If I buy something (for example, the Thunderbolts* two-packs) and it drops in price before my receipt expires, I will absolutely re-buy it at the new lower price, and return it on the old receipt to get some of my money back. Often, I will just take the difference on a giftcard, that I'll then later use to buy a different figure. Anyway, that means there is a non-zero chance that I traded in my Sentry for a Cardiac-ac-ac-ac-ac-ac.
Dr. Elias Wirtham transforms himself into the vigilante Cardiac to avenge his brother by exacting justice against evil corporations that skirt the law.
After Eli's older brother died of an incurable disease when they were young, Eli dedicated himself to the study of medicine, vowing to save lives in his brother's honor. One day he learned a cure had been produced, so he switched his focus to business so he could fund creations like that. Unfortunately, after acquiring the company that had developed the cure, he learned that it had actually been ready years before, prior to his brother's death, but was held back because it wouldn't have been profitable then. So he gave himself superpowers so he could go after corporate a-holes who do things that are technically "legal" but clearly morally wrong.
...tell us again why some people classify him as a villain?
Cardiac was designed by Erik Larsen, and boy can you tell! There
are some characters who only ever look good when drawn by their creator (see, for example, Blackheart or Ares), but Cardiac isn't that: other artists have drawn him very well, but the design of the costume, there's just something about it that screams "Larsen," even if the sculpt isn't specifically based on him. Like, all those wrinkles on his cheeks caused by his big sneer? They look great here, but Larsen drew him with a much smoother face. And no nose.
In order to fight the evils of absolutely mid-tier Capitalism, Cardiac has had his heart replaced with a device that generates beta particles, and has had vibranium mesh implanted under his skin, so now he's super strong and highly resilient. The figure's mold is new, because those jagged EKG lines running down his chest and legs are actually sculpted in! He should also have them on the outside of his arms, but maybe Hasbro couldn't figure out if they're supposed to be on the outside or the back? Artists were inconsistent about that.
You may not notice at first, but the bands around the tops of his boots and gloves, as well as the ones around his thighs, are
actually a series of small pouches with sculpted clasps and everything - THE '90S!!!!!!!!!!!! There are nine around each arm, 12 around each leg, and 10 at the top of each boot. He does have that Iron Man problem where they seem to have forgotten that he needs to have bones inside his forearms, and that there's no reason they should be this skinny, but at least he's just wearing a regular costume and not full metal armor?
Also, with bands around the shins like that, there's no excuse for not putting joints there, but Hasbro's gonna try to give you less product for more money no matter what. Yes, this is an original mold with basically zero re-use potential, but that's no excuse: reusing sculpts
is supposed to be a bonus, not a starting point. Like, this is what a baseline Marvel Legend should be: character-specific sculpt both above and below the neck, with a couple appropriate accessories and all the articulation possible. The figure has a balljointed head, hinged neck, swivel pauldrons, swivel/hinge shoulders, swivel biceps, double-hinged elbows, swivel/hinge wrists, a balljointed chest, balljoint hips, swivel thighs, double-hinged knees, and swivel/hinge ankles. We will applaud them for being clever enough to have the rear of the knee joints, usually a part that might break the color of the toy, line up exactly with the graphics on his costume, so that being solid white plastic works out perfectly for them.
The generator in his chest allows Cardiac to create energy blasts, channeled through any part of his body thanks to the vibranium skin, but that energy is pretty unfocused unless he aims it through his specially designed staff. The figure includes the staff as an accessory, plus hands to hold it (replacing onee plain fist and one relaxed hand),
and even has a two-part energy ball that fits over the end to make it look like he's firing it. What made Cardiac such a great visual in the comics was the way the blasts were depicted: in addition to being lettered to suggest an onomatopoetic heartbeat, the actual blast would be drawn as a borderless circle of Kirby dots, and then an angular EKG line shooting out of it - great for 2D art, not so great for a 3D action figure. This is a decent approximation, but there's only so much they could actually do. If you want the line of energy, you could always cut one out of the plastic bubble from the packaging. You'll have to provide your own heartbeats, though.
Cardiac never hit it as big as some '90s introductions did, but there's no denying he has a striking look: a full blue suit with white accents over top? It's kind of like what Electric Superman would end up wearing a few years later, but even more graphically pleasing. It's a shame there was no way to fully portray the way he was drawn in the books, with the energy effects and everything, but they did a great job trying. And with the exception of a few absent joints, this is probably the best Cardiac toy we could have hoped for.
-- 03/25/26
What other minor characters deserved to be bigger? Tell us on our message board, the Loafing Lounge.
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