The Savages: A Savage Land SDCC Box Set Review

August 14, 2008 on 9:00 pm | In Toy Review |

Today we’re taking a slightly different approach to the toy review section. Instead of one person writing up the San Diego Exclusive Marvel Legends Savage Land box set, we split the contents of the box among three of the ToyFare ranks. Managing Editor Kate Napolitano got beefcake Ka-Zar, Associate Editor TJ Dietsch got the cheescake Shanna and Designer Jairo Leon got…uh, tigercake Zabu.

Before we get into it, a little background info. The cover of the Savage Land box set was drawn by Frank Cho, who loves drawing jungle girls (including his own Jungle Girl character). It seems as they Marvel Legends took a bit of a cue from his work when producing these figures as well. For the super-uninitiated, The Savage Land is a prehistoric jungle in the middle of icy Antarctica in the Marvel Universe. Ka-Zar’s the king of the jungle, Shanna’s his wife-slash-partner-slash-queen and Zabu is their faithful pet sabertooth tiger.

So, away we go, have at it Kate.

KA-ZAR

If you’ve gotta have a belligerent diapered jungle man glaring down at you from your shelftop, Ka-Zar’s totally the way to go. Not only is he self-sufficient and won’t bug you for late night White Castle, but he’s in with celebs like Spider-Man and the X-Men, so you know the parties are going to be off the wall (in Spider-Man’s case) or off the hook (Spidey again, I suppose—at least after One More Day).

So, go ahead, invite Ka-Zar’s new Marvel Legends figure into your life. And, heck, I’ll even throw in a few reasons below to do it that aren’t quantifiable in the DSM-IV as “aural/visual hallucinations symptomatic of schizoid disorder(s).” Bleh bleh bleh. What was Chucky—a movie prop? I rest my case, you alleged scientists!

Ahem. Ka-Zar, for those who may not know, is actually an amalgam of three Ka-Zars that first appeared in comics between 1936 and 1939 for a couple of companies that quickly assimilated into Marvel (resistance being futile). Because of his healthy tenure in comics to date, finally getting a Marvel Legend of our Savage buddy is arguably a decent comics-history footnote (as is his luxurious blond mane, which could decidedly rival his wife’s).

From a pure plastic perspective, Ka-Zar is as superbly constructed as any Legend to date. With finely sculpted features, fluid articulation and a sturdy body that free-stands easily, it’s just gosh-dern Hasbro quality all over. He comes adorned with three sheathed daggers, only one of which—his bowie knife, of course—is an actual accessory you can pull out and stick in his hand (Like this or dislike this as you will).

Compared with wife Shanna, he is shorter, but lacks at least what I think is Shanna’s awkward head angle (she looks a little hunchbacked to me, but he’s fine). Next to Zabu, though, he is perfection—lookin’ ferocious and totally fit to fight. I think in general Hasbro does an excellent job of giving Legends characters genuine expressions, and Ka-Zar is no exception. They gave him a face that agrees with plenty of poses, so feel free to mix him up with his box-mates however you like. I will say, though, that his loin-cloth is a little clunky: at least on my figure, the waistline of the loincloth doesn’t meet his body and you can see where his torso is glued in place. Forgive me, but I truly dig the illusion that my figures are all just frozen little people about to come to life, and don’t appreciate being rudely awakened by the sight of dried Elmer’s.

But I really am being picky—picky for all you toy lovers out there, true—but maybe harshly so. I leave it up to you—because as I said, this Ka-Zar is comic-accurate, long overdue, and devilishly crafted (to go with his She-Devil wife of course). It’s at least worth a good perusal, if not outright buy.

What say you TJ?

SHANNA THE SHE-DEVIL

Okay, I’m going to get the obvious out of the way right up front. Yes, this figure is almost naked and yes, it did feel strange when I was trying to loosen all the joints up to get her to pose her on my desk. See, even that last sentence just sounds wrong.

Anyway, once you get past whatever your initial response to the voluptuous, scantily clad She-Devil you can see the craftsmanship that went into making this figure. At first, I wasn’t sure about the joint in the abdomen. Like Kate said up above, it kind of makes her lean forward a bit, giving off a thuggish vibe. But, after thinking on that one (it’s been kind of a slow day) I realized that it makes sense. She’s a bad ass woman living in the jungle with her husband, a tiger and a thousand other weirdos. She’s going to take on a few animalistic qualities. And when your surrounded by so many dangers (read: weirdos) it’s good to have your trusty rifle and big honkin’ knife to keep yourself safe.

I’m also impressed with the poseability of the figure. At first, it felt pretty awkward, but that’s because it took a while to loosen up the joints and now she poses great and will look great alongside Ka-Zar and Zabu on your shelf. Do be careful when it comes to her neck joint though, Justin accidentally popped it off, but luckily it’s a ball-in-socket type thing so you can pop it right back on with no problems.

And finally, I appreciate the detail given to the feet. I can’t really think of another action figure I’ve seen that is barefoot, but Hasbro did a good job with them (though I’m not sure how her toenails stay so white in the jungle, but I digress). Well done folks.

And last but not least, Jairo:

ZABU

Every team needs a saber-tooth tiger. One would expect a two pack Ka-zar and Shanna, but Zabu as well? Now that’s what I call a triple-threat blond crew. Zabu is very similar to the Sigma 6 Storm shadow boxed set, which makes for a cool bonus figure that compliments the set. How else are Ka-Zar and Shanna going to get around the Savage Land? This three exclusive three-pack from Hasbro is a must have for those who are engrossed in the current Secret Invasion storyline.

Well there you have it.