Mighty Battlers Guardians of the Galaxy

Guardians of the Galaxy and Ronan the Accuser

Here in the Philippines, the holiday season brought Christmas cheers to kids who missed out on Guardians of the Galaxy toys when the movie came out way back in 2014. When the movie hit the theaters, the only Guardians of the Galaxy action figures available at that time were the adult collector geared Marvel Legends Infinite Series Guardians of the Galaxy 6 inchers and the tiny 3 inchers (which comes with their spaceships, which was the best part of that series). Both toylines however were too expensive for kids and seemed to be limited in terms of availability. A year removed from the movie's released, these Mighty Battlers toyline began to hit the Philippine shores and was priced at a friendly P300 ($7.00). It would seem that Guardians of the Galaxy was the toy line for the Christmas of 2015 as the Philippines regularly would have these massive amounts of toys at kid friendly prices every Christmas season (past years include Warriors of Virtues, Playmates Star Trek, A-Team, Bandai Thundercats, among others). I purchased a set of these action figures because I missed out on those Marvel Legends and I think these would be a cool Christmas present for my son. He readily enjoyed the Avengers Movie Mighty Battlers before, so I'm guessing he'll like this one too.  In this entry, allow me to share my thoughts on this particular toy line.  

The Guardians of the Galaxy

Basically, the set consists of five main characters from the movie (Starlord, Groot, Rocket Raccoon, Drax, and Ronan) while omitting Gamora. It has always been a controversy when it comes to boys toys because toy companies always have this habit of omitting female characters in boys toys. It has always been the judgement of toy companies that boys don't play with female characters, hence superhero toylines for kids usually omits the female characters. This toyline is no different. So just to complete the team, I decided to purchase a bootleg Gamora that used the original mold of the 6 inch Marvel Legends Gamora minus some articulations. The toy line however is a tad short in scale when compared to the initial Mighty Battlers toy line from the Avengers Movie. This set stands at only approximately 5 inches. So I had to modify Gamora a bit by cutting down a portion of her leg just so to make her in scale with the others. The results were quite satisfying as she now fits nicely with the rest.

Starlord's Mighty Battlers ability is called Quick-Draw Blasters as described in the back of the packaging that he came with. Once you squeeze both legs, Starlord draws his guns forward while his mask lowers down. The figure itself is great looking and has a very nice sculpt and paint details. The guns and mask are non-removable and his articulation is limited only to swivel arms.

Gamora, as I've said earlier is a bootleg figure. And like the usual bootleg figures, she comes with a LED light on her chest that you get to activate once you push a button on her back. The figure looks nice for a bootleg as it utilizes the original mold of the Marvel Legends Gamora albeit missing some of the articulation. I modified the figure by cutting a portion of her ankles and glued back the feet. Now she fits nicely with the others when displayed together.

Drax is one of the best figure in the set because of his action ready pose and his Mighty Battlers ability. Squeeze the legs and Drax performs a sweeping dagger attack, pouncing on opposing action figures.
The figure also retains Dave Bautista's (Batista from WWE) likeness which is quite cool for a figure this size. The only other articulation for this figure however is the ball jointed neck and swivel arms.

Rocket Raccoon is also one of the better figures in this set simply because of his uncanny compatibility to the 6 inch Marvel Legends figures. If you missed out Rocket Raccoon for your Marvel Legends collection, then this guy is a suitable replacement. The figure stands at the same height with the Marvel Legends Rocket Racoon. Articulation however is limited only to his Mighty Battlers ability wherein when you clip his legs together, he swings his blaster. But hey even the Marvel Legends version has lesser to be desired points of articulation. So who's complaining?

Now if Rocket Raccoon fits nicely with Marvel Legends, Groot can claim his own compatibility with Hasbro's 4 inch Marvel Universe toyline. For Marvel Universe collectors, the only Groot that they have in their collection is the Mini Groot in a flower pot. So this Groot is a great replacement if you are dying to get a decent Groot for you Marvel Universe collection. The figure's Mighty Battlers ability is that it grows taller while also raising its left arms once you squeeze the legs. It also comes with a ball jointed head and swivel right arm. Sculpt details are simple but well crafted.

Ronan the Accuser is basically the highlight of this set because he was not released in the Marvel Legends Guardians of the Galaxy toyline. It is actually lame that Hasbro decided to omit him and opted instead to include a Space version Iron Man and Nova, two characters that played support roles in the Guardians of the Galaxy comic books. Unfortunately though, this figure is not in scale with Marvel Legends. So Marvel Legends collectors will have to make do with the old Ronan Build-A-Figure which is also hard to come by nowadays. The mighty battlers ability for this figure is the hammer strike, again activated when you squeeze the legs. The figure also comes with a ball jointed head and swivel arms.

Size comparison with the Avengers Movie Mighty Battlers Captain America and Thor

Cornered

Drax v.s. Ronan

Rocket Raccoon and Groot v.s. Ronan

Overall, if you need a cheaper alternative for a Guardians of the Galaxy movie action figures then I highly recommend this set if you are not that high on articulation. Display wise, these figures are cool to look at and comes with great playability for kids. Currently, I have these on my display as I patiently hunt down budget friendly Marvel Legends comic book versions of the Guardians of the Galaxy. And do get a bootleg Gamora, she's a great addition to this set!