Marvel Legends - ROGUE!

Marvel Legends -  X-Men: Rogue and Destiny 2-Pack -  Hasbro 2024

Rogue was one of the very first female villains I was exposed to in the Marvel Universe. I had picked up a backissue of Dazzler sometime in the late 80s and was obsessed with this green-suited young woman causing chaos. I picked up all her early appearances in books like Avengers and ROM Spaceknight and couldn't get enough. I thought it was great when she came to the good side and joined the X-Men, but I think I was the only fan that wasn't on board with her transformation into a sexpot in the 90s. It just seemed too out of character to me. But that popularity is why we get so many cool toys of her, so I try to embrace it. A first appearance Rogue has been on my Marvel Legends wishlist for many years, and so has Destiny. So this 2-Pack is like a dream to me. The Rogue figure isn't perfect. I find her hair especially baffling. In this era, she always had two white streaks coming off her temples (often curling up in little Quicksilver-esque whisps). This slicked-back center streak just looks odd and a little boring to me. 

X-Men '97 - ROGUE!

Marvel Epic Hero Series - X-Men '97 5-Pack (Target Exc) Rogue - Hasbro 2023

X-Men women are some of the most interesting characters in all of comicdom. Their powers, personalities, and histories merge together to create a dynamic fully-realized person. I think the most widely-embraced example of this is Rogue. She's powerful, but delicate. She's flirty, but untouchable. And she is widely viewed as oozing sex appeal, but she is covered head to toe and is essentially chaste (out of necessity). And all that intrigue doesn't even take into account her villainous history and relation to Mystique. She has also had a lot of great costumes. This yellow and green bodysuit with a bomber jacket and headband is actually my least favorite, but it has really grown on me in recent years. And clearly, it's her most popular look. I'm impressed with this Epic Hero Series. Typically 1:18 scale ladies have weird limbs and oversized joints. It's like the engineering needed for the articulation is always fighting against the smaller female sculpts. But these figures look great. I can't wait to see who is next.

Marvel Legends - ROGUE!

Marvel Legends - X-Men '97 Disney+ Vintage Wave - Rogue - Hasbro 2023

I've always liked Rogue. From the first time I noticed her in 80s back issues, she intrigued and fascinated me. But X-Men the Animated Series launched her into a superstardom I never would have predicted. I wasn't the biggest fan of the show honestly. Don't get me wrong, I taped most episodes and watched them dozens of times. But even at that young age I found myself very critical of the tone and characterization and soon my interest waned completely. Now, as an adult, I have had a certain sentiment expressed to me surprisingly often. It usually happens when someone is viewing my toy collection. I hear "My favorite toy in my childhood was Rogue. She was awesome. I loved that show." I hear it from men and women of a variety of ages and it's been said upwards of a dozen times. I actually plan to watch the show before X-Men '97 (a direct continuation of the original series) debuts on Disney+ next year and I hope to finally share their awe. Let's check out X-Men '97 Rogue below!

Marvel Legends - ROGUE!

Marvel Legends - Uncanny X-Men - Australian Outback Rogue - Hasbro 2023

I first took notice of Rogue in the pages of Uncanny X-men in the late 1980s. She was a really great character with an impressive power. But it wasn't until I read Uncanny X-Men #269 (which featured Rogue battling an "echo" of Carol Danvers) that I realized how nuanced of a character she actually was.. a former villain with a stolen power set and a secondary consciousness haunting her brain. I quickly picked up Rogue's first few appearances in the pages of Avengers and Rom and I was super appreciative that her current costume (the costume this Marvel Legends figure is wearing that was popular circa 1988-1991) was so reminiscent of her original villainous look. Characters seemed to be changing costumes drastically every couple years in those days, and Rogue was no exception. But to me this design will always be her true classic look. Ever since we got the first modern Rogue figure in the Marvel Legends line (back in 2016), I have been wishing for this version. She's amazing. Let's check out Rogue below!

Age of Apocalypse - ROGUE!

Marvel Legends - Colossus BaF - Rogue (Age of Apocalypse) - Hasbro 2021

One thing I love about Rogue is that she's almost always recognizable across all her incarnations. Her signature white streak of hair and her penchant for green is a consistent aesthetic and it always looks great. I'm completely unfamiliar with the Age of Apocalypse storyline. It came at a time when I had dropped most superhero comics in favor of manga and indy books. And while I don't necessarily love the details of this specific costume: the chunky boots, billowy sleeves, poofy bangs, and loose bondage-esque collar - the overall look presents like a fun variation of one of the most popular X-Men members. Images of Age of Apocalypse Rogue often show her in a big green cape. It would have been fun to see that added to this figure. I'm still excitedly waiting for a couple other classic Rogue looks (first appearance and that early-90s green and black headbanded outfit), but I think I'll be happy with all iterations in between. And this is by no means the last Rogue we will see in the Legends series.

Marvel Legends Vintage - ROGUE!

Marvel Legends: Vintage (Toy Biz) - 1990's Rogue (Version 2) - Hasbro 2020

Hasbro is pretty smart about their toy releases. When the first modern Marvel Legends Rogue figure came out back in 2016, it was pretty much an instant classic. She had a great sculpt, she was produced on one of the most popular female bucks of all time, and she featured the fan-favorite 1990's Jim Lee era costume. Of course, that's also a perfect recipe for extortion on the secondary market and her prices quickly shot up in the triple digits. An eventual second figure was almost a sure thing. But a lot of collectors had paid a lot to get this figure, so a straight-up re-release would agitate their base. So the perfect solution was this release: brighter colors, a new hairsculpt, a new character-specific accessory, and amazing retro packaging. Her Target-exclusive status was the only slight hitch in the plan, but she was readily available on the release weekend both in stores and online. So with a little planning I'm sure everyone was able to secure one. She's a beauty. Let's check out Rogue below!

Marvel Legends - ROGUE (LEGACY)!

Marvel Legends: X-Men - Rogue and Pyro 2-Pack - Hasbro 2020

Here's my unpopular opinion for the day: I was never a fan of the iconic yellow and green 90's Rogue outfit. The aesthetic of a leather jacket over spandex was always a little silly to me. And the costume underneath looks boring without it. That's why I was so happy when her subsequent costumes all tended to hearken back to her original green and white. I'll admit that I had no real connection to the specific costume of this figure, but Rogue in a green and white is always appealing to me. After some research, I learned that this outfit is from the pages of X-Men Legacy from 2010 through 2012. It's a great looking outfit, and a decent improvement over the unreleased 2013 figure from the Wolverine line. My only wish is for this to have been one of her costumes with a hood. I may sneer and leather jackets, but I get giddy over a woman in a hood. The Marvel Legends 2-Pack offerings lately have given us some wonderful figures and I'm very excited to see what's next. Let's check out Rogue below!

Marvel Select - ROGUE!

Marvel Select - X-Men: Rogue (90s Jim Lee Version) - Diamond Select Toys 2019

I love a good villain-turned-hero. One of my first exposures to Rogue was her appearances in ROM: Spaceknight when she was my favorite member of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. I also had a few random issues of Dazzler when she was being all villainous. All my comics in the mid-to-late eighties were from 25¢ boxes so I was living 3-5 years in the past. I didn't even realize she joined the X-Men until way late in the game. Then the double-whammy of the X-Men the Animated Series and the Lee/Claremont run in the comics launched her into superstardom. To this day I still run into people who aren't even into the genre, but if comics or X-Men come up, they inevitably start gushing over Rogue (and Storm). The Marvel Select line is really impressive lately. This Rogue figure is the second of four females due out this year (Psylocke and Captain Marvel are still coming). And the quality is getting better and better, so DST reveals at SDCC are something I'm really looking forward to. Let's check out Rogue below!

X-Men Legends - Marvel's ROGUE!

X-Men Legends - Juggernaut Series - Marvel's Rogue - Hasbro 2016

It is so refreshing to see X-Men characters readily available in the toy aisles again. Sure, we had those super-elusive Jubilee and Puck waves last year. But before that it seems like the last mutant was that horrible TRU shelfwarmer Emma Frost. With all the doom-and-gloom talk about Fox and future of mutants in the Marvel Universe, it's a relief to get such an awesome X-Men series. Plus, this wave is notable for having three unique female characters for the first time ever. Technically the Brood Queen series had three females as well, but I'm talking about humanoids (i.e. not the insectile Brood Queen herself). There have been a handful of examples of three or four females if you include variants. But having Rogue, Kitty, and Jean in one wave is uncharted territory. We first saw this Jim Lee-era Rogue in the 2003 X-Men Legends Box Set and she has been one of the most requested re-dos ever since. I think everyone will be extremely happy with this new version. Let's check her out!

3.75" Marvel Legends - ROGUE!

Marvel Legends 3.75" Series - Wave 3 - Rogue - Hasbro 2016

Rogue's popularity really exploded in the early 90s during the Jim Lee run on Uncanny X-Men and the success of the X-Men The Animated Series. Her sultry relationship with Gambit suddenly highlighted her sex appeal and she became a supermodel right along with Psylocke and Storm. However, I was never too taken with this interpretation of her. I liked the moody, conflicted girl whose power alienated her from her peers. I also love characters that start out as bad guys and have a rocky beginning before joining the good fight (think She-Ra, Spider-Woman, Cassandra Cain, etc). This figure represents Rogue in her mid-1980's John Romita Jr design. Her costumes in the 80s were ever-changing and rarely lasted more than a few issues, but they always retained the same color scheme and protective black body suit underneath. To me this is a very classic Rogue looks that I wish we would see in a 6" scale. But in the meantime I'm happy with this newest addition to the 3.75" line. 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 ROGUE (1990's Style)!

Uncanny X-men Multi-Pack - Hasbro's Marvel Universe - 2013

Rogue is one of the great X-men of the famed Jim Lee / Chris Claremont era.  In that period, she fully developed into the flirty, rambunctious, powerhouse we all know and love.  A lot of this might have been due to the introduction of Gambit as a love interest.  (There's nothing like a love story to spark some character growth).  Rogue is such an interesting character because she is such a dichotomy.  In some ways, she's the most sensitive character in the roster, in other ways, she's the most powerful.  And I think her prominent role in X-men the Animated Series just cemented her newfound star status.  This figure really does the character justice.  All the fun details are there.  She has bright colors, well-sculpted jacket, hair, and headband, and her poseability is pretty great.  My only criticism is that her arms seem oddly short.  Maybe if one or both of her hands were open this wouldn't be an issue.  Rogue is yet another Marvel Universe lady that only comes in a multipack.  The Uncanny X-men set comes with Wolverine, Longshot, and an X-Babies Cyclops.  Let's check her out below!