I’ve never read an issue of Bloodstorm, but I do remember the Dracula vs. X-Men stories, so the Bloodstorm “What If” style characters appeal to me. The character designs also lean heavily on Storm’s 80s punk look, which is another touchstone for me, and I love vampire action figures, so I’m kind of leaning towards liking this one. Let’s take a look at “The Bloody Storm” together!
The box also takes some getting used to. I really like the character art, although having it in three places seems a bit redundant. This particular artwork is great, but it does make me wish she had lightning fingers, although if you have the fingers from Classic Storm, they work here.
Figure comes with two sets of hands (claws and caster), two heads, and a Blackheart torso. Spellcasting hands feel a little different than normal hands because they have some sharp nails. I feel like they would be great at hypnotizing people, or just making dramatic gestures. The upper can be a bit dramatic. Clawed hands are also perfect for vampires, perfect for scratching and snatching their victims.
Thank goodness they decided to give the vampire character a snarling face and show off her pearly white fangs or fangs, since the left side of her fangs aren’t as sharp as the right side. Still, I have a collection of vampires that barely show their fangs, so I’m glad that even in the portrait with her mouth closed, you can see the traces of her fangs sticking out. Vampires are supposed to bite! I also like that the hair flows a little more in the snarling mouth portrait, as it looks like a more action-oriented head.
I sold my original black heart so I really need this and so far based on the torso I’m digging him. The musculature is lean and solid, and the texture is absolutely devilish. The tail appears to be wired, but movement feels a little restricted.
The sculpt is nice, as Punk Storm reused body parts and jacket arms from Jessica Jones, which work well with the nice new head. I don’t know if the exposed midriff is new or from another character, but it looks good. She has a lot of presence with just those two heads, and they convey some appropriately vampire-worthy vibes (moody melancholy and gnashing murderousness). The belt is a floating piece and I thought I could just glue it off since it always doesn’t fit when it messes up the figure.
The connection is no problem. I really like how the articulated neck allows for dramatic poses, and the ball joint above the head has a lot of tilt. There’s some nice backbends and leans in the mid-torso, but not as good of a forward crunch. One thing I forgot is that those boots don’t swivel, which makes her harder to balance in a wide stance than most legendaries. The knees are a bit weak and the brakes are very strong, so it’s troublesome to keep both knees moving. The elbow swivel/hinge is also more limited than I’d like, slightly less than a full 90-degree bend.
There is very little paint and most parts are plastic colored. This is pretty standard MO for a legend, but pairs well with mostly black outfits here, and I like how they gave the pants a little different shade of gray to add a little variety. The jacket zipper and rivet details are sharp, and the face print is solid. Maybe a light dry brushing of weathering would give the pants a denim texture, and the 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 the Bloodstorm adventures, which might make her more important, but as a vampire character, she’s excellent. I could see her making some cool custom Vampire or Dauntless custom feeds as well.
