#23: Marvel Legends Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 - Yondu

Although Yondu was left out of the Guardians of the Galaxy series of Marvel Legends for the first movie, this time around there will be two series and the first one does include him. There are two heads included for the figure, both with great likenesses of Michael Rooker, that reflect his appearance in both films. There is the first movie version with a great grin, and the second movie version with the more comic-styled big red mohawk. That head has his lips pursed in a whistle, which goes with Yondu's accessory, the arrow that he used to great effect in the first movie. It's attached to a long trail of energy which can plug into the holster on his side. It's kind of thin plastic, so it will definitely start drooping due to gravity.

#113: Pop! Marvel Guardians of the Galaxy - Dancing Groot

Until Guardians of the Galaxy was released, nobody knew how popular Groot would be, which is presumably why it took such a long time for toys to be made of the dancing baby Groot from the end of the movie. Enterprising fans have been making their own versions for months now, but finally official product is being released. There are even a few options, ranging from fairly expensive yet screen accurate, to cheap and cute. The latter is the route I opted for. Because Funko apparently only has the license to make bobble heads for Marvel in this scale (conflicting interest of now defunct Mighty Muggs perhaps?), dancing Groot's head can shake. So although there are no animatronics in this toy, you can still make him dance by shaking him.

#70: Marvel Legends Infinite Series Guardians of the Galaxy - Groot

Finally, with all the pieces assembled, here is Groot! If you've been keeping track, you may notice that I haven't made a post about Nova. I did buy a Nova as well, but that went to my roommate while I kept the included Groot piece. Once assembled, Groot's most obvious feature is that he is really tall. If he had been packaged as a single figure, he'd have to be in the box with his legs all bent up or possibly unattached. He's got a nice heft to him. He's not completely a flat brown, there is some darker brown wash, and some greenish bits as well. I also really like the headsculpt for Groot. It is a fairly calm expression, but it really feels like it has a lot of personality to it.

Group shot!

#69: Marvel Legends Infinite Series Guardians of the Galaxy - Iron Man

In case we didn't have enough six inch Iron Man figures from last man's Iron Man 3 line, or basically every other wave of Marvel Legends, here's another one! Yeah, I know Iron Man joined the Guardians of the Galaxy in the comics, but this is a slot that would have been better filled by a character in the movie. Like Nebula! Or Ronan. But hey, who needs figures of the antagonists? In a better reality, I would be posting about a Nebula figure right now. But here's a weird Iron Man suit. It's got really weird, goofy looking shoulder protuberances that are at least removable. Also, the head has kind of an Ultron feel to it, with the weird "grin" on its face. This figure is packed two per case, so it will be one of the easier figures to find if you're interested.

#68: Marvel Legends Infinite Series Guardians of the Galaxy - Drax

Up next in the Guardians of the Galaxy wave of Marvel Legends is Drax. Since these are movie based figures, they mostly have more realistic physiques, but Dave Bautista is frigging huge, so consequently his figure is more of a comic character look than the others. All his tattoos/markings are sculpted and painted on, which is some pretty impressive detail work. He's got all the articulation of the other figures, but none of his joints feel soft or floppy. Accessory-wise, he's got two daggers which can be sheathed on the sides of his boots. Drax is probably the best figure in this wave.

#67: Marvel Legends Infinite Series Guardians of the Galaxy - Rocket Raccoon

Rocket Raccoon has somewhat surprisingly had two comics based action figures released so far. Rocket is the smallest figure of the line, so he feels like the worst value. But he's a talking space raccoon with a big gun, so that kind of novelty does help make up for that a bit. His feet are too tiny for him to balance on, aside from not being perfectly level with each other, so fortunately his tail can be used to help keep him upright. He's decently articulated above the waist, but below the waist, the only point of articulation is his swivel tail.

Aside from the Groot build a figure piece, Rocket also includes another accessory, somewhat boosting his value. It's a really big gun for Star-Lord that probably uses as much plastic as is used for Rocket himself. The gun unfortunately doesn't have the best grips, and has no other means of support, so it's probably not good for a display option unless you use other means to attach it to Star-Lord's chest. It does make an appearance in the trailer, but until I see the movie, I won't know how vital an accessory it will turn out to be.

#66: Marvel Legends Infinite Series Guardians of the Galaxy - Gamora

Second in the Guardians of the Galaxy Marvel Legends figures is Gamora. When I first saw pictures of the figure, I thought the head looked a little big. Now, I think it's just that the figure's body is too thin. Her arms are so thin, she doesn't get double hinged elbows but rather the swivel-hinge joint. Gamora's pretty light on accessories, she has a sword and a build-a-figure piece. Having not seen the movie yet, maybe that's the only accessory that would makes sense. Unusually, Gamora (as the sole female of the wave) doesn't come with the largest piece of the build-a-figure. For once, the woman in the line isn't the smallest figure, thanks to Rocket.

#65: Marvel Legends Infinite Series Guardians of the Galaxy - Star-Lord

Guardians of the Galaxy is being released to theaters in a couple weeks, and I've been looking forward to it for a while. I'd thought about pre-ordering the figures, but decided to hold off. Then when they were released, half of them shot up in price, so I figured I had missed my chance. I kept an eye on things, and was able to order all the figures at retail or slightly below retail online. First up is Star-Lord, who's wearing a fairly casual outfit for his movie re-design. It's a good looking figure. I'm not sure if the weathering on his coat is meant to make it look dirty or not, but at least it's not flat looking. He's got double hinged knees and elbows, which use the softer plastic that makes the joints feel a bit fragile.  He's armed with a pair of sci-fi looking blasters.

Other accessories include an alternate unmasked head. It's a pretty decent likeness to Christ Pratt, better at some angles than others. There's also a set of headphones and a Walkman. The other accessory is the sphere he's shown stealing in the first trailer.

If you'd told me a year ago that I would have two Chris Pratt toys in a year's time, I wouldn't have believed you. Yet, here we are.