Marvel Universe 3.75" Series 4 Professor X (022)

The first time ever I saw a pic of this figure was a couple months back on eBay--and his price was something like US$100 and climbing.  Chuck eventually sold for for a whopping one hundred and twenty-seven (or so) big ones.  Immediately I thought either someone on the inside got their hands on a few figures and snuck them out months ahead of their release, and/or Charlie X here was going to be so shortpacked people didn't care and were willing to pay US127  for him.

No more Prof X appeared for sale on the auction site and I never saw him again, until...

I walked into one of the specialty stores at China Square Central a couple weeks back and saw him right there on the shelf, flanked by Beta Ray Bill and The Hulk.  Needless to say I grabbed them up.  They each were tagged at S$30 a pop, that's about S$10 more than Marvel Universe retail, so I didn't want to get them all.  By process of elimination, I put Beta Ray Bill back--great sculpt, but he was the character that I knew the least about, and was most likely to be seen again, I thought.  I was then also about to chuck Chuck until the wife said, "I think you should get the professor.  He's rarer, isn't he?"  I couldn't keep my mind off the eBay auction price, so I agreed and put The Hulk back on his perch.  I was now the proud owner of the most powerful plastic mind in Marvel Universe history!

I returned later to get The Hulk for the Rangerlord, but that's another story. Of course, I did find Hulk again the following week for cheaper and got one for myself.  But that's also for another review.

Charles, Charlie, Chuck, the Chazz.  Whatever you call him, Professor X is a darn good figure.  And he's a great example of how Hasbro has been able to re-use resources to a refreshingly new effect!

Like: That kickass hover chair!  It's so huge assembled that you wonder how they managed to fit it in the package--why, by splitting it down the middle, of course!  You clip in together once out of the bubble.  The chair is moulded in metallic yellow but is washed with orange to make it look less of a flat gold but yet more metallic.


They sculpted detail on Chuck's ride is also very impressive--comfy leather seats with some crinkle marks on the back rest.  There's also a large black sphere they've used as a base.  This seat will fit pretty much any regular sized Marvel Universe male and female character.  There's plenty of leg room and Xavier sits nice and tall in it, coming to the same height as a standing MU male.

Like: The immaculate suit!  It's the best in this scale I've seen.  Though it's a one-piece "vest", it looks like he's very much wearing a jacket over his vest, shirt and tie.  The neutral-ish blue is just about right for the 90s cartoon series (or what I remember of it).

"The name's Bond, James 'X' Bond"

But make no mistake!--this isn't a new body at all.  GI Joe fans will immediately recognize the 2009 SDCC Exclusive Destro, which is actually two figure: a medieval Destro in leather armour, and the movie Destro in a pinstripe suit.  Professor X's body is that body moulded in blue.

Dislike: That this being a GI Joe body means that it has the metal ball and socket joint legs.  These are great in that they won;t ever pop off like the early Marvel Universe legs.  But it also means they might suffer the same loosening over time/play that Joes do.  So far so good for Chucky X.  However, I haven't really posed him much on his legs at all!

Like: The head sculpt.  It's instantly recognizable as the one and only Charles Xavier.  He's not just some random bald dude--his head is a little more pointy that the average Marvel Universe head but not as pointy as Absorbing Man.  His eye brows are given the thin and long treatment, while his eye are painted bright and large.

Like: That his jacket is removable.  It comes off like any other GI Joe vest and leave the sleeves (sculpted as part of the arms).  What's nice though is that the tie underneath is also sculpted in full and is a separate piece from the body.  This means that if you ever wanna do a custom Prof X in a sweater instead of a suit, all you need to do is remove the jacket and find him a soft goods pullover!  Or like me, you can get your Mom to knit one.  I'm kidding, I'd never ask my Mom to do that--she doesn't knit! :P

Like: That the X-Men know have arguably the most important member on their roster as a figure.  I've got pretty much all the X-Men over the past few waves and 2-packs, but something always felt missing when I was posing them together.  I didn't know it then, but easing The Chazz into the centre of the group really made it feel complete.  And I finally know what version of the X-Men I want--the 90s cartoon version, of course!  (Cue 90s cartoon X-Men Theme!  Do it!)

X-Men made X-Large just for you! ;P

RATINGS

Aesthetics: 9/10 - It's amazing how a simple thing like a chair and a head swap can change how you look at a figure.  But it is an excellent chair and a superbly done head that nails down the look of Chucky Cheese X and makes him desirable.

Paint-wise, they bothered to paint the cuffs white to match his shirt, which is very nice. And all the paint apps are done very neatly with no spills and splashes.  His eyes and eyebrows are probably the one thing you might want to look out for, but I haven't a poorly painted head as yet on the handful of him I've spotted in specialty stores.

Oh and there's one other thing that completes his look: the semi-open left hand with two fingers extended.  It's his classic fingers-to-temple Xavier trademark hand pose when he's using his powers. (See first pic after the jump above!)

Poseability: 8/10 - The chair is a big part of his high score here, which goes to show how a great accessory can make the figure.  Articulation-wise, he's got GI Joe articulation instead of Marvel Universe articulation.  This makes him more poseable than the old school first generation of MU figures, but less poseable than the new MU bodies with waists, thigh cuts and hinge/swivel knees.  Then again, I suspect Chazz will be spending most of his time in his chair, so he's actually over-articulated.  But that's never, ever a bad thing! 

Fun: 8.5/10 - There's so much joy in slowly putting together a team of your favourite super heroes in plastic form, but there's no joy like when it receives its most vital member and allows you to complete said team.  In my case, it's the 90s cartoon X-Men.  We still need a Rogue and a feral Beast, though.  Having Chuck also makes we want to complete the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants from the same series--I realize only have five members of the BoEM!

Value: 8/10 - I usually don't like to pay more than retail for my figures, but this wave was an exception.  Officially, only Wave 17 has been released.  But this figure comes in Wave 21, which is slated to also contain Jubilee and Blastaar as new figures.  The Hulk, Ultimate Spiderman, Beta Ray Bill, and Bag Head Spiderman are fillers from the yet to be released Waves 18 to 20.  And older figures in Psylock and Silver Surfer make up the rest of this particular case assortment.

I can only guess at why Hasbro would release this wave ahead of the rest here in Singapore, but I think the figure is too popular to pass on.  It hasn't been revealed as part of 2-pack and doesn't look like it will be re-issued in another wave but hey, this is Hasbro and they do a good job of producing enough to go around in this part of the world.  But I didn't want to chance it, and I also wanted to review the figure as soon as I could, so I grabbed it first (with that $130 Ebay pricetag on my mind as well.  Like I said: popularity!  Lol.)

In my mind, availability could be an issue with this figure down the road so I was willing to pay the price for it.  Besides, it's also cool that you get a oversized hoverchair with a figure1  I think this has got to be the largest accessory to date that we're getting to date.

Oh and there's also that very customizable body--Me and every customizer on the planet is probably after more of him for a certain movie Avengers custom.  ;) *Wink* *Wink* ;) Lol. (See below right at end if you didn't get it! ;P)

Da-dumdum,da-dumdum,da-dumdum...

dada-dumDUM...

Overall: 8.5/10 - It's a Keeper! (for sure) - When it comes down to it, Professor X is an awesome figure made of recycled parts--and they didn't even do anything but give him a new head and a wheelchair with nor wheels on it!  But herein lies the strength of the Marvel Universe line--Hasbro are masters of re-purposing their sculpts and making them look oh so new and irresistible.  Whodathunk that a guy in a hover chair would sell for $127 bucks the first time he's seen online?  And I'd wager that you won't see him much on the pegs too.  He's too popular of a character with too cool of an accessory to let go by.  the least one does will be to stop and admire him in package.  Also, the base suit body is being released for the first time in retail and will make a good base for many a custom figure--Agent Coulsen, anyone?  If you see him on the shelves at retail, you should grab him!

Dadadadada-dumdum, DaDUM!