When I look at my Bishop action figure, I can’t help but feel I have a rastaman as an action figure. Whereas the Marvel Legend Luke Cage action figure looks like a 1970s Blacksploitation kung fu actor with bandanna, Bishop is nothing but a reggae humming action fighter that looks a bit too pissed to completely be laid back and cool about life, like a real rastaman!
Lucas Bishop was introduced in Uncanny X-Men #282 as a mutant police officer. He comes from a future that may never come to pass where mutants are segregated” He travelled to the past to change the future he did not like and capture some renegade mutant villains from the future. He has remained in the present ever since.
The Marvel Legends Bishop action figure is not exactly a rastaman, but it is very much like his original depiction in the comic books. I’m joking about the long hair on Bishop’s head. Bishop doesn’t smoke anything either and his costume is not simple and laid back. I think I’d prefer a Bishop that was more in tuned with his inner rastaman! That would make for a more convincing action figure and character. Although currently, his costume has been modernized and gone are the gaudy yellow stripes and the 1990s extensive and ultimately useless gear, this action figure will always be a reminder of how much super hero design in the 1990s was grotesque.
And the action figure is as grotesque. Whereas the norm for Marvel Legends action figures is to be slim, yet muscular, Bishop is not slim at all. He’s huge, not like the various Hulk action figures, but he’s definitely more in the range of a DC Direct action figure in scale than the usual Marvel Legends action figure.
His knees are weak, which make for bad posture. He’s top heavy too, so he constantly falls on the ground. To make matters worse, he’s one of those Marvel Legends action figures that Toy Biz, at the time decided did not need any peg holes under their feet. So although, he doesn’t look very laid back, Bishop is bound to lay down on my shelf as if he was enjoying a puff.
The gun holders glued on his back and right thigh don’t help his stability either. They add more weight to a figure that can’t stand up. The guns that go in the holsters also fit in his hands, thanks to the peg holes they added in his palms. I don’t like the paint job on Bishop. It looks sloppy and the colours bleed on the thighs and arms.
Like all Marvel Legends action figures from Toy Biz also known as Marvel Toys, these days, they are no longer in sold continuously by the vendor and only stocks available in stores and distributors are available. Bishop also comes with the lower torso of the Apocalypse 16 inch action figure.
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