I’ve never read an issue with Bloodstorm, but I do remember the Dracula VS the X-Men story fondly, so a Vampire Storm “what if” style character appeals to me a lot. The character design also relies heavily upon Storm’s punk look from the ’80s which is another touchstone for me and I love vampire action figures, so I’m a bit pre-disposed to like this figure. Let’s take a look at Bloodstorm!
The box is still taking some getting used to. I really like the character art, though it seems a bit redundant having it in three spots. This particular artwork is awesome, but it does make me wish she came with lightning fingers, though if you have the ones from Classic Storm, they work here.
The figure comes with two sets of hands (claws and spell-casting), two heads, and Blackheart’s torso. The spell-casting hands feel a bit different than the usual ones as they’ve got some sharp fingernails. I feel like they work nicely for throwing a bit of hypnotism on fellas or just dramatic gesturing. Vamps can be a bit dramatic. The clawed hands are pretty perfect for a vampire as well, great for scratching and snatching at victims.
Thank goodness they decided to give this Vampire figure a snarling face showing off her pearly white fangs or fang as the left side of her fangs isn’t quite as sharp her right. Still, I collected a line full of Vampires that barely ever showed their fangs, so I’m happy that even with her closed-mouth portrait you can see the hint of her fangs poking out. A vampire figure should be able to bite! I also really like that the hair flows a bit more in the snarling mouth portrait because that seems like a more action-oriented head.
I sold my original Blackheart, so I’m really needing this one and so far, based on the torso, I’m digging him. The musculature is lean and solid and the texture is positively demonic. The tail does seem to be wired, but the movement feels a little limited.
Sculpting is decent, as the Punk Storm re-use body parts and jacket arms from Jessica Jones work well with the beautiful new heads. I don’t know if the bare midriff is new or from some other figure, but it looks nice. She’s got a lot of presence based on these two heads alone and they convey some great vampire-appropriate vibes (moody broodines and tooth-gnashing murderousness). The belt is a floating piece that I’m thinking I may glue down because it’s always out of place when messing with the figure.
Articulation is okay. I really like the how the hinged neck works for dramatic posing and the ball joint at the top of the head has lots of tilt. The mid-torso gets some great back bends and tilt, but not as great forward crunch. One thing I forgot is those boots do not swivel, which makes her more difficult to balance in wide stances than most Legends figures. The knees are a little soft and the detents large, so it’s fiddly getting those double knees moving all the way. The elbows are also more limited swivel/hinges than I’d like with a little less than a full 90 degree bend.
Paint is minimal with most of the parts cast in their plastic color. It’s pretty standard MO for Legends, but works pretty well here with the mostly black costume and I like how they made the pants a bit of a different tone of gray for a little variety. The jacket zip and rivet details are sharp and the face prints are really solid. Maybe a slight drybrush weathering could have conveyed a jeans texture to the pants, and finger-nail color would be nice.
Overall, this is another neat, but not essential, X-Men variant figure for my collection. I do plan to read up on Bloodstorm’s adventures, so that might make her more essential, but as just a vampire figure she’s quite excellent. I could see her making some great custom vampires or Dreadnok custom fodder too.
