Marvel Legends Mysterio Review

Ahhh, here we are at the last review before we get to the Marvel Legends Lizard Build-A-Figure review, and I’m just going to get it out there: This is my favorite figure in the entire series! Would you expect anything less from… Mysterio?!

Yes, good ol’ Quentin Beck gets a Marvel Legends figure at long last, though this isn’t his first figure in the 6” scale. That honor goes to the ToyBiz Spider-Man Classics figure (which was later rereleased in the Spider-Man: Origins toy line by Hasbro). However, while that figure had a silly action feature, this figure fortunately doesn’t suffer from that.

Mysterio’s sculpt is seemingly entirely new, though I do get the feeling I’ve seen those hands before (the outstretched fingers remind me of the open palms we’ve seen on several Spider-Man figures). His body is covered in his classic grid pattern, and to get something like that here as part of the sculpt and not simply painted on is just incredible! I can’t think of anyone this body could be reused for, so to get this as a one-time use body is greatly appreciated in this age of body parts reuse. His gloves and boots are very accurate to the comics and look excellent. Mysterio’s helmet is attached to his cape (the inside of said cape has that cool cross-hatching sculpt detail you typically find on a shower curtain!) and both are removable to reveal a skull with octopus tentacles coming out of the right eye and mouth, and it’s suitably very creepy! The head seems to be arriving in both translucent green and translucent white variants. I have yet to spot the green variant, but it was initially spotted in Canada, though they’re slowly trickling out in spots in the US now. From pictures I’ve seen, the green head really shows through the helmet more than the white head, so it depends on which you’d prefer.

The white head does show through the helmet slightly, but there are a few alternatives to the head Hasbro provided. For one, the Spider-Man head from the recent Retro/Vintage Marvel Legends Spider-Man fits on the peg. Initially, it looks small on this body, but when you put the helmet on, it magnifies it. You can pretend the Spidey’s face is reflecting in the fishbowl (ala Todd McFarlane’s “Amazing Spider-Man #311 cover) or make it look like Mysterio is pretending to look like Spider-Man himself. You can also stuff the head with cotton to give it a swirly, smoky effect, and thus obscure the skull head inside. All three options look great in my opinion.

Mysterio’s paint is very minimal; his parts are molded in the colors needed. He has black painted in the grooves of his gloves but that is it. I think his body’s sculpt would have benefitted from a black paint wash over the grid pattern, but it’s honestly nothing that will make you want this figure any less. While the light green on Mysterios gloves and boots are accurate to the comics, I can’t help but feel gold would have looked even cooler (which is also accurate to some artistic depictions). Perhaps down the road this figure will see release in a multipack with more paint apps and gold in place of the light green.

Mysterio has some very cool accessories in addition to the Lizard’s left leg. He comes with two green, smoky illusion effects that match the color of the green Mysterio head. One has spiders sculpted into the effects while the other has octopus tentacles. They both look amazing on him! While they were made with attaching around his boots in mind, you can also wrap them around his forearms; they both stay on snugly.

Mysterio has 32 points of articulation. He has a ball jointed head, neck hinge, shoulder swivels and hinges, bicep swivels, double-jointed elbows, wrist swivels and hinges, ab crunch, waist swivel, hip rotation, thigh swivels, double jointed knees, calf swivels, ankle pivots, and ankle hinges. You won’t be able to use the head or neck articulation with the helmet on, but that’s okay, he doesn’t need it when that’s on anyway.

I’m so glad Hasbro pulled out all the stops on Mysterio. The time and love spent on him clearly shows. I’m also glad they went with a very classic design for him. He’ll look great with your other Spider-Man villains!

Mysterio is undoubtedly the rarest and most sought after figure in the entire series, with prices rising steadily on the secondary market. If you see him, whether it’s in stock at your typical brick and mortar stores (Walgreens or Target) or online (Amazon), don’t let him pull a disappearing act on you.  He’s a must have for any Spider-Man fan!