I didn’t have a lot of comics when I was very young, before I had money and access to comic book stores, so the ones I had I re-read hundreds of times. One of those issues was Secret Wars #3, the debut of Titania, so Titania has been high on my want list for a while. The fact that she comes on a throwback card tribute to one of my favorite childhood toylines is just icing on the cake.
The card matches my hazy childhood memories of the old Secret Wars figures, which is good enough for me, so I don’t really know how close of a match it actually is and honestly it’s not something I want to spend my time doimg. It’s fun to see that old logo again, though it didn’t stop me from cracking it open ASAP.
Titania comes with two sets of hands and a shield with a lenticular photo of Titania in the style of the old toys and a 40th Anniversary insert. The hands are pretty standard legends fare, fists and loose grip and they seem appropriate to the character.
The shield with lenticular was a jolt of nostalgia straight into my veins, so I really like the thing, but could see why the youngsters wouldn’t have much use for it as it doesn’t make sense in the world of Marvel Legends. It’s got a clip that switches to a grip like a lot of old Captain America shields in Legends.
The sculpting is really nice on Titania, with a solidly burly build and an appropriately surly expression. I think the hair could stand to be a little bigger, but it works. The spikes could stand to be sharper, but that’s to be expected. Titania’s costume varies from issue to issue, she had gloves in her first appearance and when she didn’t, the spikes would go all the way to the back of her hand, so that seems missing to me.
The other odd bit is that they have sculpted her low-cut top, but decided to paint a sort of light purple undershirt to cover her slightly. I suppose it could be a version of the costume I haven’t seen, but it’s weird and I can’t help but think that at some point late in the development they deemed the design might have been too sexy for the toy shelves and decided to hedge their bets a little against backlash. Though I don’t know if that makes any sense. I think a person who is upset by Titania’s cleavage is probably going to be upset with this edited version too. I’d of course prefer a more accurate look, so whatever the reasoning it’s disappointing. I wonder if it would be possible to take it off with acetone, but I’m not sure it bothers me enough to go to the effort of customizing it.
The articulation is Legends standard and moves well for the most part, but the hair is pretty big and stiff plastic and impedes head movement so, she can’t really look up much. She looks like she’s missing a thigh swivel, but it’s nicely hidden at the high boot cut.
Paint is solid and keeping with the typical Marvel Legends aesthetic where a lot of the figure is cast in the appropriate plastic. The spikes have a decent metallic paint, though a few of mine have a slight spill onto the body.
Overall, I’m really pleased with this figure even with the weird costume edit. The great character in the face, powerful build, and the overall look is very effective even with the unforced costume error.
Source: The Fwoosh
