Marvel Legends

[Zeeks]

Name: Dr. Doom
Genre Line Marvel Legends (based upon the Comic Book Characters)
Manufacturing Company: Toy Biz
Year Released: 2002 to 2004
Price Paid: various; see each item description

So, anyone who knows me knows that I am a complete Victor Von Doom fanatic, and I try in earnest to get my hands on anything I can find related to him. When I started collecting items in his honor, it was roughly 3 years ago, and by that time, Marvel Legends had already been out in stores. One of the things that concerned me about any marvel figure in general was that Toy Biz often over-produces their items, sending them into the cheap bin rather quickly, and the Marvel Legends line is no different- you can walk into just about any major toy retailer and find a gazillion Wolverines and and Beasts all over the place, marked down in price.

But not Victor. He is special.

In terms of availability, let's just say that I have NEVER seen him in any store, and my first two versions were bought strictly on ebay. The varaints are as follows: The original Dr. Doom realeased in series 2, the scarce Doombot variant from the same line, and the Box set version that was included in the Fantastic Four set. We will take each separately.

Variant #1:
For about $15, I bought my first Doom off ebay, and I opened it because I wanted to feel and look at the immense amount of detail. For starters, Doom has about 30 points of articulation- just about every joint is poseable, making the possibilities endless. However, there is an actual detractor to this: due to the immense amount of articulated joints, it somewhat takes away from the overall look of the figure- all you can see is the physical bends and joints on appendages like the feet and hands. Doom also comes with a fair share of accessories- his own base (which stands or can be hung on a wall) that is representative of a tower from his Castle in Latveria, a cape, removable mask (yes!) and hand pistol. The base is ok, but I found it hard to actually situate Victor into the foot pegs, and once I did it, he didn't stand too well. The feet were a bit too big for the limited amount of space allotted for the figure to stand. The cape is a one piece made of flexible plastic- it's ok. I guess I would have prefered a true cloth cape with heavy plastic clasps. The Mask is great- perfect fit to the face, and the face itself reveals one large scar running down the right cheek(for some reason, I always thought he face was more disturbed than this, but whatever). Then he has a hand gun. Hand Gun???!!! Dr. Doom is above such menial things. I think Toy Biz could have packed him with a more appropriate weapon or instrument; perhaps one of his handmade goodies constructed for Reed Richard's ultimate Doom. Overall, though, I am greatly pleased with the model. As part of the whole Marvel Legends line, each figure comes with a comic of its line, and Doom's comic was great- Fatastic Four VOL 1, # 247, which tells of Victor coming back to his homeland of Latveria to liberate his people from the negative ruler who overthrew Victor with the help of the Fantastic Four. The comic highlighted what I thought was the ideal vision of Victor-honorable, loyal and caring to his people, even in the guise of a ruthless criminal villain.

Variant #2.
Basically, the same as #1 aside from the face. This variant was unofficially titled the "Doombot" variation, and for good reason- instead of the lone scar, we have a full robotic face. Looking at the package, I assume all the accessories are the same as the regular version, however, I have not opened this one. I bought him for $25 on ebay about 2 years ago, and from what I understand, it was a very good investment. The scarcity of this variant has proved to be a fetching price today as well as a fine addition to my Doom Honorary Domain Collection (DHDC).
My only complaint about this variant is the exact reason why it is a variant- the robotic face is a direct rip off of the Terminator Exo Skeletal face! I could have come up with a much better Doombot idea, me thinks.

Variant #3
This version was recently released in the Fantastic Four Box set that hit the shelves not too long ago. Here, it is basically the same figure as before, except now Doom's face is a complete pizza. Gone is the lone scar down the right cheek; in its place is a complete burnt visage. I would assume the reason for this was based upon the lore that Doom had monks put his mask on before it cooled. The only other difference is the Castle Tower base has been replaced by a rather dull flat round base with a big "D" on it. The set cost me about $40 give or take a dollar, but it was still worth it- it comes with an exclusive Susan Storm and Franklin Storm as well as complete redesigns/repaints of Richards, Johnny, and Ben. They even threw in a H.E.R.B.I.E. the robot, as well as a poster book with some really nice portraits of the whole team plus Doom. Me thinks it is worth the extra bucks.

So, should you invest in some or all of these Doom variants? Well, DUH! I think so. Any questions about the DHDC or particular figures, give me a holler.

Doomfully Yours,
Zeeks

[Hawkeye]

I got doom in stores was dissapointed his face wasnt all scarred