Retro Review: Marvel Legends Studio Series: The First 10 Years; Ronan the Accuser

Image © Dan's ToyBox 2023

Hey all, it's another Retro Review and this time we're looking at the Marvel Studios: The First 10 Years Ronan the Accuser Marvel Legends Action Figure. I had thought about getting this figure when it was first released, but never pulled the trigger on it. I recently found it at an Ollie's Discount Store and I'm glad I waited because... well, read on and you'll find out why.

As this is the movie version, we will stick with that background for Ronan. Ronan first appears in Guardians of the Galaxy (2014). Depicted as a ruthless Kree fanatic whose family was killed in the Kree-Nova War, Ronan refuses to obey and follow his Empire's peace treaty with the Nova Corps of Xandar and embarks on a genocidal campaign against all Xandarians. Ronan agrees to recover an orb for Thanos in exchange for the Mad Titan's help in destroying Xandar, only to double cross Thanos, after learning that the orb contains the Power Stone. After capturing the stone, Ronan sets out to annihilate Xandar himself. Ronan decimates the Nova Corps' fleet and is on the verge of destroying the planet until the Guardians of the Galaxy take the Stone back and use it to destroy him. Ronan is portrayed on film by Lee Pace. The original comic book character was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, first appearing in Fantastic Four #65 (Aug. 1967).

Suffice it to say that our look at the four categories of Accessories, Appearance, Articulation, and Affordability will be fairly brief as there really isn't much going on with this figure to discuss.

ACCESSORIES

What you see is what you get. The First 10 Years Ronan comes with his Warhammer, complete with the Power Stone jammed into the weapon. There isn't anything else. Not even alternate hands. Admittedly, the detail on his weapon is really nicely done, but that's not going to help the overall score by much. This figure gets a sorry 2 out of 10 for Accessories.

APPEARANCE

This is the best feature going for the figure and that's the real redemption. There is a tremendous amount of detailed sculpt work throughout the body of the figure and very solid paint applications. The face paint is clean and accurate to the film source, the red across his torso and on his back is done well, and just dull enough to enhance the look of the figure without being too bright and distracting. The skin on his fingers matches the blue of the face nicely and even the hammer, molded in a silvery/blue plastic, stands out nicely against the gunmetal of Ronan's armor. I really do commend the sculpting as the sheer amount of detail that went into replicating the screen-accurate look must have taken quite a long time. Even the photo-realistic look on the face captures his screen presence, though I have to admit that the expression on his face more closely resembles the baffled look when Star Lord challenges him to the dance off. If you don't plan on using Ronan for much more than space fill on your MCU shelf, he will look incredible with the other figures. I will give the look a solid 9 out of 10 as I do like the detail that much.

ARTICULATION

Ohhhh... this section is going to be so painful to write. The articulation on this figure is utter garbage. Yes, he has the typical Marvel Legends engineering that we're used to, but the character design made some really bad choices. The most egregious error in this figure starts right at the top. The chainmail head armor is ATTACHED to his shoulder pauldrons. Meaning, when you turn the head, the shoulder pieces SWIVEL WITH IT. As you can see in the pictures, when his head is turned the figure looks ridiculous. How? How does something like this happen? How were the shoulder pieces not separate and attached to, oh I don't know? THE SHOULDERS?!? This has to be the worst thing I've ever seen. Plus, there is no up/down movement to the head because of this. If you want to rotate the shoulders, you'll have to turn the head. The shoulder pieces are soft and will bend upward, but I wouldn't make it a habit. The rest of the arm articulation is nothing new, functional bicep swivels and double-jointed elbows that bend in all the way. Both wrists pivot, though the right wrist has a horizontal hinge, while the left has a vertical. The diaphragm hinge is terribly loose on mine, making Ronan very floppy. The good thing here is that he does bend both forward and backward very nicely and the sculpting is consistent throughout the range of motion. His waist swivels and thankfully the skirting covers the joint. Unfortunately, that same skirting prevents Ronan from doing any decent splits. He can kick forward well enough, and the upper thigh cut works fine. The double-jointed knees look as if they could bend in deeply, but thanks to the waist skirting, they end up being limited. There is no boot cut, but the ankles do pivot and hinge nicely. Overall, the articulation is awfully disappointing for me and as such, Ronan gets a very generous 3 out of 10.

AFFORDABILITY

I mentioned earlier that I was able to find this figure at an Ollie's Discount Store. I honestly don't recall what the original release price for this Ronan was, likely in the $20-$25 range and I did see him anywhere from $18 up to $50 on the secondary market. I paid $12.99 for mine and if you want to add him to your collection, in order to be an MCU completist... go to Ollies. The original price is a bad over-charge for this figure and even at sub-original retail, boy, it's tough to say this figure is worth buying. I'll give him a 5 out of 10, but only because he hasn't gone crazy on the secondary market at outrageous prices.

Overall, this was a real disappointment for me. When I found him, I was pretty excited because he really does look great and I wanted him to go on my Guardians section. Sadly though, he's going to be a great statue because I can't imagine using him in any photos other than what you see here. The Marvel Studios First 10 Years: Ronan the Accuser earns a poor:

3.5 out of 10 ToyBoxes

Thank you, so much, for stopping by Dan's ToyBox and make sure to check back in for our upcoming reviews on the Star Wars: The Black Series Mandalorian and Bo-Katan Kryze action figures. Until next time... GEEK OUT!!!