Family Matters 3-Pack with Magneto Action Figure

By Hervé St-Louis
June 20, 2021 - 19:53

Magneto is the first villain that the X-Men faced. He was introduced in X-Men #1 in 1963. The original leader of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, Magneto recruited his twin daughter and son Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver to help him in his fight against humanity.* He is the master of magnetism, a holocaust survivor and often, switches sides to help the heroes.

This action figure came with the Amazon exclusive Marvel Legends Series Exclusive 6-Inch Family Matters 3-Pack with Magneto, Quicksilver, and Scarlet Witch Action Figures in 2019. It is not the first Magneto action figure as many have been released earlier with Hasbro and Toybiz.

Likeness

This is the classic Magneto look, not the modernized. The actual sculpt is based off the Jim lee version of Magneto that was released with the X-Men comic #1 from 1991 and not creator Jack Kirby. That means that the multiple threads and parts on his suit have been streamlined over time until just a few were left. For example, instead of having multiple bolts on the from cover of his shoulder armour, he now only has three. The metal gloves and sandals have been simplified too. The crest on his Roman helmet has also taken on a more figurative form, instead of the horn-like shape they had when Kirby designed him.

Jim Lee drew Magneto with a strong chest and huge bolts on his shoulder armour. He also favoured a long cranial structure for the helmet, reducing the face to a smaller area in proportion to the character’s head. That’s why Magneto appears to have such a small face and big head. The grinning alternative head is a straight representation of the classic X-Men #1 cover from 1991. The only thing missing from the Jim Lee design, are the lace-like cuts to his torso that strip from the top of his shoulder armour to his belt. Clearly, Magneto is meant to look like a Roman figure with his protected face. It is this look, which is so uncommon in superheroes and super villains, that given him his iconic and most recognizable look.

Sculpt

The sculpt is not great. Magneto’s legs are too short compared with his thighs. He looks like one of those guys at the gym who only trains his upper torso but avoids the legs. The helmet does not cover his entire cheeks, and so it looks odd. The cape hinders his body shape. It adds weights and gravitas to his shoulders but creates a lack of proportions with the rest of his body. I dislike the cape. The belt is from the Jim Lee design, but it looks like he’s wearing adult diapers instead of a belt.

Paint

Most of the figure is not shaded and follows the hue of the base plastic. His shoulders and neck, underneath the cape are a darker purple. The application of the purple hue on the straps of his forearms, and his sandals is uneven, with the base plastic easy to spot underneath. Thicker coats that follow the shape of the sculpt would have helped.

Scale

Magneto is a tall action figure over six inches. He towers over the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. He looks great next to other Marvel Legends action figures but not very good when brought next to Star Wars or G.I. Joe Classified. This is part of a situation that I dislike with Hasbro’s Marvel Legends where figures tend to go towards the seven inches instead of anchoring their baseline at six. It makes every character look bigger and oddly out of scale with older Toybiz Marvel Legends, Start Wars, and G.I Joe Classified.

Stability

Balance is not easy to obtain with Magneto. His cape which should help hinders him. The added weight on the shoulder and back make the figure top heavy. The shorter legs, even with large feet make it easy to topple. The cape does not allow him to rest, like the Scarlet Witch’s. he can be posed and not fall, but you will have to fiddle around a lot to achieve that. Perfect balance also means that he has a tendency to lean forward to compensate for his heavy cape.

Articulations

The head is on a ball joint giving it a lot of mobility. Also, he has an abdominal crunch and a special peg hole in his back to stabilize the cape. The problem is that when stabilized the cape will still look crooked.

Magneto has shoulder, articulations but no butterfly hinges. These articulations are limited by the cape. Move them too much and the cape will unhook from its peg hole. He has bicep curls, double elbow articulations, and wrist curls. The wrists can also bend up and down.

He has a waist curl, thigh curls, double knee articulations that become loose easily. His hip joints allow the legs to move up, down and sideways but they are stiff and limited. The cape reduces how much they can move. There are also shin curls, and bendable ankles that also pivot sideways.

Plastic

The plastic appears to be PVC. The cape and helmet have a rubbery feel. The helmet is glued on top of his head in both variants.

Props

Magneto has two sets of hands. One with the open grasping palms, similar to the way Jim Lee drew him in X-Men #1 and a pair of fists. The alternate angry head, as mentioned is also based off the Jim Lee design. Finally, Magneto sports a pair of translucent soft plastic Kirby crackle discs he can use to simulate the use of his magnetic powers. These are the same ones that Hasbro has used for many characters such as Havoc and Polaris.

Packaging

Magneto came in one huge box containing his kids and himself with a comic back cover. The back of the box featured artwork from the comics which is very nice. There is also a short bio on the characters.

Cost

The cost for this is odd. When it came out, the set was $59.99 USD. Amazon runs some sales on this set frequently. But at the same time, the set does increase exponentially a lot too. I bought this set at a steal for $55.99 CAD which is a steal and close to $45.99 USD. Since Amazon has been selling this set for an incredible $249 CAD which I wonder who would be willing to pay for these at this inflated price. Because this is an Amazon exclusive and that the retailer is an expert at variable pricing, your luck is as good as mine.

Availability

Because this set is an Amazon exclusive, you will not have many options when trying to buy it except for the secondary market. There is nothing below $100 USD on a popular auction site right now. My recommendation, if you are looking for a good Magneto action figure in the classic style is to wait for Hasbro to redo a new one in a few years. This set was released in 2019. Amazon still has a lot of stock but is not willing to sell them for cheap.

* Following a licensing conflict between Disney and 20th Century Fox, Marvel Comics cancelled Magneto's fatherhood over the twins. They were revealed as not being mutants anymore, for cheap corporate contrivances. Although Magneto being the father of the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver had been a change made in 1979, it had always rang true for many comic readers. It is odd that Marvel/Disney would let Hasbro release a set called family matters if the characters were not related. Now that Disney owns Fox, perhaps Magneto's fatherhood will be officially reinstated and the twins will be mutants again. it doesn't matter to me. The twins are mutants and Magneto's kids, regardless of Disney lawyers' edicts!

Happy Father’s Day!

Rating: 6.5 /10

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12

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