SUPERMAN
SUPER FRIENDS (McFARLANE TOYS)
While the main offerings from McFarlane’s DC line are all in the 7-inch range, the Batman: Classic TV Series line notably broke from the pack in its decision to go with 6-inch, thereby allowing it to *sort of* serve as a continuation of Mattel’s run with the line. They had a good, solid run with the line, but there’s only so many characters to do, even calling in the continuation comics. So, to keep the style running, McFarlane moved into another notable feature in the mainstream TV coverage of the DC Universe, Super Friends. It’s a solid way to get a bunch of heavy hitters in one cohesive style, so I guess that’s not so bad. Today, I’m taking a look at the line’s take on the Man of Steel, Superman!
THE FIGURE ITSELF
Superman was released in Series 2 of McFarlane’s Super Friends line. Thus far, they’ve stuck to a two heroes paired off with two matching villains, so Superman is paired off with his counterpart Lex Luthor, which is pretty sensible. The figure stands just over 6 inches tall and he has 18 points of articulation. In addition to sharing a scale, the Super Friends and Batman: Classic TV Series lines also share a number of parts. Superman, unsurprisingly, has some parts in common with his Classic TV Series release. With its sculpted wrinkles in the suit and generally more realistic build, it’s a bit of a departure in style, from the show. It’s especially notable with Supes, who ends up looking a touch skinny. That said, it fits with what they’re trying to do with the line, so I get it. It’s definitely not a badly sculpted set-up, though the articulation’s a little awkward at times. There are a number of new parts, though, most notably the head. It’s not a pitch perfect match for Toth’s take on Supes, but it gets the idea across, and is 
certainly closer to the animated Superman depiction than the Classic TV figure was to George Reeves. I feel like, if nothing else, the expression feels very much in character with the show version of Superman. Like the Classic TV figures, the cape on this guy is cloth; it’s kind of flat and looks a bit odd at the collar, but it’s also the same general set-up used in the Batman line, so it’s not like it’s any sort of crazy upset. Superman’s color work is decently handled. It matches okay with the show scheme, and while the insignia didn’t always have the extra line around the edge, but it’s a more unique look, so I appreciate the choice. Superman is packed with a JLA communicator and the Kryptonite ball-and-chain from the Challenge of the Super Friends episode “Monolith of Evil.” I especially dig the ball-and-chain, because it’s such a nice signature scene from the show.
THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION
This whole line kind of snuck in without a ton of fanfare. I wanted the GL from Series 1, but he sold out really quickly, and I haven’t gone to the trouble of finding one, so I wasn’t really sure I’d be jumping in any further. But, I was in NYC a little over a month ago, and found myself with time to kill while Rachel and her siblings were in a show, so I spent a chunk of it wandering through Midtown Comics. I felt obliged to buy something, and they had this guy, and he just sort of spoke to me. He’s got his quirks, but he’s fun.
The Figure In Question 
I was pretty adamantly collecting the 66 line, and I do appreciate how deep it went, but I wouldn’t have been opposed to a Shame the cowboy, an Eli Wallach Mr. Freeze (with a freeze ray this time!), a Lee Merriweather Catwoman (or even better, a Miss Kitka with her leopard skin pillbox hat) and of course, the longest shots, a Chief O’Hara and Aunt Harriet (I was satisfied enough with the animated Gordon, accuracy notwithstanding) I’ve largely passed on this line, I’m satisfied enough with just the Superman and Wonder Woman from the 66 line. Would have been better if we could have gotten a George Reeves and Lynda Carter in this scale, but alas, not to be.
Since the actual ’66 show was locked up in distribution rights for a chunk of my childhood, a lot of my appreciation for the cast comes from the movie, so I’ve been dying for anyone to do a Lee Merriweather Catwoman, because she’s my personal favorite of the three
When I was very young, 3-4, was when the 89 movie came out and the Adam West show was on reruns on TNT constantly, so i watched a decent amount of it, but was too young to really remember it. I had the movie taped off Prism, on a tape with Spaced Invaders, a tape I watched til it broke, so the bulk of my memory is also the movie, and Lee was also *my* Catwoman