Uh — I think I can call Pop Heist's first week as a website a runaway success. Not because we launched with 30 articles and published another 15 in one week. Not because we passed 400 followers on Instagram and 1,000 followers on Bluesky. Not because we published the most niche yet insightful gift guide online, or introduced the world to Turkiye's gay E.T. ripoff. All of those are feats to be proud of — and I am so proud of them! But Pop Heist also warped reality.
We — well, I willed something into existence solely through the power of the written word. I'm talking about a Marvel Legends action figure. On Monday, I demanded that Hasbro celebrate my ascension to Editor-in-Chief by making some very specific action figures. J. Jonah Jameson wants pictures of Spider-Man, and I wanted (among others) an action figure of Professor X in his Savage Land Action Jumpsuit.
Look at him go! Whether seated or running, he is definitely wearing a green safari-style jumpsuit!
And today, Dec. 6, at the end of Pop Heist's first week of publishing, Hasbro's Marvel Legends team used the year-end Fanstream to respond to my demands.
I see your offering, Hasbro, and I accept it heartily. And no rush on the rest of the figures on my list. You have a solid 12 months to give the sexy Banshee figure and the creepy Brood BAF/deluxe figure I've been waiting for.
But back to Xavier — just look at him!
The only nit that I will pick, Hasbro, is making Action Chuck here a Target exclusive — only because those can be hard to come by. But then again, I did snag this year's Carnage exclusive relatively easy, so... I'll allow it.
While Safari Adventure Xavier is the only figure I was able to conjure with my new Editor-in-Chief powers, I'm still freaking out over a few of the others in the upcoming Nemesis wave.
21st century versions of Nightcrawler and Wolverine don't do much for me; I'm clearly focused on Marvel of the '60s to '90s. And I've stayed away from collecting Age of Apocalypse figures, only because I told myself they could never make enough characters to make a comprehensive collection. The fact that they're making AoA Gambit, though, kinda proves me wrong. And honestly, that Jerome Opeña style Nemesis has me really reconsidering my general disinterest in the modern design X-figures.
The A+ winners of this bunch are Husk and Marrow. Two deep-cut, never before attempted in this scale characters in the costumes I most associate with them? Yes, werk, Hasbro. And '80s X-Factor Cyclops — I'm one step closer to having all the characters in the Art Adams X-Men poster I've had on my wall since 1993. Real talk: when I realized that specific fact, I felt the most alive I've felt all day. Oh — and how can I forget Fabian Cortez? Who am I, every X-Men writer since 1995? Seriously, Cortez is exactly the kind of unexpected choice that I applaud the Legends team for making.
So, job well done, Hasbro! And thank you Ryan Ting, Dan Yun, and Dwight Stall for obviously reading my list on Monday and working up this entire Professor X figure in time to reveal on Friday. I can't wait to see which one of my wishes you grant next!
