The Marvel Legends Paladin figure from the Sasquatch wave has been out in stores for a few weeks. He’s not an A-lister, though he did snipe Daredevil from a helicopter at quite a distance and defeated Captain America and the Heros for Hire team. I guess that’s something.
I was happy to see him, and I am probably in a very small group who can say that. Back in the 90’s, he and Silver Sabel were in so many issues of Spider-man, it led my impressionable self to believe that this was normal. Eventually, he went away (or exited from my radar) and only pops up when they need a mercenary who isn’t all evil.
I suppose that’s the crux of the character. He has semi superhuman strength, speed, and resiliency, but nothing on the level of, say, Taskmaster. He does bad things for money, but not at the sociopathic level that Bullseye operates. He’s a good shot, but not as good as Deathstroke (yes, I know he’s a DC property). In short, he’s a great middle of the road character when the writer doesn’t want to commit to any one extreme. However, it is due to my favorite stories from my youth that I was excited to see the solicits for him. The Marvel Legends Paladin is exactly the kind of character they can make because they can sell a million Iron Mans, Spider-mans and Captain Americas in order to take a loss if they need to do so.
What’s in the Marvel Legends Paladin box?
In the Marvel Legends Paladin box, we get the figure, two guns, a knife, and a Sasquatch leg.
What doesn’t work with the Marvel Legends Paladin?
A lot. I can’t detract arbitrary points in my head for this, but the paint apps on my Marvel Legends Paladin figure’s nose was chipped out of the package. You may recognize the buck as well as the costume accessories.
They reused a lot of parts on this figure. No, he is not 100% comic accurate. Yet, I can’t help but think that had they made an all-new original mold for the figure, it was have been too costly of an experiment for a one-off. I applaud these kinds of money saving practices if it means the line continues and gets flushed out with C, D, and E listers. While many collectors see reused parts as a negative, I do not. However, I felt it worth mentioning to you if that does factor into your purchase decision.
Do you see how many guns he comes with? Two. Do you see how many holsters he has? One. Right off the bat, we have a gun surplus. It’s bad enough when you drive and text, but imagine having to drive, text Silver Sabel to try to get out of the friend zone AND you’re holding an orange pistol at the same time? This is exactly why I didn’t become a supervillain. In addition, his gun sets in the holster, but does not FIT in the holster. Pay attention to it or it will fall out.
What works with the Marvel Legends Paladin?
There’s not a lot outstanding about the Marvel Legends Paladin. I do enjoy his face sculpt. He has great, but standard, Marvel Legends articulation. I like my memories of the character more than I like the character himself. He’s plain toast. Not inherently bad, but for it to be labeled “good” it has to be contingent upon what you place on the toast. The purple photographs well, even in low light.
Also, if you ever wondered what it looks like when a writer searches for something positive to say about an average figure, it sounds a lot like, “he photographs well.”
Should you buy the Marvel Legends Paladin?
I would pick him up if you are a fan of the character, need bad guy fodder, want to finish off Sasquatch not now, but RIGHT now, or you daydream about what Grimace would look like if he lost weight. Otherwise, easy pass. Wait for his price to come down.
If you want to pick him up, enjoy these links courtesy of my mad copy and paste skills.
As I am want to do, here are some more pictures!
