picked up.  Maybe she had always been this type of character, but it seemed fresh and new to me at the time and I was instantly a fan of this character I so often overlooked.  It even seemed like the 2005 Elektra movie was based off the very issues I read (at least the first 15 minutes of the movie).  Anyway, back to this great little toy.. let's check her out!