LEGO Marvel Studios CMF Series 2 / Collectable Minifigures 71039 Review Part 2 (X-Men)

Continued from Marvel Super Heroes CMF Review Part 1

Beast 71039-10

Dr. Henry Phillip McCoy or Hank McCoy is a founding member of the X-Men and made his debut appearance in the very first X-Men comic back in 1963. He was created by comic book legends Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. At that time, he was known as The Beast and possessed superhuman strength, agility and intelligence. Other than having oversized hands and feet, he looked human. In the 1972 issue of Amazing Adventures #2, Beast would become more animalistic in his physical characteristics and his powers increased. He started out grey but then finally came to be the blue color current fans recognize. While he became more of an animal physically, mentally he kept his witty humor and genius IQ. He is the world authority in biochemistry and genetics, as well as the X-Men’s medical doctor.

Dark blue hips were used for the top of his shorts and then the rest was printed onto the blue legs. To make the blue legs look hairy, dark blue fur patterns were put all over the front of the minifigure. I am a bit disappointed that none of these fur patterns were put on the sides. The three, sharp, white claws on each foot look great. They even added a shadow line underneath the claws to help give the illusion these nails are coming out of individual toes.

The bottom of the torso piece has Beast’s yellow belt with the X-Men logo on the buckle. This is how we know Beast is wearing shorts and not underwear. I appreciate the detail put into the belt that goes around the front and back of the minifigure. The black X over the red background is a simple enough design to copy, but adding the reddish brown lines along the yellow adds a lot of depth to this article of clothing. It’s more detailed than the cartoon source material or the other X-Men belts found in the series. This time the dark blue not only creates the fur pattern on the front and back, it also forms his muscles. I like how the fur blends into the muscle lines. I love that our muscular superhero not only has well defined abs and pecs but his obliques are also extremely impressive. His blue arms and hands have no printing. I would have been surprised at this lack of printing on the arms, if they had not missed the side of the legs as well.

LEGO gave us a dual sided blue head piece that shows us both personalities of the character. The first expression lives up to Beast’s name. Here we can see a ferocious animal who can handle himself in battle. He is baring his teeth with two large lower fangs ready to rip into his enemies. Dark blue wrinkle lines around the eyes and mouth show us his furry. Those bushy black eyebrows reveal his angry emotions. More dark blue lines were used to outline the fur on his face. The other side has a gentler expression and reveals Dr. Hank McCoy’s intelligence. Those lower fangs are still sticking out, but this time he has a friendly smile. He has his glasses on, so he can get to work on his scientific research. We all know that glasses make you smart. The small crease above his eyebrows makes me believe that he is pondering a complex problem.

The headgear piece gives us Beast’s mane of hair. Which I realized when writing this review, is very similar to Wolverine’s hairstyle. Beast’s blue hair is parted in the middle and comes to points at the top near the back. LEGO did an amazing job with the texture of the hair parting in the middle. It’s interesting that while most people have white stripes on the side of their head, Beast has black. I assume this is a leftover from his human form and not from aging. LEGO made sure to include his pointy blue ears on the side. The black strips of hair make sure they clearly stand out from the rest of his hair.

This series came with a lot of great accessories for the different minifigures. While there could be a debate on who has the best, Beast definitely came with the most pieces. The yellow cup with the X-Men logo on it is an original piece. I love this branded merchandise in a LEGO set. It is easy to picture Hank McCoy going over his research or reading his favorite book while drinking coffee from this mug. The buildable microscope uses a 1X1-1X1 inverted bracket for its base. A 1X1 round plate with a bar arm down attaches to the side stud to create the arm of the microscope. A 1X1 round plate with open stud then slid onto the bar, so that a minifigure binocular piece could be attached. These binoculars look great as the eyepiece and objective lens. To give Beast something to study under the microscope, a 1X1 translucent green round tile piece is attached to the inverted bracket. I always love when we get these small builds in the CMF series.

Storm 71039-11

Storm first appeared in the 1975 issue of Giant Size X-Men #1. Ororo Munroe has the mutant ability to control weather and the atmosphere. This ability makes her one of the most powerful mutants on the planet. Storm would be the second black female superhero created by Marvel and the first female to lead a Marvel superhero team. Storm’s origin in X-Men 97 animated series had her born in a small village near Mount Kilimanjaro. As a child she was almost buried alive. This causes her to suffer from severe claustrophobia. She joined the X-Men after Charles Xavier rescued her from the Shadow King.

With a white costume, shadowing and lines are important in separating the boots, legging and bodysuit. This original leg piece was able to do just that. The straight lines across the legs show us her knee high boots and the slanted lines at the top separated her bodysuit and leggings. Thinner light bluish grey shadow lines run down her legs, stop just past the top of the boots and then start back up at the feet. The break in the line lets us know this is a shadow and not a costume printing.

The torso piece looks amazing. Here we can see the light bluish grey lines being used to create the shape of her body and muscles on the front and back. My one super picky critique because I am a reviewer has to do with these lines. I don’t like that LEGO has the lines for her stomach muscles continue onto the yellow strap that connects her belt and collar. It ruins that thicker look of the yellow section and doesn’t match the cartoon. That being said, the yellow sections do a wonderful job recreating the design on her costume. The two X-Men Logos near the top are a must for this team uniform. This technically remains an original piece. However the Storm in the X-Mansion set that was released shortly after this CMF series came out uses the exact same torso and arms, but her hands were changed to Umber and these hands are reddish brown.

Artists have given Storm a unique cape style to help them draw amazing poses and movement in a static comic panel. LEGO had to create a special cape piece for their Storm minifigures. The round cape around the neck hole and curved ends with hand holes is very similar to the cape used for the first Storm minifigure that came in the X-Men vs. Sentinel set back in 2014. The obvious difference is that the cape is now white, but they also changed the material. That set used the old cloth capes and this one uses the newer spongy stretchable fabric. I like this material a lot more, because the material bends better and the texture feels more durable. While the Storm minifigure released in the X-Men Mansion set would also use this cape, the yellow outline on that cape keeps this piece unique.

The armor shoulder pads with pointed ends is not an original piece. It has been around since 2019 and can be found in almost 60 sets across several themes. Surprisingly, this is the first time it has appeared in white. Storm doesn’t wear armor, but this piece does a treat job recreating the large fabric shoulders of her costume.

The single sided head piece is my favorite of the three Storm minifigures LEGO has produced so far. This has a lot to do with her eyes and lips. I love that LEGO used dark brown for her lips. While Storm has worn red lipstick, the shades of color LEGO uses for their plastic don’t work well together. Her eyes are fantastic. The metallic blue coloring is the perfect choice to represent Storm’s eyes as she draws on her power. The confident smirk, feminine eyelashes and long thin eyebrows are a great expression for a character who is starting to show us just how powerful she is. I am a fan of dual printed headpieces, but the mohawk headgear made that impossible. So I am glad LEGO did such a wonderful job on the only face printing we got.

Lots of LEGO minifigures have sported a mohawk over the years. This particular wide and wavy style mold was created for the Storm minifigure. While this 2023 set is the first time the piece was used, as of early 2025 it has appeared in 4 more sets. However, this remains the only time it comes in white. The windblown look of this mohawk is perfect for our hero who is constantly causing storms as she wields her mutant power. While I have personally never been a fan of Storm’s punk style, this hairpiece is great.

For Storm’s accessory, she was given two double angular wave with bar handle pieces. These translucent yellow parts allow builders to have Storm throw lightning bolts from her hands. The piece itself has been around since 2019. This is only the second time it has come in a translucent yellow. The first was with the Bumblebee CMF character back in 2020. I love the look of this lightning bolt piece for a superhero who has the power to wield lightning as a weapon. The double waves make it look more powerful than a single bolt.

Wolverine 71039-12

Wolverine made his debut in the last panel of the 1974 issue of The Incredible Hulk #180 and then have a full appearance in issue #181. He would go on to become one of Marvel’s most famous characters and a main member of the X-Men. This mutant has animal-keen senses, enhanced physical capabilities and powerful regenerative abilities. It’s his mutant healing factor that allowed him to survive the surgery that covered his entire skeleton and claws in the unbreakable adamantium metal. Born as James Howlett, he has gone by many names over his prolonged lifespan. You can call him Logan, Weapon X or Wolverine and he is still the mutant everyone knows and loves. While his character typically dominates most storylines he’s involved in, X-Men 97 kept him out of the spotlight.

Wolverine’s leg piece is similar to those found in standard building sets, but by using yellow plastic for the legs instead of blue LEGO not only gave us an original piece but also makes it look more like the costume he wears in the cartoon. LEGO used a blue hip piece and then printed the rest of the shorts onto the front of the legs. This lets the sides be yellow and give the illusion of the yellow spandex going all the way up and into the shorts. Granted, it also makes him look like he has a major wedgie in back. The blue boots were printed onto the front, side and back to give a completed look. I am a bit surprised that the black line only runs up the foot and not along the rest of the boot. This is not a complicated design and would have been a better match to the cartoon.

Wolverine’s torso is an original piece…sort of. The actual torso section of the body is not unique. It has been used on a couple Wolverine minifigures found in standard building sets. The part does a great job recreating the black lines and jagged patterns of Wolverine’s costume. The red belt with the X-Men logo lets us know he is currently working with the team on not on his own adventure. Reddish brown lines are used to create the muscle bulging under his skin tight clothing. Blue hands are obviously not rare. It’s the arm that makes this piece unique. Rather than having solid light nougat arms, LEGO included the blue shoulders from his costume and black lines for hair. I love that we finally get a hairy Wolverine.

Wolverine came with two unique facial expressions on his light nougat head piece. Each face was printed to match one of his two headgear pieces. We will start with the head that shows us his complete face. Here we can see the big bushy eyebrows, stubble around the chin and his large mutton chops. His facial hair has always been an important part of visually creating his wild nature and LEGO nailed it. Medium nougat lines create the rough face that has seen a lot over the past 100 years or so. The mouth isn’t a full frown but does a great job capturing his grumpy nature. This face printing was meant to be used with his hair piece. The other side looks very similar, but has him wearing goggles. While Logan doesn’t typically worry about head or eye protection when riding a motorcycle, they look great under his mask headgear piece. The white eyes peeking through the slits in the mask are exactly what people expect when Wolverine is suited up. The other change was with his mouth. Now that his X-Men uniform is on, he is ready to fight. This can be seen with his teeth being exposed as he gives his enemies a vicious snarl.

According to Bricklink, Wolverine’s yellow headgear mask is part of the minifigure and his black hair is an accessory. Neither of these is an original piece. The mask mold was first introduced in 2014 but came in a bright light orange. In 2023 LEGO changed it to a yellow plastic. The black pointed sides that stick up and come down to his face have remained the same. It’s a perfect match to his costume, so it is no surprise that LEGO has not needed to drastically update their design. LEGO used the swept back hair with a Widow’s peak for his other head gear piece. This piece is extremely common. I think the piece is fine, but I prefer the pointed vampire hair that came with the Wolverine’s Chopper Showdown set that came out in 2012. I think that did a much better job creating his pointed animal inspired hairstyle.

Since LEGO lists minifigure weapons under accessories, Wolverine’s retractable adamantium claws are considered accessories. The bladed claw piece was introduced in 2012. It was used with a glow in the dark white plastic for the Werewolf minifigure and this same flat silver color for the first LEGO Wolverine minifigure. It has since been used for every Wolverine minifigure produced by LEGO. The CMF also came with a 2X2X1⅔ dome top printed to look like a damaged Sentinel head. I love this magenta Sentinel head. Yes. the three claw marks going across the left side that has his eye torn out look amazing. However it’s the call back to the 2014 X-Men vs.The Sentinel set that makes me appreciate the piece choice. In that set, our heroes were battling a dark purple robot. Clearly Wolverine was the victor and ripped this villain's head off.

Conclusion

From a design perspective, this series was amazing. Every character had an impressive amount of detail put into the printing. Even characters, like Mr. Knight, who had a very simple costume managed to be given small elements in their model that brought its quality to the next level. With only 12 minifigures, I am a bit disappointed in the character selection. This is particularly true for the X-Men. With options from hundreds of mutants that have worn multiple costumes; LEGO picked two of the three that not only appear in other sets but also had them wearing similar costumes. Werewolf by Night was an original character, but LEGO has already put 2 Werewolf characters in their Collectable Minifigure Series. For me, Disney oversaturated the superhero film market and burnt me out. While I still love the comic book superheroes, I have lost interest in the MCU. So characters like Echo and Agatha who were drastically updated from their comic book origins don’t interest me as much. I don’t think this was a series that needs to be completed, but does offer some great minifigures for people to fill in their superhero gaps when building their own LEGO Marvel Super Hero Universe.