And the winner of the 2025 Best Figure of the Year Award goes to...

Lucid Silverback

Lucid Silverback

Knuckle-walker
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Well, 2025 was yet another great year for Marvel Legends. Despite the tariffs/price-creep, Hasbro have managed to present us not only with a lot of the classic hits, but a bunch of never-made-before figures and some crazy fun deep cuts.
Which figures make your top five, and which one kick ass figure makes the top of your list to be crowned your ultimate favorite? Share your rankings and any hot-or-cold takes you may want to get off your chest.

And, in the holiday spirit, I'd really like to express my heartfelt gratitude to @TheSameIdiot (our very own Articulated Moses) for leading us out of bondage, through the desert, and over to this superfantastic promised land! May you awaken on Christmas morning to find Santa has left you a perfectly-rendered Illyana Rasputin figure beneath the tree! Now THAT would be something that could legitimately be called ...the Magik of Christmas.

Happy holidays everybody!
 
My tastes definitely tend towards the more obscure and never before made characters, so I'll use the words most favorite and least favorite instead of best and worst.

My least favorite figure of the year: Maximum Hulk. Ugh, I hate that soft silicone overlay and not necessarily a fan of the bright green either. Add in the $60 price point and this is my most regretted purchase of the year. Runner up for least favorite: MTG Battle Damaged Spider-Man. I bought 2 of these at that $40 price point and deeply regret those purchases as well.

I'm not really a MCU collector, so no MCU figures are going to make my favorite list but my favorite MCU figure of the year was the Shalla Bal Silver Surfer figure from the Fantastic Four movie. My runner-up would be the Joaquin Torres Falcon in green from the Brave New World movie.

So, my overall favorites for the year:

10) ROM, the Space Knight. Excellent figure that I never thought we'd get. Easily the highlight of the first mini-comic wave.

9) The Owl. Most recent figure from this list to have in hand. I'm glad it came out before the end of the year. Wonderful addition to Daredevil's rogues.

8) Fabian Cortez. Need more Acolytes! Hoping for Exodus next!

7) Starfox. So long overdue. This 2-pack with Champion might have been my most joyful purchase of the year! Getting 2 long desired figures together in a multi-pack without having to buy something else that I don't really want? Unheard of!

6) Feral. I would have liked more sculpted fur but still so happy to have this figure.

5) Deathbird. Nice to have more Shi'ar representation. I hope Hasbro continues to expand on that.

4) Triton. Another long overdue figure. So happy to have more Inhumans....

3) Gorgon. See above. Yes, Gorgon is a little big but I'm still happy to have him! Just need Maximus now. Crystal was my favorite figure of last year and Gorgon/Triton both made my Top 4 this year.

2) Marrow. Love this figure. I'm a big X-Men guy but this figures fits in well with the Marvel vs Capcom stuff that we got this year also.

1) Husk. The only figure that we got from my personal Top 10 this year. So happy to have her. I'm glad that I held off on doing a custom from the M figure from a couple of years ago. Hoping for more Gen X in the future!

Favorite Wave of the Year: Genocide (Nemesis) BAF wave. The X-Men are my favorite comic property. This wave put 3 figures in my Top 10 of the year and I also love the Earth-616 Genocide BAF, AOA Gambit and Extreme Wolverine. Only the X-Force Nightcrawler and X-Factor Cyclops were somewhat disappointing to me as I just don't love those specific costumes.

Overall, it wasn't my favorite year for Legends but it finished strong after a slower start. I'm looking forward to 2026 but if it's a heavy MCU year as rumored, then that will likely mean fewer purchases for me.
 
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In hand figures only:

1) Gargantos/Shuma Gorath
2) Skurge
3) Gorgon
4) Deathbird
5) ROM
 
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Gotta go with the Gamerverse Wolverine. It’s the one figure I’ve handled more than most since I got mine, and it’s the best looking Wolverine figure we have seen in the ML line in perhaps, ever?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Thanks for the checklist Reno (y)

If it weren't for Hasbro sticking Executioner in a baf wave, I would have only purchased 10 Marvel Legends from this year. I find that my purchases of current things has really gone down for Marvel. More often than not, I'm grabbing things later on when they hit clearance or go on sale. Unless it's a character I really want, I do without these days.

That said, my top 5 list will solely come from the list of 17 characters I did get from this year. The bottom 5 may include characters I chose to skip.

Top 5

#1 Warbow........ Just kidding :p

1. Executioner The only character to be made from my top 10 this year has to be #1. He looks just the way I hoped he would. Sucks that I had to buy 4 characters I didn't want to get him. Well played Hasbro :cautious:

2. Gargantos This bad boy is just so much fun to get! I love getting a unique out of the box character with size to boot. He's just visual fun and I'm thrilled to add him to the collection.

3, Phantom Rider Nothing super special here exept that Hasbro finally made a western figure. Please let this be the start of many and for the love of Pete give us a horse to go with him.

4. Phoenix/Rachel At last I can call my original Excalibur team complete. Sure I'd like some tweaks to Kitty and Meggan to improve their looks, but Rachel was the main character missing and I'm glad to finally get her.

5. Man-Wolf Finally got a sale on this guy and when I sell the card, he'll be a reasonable purchase. Although this isn't the look I remember from my reading days, I love this look for Man-Wolf. He really pops and looks great on the shelf.

DOH!!! I can't believe I just looked at the waves for this year and completely forgot about all the other stuff that came out. So I added 6 more characters to my total to get 23 Marvel Legends for the year. Adding 2 more to my top figures of the year.

6. Dragon Man This guy is fantastic and is tied with Executioner for my favorite figure of the year. I can't believe I finally own a Dragon Man. He was a great way to start the year and Skurge is a perfect way to end it.

7. She-Hulk (FF) She's exactly the way I hoped they'd make her. Perfect sculpts, great shade of green and appropriate size.

Bottom 5

1. Mandarin (modern) Getting a new Mandarin and having it be a generic guy in a suit was the biggest let down of the year. Please make a classic version this year Hasbro.

2. Iron Man (Mark 72) What an ugly deco. Bummer that I had to buy this version to get Skurge.

3. Spider-man (6 armed black) While he's better than the previously mentioned Iron Man, I don't really need him and wish I didn't have to purchase him to build Executioner.

4. Fantastic Four wave (MCU) I never saw this at retail with the exception of flame off Johnny. That is a huge disappointment for this big Fantastic Four fan. I was really hoping that Hasbro would go all out for the FF debut in the MCU. Instead we got the least amount of exposure Hasbro could possibly give them. Super sad they had so little faith in the property and the collecting community to support the FF in the line.

5. Man-Wolf The figure is fine. I'm really getting sick of gimmicks to "add value" to the line. I don't want to pay extra for a Magic card I have zero use for. This is not a trend I will support going forward without waiting for deep discounts to bring the cost down to what a figure would cost on it's own.
 
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Did Ketch Ghost Rider come out this year? If so, that is my favorite, and therefore the best, figure released this year. Gamerverse Punisher might qualify but I haven't bought him yet.
 
For now, I think this is my top 10

Ultimate Iron Man
Extremis Iron Man
Mary Jane Iron Spider
Gorgon
Executioner
Gamerverse Captain America
Astonishing Beast
Rachel Summers Phoenix
Cyclops X-Men ‘97 2pk
Maximum Spider-Man
 
First attempt...may make some changes 🙃

01. Medusa - Probably one the best updates Legends has ever done.
02. Cable (X-Men '97) - Like they pulled him out of the screen. Very nice sculpt.
03. Agent Anti-Venom - My eyes always seem to go to him in the display. Really clean figure.
04. Beast (Astonishing) - Awesome update from those early Hasbro days.
05. Psylocke (Gamerverse) - This beats Mafex for me.
06. Banshee - Yes, he's just a repaint of the training uniform, but we've waited so long, he makes the list.
07. Daken (Dark Wolverine) - Another great update with a really nice headsculpt/face printing.
08. Executioner - Needs more hand options, but a solid release for a long awaited character.
09. Deathbird - So much personality and presence on the shelf.
10. Morph (X-Men '97) - Another figure they pulled directly from the screen. Love the committed sculpt.
 
Only figures I bought, but my favorites in order from best to least best:

Wolverine (Gamerverse) - don’t care that he’s too big for a comic display, he’s perfect for the source material and the articulation is terrific. I want more like this, Hasbro!

Captain America (Gamerverse) - love the sculpt, love the shade of blue which presents such a clean look. If he had the same torso setup as Wolverine he’d really be something special.

Cable (X-Men ‘97) - another great sculpt with some real size to him. Only negatives are the limited shoulders and no shiny paint for his cybernetic arm.

Mysterio (Retro Card) - love how the green pops and the flared cape. Good accessories and decent articulation. Just wish it had more paint and that the cape felt a little more secure.

Venom (Gamerverse) - rounding out my top 5 is blue Venom. Yeah, not a ton of new here and he really should have come with a game-specific accessory of some kind, but my eyes just always seem to be drawn to this blue boy. I got the set mostly for Cap, but wound up liking this guy too.
 
In no particular order:

1. Adam Warlock (mini comic wave)
Even though this isn’t the Warlock I want, I’ll take it.
Now, please give me a classic Starlin Bronze Age Adam, either the original lightning bolt insignia costume or the caped version, with bare legs and arms and the soul gem on his forehead.

2. ROM (mini comic wave)
Just the fact that we got a ROM is amazing, and this one is perfect.

3. Man-Wolf/Stargod (MTG)
Again, about time, though I would’ve preferred the traditional yellow lunar suit version. I’m sure we’ll eventually get that, though (probably on a retro card), and I would’ve never guessed we’d get Stargod.

4. Banshee (mini comic wave)
Finally completed the GSXM #1 team

5. Triton (Inhumans 2-pack)
Always loved the visuals of this character.

6. Shanna (SNAP 3-pack)
Another needed character, glad to add her to Ka-Zar and Zabu.

7. Psylocke (Thanos Gamerverse 2-pack)
Perfection. Though I did have to resort to eBay to obtain her.

8. She-Hulk FF costume
Completes the Byrne FF.

9. Medusa (Inhumans 2-pack)
Great upgrade, and should be easy to mod into a Bronze Age FF Medusa.

10. Dragon Man.
Simply awesome.

Honorable mention to the other Inhumans; if Gorgon was scaled maybe 30% smaller, he’d be perfect. Black Bolt is another fantastic upgrade.
 
Love doing this list every year. A lot of my picks aren't super groundbreaking, but were characters/versions I've wanted since I started collecting this line and really filled in my gaps:
  1. Marrow - one of my top wants forever, the version I wanted of her, and amazing articulation
  2. Rachel Summers - another top want forever - just a flawless, simple interpretation of her
  3. Shanna - ALSO a top want, finishes out the trio of Savage Land characters, so glad to have her
  4. Man-Wolf - could I have lived without him? Yeah. But I really wanted him in Legends and truly a beautifully rendered fgure. If we're going on how good the design is, he's probably my #1, but I wanted the three ladies above more for the collection
  5. Werewolf By Night - ANOTHER top want. I'd rank him higher but his figure was pretty bare bones. A head swap and he's top three.
  6. Mini Comic Black Widow - I didn't need another Widow, but this was THE Widow I've wanted since the start. Instantly the one that completes my collection. And she's a second fist away from perfect.
  7. Psylocke - just my opinion, but an import-quality level version of her. Best of the Gamerverse line for me.
  8. Banshee - he shouldn't be on the list since he was my #1 want and we got him in his gold and blue last year, but honestly, THIS is the one who has been my #1 want for like eight years. I'd rank him higher but I loved his blue/gold costume so much it took the edge off til this one arrived.
  9. Gamerverse Cap - hard to beat the anniversary Cap for me but this one does it. Just exactly what I want from Cap. And honestly, even paying the Venom tax, that Venom is a TON of fun to pose so it's not like I really resent the two-pack release.
  10. Daredevil: Man Without Fear - Daredevil is always my favorite. This is a version I never thought we'd get. He's RIDICULOUSLY fun to play with.

Honorable mentions: My list is all comics this year but man, every MCU figure I picked up in 2025 was a banger. The FF figures are gorgeous, DD and Punisher are fantastic improvements, and the four Thunderbolts are beautifully rendered. Shout out to the animated X-Men - not my favorite subline of the year, but they really did pull out all the stops for them. the Inhumans - I could probably arguably have put a few of these on the list but I think they work best as a package, so I just want to shout out having a full set now and htat's aamzgin Dragon Man and Shuma Gorath are RIDICULOUS. I found I didn't have as much fun posing them as I thought I would, but props for two relatively impossible figures made possible.
 
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