Marvel Legends 2012 Series 2 – Thunderball Review + Gallery

Dr. Eliot Franklin, also known as Thunderball is one of the more impressive sized figure you will get on your path to building your very own Arnim Zola. Not only is Thunderball’s size impressive, but also the commitment Hasbro has made to making the Wrecking Crew a reality, especially being it has always been one of the most asked for factions to tackle.

He comes in a duel purpose package that could either include Piledriver or Thunderball depending on the case pack out you get. Both guys share the same parts, the only differences are the heads and the paint applications.

I consider this one of the smarter uses of the so-called “buck” system because of how close the characters are to each other. They could have made a better ball and chain though … getting that piece of garbage twice was a bit painful. Luckily being the loser I am, I have multiple functional balls with chains to sub in for the sorry excuse for an accessory we got.

Ok well I have two. And to be fair they aren’t very comic accurate either. Comic accuracy be damned though because Megator’s chain looks badass. If only it didn’t have a handle made for a twelve inch tall figure. The other is from the troll in Hellboy 2, again not really accurate but Ron Perlman is the man. Seriously, the guy made Alien Resurrection watchable.

Anyway, Thunderball is based off the Hulkling body which turned into the Crossbones body. They gave him a new crotch piece and a sweet belt.  From the head down he is exactly the same as Piledriver … or is Piledriver exactly the same as him?  I suppose it depends on who you got first or if you are a racist.  I hate racism so as far as I’m concerned he is exactly the same as Piledriver.  Thunderball has the different color scheme and then his new head.  I do like that the new Marvel Legends have removable heads.  Unfortunately they all have different sized balls on the peg so its really luck of the draw if you can swap a head.  It’s also a shame that the ball on Thunderball’s neck peg is too large because he would be a great head for a MOTUC Clamp Champ custom.

Thunderball comes with Arnim Zola’s head and remote control.  There is a slight difference in that the head that comes with Thunderball, it has a yellow light.  Piledriver’s pack in head has the red light because that one matches up the the Red Skull chest.  So there is a slight difference, and this is appreciated because a collection can never have enough Arnim Zola variants.  What isn’t appreciated is the price at Toys R Us, $22 as of yesterday … really TRU?  Luckily Target and Walmart have these at the very decent price of $15 so save yourself some cash and pick them up there.

All in all, I love that the Wrecking Crew is becoming a reality.  I still need to get myself a Klaw … but I can’t seem to drop the cash on him yet.  I’d imagine Target will have a sale one day and I can finally complete my Terrax, but until then I am very happy with the Arnim Zola wave and instead opted to complete that first.  Thunderball is a great addition, his accessory stinks … but if you can find a nice chain use that instead and you too will fall in love with him.

Where can I pick up Thunderball?

As always, you can try Amazon.

For the B&M route I have seen this wave at Toys R Us ($20), Target ($15), and Walmart ($16).

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