Silver Samurai from the Marvel Legends Retro Series

Let's go back to the time when we were treated to the Marvel Legends Retro Line in the 4th Quarter of 2019. Don't get me wrong but there were earlier ML Retro Lines so this wasn't the first time Hasbro employed a gimmick where a Marvel Legends figure was packed against a retro cardback that hearkens back to the glory days of Toybiz. A couple of figures from this Retro Line made it into my 'must-have' list and it took some time before I could find those at retail price in the wild no thanks to pesky scalpers. One of the figure is Silver Samurai and he's in my spotlight today.

But it's only right if I give a shout out to Super-DuperToyBox who coincidently (or cosmically perfectly-timed) posted a view of the same figure today. You can read his review HERE
.
.
Let's get on with the Silver Samurai action figure....


First of all let me tell you how much I love the Retro Line for the sheer use of excellent Toybiz-esque backing card art. I collect Toybiz 5" action figures in the late 80s and this just screams 'good-old-nostalgia' to me. Silver Samurai here has never been produced in any of the Marvel Legends wave before so his inaugural appearance in the Retro Line is somewhat a fitting debut for such a fan-favorite character.

Silver Samurai made his first appearance in 1974 and I got to know him from one of the many Wolverine comics I've read in the late 80s. SIlver Samurai reminds me a lot of Hachiman from the Thundercats cartoon series, so he was an instant favorite in my books. He finally made it to the big screen in 2013 when he appeared in Hugh Jackman's The Wolverine albeit some differences in his back story.

But I'm not gonna go into the details into how his comic and movie version differs from one another. I'm just gonna go through his action figure today so let's get him out of his plastic-cardboard cell......



I used to collect the 3.75" Marvel Universe line and among my then collection was Silver Samurai that came in the 2-pack with a sleeveless Wolverine. Just when I thought that the 3.75" Silver Samurai was good, came along this excellent version in the 6" scale. I do not have my Marvel Universe collection anymore so I can't do a side-by-side comparison of the two but I can tell you this.....this 6" Marvel Legends Silver Samurai figure is da bomb!


His armor is made out of adamantium in the comics and I think Hasbro did a good job reproducing his comic look here. I love how his armor seems to pop out as the detailings on his armor is sculpted.


I like it how he is given two slots (not sheaths unfortunately) where you can slide both swords in when not in use. But I highly recommend taking good care of the swords when you have them slotted in as they are fragile. You won't want Silver Samurai to topple over and snap the swords out of their hilts.


Speaking of swords, you may notice that the two swords are not identical in length at all. One is slightly shorter than the other. In my opinion this is normal as samurai back in the day carry one main katana (sword) and one side arm (a shorter sword). The shorter one is called a wakizashi, which is typically two-third of the katana. Seriously, look it up on google.


You will probably arm Silver Samurai with both swords as he looks best with both weapons. This is exactly how I remember him from the countless Wolverine comic pages back in the day and I cannot fathom why Toybiz did not make a 6" version of him in their Marvel Legends run during the 2000s. We last saw him in 1994 but that was in a 5" scale.


I, of course, imediately went to town with the Silver Samurai figure and posed him with Wolverine. This Silver Samurai figure is a must for anyone who remember the good old comic days in the 80s and even if you don't dig him, wouldn't you want a diverse action figure to grace your collection shelf? He looks different enough to stand out among the rest of your Marvel Legends.



Comments