Marvel Legends Infinite Series - MS. MARVEL!

Marvel Legends Infinite Series - Target Exclusive 3-Pack - Hasbro 2014

Ms. Marvel is a character that I've always had mixed feeling about.  I would definitely enjoy the occasional back issue, but the character never grabbed me the way others did.  It wasn't until very recently when Carol Danvers took up the mantle of Captain Marvel that I really began to appreciate the character.  Carol Danvers became Ms. Marvel during a very interesting few years at Marvel Comics in the late 1970s.  In a brief timeframe, many outstanding female characters were created and given solo series.  Spider-Woman, Dazzler, She-Hulk, Red Sonja, and Ms. Marvel seemingly came out of nowhere and added some much needed girl power to the Marvel roster.  Similar events were happening at DC, but their new characters just didn't have the staying power of the Marvel ladies.  I grew up mainly knowing Carol as the source of Rogue's base powers.  In my mind, she didn't have a defined personality or interesting story.  Then came her renaissance in the 2000s.  Suddenly she became a major player in the Avengers and finally became the staple character she's always had the potential to be.

Guardians of the Galaxy - GAMORA!

Marvel Legends: Infinite Series - Guardians of the Galaxy - Gamora - Hasbro 2014

Very few movies in the past few years have created such intrigue for me as the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy.  When they first announced the movie a few years ago, I thought it would bomb.  Then I started reading the new comic and I suddenly saw potential.  But then I saw the first preview of the movie and it had a very unexpected tone - which I actually really enjoyed.  The newest Marvel Legends: Infinite Series is a Guardians of the Galaxy themed assortment with a Groot Build-a-Figure.  I love Groot.  Tree-people thrill me.  So of course when I found this wave in the store this afternoon I had to splurge and get the entire wave.  While I'm a little bummed we didn't get Nebula as a second figure, I am surprisingly impressed with this Gamora figure.  In the comics, Gamora is the daughter of Thanos (adopted) and has earned the title of the "deadliest woman in the galaxy."  I guess we'll see if those details are the same in the movie.  This figure turned out a lot better than the solicitation pics made her out to be.  I felt her face look flat and uninteresting in those pics, but in person she looks pretty great.  Let's check her out below!

Marvel 3.75" Infinite Series WASP!

Marvel Infinite Series - Wave 1 - Marvel's Wasp - Hasbro 2014

Now here's a rebranding that I don't quite understand.  The newest incarnation of Hasbro's 3.75" Marvel Universe action figure line is now known as Marvel: Infinite Series (not to be confused with the Marvel Legends Infinite Series in a 6" scale.  Regardless of the name change, we are still due to receive plenty of great figures in this line.  Janet Van Dyne (aka the Wasp) is one of the original members of the Avengers and was a glaring absence from this series.  This figure is pretty awesome.  The sculpt is great, the wings are well-tooled, and the overall look just hits the bullseye.  I've even heard collectors excited to add her to their 6" figure collections.  One of the unseen benefits of making a size-changing character is that scale is suddenly completely unimportant.  Perhaps that's why this figure seems to be the hard one to get from wave 1.  I almost decided to hold out for one with better paint when I found her at Target this week, but I'm glad I didn't since she's not in any stores (and I've been a'huntin).  Let's check out Wasp!