I've done pretty well at avoiding buying any Marvel Universe figures for the last few years. Our friend Beanie has made it a personal mission to buy every figure under the sun (and a few times over), thus fulfilling my need to see the figures open and up close. But Hasbro has been doing so well with these figures recently that I catch myself picking them up at the store and taking a few minutes to realize that I should just put them back. More often than not, it's the Guardians of the Galaxy box set that I have to force myself to put back. That was, until recently when I had a...wait for it...COUPON!
Liz had to put up with me getting her attention time and time again telling her that I really wanted that set, "If I ever buy any Marvel Universe figures, this will be the set". I'm sure that struggle was a lot of fun for someone else to have to listen to time and time again. But NO MORE! The ever-so-interesting inner turmoil has finally come to a conclusion with the help of a Toys R Us coupon saving me not 5, not 10, but 15% off of my purchase.
How could you NOT love this set? Even as someone who only read two, maybe three of the Guardians of the Galaxy comics a couple years ago and couldn't tell you half of what went on in those issues, these are amazing sculpts of awesome looking characters that I just couldn't pass up. Having taken a liking to Rocket Raccoon thanks to Marvel vs. Capcom 3 (thanks to his ridiculous ability to utilize an impressive arsenal of giant guns) I had even more incentive to grab this set.
Taking the figures out, I had a horrible time getting Rocket Raccoon out. Usually you can just push the figures out of the plastic or maneuver them until they're out, but I had to cut the plastic with a razor just to get that little guy out. Not sure how they even put him in there.
But right away I was super happy with him. His detail is amazing. I'm glad they couldn't put the whiskers on him that the box art shows him with. Those look a little weird, I like the toy much better. Sure his articulation is limited with the only two points of movement being his head and tail (to help him stand), but with the pose he's in - you really only need those two. He looks awesome and I'll probably always have him display prominently regardless of wether or not I have the rest of the box set with him.
He comes with one gun and a whole lot of attitude. I'm pretty impressed with the fact that they even sculpted some of his fur on his neck "ball". I'm super bummed that his head is on a very large ball, I would have loved to pop it off and put it on a Star Wars or GI Joe figure. Hands down the best figure out of the bunch.
As small as RR is, he's still not the smallest figure in the set. And from what I remember, Groot can grow immensely to the size of a mighty tree. But in good planning, Hasbro went ahead and included the plantling version of the character. While writing this I noticed that his right arm is out of socket. Weird that he's not all one piece. He's rooted in a small flower pot and looks pretty threatening even for a figure that is about an inch tall. However, there's not much else to say about the figure so I'm going to move on...
On to Drax the Destroyer, or as I've been calling him, Green Butt the Cutie. He's a tall buck and I'm sure Beanie could tell you what other MU figures share his mold, but his mold is new to me. He's got two awesome holsters on the back of his belt to hold his knives. And he looks great when he's grabbing for them. I'm also a big fan of his bell-bottom-esc pants, reminiscent of the V1 Tunnel Rat GI Joe figure. It must be noted that his red "tattoos" are a great compliment to his deep green skin.
That leaves Starlord, my least favorite of the bunch, but that's not really a complaint - I really like all of these figures. It's really just the MU style legs that I'm not a fan of. The upper thigh articulations just don't make sense to me. But this is a great design, and the sculpt stands true to the comic. Such an awesome helmet. He comes with two guns and he just so happens to have two hands. Perfect match!
I highly recommend this set, it's sitting (for some reason) warming most shelves at Target and Toys R Us stores, so pick one up if you have a chance... or a coupon. I'm just hoping this hasn't opened up any sort of collecting flood gates. Our house can't stand a flood. Or any more toys for that mater.
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Liz: Rocket Raccoon - He has an accent and he's not afraid to use it.
Groot - He was a Chia-Pet...CEMETERY!
Drax the Destroyer - Is over-compensating for something...
Starlord - Is a lesbian. #ifLizhadherway
_____________________________________________________________Plastic/Material – 5/5Poseability – 4/5Packaging – 5/5Design – 5/5Playability – 4/5Price (value) – 3/5Overall – 4/5
