Marvel Girl

According to official sources, Jean Grey stands 5'4" tall. She may not always be drawn that way, but it's nice to see a little reflection of that with her newest toy. Jean Grey leads her fellow mutants to the island sanctuary of Krakoa in a bid to declare sovereignty from humankind. That is a very short-scope bio, in that it is literally describing the first thing (and only the first thing) she was seen doing in the comic: bringing a new group of kids through the portal to Krakoa and reassuring them it was going to be okay. Is that the only thing she does in the story? No, of course not. Though upon reflection, Hasbro probably would have frowned upon the packaging for a children's toy saying "she watched her entire team die gruesome, violent deaths halfway between Mercury and the sun" or "she and Emma Frost let go of their enmity and began comparing notes on how Cyclops' mouth feels." Hasbro has technically made a Marvel Girl figure before, but that was right at the start of their license, and was also a Walmart exclusive - neither things are components of a perfect toy. We've come a long, long way since 2007, so the detail on this one is much better. Just look aher her tall, winged mask: on the old toy, it was stumpy and weirdly thick on her face; on this one it's thinner, despite being done as a separate piece that's glued into the facial sculpt. It does seem odd that Jean has gone back to her "high school graduation" costume rather than something new, like everybody else seems to get - especially since the last time she was seen wearing it, "she" was actually the Phoenix force, sacrificing itself on the moon. May we suggest perhaps something along the lines of these mashup concepts by artist Luciano Vecchio? Her being slightly younger than she used to be is entirely reasonable: the Krakoa ressurrection protocols allow for some "tweaking" in the process, and if you want to say that you'd pass up the opportunity to have your strongest, healthiest mind put into a younger, better version of your own body, you're a liar, honey, a dirty rotten liar. Jean's torso is a new mold - the upper arms and the legs are probably reused, and she's got the same short heels as Moira, but the trunk is definitely new. We can tell, because she has a balljointed waist instead of any other chest joint combos. Other than that, her joints are normal, though her big orange hair keeps the head from moving much (a problem shared by the skirt and hips, as per usual). And then the knees are slightly soft, which makes standing her up in any wilder pose tough. You have your choice of hands for her: fists or gesturing. They pull out at the wrist, just like always. Jean only comes with one accessory: a Krakoan flower. Presumably a Habitat Flower, which in the span of a few weeks can grow a self-sustaining biome that's connected to the consciousness of Krakoa. It's a purple flower with some green stamens sticking out the top, and it rests ina silver orb with a blue dot on the front. The flower and pot are two separate pieces, and though we doubt it's intentional, the peg that connects them is the same size as Jean's wrists. Swap away! She has right leg of the Tri-Sentinel Build-A-Figure. Of all the X-Men, Jean should be handling the House of X changes the best - after all, she has more resurrection experiece than the rest of them. In X-Force #3, she herself points out "I learned, from a very early age, that death wasn't something to fear. That's made me a better person. And hero." And as a reward for all that she's been through, she's getting to live her best life, with her best boy by her side (whoever who that is). Who could ask for anything more? -- 05/27/21

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