Psylocke has long been one of the most popular female members of Marvel Comics’ mutant hero team the X-Men. So it’s only appropriate that she’s now been chosen to feature in Toy Biz’s bestselling Marvel Legends action figure line. Showing up in the fourteenth series, the Psylocke figure is one of the most visually attractive Marvel Legends toys available. Although Psylocke’s lack of accessories and wonky articulation lower her value, her lovely sculpt and clean facial paint make this X-Woman well worth her $9.99 suggested retail price.
In scale with the rest of the Marvel Legends line, as well as with Toy Biz’s X-Men line, Psylocke stands a commanding 8-inches in height, and features over 30 points of articulation. The pose in which she comes packaged, a half-lunge with her arm elevated into a muscle flex, is striking and recalls the artwork of some of her most famous X-Men appearances. However, the Psylocke figure’s movement is restricted by the unwise construction of her joints. The ball joints in Psylock’s arms are stiff to the point of being immobile- it’s borderline impossible to move her arm out of the flexed position. This isn’t a huge problem, as her stance is attractive, but there’s no point in giving the svelte Psylocke ungainly Pinocchio-style joints if they aren’t going to serve any practical purpose.
Yet these problems seem to disappear once you take a look at Psylocke’s face. Unlike with many of their overly masculine Marvel Legends females, Toy Biz has really come through with the Psylocke figure. She’s gorgeous, with a facial sculpt that makes her look both feminine and strong. Psylocke very much resembles her comic book counterpart, right down to her unkempt, flowing hair. The designers even took care to make her appear reminiscent of the X-Men character Revanche; Psylocke’s doppelganger with whom she switched minds for a brief period. This way, kids can reenact their favorite scenes involving either character- a fitting attribute, as the two women’s storylines are so closely related in the comics.
Psylocke’s facial paint is extremely well done, as it highlights her feminine attributes without appearing overdone or sloppy. Likewise, her hair is nicely highlighted with varying shades of purple, giving it a bit of depth. It’s too bad that the same can’t be said for the paint job on her costume. Toy Biz opted not to actually sculpt Psylocke’s ninja bodysuit, they instead just painted it onto her body. The result is a bit slapdash- what should be crisp lines on her leg bands are wobbly and uneven, and there’s a blue airbrushing residue that bleeds out onto her skin. It’s certainly not horrific, but it could’ve been made better with a little extra care. That being said, however, the Psylocke figure’s pristine face makes up for any shortcomings with her outfit.
The weakest facet of the Psylocke figure is her accessories, or lack thereof. In the X-men comics, Psylocke is a Telepath, and mental abilities are notoriously difficult to recreate in toy form. However, even a sub-par Psylocke figure from the 90’s came packaged with a translucent purple “energy burst” meant to suggest her “psychic knife” attack. This figure comes with absolutely nothing. The only ability she can showcase is the power to stand around, and that’s a big disappointment. What Psylocke does come packaged with is a reprint of Uncanny X-Men #258, detailing her introduction to the series. The comic book is full-length and features stunning, Psylocke-centric cover art that was first used on issue #467. This is a lovely collectable, and a welcome addition to the package.
I’ve always been a huge fan of female action figures, but they are notoriously impossible to find. Toy Biz has in the past been guilty of “short-packing” their female figures; including only one woman per case of figures shipped. Case in point, the almost complete unavailability of the X-Men Phoenix, as well as the Fantastic Four film’s Invisible Woman figure. Thankfully, it doesn’t appear that the Psylocke figure has been overly short-packed, meaning that she should be easy to find on sale. I paid $4.99 for mine, but I would suggest that Psylocke’s well sculpted face, interesting pose and dead-on likeness is worth the full ten dollar price tag. She’s one of the best female figures currently available, and certainly one of my favorites.
