Intro:
Welcome
back to another edition of Marvel Review. By the time this review is published,
it would’ve been a week since the highly-anticipated X-Men Apocalypse was shown
on the big screen – well, at least it was in the Malaysian cinemas. I have to say,
it was yet another great addition to a wonderful franchise. It has to be said
that since X-Men: First Class, Fox has done considerably well with the X-Men
franchise. First Class; Days of Future Past; and now, Apocalypse have all been
such pleasant watch – at least for me it was.
Anyways,
since this is X-Men Apocalypse season, there’s no better time than this for me
to review one of the most highly sought after Marvel figure out there – the Built-A-Figure
(BAF) Apocalypse.
The
BAF Apocalypse was released in 2005, under the Marvel Legends Apocalypse
Series. In order to get Apocalypse, you’d have to collect his body parts,
packed together with the following characters: Regular Bishop or his
bald-headed variant; Iron Fist (regular/ red costume); Sasquatch (regular/
white); Wolverine (regular/ unmasked); X-23 (black costume/ purple costume);
and Maestro.
Collect
all of these and you will end up with En Sabah Nur himself – the world’s first
mutant.
I’m
a rather late-starter when it comes to Marvel action figure collecting, and I do
limit myself to only 3 ¾” scale action figures, and I most definitely do not
collect the Marvel Legends line, past or present. Having said all that: if
certain figures are made to be in scale with the rest of the Marvel Universe
line that I am collecting, then I’d definitely be on the lookout. BAF Apocalypse
definitely qualifies into that category, due to his ability to increase his
physical size, he definitely fits into that scale.
So,
how good is this BAF Apocalypse? Is he worth the effort for me looking highs
and lows, trying to hunt down for this antique action figure? Read on to find
out…
Figure:
Unlike
all other recent BAF figures, Apocalypse comes from a time when BAF figures
were huge and bulky.
Apocalypse
himself stands at about 14-inches tall, and he feels very solid and hefty in
your hands.
He
looks absolutely fantastic – looking exactly how remember it from his first
appearance in the comics, as well as his on-screen debut in the original X-Men
cartoon series.
 |
| That intimidating face |
The
huge initial “A” on his suit – belt buckle and collar is almost like his
trademark. No one displays the letter “A” better than Apocalypse. Just like in
the comics, there are tubes running from the small of his back, all the way to
his elbows.
 |
| Front Row from Left: Marvel Universe Apocalypse & ToyBiz Apocalypse |
Despite
his humongous size, Apocalypse actually has a very good combination of
articulations: the head seems to be on some sort of a universal joint that
allows all range of motions; the shoulders also have a great range of motion
(although on mine, the left shoulder is a bit too tight); the arms rotate
slightly below the shoulders; the elbows have a 1-point ratcheting joint; the
wrists bend inward; each fingers, except for the thumbs have individual digit
joint; the upper torso comes with a lovely, heavily-ratcheted joint; the waist
rotate 360°; the hips are on soft ratcheting universal joints; the legs rotate
slightly below the hips; double-jointed soft-ratcheting knees joints; the
ankles are on soft-ratcheting joints that allow front and back feet-tilting;
the feet also tilt inwards; and finally, toe-joints.
 |
| Standing side-by-side BAF Onslaught |
The
amount of articulations on this figure is tremendous. On mine, however, the
left ankle and knee joints are a bit loose, compared to the right; as such, you
have to carefully pose him, or else he will just collapse on his own weight and
crushes all the other action figures around him. I don’t consider this as a
fault in the mold, because it might be just an isolated case, but what do irk
me are his hands/ fist.
The
hands clench into to fists, and despite having individually-articulated digits;
his hands only looks good by clenching into a fist. The problem is that each
finger is designed to look like clenched fists. I really think that it’s a
missed opportunity for the designers to make what is already-considered as a great
action figure, into a perfect one. Why Marvel? Why?!
 |
| Flawed Design, in my opinion |
Anyways,
you can really have a field day posing him along with the rest of you Marvel Universe
figures, pretending as if Apocalypse turned himself big, and trying to destroy
all X-Men who opposed him; and if you have all of his Four Horsemen around –
perfect!
 |
| With his Four Horseman, based on the X-Men Apocalypse |
Summary:
BAF
Apocalypse is truly a wonderful action figure, and a rare one at that. It’s
really not that easy for you to actually come across one, and even when you do,
you’re looking at paying at a premium price for it. I was lucky that a fellow
collector was looking to unload his Apocalypse at a very reasonable price.
I
really can’t recommend this figure enough, and if you’re really lucky to find
this figure, grab it while you can.
It’s definitely
a must-have for X-Men fans.
Highly
recommended.
Final
verdict, 9.5/10.
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