Ronan the Accuser

While the Marvel superheroes were busy with their Civil War, trouble was brewing out in space. Annihilus was leading an army at the far edges of space, looking to subjugate the universe. With Earth's heroes out of the picture, the forces opposing him were led by a few minor heroes and some underused cosmic villains - basically, only people unimportant enough to be left out of the megacrossover. That's how Ronan the Accuser got involved. Ronan the Accuser is a member of the Kree aristocracy, who can trace their ancestry back to the original Kree tribes on the planet Hala. Upon the completion of his formal education, he was enrolled in the Kree Public Accuser Corps. Ronan responded well, and was steadily promoted. Finally, in a border incident, he stopped a fleet of Skrull ships from entering Kree space. For this, he was made Supreme Accuser of the Kree Empire, responsible for enforcing the laws and decrees of the Kree Supreme Intelligence. As a blue Kree with strong racial pride, Ronan resented taking orders from a mere computer. He instigated a civil war, but was defeated. The Annihilation comics really put Ronan back in the spotlight, so it's no surprise Hasbro chose him as the Build-A-Figure for this FF-themed Marvel Legends series. Ronan had a figure one decade ago in the Silver Surfer Space Racers line, but that one was, really, kind of goofy. This update is not unwelcome. Depending on how you count, Ronan comes in either six pieces or 10, split among eight figures: that's the arms, legs, torso (with belt), cape, hammer and head (with hood). The pieces don't quite snap together as tightly as ToyBiz's BAF bits did, but that means you can take the figure apart, if you choose to. Unlike the ToyBiz ones, which specifically warned you that trying to take them apart would cause them to break. Ronan the Accuser stands just about 7⅝" tall, which is perfect for the character - enhanced by his armor, he's about 7'5", so it makes sense that he should tower over most of the other characters. The articulation is good (mostly), with a balljointed head, swivel/hinge shoulders, swivel/hinge elbows, swivel/hinged wrists, hinged torso, swivel waist, swivel/hinge hips, swivel thighs, double-hinged knees, and swivel/hinge ankles. It's all quite good, but there's a small problem with the arms: namely, they have a better range of motion when they're bent backwards. It's due to the way his gloves are sculpted. The edges are higher on the front (thumb side) than on the back (pinky side), so the joints would work better if the forearms were switched - in much the same way that Blob's forearms were on the wrong arms. Hasbro, send someone over to the factory, please, and have them check the signs on the forearm bins. I think they may be mis-labeled. The sculpt is good. Ronan is wearing his modern costume, which is less pointlessly ornate than his previous ones, giving it a nice, clean look. He's clad in a tri-tone olive green, with a knee-length tunic over a plain bodysuit. The cloth is wrinkled, since it's not a skin-tight suit, and the pouches on his belt look cushioned. He has cloth wraps around his shins, looping up his legs and around the spikes on the sides of his boots. The cape has a bit of a billow to it, and can turn to move out of the way of the arms if you need it to. One unavoidable problem, though, is the thingy on his head. On the figure, it's just sort of a head-drape, but it's supposed to be a hood; it's supposed to connect to the rest of his outfit. Obviously they couldn't do that and still retain the articulation, so a separate piece is what we get. On the plus side, it's removable, so you can take it off to reveal Ronan's handsome face. He hasn't any ears, but that's a sculptural quirk, not an actual trait. Kree come in two colors: pink and blue. Captain Marvel is an example of the former; Ronan is an example of the latter. One of the BAF "pieces" is Ronan's weapon of choice, the Cosmi-Rod. Sure, it looks like a hammer, but it can disintegrate or transmute matter, project concussive energy, absorb energy, control gravity, create force fields and facilitate interstellar teleportation. No wonder they also call it the Universal Weapon! The head is detailed to look like mossy stone, and the handle has just a bit or ornate carving at the ends. It's a very Celtic look, honestly. Definitely looks like it would be capable of taking on Mjolnir. No doubt the fanboys will be out in force to complain about Ronan the Accuser as a BAF - he's smaller than a lot of Marvel Legends figures, and you had to buy eight figures to build him. Sure, they probably could have gotten him done in six pieces, but then two of the figures from this line wouldn't have been made - and you can bet it wouldn't have been the underwhelming Thing or wrong-headed Human Torch on the chopping block. In reality, Ronan is a perfect choice for a Build-A-Figure: he's not popular enough to deserve a spot in a series by himself, but it's a character from the Marvel Universe that needs plastic representation. Thus, the BAF was the way to go. Dr. Doom | Invisible Woman | Thing | Namor Mole Man | Silver Surfer | Human Torch | Mr. Fantastic -- 11/28/07

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