Tag Archives: Adam Strange

#3875: Adam Strange

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

ADAM STRANGE

DC MULTIVERSE (McFARLANE)

Behold, the original super hero adjacent hero whose last name is inexplicably “Strange!”  How about that?  Introduced in 1958, Adam Strange is a bit like John Carter in spandex, a play on a lot of classic sci-fi adventure tropes.  He’s one of two science-fiction heroes commissioned by DC that year, the other being Space Ranger, a character that just didn’t have the same staying power.  Adam, on the other hand, has remained something of a cult fixture since his creation.  He’s been sort of sparse on the action figure front, but not entirely absent, since he does have a pretty killer look.  So, let’s look at one of those figures now!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Adam Strange is figure #33 in the Collector Edition sub-line of McFarlane’s DC Multiverse line.  As with most of the other Collector Edition figures, there are two versions of Adam available: a standard and a platinum edition in “stealth” colors.  The one seen here is the standard.  The figure stands just over 7 inches tall and he has 35 points of articulation.  Strange is built on the base body that originated with the Blue & Gold boxed set, which seen a real upswing in use as the line’s progressed.  It’s a solid enough starting point, and certainly one of McFarlane’s nicest.  And, in the case of Adam, it’s a good fit and doesn’t fall victim to the same inaccuracies as some of the earlier uses.  Adam also gets a lot of new parts to transition the base body.  The box specifically calls out this figure as being based on Strange Adventures, specifically the more classically-inspired Doc Shaner illustrations from the book.  Unlike a lot of McFarlane’s supposedly directly inspired figures, Adam’s actually quite a good match for Shaner’s take on the character, especially on the head.  There are no less than four face-plates for the figure; the two more “standard” expressions really match Shaner’s work.  The masked face is pretty neat, if not exactly standard issue.  The only one I’m not crazy about is the screaming one, but they at least tried something different.  Adam’s color work is quite bright and colorful, and very eye catching.  He gets the extra panelling with the darker red, as seen in the book, and it adds a nice extra bit of flair to the figure.  In addition to the previously mentioned extra face plates, Adam also gets his blaster pistol, two pairs of hands, a display stand, and a collector card.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

McFarlane’s been really surprising me with the character choices in the last year with the license, so I can’t say I was expecting this one, but I also can’t say it was completely out of place.  Adam Strange has a fantastic, classic look, begging for some solid action figure coverage, and up until now his figures have tended to just be kind of okay.  This one’s honestly a lot better than “just kind of okay.”  He’s downright good, and the best Adam Strange figure out there.  Just a solid offering all around.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#1512: Adam Strange

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , ,

ADAM STRANGE

DC UNIVERSE CLASSICS (MATTEL)

“Archaeologist Adam Strange was transported to the distant planet of Rann by a random communications beam from outer space. Adam soon became the official hero of Rann, the planet’s protector against strange menaces of all kinds. Though without powers, frequently outnumbered and almost always outgunned, Adam’s cleverness and innovation have allowed him to overcome every menace and gain a reputation as the ‘thinking man’s hero.’”

It sure is convenient that the archeologist named “Adam Strange” was the one who got zapped into space, isn’t it?  He sure would be less catchy if his last name was “Smith” or “Wilson.”  Also, do you think he has any relation to Stephen?  And, as an archeologist, would he also carry the title of “doctor”?  Because if so, that could get very confusing.  I think this intro’s getting too thoughtful.  Sorry, the bio *did* refer to Adam as the “thinking man’s hero.”  I think it just comes with the territory.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Adam Strange was released in 2009, packed alongside Starfire as the first of four Matty Collector-exclusive DC Universe Classics two-packs.  While Adam and Kori haven’t exactly had a ton of time together in the comics, but in ’09, the most prominent thing Adam had done in recent was staring in one of the recurring stories in 52, where he, Starfire, and Animal Man had to make their way back to Earth the slow way after being stranded following the events of Infinite Crisis.  Suffice it to say, it was certainly a relevant pairing at the time.  Following that relevance, Adam is seen here in his then current design, based on his revised appearance from 2004.  While it doesn’t have the timelessness of the original design, I do still think one works pretty well, and keeps all of the important elements.  The figure stands about 6 1/2 inches tall and sports 25 points of articulation.  He’s built on the medium sized body, with a new head and add-ons for collar and harness/jetpack.  The body ends up feeling a bit large for Adam, and it’s not really helped by the extra bulk from the add-ons.  He’s definitely an example of why the base body system doesn’t work for every character.  I feet he really should have at the very least gotten a unique torso, but what are you gonna do?  The harness isn’t a bad sculpt, though.  The holster’s a little obtrusive, but it’s nice to get a working one for a change.  His head’s not a terrible offering, but like some of the earlier DCUC heads, it lacks the depth it should have and also sports some rather obvious seams.  Still, it’s a perfectly serviceable offering.  The paintwork on this guy is passable, but not without its flaws.  On the plus side, it’s bright and colorful, so that’s good.  That said, the application is a bit sloppy, and there are more than a few fuzzy edges, taking a design that really should be very clean and making it look quite iffy.  Adam is packed with a small blaster pistol, which is nice and all, but I do really wish he’d gotten a proper trigger finger to hold it.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I never did get this two-pack when it was new, mostly due to it being rather pricey for two figures that pretty much everyone agreed were mediocre at best.  I ended up coming across Adam by himself at House of Fun just a few weeks ago.  He looked cool enough in person and he wasn’t too expensive, so I went for it.  Is he great? No.  He’s passable, but at best he’s middle of the road.  If you’re looking for an Adam Strange, I guess he’s okay.