Tag Archives: Batman: Hush

#3962: Superman – Hush Version

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

SUPERMAN — HUSH VERSION

MAFEX (MEDICOM)

My last MAFEX review kept running with my general investment in the DC theme, but broke from the otherwise Batman: Hush-ness of the reviews up to that point, instead jumping over to the Superman side of things.  Today, I present what I can best describe as a happy medium, because it’s a Superman, but he’s from “Hush!’  Ha-hahh!  Bet you didn’t see that coming!  Because, you know, I’m the only one who knows what I buy and when I’m gonna review it, but that’s not really the point here.  What *is* the point, is that I’ve got another Superman figure to review, and I’m gonna go ahead and do that now.  Let’s jump in!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Superman is figure 117 in Medicom’s MAFEX line, where he was the second figure under the “Hush” banner.  The figure stands just over 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 43 points of articulation.  While Superboy was rather up-scaled compared to the others in the line, this Superman feels maybe a touch on the small side.  Not terribly so, but just a little.  He keeps the same general articulation scheme as the other MAFEX figures I’ve looked at, which is to say it’s a generally nice range of motion and movement is pretty smooth.  Since this is explicitly a “Hush” figure, this Superman is based on Jim Lee’s illustrations of the character seen in the book.  It’s hardly a bad thing, since Lee’s take on Superman is a pretty solid “classic” Superman, who is generally pretty multi-purpose.  There is sort of a humor to the only two standard costume Superman figures in the MAFEX line both being in Batman-themed packaging, but such is Superman’s lot in life…at least a few years ago.  The sculpt does a respectable job of capturing Lee’s art, and specifically his take on Clark.  The standard head is a nice, generic calm head, but he’s also got an angrier head, meant to emulate Clark while under Ivy’s control.  Like Huntress, he’s got a cloth cape, which has a wire running through it for posing options. Superman’s color work is fine.  The paint work is clean, and all, but he’s also, like, really washed out.  I guess it’s not inaccurate to the look and palette of “Hush,” but on its own it does feel a little bit desaturated, slightly hindering his generic Superman-ness.  Superman is packed with the two heads previously mentioned, as well as five pairs of hands (in two styles of fists, flat, relaxed, and open gesture), neck and arm attachments for Ivy’s possession of him, and a flight display stand.  He also included an alternate hand for the first Batman, which had the Kryptonite ring on it, which I don’t have with my figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I wasn’t really up on MAFEX when this guy hit, so, despite the original DC Direct line’s Superman being one of my favorite figures from their line for the story, I didn’t get him when he was first released.  As they got further into the line, I kept regretting that more and more, but I also kept missing every re-release, because they kept selling out so very quickly.  I was sort of hoping we might get a more standard Superman from the Return line, but that’s not yet happened.  So, after getting Superboy as a gift over the summer, I finally decided to bite the bullet and just pay what I felt was a fair price on a used version of this guy.  He’s very cool, and I certainly get why he’s so in demand, because he’s just a good basic Superman.  That said, I’d still be game for Jurgens Superman with a slightly more classic color scheme, because I’m a sucker for such things.

#3073: Hush

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

HUSH

BATMAN: HUSH MAFEX (MEDICOM TOY)

Every so often, I like to jump into the world of imported toys, just to try out some of the finer things from time to time.  See how the other half lives, or something like that.  It’s a little tricky with some of them, given that the prices can get a bit insane on the domestic market, and things don’t always have a clear line of distribution.  A line that I’ve been intrigued by for some time is Medicom’s MAFEX line, their contribution to the 1/12 scale market.  Unfortunately for me, most of what I’ve been interested in has been of the Marvel persuasion, and those don’t have direct domestic distribution, making them pricier, and therefore less appealing.  I’ve been looking for a decent entry point, and I finally found a pretty good one.  That’s…not what I’m looking at today.  I’ll get to that.  What I *am* looking at today is Hush, based on his appearance in the self-titled arc from the comics.  I said don’t talk about it.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Hush is figure No. 133 in the MAFEX line-up, the fifth Batman: Hush figure, following the two color variations on Batman, Catwoman, and Superman.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 46 points of articulation.  Hush marks my first time messing with a MAFEX figure, so it’s the first time I’ve checked out the articulation scheme.  It’s a mix of a few different styles, most closely resembling Figuarts in how it’s laid out and implemented, but I found that the motion seemed a little more fluid, at least on this figure compared to the Figuarts I’ve picked up.  Also, in a rather amusing sort of a set-up, it should be noted that four of those points are on the pouches on his belt, which can be posed up, as if he’s mid-jump.  It’s such a minor thing, but it’s also kind of cool.  The only slightly weird thing is that it’s just the pouches on the belt proper, not the lower hanging ones.  Still, it’s a nice touch.  Otherwise, the range of motion is pretty impressive for the scale.  Hush’s sculpt is a totally unique one.  He’s based on his appearance in the comics, directly patterned on Jim Lee’s art from the books, much like the old DC Direct figures.  It does a really good job of capturing the Jim Lee stylings, and there’s a lot of really good small detail work.  The technical work is just really impressive.  Hush includes three different head sculpts.  Two of them are the full bandaged look, one with a calm expression, and the other an angrier look.  The heads are nicely detailed, and internally consistent in their detailing, as well as matching up pretty nicely with Lee’s illustrations of the character.  The third head, and by far my favorite, is a Jason Todd head, based on the famous reveal panel.  It’s a great sculpt, with a ton of character, and super well-suited to the body.  Given the bare neck, this was clearly the head that the body was sculpted specifically for, with the other two being more of a package deal.  Hush’s paint work is really nicely handled.  The application is really clean, and the colors are nice and bold.  There are no missing details, or any notable slop, and the whole thing just looks pretty slick.  Hush has an impressive selection of accessories, including the three previously mentioned heads, plus five pairs of hands (in fists, gripping, relaxed, open gesture, and blade holding), two handguns, a coin, a separate knife, two different insignias for the chest (one H and one R, depending on display option), as well as two different belts (again with the H and R set-ups), and a display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As I touched on in the intro, this figure isn’t the one that broke me on MAFEX, though he did come rather close.  No, that would be the Hush Nightwing, which is just too cool to pass up, and will be added to my collection just as soon as I can get him.  Of course, right after Nightwing was announced and I got my order in for him, this guy got traded into All Time used, giving the opportunity to mess with a MAFEX in hand, and also a slightly cheaper option for getting this one to go with that Nightwing I’m already down for.  I mean, it’s not that crazy to have the two grown up Robins, both from a rather formative comic book storyline for me, right?  Right.  So, after much hemming and hawing, I brought this guy home.  Was it the right call?  Simply put, yes.  This is a really nice figure, who really feels worth the heightened price point.  I can’t really afford to go all-in on a set of them at this price point, but I’m definitely even more excited for that Nightwing, and I’ll probably be picking up one or two other figures, as they do characters I have more draw to.

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.

#1552: The Riddler

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

THE RIDDLER

BATMAN: HUSH (DC DIRECT)

Batman’s regular foes have always had a pretty easy time with toys.  I suppose that comes with the territory, being a part of the most successful comics franchise in history and all.  That being said, some of them take priority over others.  While there’s never going to be a shortage of Joker figures, some of the second stringers get left out.  Take, for instance, Riddler.  Certainly high on the list of well-known Bat-Rogues, but he goes rather lengthy spans of time without action figures.  It actually took DC Direct a good couple of years before they got to him, and it was really only because he was a pivotal player in a storyline they were doing a full line of figures for.  But hey, beggars can’t be choosers.  Let’s take a look at that figure!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Riddler was released in the second series of DC Direct’s Batman: Hush toyline, and is based on Jim Lee’s illustrations from the “Hush” storyline.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 11 points of articulation.  “Hush” saw Riddler in the business-suited attire he picked up in the mid-90s.  It’s a decent enough look, and helped to separate Riddler a bit from the legions of spandex-clad characters DCD was producing at the time.  With that being said, it was perhaps not a design that lent itself to a super exciting action figure, especially when it comes to articulation.  I would think that, at the very least, they would have tried to give him some knee joints or something.  Perhaps they wanted to preserve the integrity of the sculpt?  On the plus side of things, the sculpt is actually pretty solid.  He’s very clean and sharp.  The head definitely capture’s Lee’s artwork very well, especially the snide and serious expression,  I also really dig the question mark-shaped spit curl.  The body is really only designed to work in one particular pose, but it’s a decent enough pose, and you do have some options.  The paintwork is all pretty good; par for the era of figures.   The colors are all pretty bright, and the application is really clean.  Lee had removed the question marks from the suit, so the figure’s a little more basic looking that usual, but it’s accurate to the material.  Riddler was packed with his hat and cane, as well as a display stand.  My figure is missing the hat, but it was cool when he had it.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I missed out on the first series of Hush figures when they were released, but when I saw the prototypes for Series 2, I knew I wanted to have this guy in my collection.  I got him new, courtesy of my regular store Cosmic Comix.  I remember this series got pushed back a couple of weeks, which was really frustrating, so I was thrilled when they finally arrived.  Riddler is, I think, the figure in this set that’s aged the worst, and he certainly shows his age.  That said, he’s still one of the best Riddlers out there, especially when it comes to depictions of his suited look.