What's kind of funny about Marvel Legends 375 is that some figures hold true to the Kenner ethos and some are a bit closer to those popular Japanese brick figures like Kubrick from a million years ago. Those things mostly used the same body, but some had unique arms, heads, and accessories. Storm uses the same basic body as Phoenix, Elektra, Invisible Woman, Firestar, Carol Danvers, and whoever comes next I assume. With a little paint, a cape, and a new head, each figure looks surprisingly fresh - but it helps that they do a good job.
Considering that Hasbro was working from mostly existing parts - like a LEGO, Playmobil or Kubrick figure - this is a work of brilliance. The figure's sizable white hair piece is quite a good distraction, and the cape covers up the back while altering the figure's silhouette. The boots look like the comics, and the forearms are painted gold. Thanks to the swivel wrist joint, it looks natural - but the boots have a weird cut that doesn't do it many favors.
The skin-tight costume works on this body, with the gold ring around the belly literally painted on. It looks perfectly fine, but a sculpted one would have been a nice, if not cost-effective solution. But this isn't about logic or reason, because a flying woman with the power to harness lightning and rain would probably wear something a little more sensible and not have metal that can conduct electricity on it. But I'm not the best cultural critic in this department, especially since Berke Breathed said it better in Bloom County in the 1980s. Not much has changed.
The X-Men roster in this line has, so far, been surprisingly tight. Magneto, Wolverine, Cyclops, Phoenix, and Storm all make sense given their popularity, but the team itself is so packed with awesome designs that unfortunately require a lot of new tooling. (Hence, no Jubilee, no Kitty Pryde, and no Rogue.) This is a figure that could probably be repainted as other Storm costumes with minimal fuss, but she's a good one - the gold trim on the cape looks great, but the cape itself gets in the way of any hypothetical vehicle compatibility.
I am most likely the only person out there buying these, opening them, and then jamming them in old toy vehicles. This figure probably won't fit in many, but she does look awesome standing around. The hair is impressive, the hairband looks great and the white eyes are not only a great way to do a lower-detail retro head, but are true to the character. Ms. Munroe sports painted lips and eyebrows, which do a lot to help the facial details at this scale.
This is a surprisingly good figure that was really nicely done given the limitations on tooling, and it shows the seemingly endless value in repainting skin-tight nearly-nakedish human bodies with new heads. If you have a Storm figure you love, you probably don't need this one - but if you like this format of figures and want a Storm figure, get this one. Hasbro made a similarly costumed (slightly more modest) figure for its Marvel Universe line over 10 years ago, and she's great. But this one has better card artwork, so this is the one I want. Unless they start making 3 3/4-inch 1990s cartoon-style ones, in which case, I might buy just one more Storm. For a figure with no accessories, she's not a spectacular value. But she's cool, and that's enough for me.
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