Tag Archives: DC

#3209: Atom Smasher

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

ATOM SMASHER

BLACK ADAM (SPIN MASTER)

This weekend sees the release of the latest DC live action film, the Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson-led Black Adam.  Warner Brothers is really banking on this one to net them some success, and they’ve certainly got the hype-machine running for it.  As I mentioned in my review of Doctor Fate, the film’s filling in Black Adam’s supporting cast with some of the Justice Society of America.  Noah Centineo plays Al Rothstein, aka Atom Smasher, who’s perhaps the JSA member with the closest ties to Black Adam himself, given their interwoven story during their shared time on the team during Jeff Johns’ run.  So, uh, let’s look at an Atom Smasher figure.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Atom Smasher is part of the first assortment of basic figures from Spin Master’s Black Adam line. He and the rest of the non-Adam characters look to be lighter packed, so they’re a bit on the rarer side at the moment.  The figure stands about 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 17 points of articulation.  Atom Smasher’s articulation scheme matches the slightly modified one we saw on Fate.  The new hip set-up’s not quite as strong as the prior set-up they’d been using on their DC figures, but beyond that, it still works pretty respectably, especially given the price point.  Atom Smasher is another all-new sculpt, based on his film appearance.  Since Dr. Fate’s design was largely CGI for the movie, his figure wound up being rather loose on the specific details, but Atom Smasher sticks a little bit closer.  Really, the only difference here is the fingerless gloves, which are a carry over from an earlier design.  Atom Smasher’s movie design is honestly pretty great.  He’s got sleeves now, but it’s not that crazy a shift (Al had sleeves during his Nuklon days, so it’s not entirely out of place for the character).  Otherwise, it’s a pretty sleek adaptation of his comics look.  The details on the sculpt are a little bit on the softer side, but he’s pretty clean, and everything important is there.  The color work on Atom Smasher is bright and colorful, which is pretty fun.  The paint application is overall quite clean, and his symbol in particular is quite sharp in its detailing.  Atom Smasher is packed with two bulked up fist pieces, which aren’t quite the most accurate rendition of his size-changing ability, but it’s still a really fun gimmick.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I really liked the Doctor Fate figure, and I’m down for a good Atom Smasher, so I was on the hunt for this one.  Fortunately, it was a pretty quick hunt, as Max was able to snag me one about a week or two after I found the Doctor Fate figure.  Like Fate, this guy’s just a ton of fun.  And, in doing a little bit of digging, I discovered that there’s also an Atom Smasher in Spin Master’s 12 inch line for the movie, so I guess now I’m gonna have to track that one down.

#3208: Blue Beetle & Booster Gold

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

BLUE BEETLE & BOOSTER GOLD

DC MULTIVERSE (MCFARLANE TOYS)

Look, I’m not gonna pretend like this is anything more than it is, guys.  Yes, I’m reviewing something else from McFarlane’s DC Multiverse line.  I know.  I’m not surprised either, just disappointed.  Okay, not really disappointed.  Honestly, it’s really not all that bad, I suppose.  Todd’s decisions with the line have generally been middling at best, but there is the occasional offering that sort of accidentally stumbles into being sort of a good idea.  While things are very firmly planted in edgelord territory for most of the line’s offerings, perhaps in an effort to offset that just a little bit, we’ve actually got something that goes pretty anti-edgelord-y, in the form of Blue Beetle and Booster Gold.  Central to the Giffen, DeMatteis, and McGuire “Bwa-ha-ha” run of Justice League, Beetle and Booster have never been A-listers, but they’ve certainly picked up quite a cult following, especially given they’re more jovial nature and their long-term friendship.  They’ve gotten quite few figures over the years, mostly pairing off, since it sure does feel weird to do one without the other.  And, in a move uncharacteristic to McFarlane’s DC run up to this point, they’re actually both available at once, in one concise package even.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Blue Beetle and Booster Gold are a two-pack release from McFarlane’s DC Multiverse line.  They were announced at the end of July and had a rather quick turnaround, hitting in early September.  As with the rest of the two-packs, they’re their own thing, shipping on their own, which is probably for the best.  Keeps those Bat-variants just a little bit further away.

BLUE BEETLE

“Over the course of a century, three different men from very different backgrounds have taken on the heroic mantle of the Blue Beetle, each making their mark in different ways. The original Beetle was an archaeologist named Dan Garrett, who discovered an ancient Scarab in an old Egyptian tomb that gave him superpowers which he used to fight crime. He was succeeded by the brilliant Ted Kord, who had no powers to speak of, but carried on the Blue Beetle legacy with just his wits and his fists, along with a whole lot of gadgets and a sharp sense of humor.”

You gotta love the bio calling out that there are three notable Blue Beetles in the last century and then only talking about two of them.  And not even the most notable of the two, at that.  I know, a McFarlane bio being poorly written.  Who’d have thunk?  Ah, well, I think I’d rather talk about the figure than the bio, so let’s do that.  The figure stands just over 7 inches tall and he has 35 points of articulation.  As with all the McFarlane figures, the articulation scheme is pretty set and predictable.  It works better on some than on others, but this one is admittedly on the “better” end of the spectrum.  The wrists are a little awkward, and the elbows and knees are still requiring you to break up the flow of the sculpt, but it’s not awful.  The sculpt is actually not half-bad.  The head is a decent rendition of Ted in costume, right down to that slightly goofy smile, which is really perfect for the character.  The body sculpt is pretty basic, and honestly surprisingly clean for a McFarlane sculpt.  With one exception (which I’ll touch on a little more in the next figure’s section) only details are the actual details for Ted’s costume, as depicted in the comics, even.  No weird extra lines or piping, or armor plating, or odd texturing.  Just a nice, basic sculpt, with a fairly sensible set of proportions.  The paint work on this figure is also pretty sensible, which is likewise surprising.  The colors are generally a good match for his usual depiction, the application is overall pretty clean, and there’s no weird washes or anything to dirty him up.  I do miss the clear goggles like earlier figures have had, but the solid finish isn’t terrible, and I do quite like the slight accenting on the face, just to give him a bit more color.  Ted is packed with his BB gun, the same circular display stand that comes with all of the figures, and a collector card.  The gun is an okay sculpt, but for some reason there’s what looks like a grapple line permanently attached to it, which kind of limits its uses when it comes to posing.  I guess maybe they were worried that Warner might ask for it to be cut from the set if it didn’t have the permanent attachment?

BOOSTER GOLD

“A college football star of the 25th Century who earned the nickname ‘Booster’ on the field. Even though people assured him a professional career of fame and fortune was in his future, he decided he couldn’t wait and wagered on his own games. The scandal ruined his dreams and reputation. Taking a job as a security guard in the Metropolis Space Museum, Mike saw another opportunity after studying the early age of superheroes. With future and alien technology stolen from the museum, and a time machine that was on display, he realized he could not only become a superhero himself in a past era where his criminal history was unknown, but he could also make his good deeds profitable.”

Well, at least Booster’s bio is a bit more on-point.  Given Ted’s, I was half expecting a “Super Nova” mention.  Small victories there.  Though he’s packed with a very much classically-inspired Ted Kord Blue Beetle, Booster goes slightly more modern, by virtue of ditching his somewhat absurd collar from his ’80s appearances.  I suppose I’ll allow it.  Like Beetle, the figure stands just over 7 inches tall and he has 35 points of articulation.  Booster’s sculpt is…well, it’s actually largely the same as Beetle’s.  Booster gets his own head, hands, wrist pieces, and a slightly different pelvis piece, allowing for his slightly different costume design.  The new head is on par with Beetle in terms of quality, but it’s also quite distinctly different.  The flow of the hair is quite nice, and I definitely dig the cheesy grin.  By virtue of the shared base body, Booster’s perhaps a touch too small, but not terribly far off.  What *is* rather off is the boots, which get the tops of Beetle’s boots, which are an entirely different shape.  There’s still the slight shaping of Booster’s boot sculpted above the cuff, which was also present on Beetle.  It was less obvious on Beetle than Beetle’s boots are for Booster; since Booster was getting saddled with the extra detail anyway, I’m not entirely sure why they attempted at double duty here, but at least it’s a minor detail.  Booster’s paint work is okay; not quite as good as Beetle’s, but not terrible.  There’s the obvious painting over of the boot details, which is a bit goofy looking.  Additionally, thanks to the paint on the shins, plus the molded yellow higher up, and then the slightly different material on the knees, there are no less than three different yellows in the space of about an inch.  From the knees up, however, he looks pretty great.  His goggles are opaque, just like Ted’s, and the face likewise gets some really nice accenting to give it a little more life.  Booster is packed with a smart phone (with a yellow case to match his costume), a blast effect to clip onto his wrist, and his robot buddy Skeets, a display stand, and a collector card.  Skeets, rather than getting his own stand or attaching to Booster directly, plugs into the larger base shared between the two of them.  It’s a rather short arm, and not removable from Skeets.  It’s also completely opaque, and it doesn’t plug into anything other than the very large base, which proves rather limiting for him.  But, at least he’s included, which is certainly more than can be said of other Booster Gold figures.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’m less and less enamored with McFarlane’s DC Multiverse as it continues forward, but I’ll admit that these two immediately caught my eye.  Our first preview had no release info, so I was worried they, like pretty much everything else “classic” from McFarlane, would be an exclusive.  I was very glad they weren’t, as it made it much easier for me to actually, you know, get them.  Ted’s the better of the two for sure, but honestly they’re both a lot better than I’d expected.  As with anything McFarlane, there are some drawbacks, but they’re honestly minimal, all things considered.

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

#3205: Nightwing

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

NIGHTWING

SON OF BATMAN (DC COLLECTIBLES)

After retiring from his duties as Robin, Dick Grayson continued to hang around with the Titans for a while, before settling on a new identity, Nightwing*.  Nightwing’s become a pretty recognizable fixture in his own right, and has become a pretty standard play for animated stories that want to let Dick grow up, or even perhaps contrast him with another Robin.  2014’s Son of Batman aimed to contrast him with Batman’s newly discovered son (spoilers: Batman has a son), Damian, granting Nightwing a rather sizable role in the story.  It also granted him another action figure, which is where my interests really lie.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Nightwing was released in 2014, as part of the four-figure tie-in line for Son of Batman, which was part of the overall line of figures based on DC’s animated films of the time.  Nightwing was figure #09, making him the final of the four figures in this set numerically.  He’s sporting Nightwing’s costume from the film, which is honestly not a bad one.  In an era when the comics version was saddled with the New 52’s odd choice to go red and black with his color scheme, this one sticks to a more classic set-up, inspired somewhat by what he’d been wearing not too long before in the second season of Young Justice.  It’s probably amongst the best of the DC animation costume designs of the era.  The figure stands just over 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 15 points of articulation.  Nightwing has more than a few parts in common with the animation-inspired Green Lantern that I reviewed back when these figures were new…and when the site was still not even a year old.  Crazy times, really.  The base body has a nice, medium build, which matches well with the character’s design from the film.  He gets a new head and lower arms, as well as some belt pouches which have been glued in place at the waist.  The whole thing makes for a decent enough set-up for the character, given how he looks in the movie.  The head feels very true to the character in terms of likeness and personality, and the new lower arms allow him to actually hold his accessories, and even give his left hand a slightly more unique pose than “fist.”  The joints haven’t held up particularly great over time, but for the most part, it’s a solid sculpt.  The paint work on this guy is alright.  These figures were definitely on the messier side, just really for the whole run of the line, but Nightwing wound up at least a little bit better than the first series of figures.  There’s still some slop and some fuzzy edges, but nothing too terrible.  Nightwing was packed with his two eskrima sticks, which is honestly impressive for this line, which was generally not fond of giving the figures much of anything.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Son of Batman was not a movie I particularly enjoyed.  The concept was there, but the execution was lacking, and it was kind of the movie that got me out of really keeping up to date with the DC Animated fare.  Nevertheless, one of the few things I did like about it was Sean Maher’s turn as Dick Grayson.  I came very close to buying this figure on multiple occasions, but, for one reason or another, I just kind of kept putting it off, and then he’d gotten a bit pricey on the aftermarket, so I just dropped it.  He’s been on my list to look out for since then, and I was lucky enough to snag a loose one that got traded into All Time a little bit ago.  He’s not a perfect figure, but he’s fun, and I can get behind that.

*Okay, it wasn’t an entirely new identity, because it was actually the identity that Superman used to use while visiting the bottle city of Kandor.  But don’t tell Dick that, it’ll just make him sad.

#3200: Batman

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

BATMAN

DC ESSENTIALS (DC COLLECTIBLES)

Ah, DC Essentials.  The second use of the very generic name for a toyline, by a very generically named toy company, with figures that are exclusively DC’s heavy hitters, making finding any information regarding the line next to impossible if you don’t want to scroll through a bunch of nonsense.  That’s great staying power for a toyline, right? Well, no, but then again, DC Direct/DC Collectibles was never much for keeping things going.  They just tended to get bored and move to the next thing…which is kind of what happened to the company as a whole after DC left Diamond Comics in 2020.  Now they exist only as sub-division of McFarlane Toys.  And that’s somehow worse than just being defunct, I feel.  Alas.  I suppose I’ll just review one of my un-reviewed DCC figures I’ve got sitting here, going all the way back to the beginning of the second DC Essentials.  Let’s look at Batman, I guess.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Batman is figure 1 in the DC Essentials line, officially kicking off the line in an assortment that also featured Deathstroke, Flash, and Reverse Flash.  Early run for the line had two pairs of two themed figures for each series.  In Batman’s case, he paired off opposite Deathstroke.  You know, classic Batman foe Deathstroke.  The way it’s been.  Ever since the beginning.  Just Batman and Deathstroke all the time.  Sure.  Anyway, the Batman figure that I’m actually supposed to be writing about is based on his Rebirth design, which he’d gotten not terribly long before this figure hit, and which was consistent with most of the other figures in the early line.  The figure stands 7 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation.  Batman was based on the standard male body for the line, which served as the starting point for the vast majority of the line’s figures.  It’s not the worst thing, but it’s certainly got its flaws.  Those overly long arms still look goofy, and I’m not as angry about the exposed torso joint pegs as I was when the line was new, but they’re still not great.  Also, I still have issues with the same base body being used across the board for all of the male characters, regardless of how they *should* be built.  In Batman’s case, it’s a touch skinny.  All that said, it’s not a terrible offering by any stretch.  He gets a unique head, forearms, boots, cape, and belt.  The new parts do at least mesh well with the base body, and I quite like the head’s rendering of Batman’s short-eared look.  It’s very clean, and I really like it.  Batman’s paint work is generally okay.  The application is fairly clean, and the colors look overall rather nice.  That said, this costume was pretty consistently depicted as being black and grey, and for some reason, they’ve gone for a dark blue.  It’s not a bad look, but it’s not as striking as it could be.  Batman is packed with a single batarang, and that’s it.  It’s more than most of the line got, of course, but it still feels light.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

When Essentials first hit, the price point per figure was far too high for me to really be grabbing too many of them.  I got, like, two of them at full price and waited on sales for the rest.  But, even on sale, Batman wasn’t really high on my list.  That is, until Batman got traded into All Time shortly after I went back to work following the 2020 shut down.  I’d gone two months with no new toys, and he was a good deal, and, well, I was an easy mark.  He’s not a bad figure.  Not a great one, but not a bad one.  That’s kind of Essentials as a whole.  They were at least a consistent offering.

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

#3188: Dr. Fate

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

DR. FATE

BLACK ADAM (SPIN MASTER)

In the bleak landscape that is the current state of the DC live action movies, there stands one un-cancelled, un-delayed film.  That film is Black Adam, the Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson-led spin-off of Shazam!  DC’s really banking on this one, and kinda banking on Black Adam a lot as a character right now.  I’m iffy on the whole prospect, really, but we’ll see how it goes.  To fill in the movie’s cast a bit, Black Adam is joined in his first cinematic venture by a small contingent of the Justice Society of America.  Pierce Brosnan is playing Doctor Fate, and I’m honestly not hating that, so when it comes to the tie-in toys, that’s what I’m hitting up to start.  I mean, Doctor Fate, right?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Dr Fate is part of the first assortment of basic figures from Spin Master’s Black Adam line.  As with their The Batman tie-in line, its an off-shoot of the main 3 3/4 inch DC line, so he can work with those figures as well.  The figure stands about 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 17 points of articulation.  He’s got the same basic articulation scheme as the rest of the line, though they’ve slightly changed up how the hips work, and it’s not quite as effective.  Beyond that, though, it works pretty decently given the scaling and size.  The figure’s got an all-new sculpt, which is loosely based on the film design for the character.  I say loosely because he’s clearly based on some sort of preliminary design for the character, as there are a fair number of details that don’t quite line up with the final film look.  The helmet is probably the closest piece (which tracks, since it looks like the helmet was actually a physical prop during filming), and it’s a pretty strong piece.  The body, especially the collar and belt, are off for sure.  I don’t think they look bad; they’re just inaccurate.  The actual quality of the sculpt is pretty solid; his proportions are more balanced than previous figures, so he’s not quite as ridiculously buff.  It works better for Fate, so I dig it.  The cape is a cloth piece; it’s that same papery cloth from before, but it’s at least lacking that hole in the back that most of the Bat-figures had.  The figure’s paint work is decent enough.  The helmet’s even got some pretty nifty accenting, so that’s cool.  There’s a bit of a color match issue on the blues on the legs, but otherwise he looks alright.  Certainly on par with the rest of these figures.  Dr Fate is packed with two magic effect pieces, which he can hold in his hands.  They’re honestly pretty cool.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’m skeptical about this movie, but I’m not skeptical about a cool Dr Fate figure. I’m not lining up to throw more money at McFarlane, so I was pretty happy to hear that Spin Master had their own line running.  I’ve only been seeing the Black Adam figure thus far, but I was out running errands the other day, and happened up this guy and jumped on it.  He’s not film accurate, but he’s still a lot of fun.  If I can just find that Atom Smasher figure, I’ll be all set.

#3174: Parallax

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

PARALLAX

DC MULTIVERSE (MCFARLANE TOYS)

“As a Green Lantern, Hal Jordan served the Guardians of the Universe and saved all of existence from great peril countless times. But, when Hal was unable to save him hometown, Coast City, from obliteration because he was off-world, he was shattered. He flew straight to Oa, the Guardian’s home planet, and asked for their help to resurrect Coast City. When the Guardians refused, Hal absorbed the energy of Oa’s Central Power Battery, along with Parallax, a yellow entity made of living fear that was imprisoned within the battery for millennia. Parallax then drove Hal mad and fueled him to decimate the entire Green Lantern Corps!”

Hey, did you guys like seeing me tear into McFarlane for a bit yesterday?  Well, I guess I’m gonna do it again.  I swear, I keep meaning to be done with McFarlane DC, but, you know, then I keep not being…done…with..McFarlane DC.  Look, I just get weak sometimes.  Anyway, recently, McFarlane has been slightly breaking away from the heavy Batman-focus, and there’s been some Green Lantern stuff coming through, which certainly appeals to me.  Amongst those GL-related releases is today’s focus, Parallax, a character of whom my opinions are almost as conflicted as those of McFarlane’s handling of the DC license.  Let’s see how this goes.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Parallax is another “Platinum Edition” figure in McFarlane’s DC Multiverse line.  As I noted yesterday, exactly what “Platinum Edition” means varies from figure to figure, but in the case of Parallax, it means that he’s a Walmart-exclusive, alongside fellow ’90s-themed “Platinum Edition” release Azrael Batman.  This is Parallax’s first figure under McFarlane, and in fact the first Hal Jordan Parallax figure we’ve gotten since DCD’s old Rebirth release.  That’s quite a gap in figures there.  Sure is fun that it’s a Walmart exclusive.  That certainly won’t be a frustrating turn of events for most people.  The figure stands 7 1/4 inches tall and he has 37 points of articulation.  On the topic of sizing, McFarlane’s difficulties with consistent scaling across their figures kicks in here, as Hal stands 1/4 inch taller than yesterday’s Martian Manhunter, which is definitely off, as J’onn has consistently been depicted as one of the tallest DC heroes, and Hal is usually middle of the pack.  The sculpt for Parallax is an all-new one, and…well, it’s got its ups and its downs.  First and foremost, the box specifically cites this figure as being from “Emerald Twilight,” and it’s just not.  Heck, not even the illustration on the back of the box is from “Emerald Twilight.”  It’s actually from the Convergence crossover series, some two decades later.  The figure proper is a decent enough sculpt from a technical stand point, aside from some slight oddities this the back of the head having a slightly odd shape.  Beyond that, the issues largely stem from a multitude of inaccuracies.  The hair’s short and spiky, rather than the more classically parted hair that Hal usually has.  The arms don’t have the stripes running down the sides, instead having the shoulders come to a point, the way they do on Hal’s classic costume.  The torso, specifically the circle on the chest, is three dimensional, and the surrounding elements are totally different in their shaping than what’s shown on the page.  The tops of the boots are also totally different in their shaping, and there are a ton of extra details on the boots that aren’t there either.  Why all the differences?  Your guess is as good as mine.  Todd’s gotta Todd, maybe?  It’s been a recurring issue with the DC line, but on this one in particular, it sticks out because he’s specifically called out as being based on a specific story.  Parallax’s color work is also notably off.  The most glaring issue is the total lack of the white steaks on his temples, but his hair is also generally too dark, with almost no brown at all.  There’s a slight hint of grey, but it’s far too subtle, and also almost entirely at the back of the head.  The greens are also rather drab, and generally too light.  Beyond that, the application is at least clean, and I do quite like how the clear green hands look.  Parallax is packed with a collector card, two energy effects for the hands, a power battery, and a display stand.  The accessories are at least pretty cool, so he’s got that going for him.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

While I’ve always had my issues with the story that spawned him, I also have this odd soft spot for Parallax, going back to the Total Justice figure being my only way to get a Hal Jordan figure back when I was a kid.  I loved that figure, and it’s resulted in me really growing to like the Parallax design.  I had the DCD figure back when it was new, but it was always a rather fragile figure, which isn’t very fun.  I had hoped Mattel might get to him during DC Universe Classics, but they never did.  Then the pictures of this guy surfaced, and I realized he was really my best bet at getting a halfway decent Parallax.  I wasn’t looking forward to the difficulties of getting a Walmart-exclusive, but as luck would have it, someone traded one into All Time, making getting one super easy.  Ultimately, my feelings on this figure, much like the actual character, and the overall toyline he’s part of, are very conflicted.  He’s not a bad figure from a technical standpoint, but there’s a lot of issues in terms of accuracy, with lots of changes seemingly being made purely for the sake of change.  It’s an issue I’ve run into before with the line, and I’m sure it’ll crop up again, but you just keep getting this sense that Todd thinks his designs are just better, and, well, he’s wrong, and it gets in the way of figures being as good as they could be, which is a real shame.

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.

#3173: Martian Manhunter

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

MARTIAN MANHUNTER

DC MULTIVERSE (MCFARLANE TOYS)

“J’onn J’onzz, the mysterious Martian Manhunter, is one of the last survivors of the planet Mars, and was accidentally transported to Earth not long after the majority of his people were wiped out. Martian Manhunter is thought to be as strong as, or possibly stronger than, Superman, and has a variety of powers including super-strength, super-speed, flight, telepathy, telekinesis, shape-shifting, phase-shifting, regenerative abilities, and near-invulnerability. Manhunter also has genius-level intellect and strong leadership skills. Using his vast powers and skills, Martian Manhunter strives to protect the citizens of his new home, Earth.”

Three years into their run with the license, McFarlane Toys’ handling of DC can still largely boiled down to “wow, Todd sure does like Batman, doesn’t he?”  And when it’s not that, it can often be boiled down to “wow, Todd sure does like squeezing extra uses out of a mold in often frustrating ways, doesn’t he?”  Today’s the second thing.  But I’ll get to that in a bit.  For the big super hero teams, I like to discuss the term “quintessential,” for those characters that may not be the heavy hitters, but whom the team kind of feels lacking without.  For the Avengers, I long maintained that character is Hawkeye.  For their equivalent team over at the Distinguished Competition, my vote goes to Martian Manhunter.  He’s just very important to the line-up, and it never feels quite right without him.  J’onn can be hit or miss when it comes to toy coverage, but he generally does alright with his figures when he actually manages to get them.  And hey, by virtue of being not a girl, and therefore unlikely to drive any boys to become serial killers, he gets two whole figures from McFarlane!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Martian Manhunter is one of McFarlane’s “Platinum Edition” figures for DC Multiverse.  As usual with McFarlane, the branding of “Platinum Edition” is one that has a confusing meaning, since he doesn’t seem to be very consistent in how he’s using it.  In the case of Manhunter, it means he’s a Target-exclusive.  So, I guess there’s that.  This Manhunter is the second figure under McFarlane’s tenure, with the first one, based on J’onn’s New 52-era design, hitting mass retail just about the same time that this one was announced.  You know, just to really split that market on the poor guy.  This one, on the flip side, is a “classic” Manhunter, or at the very least a mid-to-late ’80s Manhunter, given he’s still got the heavy brow and red eyes. The figure stands a little over 7 inches tall and he has 39 points of articulation. The articulation scheme on this figure is pretty much the same one on every McFarlane figure, and as with other releases, it’s clearly been inserted into a finished sculpt, which has its ups and downs. Much like the Peacemaker figure, getting the full range out of some of the joints, especially on the elbows and knees, requires breaking the flow of the sculpt entirely. Not exactly a great look. Additionally, there are a few instances of the sculpt getting in the way of movement, most notably on the hips.  As far as the quality of the actual sculpt, it’s honestly not a bad one.  The upper half of the figure, is mostly shared with the other Martian Manhunter.  He gets a new lower half, as well as new chest harness, and a slightly tweaked cape.  The head is more on the alien side for J’onn, but not out of character.  I like the inhuman and stoic, but still slightly friendly expression of the face, and the angling of the brow is a cool look.  The body sculpt does a respectable job of capturing J’onn’s stockier build, with a fairly realistic set of proportions, that still retain that somewhat heroic look.  There’s some pretty decent texturing at play, especially on his skin.  The cape is generally okay looking, but the collar, which wasn’t on the other release, feels a little haphazardly added; it doesn’t actually connect all the way around, so certain posing will have it clearly disconnected from the rest of the cape, which definitely looks odd.  The color work on Manhunter is nice and bright, which is honestly a refreshing change of pace for the Multiverse figures.  It’s largely molded colors, which keeps it fairly clean.  The greens of the elbows and knees are a slightly different shade from the rest of the body, but beyond that, the plastic coloring works out okay.  The paint work is kept to a minimum, but it looks pretty clean, and there’s not slop or bleed over.  Martian Manhunter is supposed to come with a collector card and a display stand, but mine doesn’t have the stand, and didn’t even have the spot for it in the package.  I mean, it’s just a black disk, and I have a bunch of them, but still.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve got a soft spot for a decent Martian Manhunter figure, so when McFarlane showed off their original, more modern Manhunter, I was very tempted to pick him up, and was *this* close to doing so.  Like, he had arrived at All Time, and I was planning to take a look at him in person to make my final call.  And literally that exact day, McFarlane announced this guy, which kind of took all of the wind out of my sails on the other one.  The timing on that announcement was pretty darn rotten.  Also, with a character that’s not a heavy hitter, it feels like splitting an already niche audience isn’t the smartest call.  This was clearly the look that most everyone wanted, so why not just make this the main release.  Was Target really clamoring that much for a Martian Manhunter variant?  Whatever the case, while I’m not one for really hunting anymore, Max was kind enough to give me an assist on this one, so I was able to get him without much trouble, at the very least.  Stupid decisions about his release aside, the figure’s actually pretty darn good.  There’s still some weirdness, but it’s minor, and I really do like how this figure turned out.

#3115: Captain Atom

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

CAPTAIN ATOM

SUPERMAN/BATMAN: PUBLIC ENEMIES (DC DIRECT)

In the opening arc of Superman/Batman, after Lex Luthor makes the titular duo fugitives, he sends his own team of government-sponsored heroes after them.  Heading this team is Captain Atom, a character that DC really seems to like pulling the Inspector Javert angle with.  Surprising no one, the Captain realizes that, you know, Luthor’s, like, a villain and all, and aids our heroes.  As I’ve mentioned before, the story’s not high art or anything, but it did give Captain Atom some nice focus, and also netted him his very first action figure in 2005.  That’s pretty cool.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Captain Atom was released in the first series of DC Direct’s Superman/Batman line, which, as previously noted, was entirely themed around the “Public Enemies” storyline.  Captain Atom is seen here in his one look from the story, which was also his one main look for his time at DC during his post-Crisis revival.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 13 points of articulation…or at least he did before his shoulder joint crumbled when I pulled him out of storage for this review.  This is why you shouldn’t make joints out of clear plastic, you guys.  It doesn’t end well.  Captain Atom sported the most basic version of the McGuinness-styled body mold that was introduced for this assortment.  It’s a good, basic mold, most of which wound up re-used for various other McGuinness-style characters, including Superman Blue and Red, whom I reviewed here a few years back.  It does better with the arm posing than the other molds…you know, when the shoulder joints don’t shatter.  His head sculpt is the one notable unique piece, of course, and it’s a nice recreation of McGuinness’s version of Atom.  The hair in particular has just the right amount of swoopiness.  I dig it.  The paint work on this figure is rather on the basic side.  It’s admittedly a slight letdown, because the finish is all very flat, where in the comics, McGuinness made it very clear that Atom was supposed to be very shiny.  At least a slightly more showy metallic finish, or possibly some gloss, would have been really nice.  As it stands, it’s okay, but not very flashy.  Captain Atom is packed with a display stand, sporting the Superman/Batman logo.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As I mentioned in last week’s Superman review, back when these were new, my buying habits were rather scaled back, so I could really only afford one of them, and that was this guy, who I picked up from my usual stop Cosmic Comix back in 2005 when they first hit.  I was quite excited about this figure, I recall, because I’d always found the character’s design to be pretty awesome, and there were previously no toy options at all.  Since Mattel was still unable to produce him for their JLU line at the time, this one was my first real option.  Issues with the breakage and the flat finish aside, he was awesome at the time, and he’s still pretty cool now.  And, even all this time later, the competition on the good Captain Atom figure front is still rather sparse.

#3110: Superman

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

SUPERMAN

SUPERMAN/BATMAN: PUBLIC ENEMIES (DC DIRECT)

In the early 2000s, DC revitalized their World’s Finest book, a series that chronicled Superman and Batman’s joint exploits (well, mostly; it didn’t start that way), under the more minimalistic title of Superman/Batman.  The series launched with “Public Enemies,” a story line that saw Superman and Batman labeled enemies of the state by a soon-to-be-deposed President Lex Luthor.  It’s far from high art or anything, but it’s a fairly fun story.  At the time, DC Direct did a line of figures to tie-in, based on Ed McGuinness’s art from the book.  Today, I’ll be taking a look at the line’s take on Superman.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Superman was released in the first series of DCD’s Superman/Batman line, which was entirely “Public Enemies”-themed.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 11 points of articulation.  These figures were far from super-poseable, with little more than enough movement to tweak the basic standing pose.  You can get maybe a slight take-off pose out of him, but even that’s pushing it.  He can at least get his arms closer to his sides than Batman could, but even so, it’s pretty limited.  Superman had an all-new sculpt, based on McGuinness’s art; it certainly shares a number of elements with the other figures, since they all had rather similar builds.  It’s at the very least a pretty solid recreation of the art in three dimensions.  In particular, they’ve really gotten McGuinness’s Superman’s head down pretty spot-on.  I do really love how that sculpt looks.  The cape seems perhaps a touch short, but I do like the dynamic flow to it; it helps to break up that basic standing pose just a little bit.  Superman’s paint work is actually quite nice.  I’ve always really enjoyed the metallic blue they chose for this first release; it just really pops so nicely, especially next to the matte finish on the flesh tones.  I’m not entirely in favor of the lack of actual eyes, but it’s a stylistic choice, I suppose.  It does sort of have a twinge of nostalgia for me, since it makes me think of the early Kenner STAS figures, so I guess it’s not entirely bad.  I do quite like the blue accenting in the hair, so that works out.  Superman is packed with a Superman/Batman display stand.  It’s just a stand, but it does what it needs to, I suppose.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was in middle school when these were released, so I was on a much smaller budget.  That meant I only had the money for one figure from this set, and it wound up being Captain Atom, since I didn’t already have a bunch of him laying around.  I always wanted to grab this guy at some point, but I just never got around to getting one.  Last year, I was helping a family friend downsize their collection, and they gave me this guy in return for my help, which was honestly very nice.  He’s a very specific type of figure, and you have to want that very specific type of figure.  That said, I really like that very specific type of figure, and you’d be hard pressed to find a better adaptation of Ed McGuinness’s art, so he very definitely works for me.

#3088: Nightwing

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

NIGHTWING

DC DELUXE COLLECTOR FIGURES (DC DIRECT)

Back in the early 2000s, everybody was starting to really try out the 1/6 scale game.  Hot Toys hadn’t quite overtaken the market, so there was still this sort of fledging “anyone could take this over” kind of vibe.  So, a lot of companies tried just that.  Among them was DC Direct, who decided that the best way to stand above the competition was to literally have their figures be taller than the competition, so they scaled everyone up by about an inch, with the argument that they were still 1/6 scale, the heroes were just supposed to be that much bigger than the average person.  Despite some odd notions right out of the gate, the line was a modest success, running from 2005 up through 2010.  Not a terrible run, all things considered.  They got a pretty decent swath of characters out there, which included a pretty solid focus on the Bat-Family.  Dick Grayson was present in both his Robin and Nightwing identities, the latter of which I’m going to be taking a look at today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Nightwing was the 14th release in DCD’s Deluxe Collector Figure line, hitting retail in the fall of 2007, during the line’s third year.  All of the figures were designed as standalone releases, but he hit right in the midst of a streak of Bat-related characters.  In a line that had certainly had a more classic focus, he was a decidedly more modern figure, sporting the character’s then-current design.  The figure stands about 13 1/4 inches tall (due to DCD’s insistence on that extra large scaling) and he has 30 points of articulation.

The figure’s head sculpt was the most notable new piece included here, as was pretty standard for the line.  The head sculpts for this line up to this point were, to be blunt, kind of ugly.  I mean, not terrible, but they were none of them particularly attractive people.  Nightwing marked a very earnest effort on DCD’s part to fix that issue.  Ultimately, the sculpt winds up looking a heck of a lot like Brad Pitt, with maybe a touch of Tom Cruise thrown in for good measure.  That certainly errs away from kind of ugly, and results in a not so terrible look for Dick Grayson.  The base sculpt is unmasked, with a mask piece that can clip into place, which sits surprisingly well on the face.  They did the same on Green Lantern, and I’ve always liked how well those turned out.  There are actually two masks included, one black and one blue, to cover the two looks he was shifting between so frequently at the time.  I personally really like the blue, but both work well.  In terms of paint work, it’s not as incredibly lifelike as Hot Toys, or anything, but it was about on par with most Sideshow offerings of the time.  It’s a little thickly applied, but other than that, it doesn’t look too bad.

Nightwing’s outfit is, predictably, mixed-media in its nature.  It’s made up of a bodysuit, glove cuffs, and boots.  Not a lot of pieces to this one, though that’s proper for the design.  The bodysuit is actually really nicely tailored, for as simple as it is, and the blue for his symbol really stands out well.  The boots (which are actual boots that slip over the feet) and glove cuffs are pleather pieces, with a plastic sculpted bit at the end, for the whatever they are things that he sometimes has on his costume.  They seem a tad bulky for his usual look, but ultimately work out alright.

The figure was built on what was the only available male base body at the time of his release.  It’s probably a touch bulky for Dick’s usual proportions, but it’s not truly atrocious, and he was certainly better served by this base body than most of the female figures were by the only female base body the line ever had.  It’s generally rather stiff in its movement, and notably can put its arms all the way down by the sides, but it does look pretty damn heroic, so I’ll give them that.

Nightwing got an alright selection of accessories, with two sets of hands (fists and bendy for posing to grip or gesture), his eskrima sticks, three batarangs, and a display stand.  The bendy hands are better than most of this type, but still not ideal for actually holding his weapons; actual gripping hands would have been better.  The display stand is notably really big and bulky and, due to how it’s designed, also kind of a risk for damaging the costume if you aren’t careful, which is kind of a shame.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I had a handful of figures from this line when they were new, and while they were never figures I felt were amazingly high-end, I’ve always had a soft spot for them.  Nightwing was one I always wanted, but it wasn’t until after his release, as he changed quite a bit between prototype and release, and by then I had missed a lot of opportunities to get him.  Thankfully, I got another shot at him when a whole batch of the Bat-themed characters got traded into All Time a few weeks ago.  He’s a figure from a line that’s been abandoned, and with good reason.  DCD made a lot of weird choices with these figures, and they suffered for it.  However, taken in a vacuum, I do really, really like this figure.  He’s honestly a lot of fun, and just feels really true to the character.

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.