Elektra

Observation: Elektra has come back from the dead more often than Jean Grey. Shaken by the death of her father, Elektra uses her exceptional skills in the martial arts to become an expert assassin. Speaking of her father, you really have to question the thought process that would allow any parent to willingly name their child after either a mythological figure who murdered her mother, or a psychological condition in which a girl is competing with her mother for her father's attention. I don't care if it's a family tradition or what; naming your kid Elektra is just asking for trouble. You wouldn't name a baby girl Lolita, would you? Or Cherry? Jezebel, Delilah, Narcissa, Prudence, Bathsheba... some names you give your offspring, and you're just asking for trouble. You don't think Ellen Natchios would have become one of the most world's foremost ninja assassins, do you? Carrie Natchios? Bullseye would never have to swear revenge on Zoe Natchios for stealing his job as Kingpin's hired killer. Hasbro made an Elektra a decade ago, giving you an idea of how long they're willing to wait before double-dipping on a character. Luckily for us, every facet of toymaking has been improved in that time (other than the SRP, which has certainly gotten better for the companies, but worse for us), so this figure is a major improvement over that one. Elektra uses an existing body with all her costume details painted on - other than the loincloth, naturally. Her boots come up to her knees, there arebands around her thighs and left bicep, and the red on her forearms is designed to look like cloth that's been wrapped there, with little gaps of pink skin peeking through where it's shifted or uneven. There aren't any outlines on the wraps, but the intention is still clear. Her hair spills around her shoulders, and she has an excellently murderous look on her face. Plus, her bandana actually looks like it's tied over her hair, for once, and the tied ends are a separate PVC piece trailing behind her. This will be an unpopular opinion, but I really kind of wish that, instead of her traditional Frank Miller look, they'd taken inspiration from that Marvel Strike Force mobile game, which keeps that outfit, but adds black pants and gloves underneath it. Complain all you want about censorship and SJW virtue-signalling or whatever dumb thing YouTube's terrible algorithm is pushing this week, that's a pretty sharp look and makes a lot of sense for a ninja. Plus, she's worn similar things in the comics, including in the same storyarc that saw Daredevil dressed in black. It would have just taken a little more paint, and delivered a unique toy. Elektra moves at the head, neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists, chest, hips, thighs, knees, and ankles, but there's a problem with my figure: her hips were assembled backwards, so they don't line up properly with the rest of her legs. That is an easy enough thing to fix, theoretically, but no matter how long I boiled the figure, I couldn't get both legs off - just one of them. So once these figures show up at normal retail (rather than having to be ordered online), I'll be getting a replacement and returning the defective one. The figure comes with her sais, and has the "split-fingered" hand for cool ways to hold them. Her piece of this series' SP//dr Build-A-Figure is the left leg. Even with the misassembly and my non-preferred paint apps, this figure is the best Elektra around. -- 12/11/18

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