For a while there, we had a good thing going. BBTS would effectively put out clearance items, changing daily, and there were a few really good buys. Sadly, that program seems to have gone away, but in its dying days, the program gifted me with this - a discounted Mafex Age of Apocalypse Magneto figure. Of course, discounted simply means they don't gouge you and restore the figure to Japanese MSRP, but I'll take a win wherever I can get it.
The only other Magneto figure I own is the Revoltech, which is decent in its own right but that cape is a real downer.
I've never read it, but I've got some knowledge of this timeline. Radically different designs and alignments for pretty much all the characters involved, including an X-Men team led by a Magneto rocking frontal Pippi Longstocking braids. It's not as drastic of a change as say, one armed Wolverine, but it IS distinct.
Contents of this set include:
1 x Main Figure
3 x Alternate Heads (Normal, Power Effect, Unhelmeted)
8 x Posing Hands (w/2 Dedicated Energy Effect Hands)
1 x Helmet
1 x Base/Stand
In the comics, Magneto is buff and clearly he's buff here as well with some well defined musculature. I don't really think there's a textbook reference for the height and all that, so I can only say that the body looks properly proportioned for a person. Like with many characters that have flowing outfits, this figure features a degree of Soft Goods, namely the wire cape that generally works quite well. Fabric used is a bit on the lightweight side, but at least it has some decent presence to it. Colour selection looks good to me, using the classic Red and Purple theme.
The three heads look good. This isn't a live action character so a bit of artistic touch is OK. So while I can't comment on whether or not it's accurate, I can at least say that it's better than the Jean Grey that looks like Lynda Carter. While the sculpting and all that is good, unfortunately all three share the same hair style, which will come back to bite me in the ass when it comes to Articulation.
Articulation is generally pretty good. I don't actually have much experience with the Mafex male body - in fact, this is actually my first one., but it seems that it behaves very similar to the female body. I'd describe it as not capable of any extreme posing per se, but joint placement and general sculpting appear to minimize that bulk related interference. Having said that, this is only verified for figures with effectively skin tight outfits, and the fabric cape helps in this regard as well. Capabilities are above what your standard Legends body can handle (especially in the hips, elbows, and knees) but not quite as good as what a really good Figuarts body can do. As promised, the long hair in the back gets in the way of head turning, so you're going to be limited in that regard. This bulk also inhibits any head tilt or other related functions.
From a Paint Application perspective, the actual paint work itself is sharp, but I think the Red on the body is the base plastic , but has a deeper pigment and better top coating than your run of the mill Figuarts release. Masking on the purple parts is sharp and the work on painting of the head/face is very clean.
From a Build Quality perspective, nothing to report, which is generally a good thing. I guess the trainwrecks are limited to certain characters - perhaps it was just bad timing with regards to material quality, This has got to be at least 4 or 5 random Mafex with none of these issues. The wrist pegs have that same issue that the ladies have, namely they don't grip the hands as tightly as I'd like but it's more of an annoyance than a show stopper. Otherwise, you can expect some good production values from this release.
For a random Magneto figure I decided to buy, this was really good. Articulation should be able to handle what you throw at it. If I had a stand, I'd be able to put him into a variety of levitating poses. I just wish the figure came with an EM Shield effect rather than the generic energy blobs on the palm. But ultimately, the pricing and general effort needed to actually get the more popular characters isn't something that Id take on full time - I'll just keep admiring from afar until the time is right.
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