Maybe it’s just the area I live in, but Legends just doesn’t seem to hit here like it used to. At the time of this writing, I’ve seen approximately two figures up for grabs of the first MCU Wolverine, and one of those was an errant figure abandoned by someone in an aisle far away from the toy section of a Target. Meanwhile, figures of “Classic Loki” and The Orb gather dust.
With the increased scarcity and the equally increased price, there’s been a lot of talk about other lines on the internet, and you know what, I got curious. While looking into CT Toys figures (we’ll be talking about those in the future!), I also came across ZD Toys, which has released a 1/10 scale “Deadpool & Wolverine” offering.
ZD Toys, as it turns out, is not a knock-off line. They’re actually the official license holder for the line in China, and the figures are surprisingly high quality. They’re not perfect, though, and have some pretty glaring issues that keep me from recommending these as an actual replacement to scratch your Marvel Legends itch.
ZD Toys: The Total Package
My first impression of the line is that ZD Toys really pulled out all the stops on packaging. The figures ship in really high-quality boxes and are packed nicely. Contained in the boxes are an assortment of accessories: both figures include the same stand, a base with an arm bearing the movie logo.
It’s a huge step up from even the latest Marvel Legends packaging offerings, with big, glossy photos of the characters. The figures themselves are securely packed into plastic shells inside the boxes. Even in a standard wrap, they managed to survive the long trip to my home unscathed.
Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for the individual figures. My Wolverine’s claws were absolutely mangled before they even came out of their plastic imprisonment. I can’t tell if it’s because of how they were put in the packaging or if they were just made that way. They’re soft enough that I was able to improve them a fair bit just by holding them in place with my fingers. A good hot water soak should be enough to fix them if I ever get around to it, but it’s still pretty disheartening to have to do that right out of the box.
ZD Toys Wolverine Isn’t the Most Agile
The mangled Wolverine claws are the tip of the iceberg of an otherwise pretty solid figure. If you’re just looking to pose this guy neutral on a shelf, he’s great, and he scales way better with my DC Multiverse figures than he does with my Marvel Legends ones.
But man, this is just a clunky figure. He is impossible to pose. When unboxing him, I tried to spin his arm around to test the articulation, only to discover his shoulder guards were glued to the torso, not the top of the arm. It popped right off, requiring me to break out the Tamiya to cement it back in place. While trying to get some waist articulation for a more dramatic pose, he popped clean in half (though, thankfully, he also popped right back together).
There’s not a ton accessory-wise, either. Wolverine comes with a bunch of hands, and they look great except for the claws, which are a nightmare. In addition to being soft, they’re thick and have a real butterknife quality to them. Hardly the razor-sharp apparatus you’d expect of the ol’ Canucklehead.
It should also be no surprise that paint apps are incredibly minimal here. The body is molded in yellow plastic, with some blue and black here and there. Most of the details are there, though, in some cases, there’s too much detail, like the thick, black seam lines on the helmet.
All in all, ZD Toys’ Wolverine looks the part of the movie figure, but the weak paint apps and limited articulation make this a hard one to recommend unless you just really want an MCU Wolverine to stand eye-to-eye with your Batman.
ZD Toys Deadpool Gives Maximum Effort
Deadpool, on the other hand, is a slam dunk of a figure. For starters, he came out of the packaging intact and with nothing bent, warped, or misshappened. His shoulder pauldrons are also glued to his shoulders and not his torso, so he gets the full 360-degree range of his arms.
He’s an absolute beast accessories-wise, too. Sadly, he has no guns or trigger-finger hands, but he does come with a pair of katana. He also has the trademark “little knife” from the movie, but it’s just a bit too small for him to actually hold onto it.
The real winner here is Deadpool’s eyes. The black portions of the mask are held in place with magnets, and there are a couple of sets of varying expressions so you can mix and match. There’s not a huge difference between most of them, but the option is nice, and swapping them out is easy enough.
Much like Wolverine, Deadpool has incredibly limited paint apps — the body is sculpted in red, and other elements are painted on. He doesn’t have nearly as many odd extra details on the suit, though, resulting in a much cleaner-looking figure. The leg articulation is still stiff and awkward, but overall, he’s a lot easier to manipulate and pose than his Canadian brethren.
Can the ZD Toys Line Replace Marvel Legends for Collectors?
As excited as I was to check out these figures, I just don’t know that I could justify picking up more ZD Toys figures. I paid just shy of $60 for both figures, which is on par with what I would pay to pick up a new Marvel Legends figure off the shelf. That was, of course, before a slew of tariffs were enacted on Chinese imports, which will affect figures such as these.
I like a lot about the ZD Toys Deadpool & Wolverine figures, but compared to their Marvel Legends counterparts, the price difference just doesn’t shake out to be enough. If you’re insistent on having slightly larger Marvel figures for your display, these may do the trick, but you’re better off scoping out other alternatives, like Diamond’s offerings, or trying to find the Legends release.
