SUPERMAN — 1978
DC MULTIVERSE (McFARLANE TOYS)
Oh man, two whole Superman reviews, in the same week? That’s crazy, right? Well, maybe not so much, I guess. I do like Superman, so I have a few of them shuffling around. Also, I had the DCUC one on the schedule before I even knew when I’d be getting this one in-hand, so, you know, less than intentional. And that one was comics-based, whereas this one is based on Christopher Reeve’s iconic turn in the role, starting with 1978’s Superman: The Movie. Reeve is a defining in the role of Superman much in he same way that Superman himself was defining for super heroes as a whole. Neither Reeve, nor the first of his films, really has a true equal. Figure coverage of Reeve has increased notably in more recent years, but he’s still a little more on the scarce side, especially for more conventional offerings. Five years into their run with the license, McFarlane has added Reeve’s Superman to the main DC line-up.
THE FIGURE ITSELF
Superman – 1978 Movie is figure #25 in the Collector Edition sub-line of DC Multiverse, and hit in the area of right at the end of last year, right at the beginning of this year. There were two versions, the standard and a Platinum Edition based on his evil counterpart from Superman III. The one seen here is the standard, but the only difference between the two is the deco. The figure stands just shy of 7 1/2 inches tall and he has 39 points of articulation. The sculpt on this guy looks to be an all-new one, though I’m not 100% sure. The initial shots of this one didn’t wow me, so I wasn’t sure about how it would look in hand. I have to say, it actually looks a lot better in person than I’d expected it to. It’s a little tricky to get it to photograph well, but it genuinely looks good. Aside from the rather strange look of the elbows when they’re bent, the articulation scheme is solid, and he’s got a good range of motion. The head sculpt has a pretty respectable Reeve likeness. It’s not exactly lifelike, and there’s a bit of caricature to it to better adhere it to the rest of the line’s stylings, but it’s pretty clear who it’s meant to be, and it captures the spirit of the character nicely. The body sculpt is pretty basic for the most part, apart from that slightly odd extra bit of detailing on the wrists, and has a decent enough set of proportions, which match well with Reeve’s build. He’s got a cloth cape with wires running through for full posability. I actually really, 
really like the cape. The wires are really strong, and hold up very well, adding a lot of options for posing him. Superman’s color work is appropriately bright and colorful. It’s heavy on molded colors, but the paint work that’s there is generally pretty clean, and the face is pretty lifelike. Superman is packed with a pretty impressive selection of accessories. He gets an extra head, 10 hands (pair of fists, pair of flat, pair of loose grip, pair of open gesture, a pointing right, and a left holding the Kryptonian crystal), a flight stand, and a card. The alternate head is clearly meant to be used for the alternate color scheme, and looks slightly odd on the classic colors, but it’s got a good Reeve likeness. The hands add a ton of posing options, and the flight stand is always a good addition.
THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION
As I noted in the main body, I wasn’t really wowed by the prototype shots for this guy, so I went in with low expectations. McFarlane struggling to get us a decent Superman at all in this scale just furthered that argument. In hand he looked good. Out of the box, he’s even better. This is genuinely a great figure, start to finish, and just one of my very favorite McFarlane offerings. I didn’t expect it to blow the NECA figure out of the water, but it kind of does.
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.
The Figure In Question 