When the Black Panther movie hit theaters and became an even bigger hit than anyone expected, it gave Hasbro the confidence that a second wave of Marvel Legends Black Panther movie figures with more secondary characters could be viable at retail. And so, a year after the first wave, the Black Panther Legends M’Baku Series is hitting stores! The Marvel Legends M’Baku figure himself is selling for $60 online—is it worth buying the set or paying inflated prices just to get him?
Hasbro took the safe route with the 2018 Marvel Legends Black Panther series, focusing the movie figures in the wave on only the most prominent characters: T’Challa, Killmonger, Nakia and Okoye.
This was probably the right move for an untested franchise, but it left many fans unsatisfied once the movie was a mega-blockbuster and the whole cast was demanded in action figure form. Shuri will be coming a bit later in 2019, but this new series checks the boxes of every other major character—including the subject of today’s review, the Black Panther Legends M’Baku BAF.
To be truthful, I was a little bummed when it was revealed Man-Ape wouldn’t appear in a huge white ape costume in the film. I understand the sensitivities surrounding the character, but I wasn’t sure M’Baku would stand out as anyone significant to audiences without a flashy costume.
I was wrong. Winston Duke did a phenomenal job in his role as M’Baku, and the funny-yet-fierce Jabari Tribe leader became a favorite of movie-goers. And so, even though he would require a plethora of all-new unique tooling, Hasbro decided to give fans what they wanted and greenlit an M’Baku figure. Good will props to Hasbro for that alone.
As they busted out a multitude of new parts for this figure, the M’Baku BAF is every bit as on-model as you would hope. From his boots to his chest armor to his fuzzy shoulder wrap, there’s newly-sculpted parts everywhere that make this figure feel authentic and worthy of its status as a Build-A-Figure (not to mention his hefty aftermarket price of 60 bucks and up).
The sculpting and deco on the shoulder armor and forearm protectors is especially nice, and tie with the back/shoulder fur as my favorite aesthetic component of the figure.
There are some minor details missing from the figure such as tattoos on his arms—and I think that maybe one more color could have been added to the paint deco on the skirt to make it look more intricate—but by and large, this is a wonderfully decorated figure that falls just a hair short of capturing every detail from the movie.
The Winston Duke portrait is very well-executed, and I can easily tell who the character is meant to be just by looking at the head sculpt. The facial expression depicted, however, feels much too “friendly” to me, and I think a fiercer expression might have been a better choice. That said, M’Baku does have a lot of comedic value, so I can’t fault Hasbro too much for the portrait choice they made.
I was all set to bash the one accessory the M’Baku Build-A-Figure comes with—his staff—right up until I took a close look at the source material. I’m surprised to say it, but the shape and ultra-smooth texture of M’Baku’s staff is virtually the spitting image of how it looked in the official photos and actual movie. More accuracy points for the big H.
What I am genuinely a bit disappointed with, however, is the range of motion and flexibility on this figure. The rigid skirt covering most of M’Baku’s legs renders almost all of his lower body articulation useless, making it virtually impossible to achieve dynamic, battle-ready poses.
You can still place the BAF M’Baku’s staff in both his hands and get a decent range of motion out of his upper body, but the removable fur on his shoulder and back can become easily dislodged that way. Despite being one of Wakanda’s strongest warriors, this is a figure that works best just standing around passively, which is rather disappointing.
Overall: Huge props to Hasbro for making a fan-favorite secondary character like M’Baku that requires loads of new tooling at all. While I have gripes about how hard it is to get a fun pose for the leader of the Jabari Tribe and I’m not crazy about how the facial expression has come out, there’s no denying that getting this figure from Hasbro at all is a real treat.
The likeness is there, the staff is more on-model than I expected, and the deco on the figure is very close to matching the look of M’Baku’s costume from the movie. Marvel Legends M’Baku isn’t quite perfect, but the level of work and effort that went into this figure is obvious. Fans of this character should scoop this up—we won’t see a better version in toy form any time soon (if ever).
GRADE: B+
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