Welcome back to Dan's ToyBox for another Marvel Legends Two in One review. The new Moon Knight figures, based on the Disney + show have finally arrived at the toybox, and I figured it would be fun to talk about them together. Each figure has some good things going for them, but there are a few issues that I'll be highlighting as we discuss Mr. Knight and Moon Knight.
Marc Spector, a former Force Recon Marine and CIA operative, is a deadly mercenary working with his longtime friend Jean-Paul "Frenchie" DuChamp. During a job in Sudan, Spector is horrified as he witnesses another mercenary, Raoul Bushman, attack and kill archeologist Dr. Alraune in front of the man's daughter and colleague, Marlene. Spector immediately attacks Bushman but is mortally wounded and left for dead. Valiantly fighting through his injuries, Spector reaches Alraune's recently unearthed tomb and collapses before a statue of the Egyptian moon god Khonshu. Spector dies, then suddenly revives, fully healed. He claims Khonshu brought him back to serve as the "Fist of Khonshu", redeeming his life of violence by now protecting and avenging the innocent. Initially it was thought that Spector was insane but is later revealed Khonshu is real. He is one of several entities from the "Othervoid" (an otherworldly dimension, removed from time and space) once worshipped by ancient civilizations. Returning to the United States, Spector uses the money from his mercenary exploits to become the crimefighter Moon Knight. Helped by Frenchie and Marlene Alraune, who becomes his lover and eventually the mother of his daughter, Spector begins his war on crime. We also learn that Spector suffers from dissociative identity disorder as he has multiple personas, Steven Grant, Billionaire Businessman and Jake Lockley a taxicab driver. He also uses the Mr. Knight persona, dressed in an all-white three-piece suit, as a police consultant and private detective. In the series, we are first introduced to Steven and learn of his origin and personality disorders as he does, through the progression of the show. Moon Knight first appeared in the pages of "Werewolf by Night" issue #32, August 1975, created by writer Doug Moench and artist Don Perlin.
As we dive into our figure review today, we'll analyze the Accessories, Appearance, Articulation, and Affordability basing those categories on a scale of zero to 10 after which the figures will receive an overall rating on our ToyBox scale of zero (avoid at all costs!) to 10 (add this to your collection!) Let's get started!
ACCESSORIES
The Hasbro Marvel Legends Moon Knight figure comes with two crescent moon shaped blade weapons, one pair of grasping hands, and one pair of fists. Mr. Knight comes with two truncheons, one pair of grasping hands, one pair of fists, and the What If? Ultron BAF right arm piece. Accessories on both figures are very limited, but the crescent blades can be combined into one weapon via porting the two pieces together with the slot and insert pieces on the back of each (as shown above.) Unfortunately, that's it. I had hoped that Moon Knight would have come with a staff, but you can fit Mr. Knight's clubs into his hands so there is some variety in posing. I think at least a couple more weapons for each figure would have been reasonable, so I will admit to being disappointed. The minimal accessories give each figure a total score of 5 out of 10 for Accessories.
Images © Dan's ToyBox 2022
APPEARANCE
What these figures lack in accessories, they do make up for in appearance. Starting with Mr. Knight, though we've seen this figure design before, with the suit, vest, and tie, the head sculpt is new, the gloved hands look new, and the feet also appear to be new sculpts. The figure is entirely molded in white, which is a stark stand-out on the display shelf and yet, somehow looks really good. The only bits of paint detail are on the vest buttons, his eyes, and the moon emblem on his forehead. The clubs are a nice gunmetal with gold end caps and hieroglyphics sculpted on each. I did have to chuckle because initially, upon seeing his shoes, I immediately thought... "Nice slippers, they look like my wife's." After looking more closely at them, I appreciate the detail sculpted in to give them that wrapped, bandage style look that is more closely identified with the Moon Knight costume. Mr. Knight is a very simple chunk of white plastic, but unlike other Legends that are merely chunks of colored plastic, the detail of the suit makes sense. To be honest, I was never a fan of this look or persona in the comic books, but seeing it in the series, under Steven's control made it more enjoyable for me. Mr. Knight is elegant in his simplicity and is so clean that he is easily worth an 8 out of 10 for appearance. Moon Knight himself has much more detail and though he is primarily molded in a gray/white, there is enough paint applied to bring out even greater detail in the costume. Additionally, the hieroglyphics stenciled on his leggings are an added touch of accuracy to the show. The inside of his hood is a darker gray to offset the mask and help differentiate it from the cloak and cowl and the cape and hood are a slightly darker gray than the rest of the costume. Initially, I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me, but there is a subtle difference in shade, which looks really nice. The silver paint on the eyes is applied cleanly and throughout the figure there are touches of gold paint applications which give highlight and nicely match the show's design. The moon on his chest is a gunmetal base with the gold moon blades secured on the front. Granted those are sculpted on, but with the design the wrappings "holding" them in place make for a more realistic look. I noticed as well that there are darker applications on the forearms to show off the detail of the wrappings on his arms. His belt and wrist bands are also gold, and the paint is so clean. I looked carefully to see if there was any blotching or overspray but couldn't find anything amiss. Of even greater interest is the amount of sculpted detail on this figure. You have to look carefully to see it, but there is a small moon insignia on the front of his hood and the hood itself has a number of intricate lines sculpted in it. Of course, the figures wrappings are accounted for and designed nicely to give the appearance of depth to the design work. My only real complaint is that the crescent moon blades have that marbled look to them and though there is some sculpted detail to them, the gold just looks too much like plastic. Mr. Knight's weapons could pass for metal, while these don't for me. In terms of sheer appearance, Moon Knight himself earns a solid 8 out of 10 as well.
Images © Dan's ToyBox 2022
ARTICULATION
Hasbro missed the mark here. Yes, we've seen this type of articulation before, many times, but there are too many problems to be able to fully enjoy posing these figures. Beginning with Mr. Knight. His head is on a ball hinge and will look up and down rather nicely but looking up reveals a big gap under his chin. The head turns side to side easy enough, and does have some wobble/tilt to it, but not enough to really convey the character's personality. The shoulders will rotate 360 degrees, easily enough, as they aren't hindered by the coat. However, though I was able to raise his left arm out to the side at a nice 90-degree angle, the right arm wouldn't reach that full T pose, which was disappointing. The upper bicep swivel is good enough and the double-jointed elbows bend in fully, allowing you to bring his hands to his face. Rather scary though, on mine, was that the elbows seem very gummy, and I was concerned that I'd bend them or break them easily. I'm not sure if it's the mold because I haven't had this problem with any other figures, using this mold before, but it's something to keep an eye on. The wrists will pivot and hinge, and the weapon holding hands hinge is located on the side of the hand, rather than the typical location on the flat of the hand. Sadly, as is common with the suit/vest piece, Mr. Knight's ability to diaphragm crunch is sorely limited which is very disappointing. He can pivot at the waist and his legs will do splits out to about 45 degrees. They do kick forward nicely because the coat is soft and flexible, but the legs won't kick back much. He has an upper thigh cut which works good enough. The knees are pinless tech and bend in very well, and his ankles hinge and rock effortlessly. Mr. Knight gets a 6 out of 10 for articulation, because of the limitations based on design. Moon Knight himself actually has a bit more frustrating issue, for me. Because of the design of hood and cape, his head seems to be facing downwards. It will look down rather well, but not upward much at all. Side to side movement is good, but there is virtually no tilting, again due to the hood. His shoulders will raise to nice T poses and can rotate well, even with the cape in place. Upper bicep swivel works nicely, and the elbows bend in very deep, as with Mr. Knight. Unlike him though, these elbows are firm, and I wasn't worried about warping them. Both hands hinge and pivot easily enough. Moon Knight has a nice upper diaphragm ball join which has solid movement, forward and backward crunching, rotation, and side to side tilting. The backward bend is hindered a bit by the cape, which though soft, is not quite as pliable. There is no pivot at the waist as all of the torso action is built into the upper section. Moon Knight is capable of doing relatively decent splits, about 45 degrees like Mr. Knight and can kick forward nicely. His upper thigh cut is smooth, and the knees are also pin less, but did need some work to loosen before I could pose him effectively. His ankles also have great rotation and pivot. Neither figure has a boot rotation which is acceptable. I would have liked a bit of deeper crunch or an additional waist joint, so was disappointed at that and I'm not a big fan of my figure's heads looking downward, or at least appearing to, because of design. Moon Knight, unlike his suit clad brother, earns a 7 out of 10 for having a better functioning ab crunch.
Images © Dan's ToyBox 2022
AFFORDABILITY
Both of these figures were $25.99 at BBTS. I had pre-ordered them quite a while ago and though many other reviewers have already received them, mine arrived this week. I suppose that I can't really be irritated with the price, given that the "low end" for Legends is coming in at $24.99 and those figures have just as much in package as these did, typically. What really bugs me though is that Moon Knight doesn't come with a BAF piece, while Mr. Knight does, and both figures were the same price. I will admit though, that I'm happy to see BBTS offering Legends at a consistent $25.99 for the "base" figures. Yes, there are still some differences in the "deluxe" figure pricing, but I'm hoping this means that Hasbro has finally solidified their pricing structure. If this holds true, I'll feel a bit better about continuing to collect Marvel Legends. For these figures, the base price is worth purchasing, but I still think if McFarlane can offer larger figures at reasonable prices, so can Hasbro. 6 out of 10 for Affordability.
Overall, I do like these figures, and I enjoyed the show upon which their designs were based. With that being said, I will give the combination of Mr. Knight and Moon Knight an overall grade of:
7 out of 10 ToyBoxes
They are good figures to add to your collection and look really nice in an MCU-Centric Marvel Legend Display. As always, I am grateful for your time and support. Until next time... GEEK OUT!