Coulson and the Furious Hill: Marvel Legends Avengers 3-Pack

I dunno what happened!  At some point Hasbro was like: "We're goin' back 3 3/4 inch figures!" and Marvel Legends fell to the wayside.  Now they're all like: "Okay, back to 6 inch again!"  Whadoya want from me Hasbro? 

Oh right, money.

Seriously though, I was ready to back the Joe sized figures and did so for some time.  I've got a nice pile.  Took them a bit to get the articulation to a place that I liked, but they managed.  Now the articulation is being cut back just to keep the figures at the same price!  On top of that, all the good articulation innovation is getting moved back to Marvel Legends! 

I don't mind moving back into the 6 inch realm, save for the cost.  It's crazy when I can spend less on some independent toys than on official Hasbro biz (depending on what you're getting).  Speaking of which, up front: This was fifty bucks.  Worth it?  Hard to say.  These just are freakin' expensive, nowadays.  On the other hand, this is a Toys R Us exclusive, and they have their own special "TRU Tax", which is to say: Toys R Us adds more to the cost because they're Toys R Us (or because they only have toys and can't offset the cost with other products, like Target or Wal-Mart or whatever). 

...but I used a gift card!  So it was free to me.

Lets start off with Maria Hill.  She's using the legs and biceps of the Black Widow figure (and a different body, forearms, and hands).  Gotta say: it's cool having a figure of her!  I didn't really think about it, nor expect it, but it's a pleasant surprise.  I do wish the body was a easier to pose, though. 

First off: Her belt is attached to her gun holsters (unlike Black Widow) so they can get in the way, a bit.  Not too much, but enough to make the thigh swivel kinda useless in some poses.  It doesn't look like the plastic is stressed to the point of breaking, though, so I wouldn't worry about snapping the holsters off the belt. 

Oh yeah: and NON-REMOVABLE PISTOLS.  Bleh.  Come on, man.  I don't even care if the holsters are empty - I can find something to fill 'em.  Don't give me none of this mess.  Don't do it.

Another problem she shares with Black Widow is the teeeeeny tiny feet!  Super tiny.  She might as well be walking on needles.  I don't care how common high heels are in the superhero universe: Just stop it, people.  Stop making superheroes run around in heels.  Not only is it just stupid, but it makes for bad toys.  She falls over constantly because of these.  JUST LET HER WEAR SOME SHOOOEEES! 

ANYWAY...Hill comes with a pistol.  The blue stripe on it makes me think that they were going for the Night-Night Guns from the Agents of SHEILD TV show, but who knows.  That's how I'll think of them, anyway.

In the end, I'm just happy to have a representation of her in toy-form.  She's not perfect, but the likeness seems pretty spot on, so that's cool.  I do like my toys to be a little more than good display fodder, though, so I would have liked her to have normal feet and maybe another open hand for holding things.  And better movement. 

Alright, so she's just okay.

Next up is Nick Fury, which looks awesome, but uses a body that is gigantic compared to the others.

...alright, they look fine in the picture, but Fury could enclose his hand around Hill's fist and twist it off.  He's a BEAST.

Fury is utilizing an older body - I think it was used for Punisher?  It was around a time when I wasn't paying close attention to Marvel Legends.  Still: the body shows its age.  I hate the hips, and the arms can't fold down to his sides 'cause of the jacket and shoulder holster underneath. 

You CAN take the jacket and holster off, though, so you can mix-and-match G.I. Joe-style.  He looks a little better without the jacket (even with jacket arms) but it makes his faux turtle neck a little more obvious.

This thing isn't really attached, so it'll ride up when you pose him around.  I'm thinking of gluing it down, but I'm not sure if it's necessary. 

Now Fury does NOT come with those pistols - those are left over from when I tried to build the Hit Monkey figure from another series.  The pack just comes with Coulson's Destroyer Gun and two little pistols.  The pistols are WAY too small for Fury's beefy man-hands, so I swapped in these. 

On a good and bad point: He doesn't have sculpted in pistols in his holsters!  ...but there's nothing to put in them, unless you take away Hill's pistol.  That's why I put these in - they fit in the holsters, too!  So I guess it's bad that he has nothing to put in them, but it's WAY better than sculpted-in pistols.  (Plus: His other hand is this weird claw-pose, so you have to awkwardly shove the other pistol in there). 

So yeah, just to make sure you get that: Fury does not come with the pistols in the picture!

Done and done.

One thing that makes me a little happier (when it comes to a lack of accessories) is, at least, the ability to hold things.  He's got that in spades!  Put whatever you want in those hands.

He-he, gunblade.  That thing looks waaaay too good on him, honestly.  Look at that baby.

So...Fury ain't perfect.  Neither is Hill.  I'm usually pretty happy with whatever, and I'll tell ya, the headsculpts on these two really help them out, but I also have to be honest: If they made new versions, I'd be interested in replacing them.  They work for what they are, but I'd love to see a uniquely sculpted Fury at some point.  He could use the most work, utilizing the newer styles of articulation.  His age shows, and while he's still fun to mess with, if I were his stylist, I'd recommend a makeover.

But hey...I know what you're all here to see.  Ain't nobody gona pull the wool over your eyes.  You're a savvy buyer, I can tell.  You took one look at that package and saw only one thing that mattered:

Mutha.  Fuggin'.  Agent.  Coulson. 

And this ain't some mid-90's-early-2000's sort-of representation of an actor: this is pure sculpting bliss.  Especially with the alternate head, sans shades.

Good gawd daymn, what can I say that isn't gushing?  The articulation is fantastic, the headsculpt might as well be the same as having Clark Gregg in the same room as me, and they even managed to make the minimal paintwork all fancy!  You can't tell, but the lighter blue on his tie is this majestic shiny blue that gleams in the right light.  They even painted his eyes with the same paint, which you might think would look weird, but it totally doesn't! 

Someone in the office knew they had to get this right, and they knocked it out of the park in the process of doing just that.

Coulson rightfully comes complete with the Destroyer Gun, which is another sculpting masterpiece.  He holds it well in one hand or with both (being sculpted specifically to do so) and I decided to give him one of the Night-Night guns as well, since that'll cover his Agents of SHIELD look as well. 

I will not hesitate to say that the price of admission is worth it just for this figure.  If you're a fan of Agent Coulson, then set aside some toy cash and pass up a few other figures you've been eyeing.  I've seen this set in abundance at TRU, so you shouldn't have a problem finding it. 

Naturally, I have to say that this would be easier to get if Coulson's other accessories (I.E. the other figures) were better, but it worked for me, since I hadn't gotten any of the other 6 inch Fury's until now.  And hey, Hill is a bonus! 

You should really be buying this for Coulson, though.  I can't find a single fault, at least in terms of my own tastes.  Everything is perfect.

Now lets end this with the inevitable, knowing me:

Go buy Coulson and Friends!