Tag Archives: DC

#3685: Metamorpho

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

METAMORPHO

SUPER POWERS (MCFARLANE)

One of the neat things the Kenner’s Super Powers did was pull the occasional oddball character for no reason other than “they’d make a cool toy.” While he wasn’t on the docket of what got cancelled when Kenner packed up the line, Metamorpho, Ramona Fradon and Bob Haney’s oddball element man from the ’60s, sure does feel like he would be right up the line’s alley. McFarlane seems to have agreed on this point, since he’s in the latest assortment of their revival line.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Metamorpho is part of Series 8 of McFarlane’s Super Powers, released under their DC Direct banner. He’s another all-new character for the line.  The figure stands right over the 5 inch mark and he has 7 points of articulation.  The height puts him taller than even the standard figures from when the line launched, which did initially surprise me, but it comes across more as an intentional thing than a “just got the scale wrong” thing.  While I myself tend to think of Metamorpho as being a more average height, there have been depictions with all sorts of ranges of size to them, and adding a little bit of variety to the heights isn’t the worst thing. Metamorpho has an all-new sculpt, and it’s generally a pretty decent one. The build feels right, and he’s got a pose that’s similar to the original Martian Manhunter and Shazam figures. The texturing is also quite nice, giving each of his four “quadrants” its own feel. The only thing I’m not crazy about is the head, which feels strangely lacking in detail. Maybe it’s just the more reserved expression, but this is the first of the more recent figures that feels like one of the earlier figures to me. I almost have to wonder if this was a sculpt that was prepared earlier and just didn’t make it out until now. It’s not bad, though; just off. Metamorpho’s paint work is alright. The biggest issue he faces is matching molded plastic with painted colors, but honestly it doesn’t wind up looking that bad. Metamorpho is sans accessories. It would have been cool to maybe get some clip-on element parts, but ultimately it’s not the end of the world.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Going into Series 8, there were two figures I knew I wanted for certain. The first was Booster, and the second was this one. Metamorpho is the last of the batch I ordered from GameStop, and also the last to arrive, because he got shipped on his own for whatever reason. Booster is one of my favorites from the line in general, while Metamorpho? Well, he gets the job done. I won’t lie, after the swing for the rafters on the last few I got, I was a tad disappointed by this guy. It’s not really his fault. He’s honestly not bad, he just suffers from not being quite as good as the others.

#3684: Nightwing

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

NIGHTWING

WORLD’S GREATEST SUPER HEROES (MEGO)

If I had a nickel for every 2020s retro revival toyline that gave me Nightwing in a time period inaccurate modern costume…well, I’d only have two nickels, but it’s weird that it’s happened twice. The revived Mego has had a mix of old and new product since they first came back, and that thread continued once they got back to full DC license. That said, the more recent stuff has been centered on the 50th anniversary of the original figures, so it’s been generally more classic. That makes Nightwing sort of the odd man out, but you know what? I think we can make an exception for him.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Nightwing is part of Wave 18 of the relaunched Mego line-up, as part of the World’s Greatest Super Heroes line-up.  This is the third assortment to be under the 50th Anniversary banner, and he’s even got one of the fancy window-boxed set-ups to go along with it.  The figure stands 8 inches tall and he’s got 26 points of articulation.  Like all of the 50th Anniversary figures, he’s on the Type-S body, which is the most upgraded version of the body we’ve gotten thus far.  I’m still not crazy about the knee articulation, but beyond that, it’s really nice.  Nightwing’s also got a re-used head sculpt, courtesy of Wave 13’s updated Robin.  It actually works pretty well, since that was meant to be an older Robin anyway, and it keeps some continuity for the character.  I actually hadn’t gotten Robin, so it’s new for me, and I think it works surprisingly well.  The paint does do some of the heavy lifting on fully selling it as Nightwing; it ignores some of the sculpted lines on the domino mask to give him Nightwing’s more distinctly shaped version, which honestly doesn’t look too bad.  Now, admittedly, it’s a black mask, and I’m always gonna prefer the blue, but I think it ultimately works better this way, because the differences of the sculpt would be far too apparent with a lighter color.  Nightwing’s outfit is made up of a jump suit and a pair of boots.  The jump suit is silk screened, with his blue wing pattern, and even a bit of blue highlighting for the rest of the suit as well.   The boots are the standard ones, which was honestly surprising to me, because his comics design is practically begging for another re-use of the Will Scarlet boots.  I might honestly swap the boots between this guy and my Rocketeer, because I feel like they might both be more accurate that way.  Nightwing is packed with a pair of Eskrima sticks, which are pretty much his standard go-to for accessories, and which work out pretty well.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I got this guy from the person responsible for my Mego collection: my father.  He doesn’t like to miss an opportunity to buy me a Dick Grayson figure if he can help it, and he was ordering himself the rest of the wave, so he got me this guy too.  Sure, his costume’s not exactly the right era, but it’s a classic design, and it honestly translates pretty well to the style.  And, he frustrates me less than the Super Powers Nightwing, which is certainly nice.

#3682: Black Manta

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

BLACK MANTA

SUPER POWERS (MCFARLANE)

“Aquaman’s greatest enemy is the scourge of the seven seas, David Hyde whose heart is as cold as the ocean depths he hunts.”

Last week, I was talking about Challenge of the Super Friends in reference to its impact on the toy world.  Though the Super Friends and the Legion of Doom were in many ways meant to be parallels, right down to their membership, the Legion came up short on most of their toy coverage.  Much like Sinestro, Aquaman’s opposite number Black Manta, wouldn’t get his first figure until DC Direct came along.  Humorously, it was in a throw-back to a vintage line, Pocket Super Heroes, which, I feel, makes a solid lead-in to today’s DC Direct branded throw-back to a vintage line Black Manta figure.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Black Manta is part of Series 8 of McFarlane’s Super Powers line, under the DC Direct banner.  Manta’s actually been in the line before, as a purely Walmart-exclusive figure that wasn’t part of the assortment structure, and was on the rarer side of the Walmart releases.  So, he’s effectively new.  The figure stands 4 3/4 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  The scaling is pretty good again; he’s a little taller, but it’s easy to write that off as being the helmet.  The articulation is pretty much the line’s standard, but the neck’s restricted by the cords running from the helmet to the backpack, which causes it to kind of spring back to a point just off of center.  The construction of this figure is using the same base body as Vigilante, with a modified torso to add the collar for the helmet, as well as unique parts for the head and lower legs.  The head is pretty spot-on for the classic Manta helmet, filtered through the Kenner aesthetic.  The paint work for this figure differentiates him from the prior release; the last one was lots of blues, while this one goes for actually black for the suit, as well as giving him red lenses on his eyes, rather than the yellow of the last one.  Generally, application is pretty cleanly handled, and he fits in well with the rest of the line, as well as the vintage stuff.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

So, um, I don’t think I’ve ever bought a Black Manta figure before?  It’s that whole Aquaman thing, where my dad has the whole collection devoted to the guy, so he just naturally winds up with all of the Manta figures.  It’s not that I *don’t* want a Black Manta, just I’ve never happed to get one.  Even this Manta was a bit of an impulse purchase, honestly.  I was ordering Booster, and I decided to see who else was available.  I knew I wanted Kilowog for sure, and since I was ordering, and I’d already gotten one Legion of Doom member from this run, I threw this guy in too.  He’s rather by the numbers, but he turned out pretty nicely, and he’s certainly a sensible fit for continuing the line, and a great counterpart for the original Aquaman.

#3680: Booster Gold

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

BOOSTER GOLD

SUPER POWERS (MCFARLANE)

“A scoundrel from the future intent on making a name for himself in the past, Booster Gold has nevertheless exhibited his share of heroism.”

Isn’t it crazy to think that one of comics’ more notable fan favorite dynamic duos (who aren’t, you know, the actual Dynamic Duo) consists of two characters created two whole decades apart from each other?  That being saind, while Ted Kord, aka Blue Beetle, was created in 1966, that was for Charlton, and he wasn’t worked into the mainstream DC universe until 1986, the same year that Booster Gold debuted.  They wouldn’t be paired off until they both joined the Justice League in 1987, but it’s stuck since then, continuing even through with Ted’s successor Jaime Reyes.  When Ted or Booster get a figure, usually the other’s right there, or not far behind, something that has continued with McFarlane’s Super Powers line, which teased Booster’s inclusion on the packaging of Blue Beetle’s Bug vehicle.  And now he’s here!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Booster Gold is part of Series 8 of McFarlane’s Super Powers line under the DC Direct banner.  They started trickling out in the last month or so, following up pretty closely on Series 7.  Series 8 has three new character additions for the line, which includes Booster.  The figure stands a little under 4 3/4 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  Booster’s scaling places him just a little bit taller than Ted, which makes sense, and is consistent with their usual depictions.  In general, Booster’s a little more bulked up than Ted, which is an element a lot of his figures tend to miss, so I’m glad this one didn’t.  Like Ted, this sculpt feels really, truly genuine for a Kenner Super Powers figure.  The slight raising of the costume elements calls to mind how the original Green Lantern costume was handled, and gives the whole thing a little extra pop.  I’m also thrilled to see they remembered to give him is Legion flight ring, as that’s such an easily missed element.  Booster’s color work is very bright and vibrant.  He’s straight yellow and blue, rather than going for any sort of metallic.  I think it works well here, and it again feels pretty authentic to the whole Kenner vibe.  His paint application is generally clean, apart from the notable spot of missing blue paint on the interior of his right elbow.  Booster is without any accessories, which is a slight bummer, because it feels like it would have been the perfect opportunity to include his robot buddy Skeets.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Obviously, once I’d gotten Ted, there was no way I was going to miss out on Booster.  So, I had the Amazon link, and I was gonna order him…and then I missed out on him.  That’s on me, guys.  Anyway, I’d had good luck with GameStop for the Blue Beetle figure, so I checked back with them, and they happened to have Booster, as well as a handful of other figures I was looking for, all in stock.  Booster was my primary interest, and he’s definitely my favorite of the ones I snagged.  He pairs off very nicely with Ted, and the two of them with the Bug is just a fantastic set-up.  Honestly, the whole line’s been worth it just for these three items.

#3679: Crusader Robin

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CRUSADER ROBIN — SPECIAL LEGENDS EDITION

LEGENDS OF BATMAN (KENNER)

“Armed with his powerful crossbow, bat-shaped shield and cunning wit, Crusader Robin accompanied Silver Knight Batman on his zealous mission to impose peace on the war-torn medieval world. Since being rendered an orphan at the hands of marauding infidels, Crusader Robin constantly battled internal demons as well as the ones visible to the outside world. His never ending quest for justice – coupled with his youthful energy – made Crusader Robin a powerful force – one that the enemy would be wise not to take lightly. Crusader Robin’s brilliant new costume colors inspire his peace-keeping troops to make an all-out effort in battles to come.”

While Marvel jumped full-force into their comics-inspired toy lines in the ’90s, DC, who generally were having a greater success than Marvel with their outside media, tended to lean more heavily on tie-in products. They did at least have a few shorter run lines dedicated to comic versions of their heaviest of hitters, Batman and Superman, with Legends of Batman offering up a number of comics looks, albeit mixed in with some made-up and otherwise “Elseworlds” inspired takes. Batman got to try out all sorts of different personas, and sometimes his sidekick Robin was even lucky enough to tag along. Dick Grayson, seen in his Nightwing gear, got a pretty standard figure, but there were also two more Robins, both leaning more into the Elseworlds side. Today, I’m looking at the knight themed Crusader Robin.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Crusader Robin (who, it should be noted, has no relation to the Crusader Batman from the same line, which served as a “standard” Batman) was part of the “2.5” revision to the second series of Kenner’s Legends of Batman line…originally. But that’s not the figure I’m reviewing here. No, this one is the “Special Legends Edition”, one of a whole sub-line of repaints created by Kenner to be sold through the Warner Brothers Studio Store, back when they were trying to give it an actual retail presence in the ’90s. The figure stands 5 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  The Legends of Batman line preceded Total Justice in its usage of rather intense pre-posing for the figures, and Robin’s a pretty good example of this.  In particular, he’s got a rather wide stance, which makes keeping him standing rather tricky.  You have to get his balance *just* right, and even then, it’s kind of a toss-up.  Well, maybe not a toss-up, because if you toss the figure up, nothing’s gonna stand.  But, you get my point.  The sculpt has quite a bit going on, with Robin’s usual spandex re-imagined into a mix of armored plates and chainmail.  The chainmail in particular makes for some visually interesting texture work, which is fun.  The color work on the standard release was pretty close to the Tim Drake Robin’s color scheme, but for this release, it winds up going a lot heavier into the reds, which serve to replace the black from the standard, as well as most of the yellow as well.  What I find interesting about both releases is the decision to give him a medium brown color for his hair, given that all three potential Robin identities at the time had black hair.  Presumably they were attempting to loosely tie-in with Batman Forever‘s casting of Chris O’Donnell, but it’s still kind of weird to see it done on a comics-inspired figure.  Robin was packed with a crossbow, three green arrows for it, a bird-shaped shield, a cape, and a removable helmet.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As a kid, my first Robin, of course, was Hydro Claw Robin, but he was a movie Robin, and I wanted one that wasn’t.  I recall this resulting in a store trip with my Grandmother, expressly for the purposes of getting a comic Robin, which resulted in me getting the standard version of this guy, who was, admittedly, the best option at the time.  That one took quite a beating, and at one point got completely covered in acrylic paint for some sort of project.  It’s been a project *since* then to clean him back up, which is still ongoing.  In the mean time, I only in the last few years discovered the “Special Legends Edition” figures even existed, and during my family vacation this summer, I happed upon this guy.  He’s fun, as was the original.  It’s crazy that there wasn’t a standard Robin in this line, but with as cool as this one is, I can’t really knock it.

 

#3677: Kilowog

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

KILOWOG

SUPER POWERS (MCFARLANE)

“A brilliant geneticist on his home world Bolovax Vik, Kilowog served as Green Lantern of Sector 674. Following the destruction of his planet during the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths, Kilowog trained new Green Lantern recruits, teaching essential tools to survive the most dangerous job in the universe.”

Kenner’s sole Green Lantern entry for their Super Powers line was Hal Jordan, who was still the main GL at the time. There were plans at early stages to include a greater GL focus in the line, and the list of unproduced figures they’d planned even included a John Stewart. It’s hard to say if they’d have ever gotten to a character like Killowog, who wasn’t even introduced in the comics until the line’s final year in 1986. Nevertheless, he’s become one of the quintessential Green Lanterns over the years, and there’s no denying he’s got a cool visual, so he found his way into McFarlane’s continuation of Kenner’s line.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Kilowog was released in Series 7 of McFarlane’s Super Powers line under the DC Direct banner.  He’s the second of the new character additions, the other being Blue Beetle.  He’s also the line’s third GL, and he pairs off with the Sinestro Corps Sinestro figure from the same assortment.  The figure stands 5 1/2 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  His sizing is a lot larger than the rest of the line, putting him pretty much on the same mark as the vintage Darkseid figure.  It’s appropriate for the character, of course, and it’s nice to see, in contrast to how McFarlane scaling can sometimes go, that the line’s general trend smaller doesn’t affect a character who *should* be larger.  His sculpt is an all-new one, and it’s likely to remain fairly unique.  I think it’s honestly one of the line’s strongest (though I feel like I keep saying that for each new figure I get).  It’s a great match for his classic appearance, and fits in really well with the pre-existing Kenner aesthetic, especially the vintage Hal.  I appreciate the larger build, while still having a balanced set of proportions, and I really like the extra heft he’s got.  Kilowog’s paint work is okay.  It’s not his strongest mark.  The edges are a little sloppy in some spots, especially on his ring.  I’m also a bit bummed that the green’s off from the vintage GL, but I understand something like that can be kind of tricky.  It’s at least not a bad shade.  Kilowog is without any accessories, but given his larger size, that’s an understandable cut-back.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Before I was even sure I was going to actually jump in on this line, Kilowog was one I was waffling on, because I sure do like a good Kilowog figure, and even before they addressed the scaling issues, I figured he’d fit in okay with the older stuff.  I figured I’d snag him if I saw him in person, but then I didn’t, and I got impatient, so I wound up ordering him from GameStop.  Yes, I ordered a McFarlane DC product from GameStop.  I don’t really know what the world’s coming to, honestly.  Kilowog’s pretty darn great, and another figure that really feels like an authentic continuation of the vintage line.

#3675: Sinestro

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SINESTRO

SUPER POWERS (MCFARLANE)

Though it served as the most visible media presence of DC’s heroes for a long stretch of time, Hanna Barbera’s Super Friends didn’t have any direct toy tie-ins. Both Mego’s World’s Greatest Superheroes and Kenner’s Super Powers were clearly drawing from the show’s influence, of course, but there were a great many characters, even notable ones from the comics, who didn’t get coverage. Green Lantern and his evil counterpart on the Legion of Doom, Sinestro, were both left out of Mego’s run, and while GL found his way into Super Powers, Sinestro remained unlucky, not getting his first figure until the DC Direct days. It’s fitting, then, that he would be added to Super Powers by (what remains of) DC Direct!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Sinestro was released in Series 6 of McFarlane’s Super Powers continuation, which they released under the DC Direct banner. He’s the first of two Sinestros released in close succession, this one based on the character’s classic blue and black, while the other is his more modern Corps uniform. He pairs off in Series 6 with an updated Hal Jordan. The figure stands about 4 3/4 inches tall and has 7 points of articulation. Sinestro has typically been depicted as tall and lithe, something this figure’s stature captures. He’s taller than the average Kenner Super Powers figure, but in the way he should be, rather than in an “out of scale” sense like some of the line’s earlier offerings. The sculpt is all-new, and pretty decent. It definitely feels like it captures the Kenner style pretty well. You can certainly see where elements of it were designed with re-use for the Corps model in mind, meaning he does ultimately wind up with some costume details that are a little outside of the intended era. The collar in particular is just a little too modernized in its shaping. His head is likewise a tad more modernized, calling to mind his DCAU appearances, and lacking the larger forehead typical of classic Sinestro. None of it’s bad, mind you, and Kenner wasn’t always 100% faithful in their own figures, so he doesn’t look entirely out of place. Sinestro’s color work is pretty solid, hitting the usual colors, and feeling pretty on the mark for what a Super Powers paint job should look like. Sinestro is packed with his power battery, which, like the figure is maybe just a touch too modern. In reality, Kenner would have probably just reused Hal’s, so getting something different at all isn’t so bad.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

After being won over so thoroughly by the Blue Beetle, I’ve gotten more invested in this line as a whole, so I’m looking more at some of the other figures that would fit well with my vintage set. I happened to find this guy at the Walmart close to my work. He’s not quite as on the mark as a few of the others I’ve looked at, but he’s still a marked improvement on the earlier releases, and a solid counterpart to my vintage Hal.

#3667: Blue Beetle & The Bug

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

BLUE BEETLE & THE BUG

SUPER POWERS (McFARLANE)

Back in the ’90s, the Super Powers fandom had a lot of hypothetical discussions about what characters the line might have done had it continued.  In 2004, Jason “Toy Otter” Geyer’s Super Powers Archive ran a huge piece regarding the discovery of Kenner prototypes, which revealed what the next wave or two of the line would have been.  One of the most notable omissions from Kenner’s plan, at least going by characters that had long been theorized to be part of any continuation, was Ted Kord, aka Blue Beetle.  He may not have been marked to get his due from Kenner (for Super Powers, anyway; they *had* planned to do him for the scrapped fourth wave of Total Justice, and that figure was eventually released by Hasbro), but that doesn’t mean he was completely overlooked, because he’s part of the McFarlane revival!  And it’s not just him!  He got a vehicle, too!  And….I’m actually excited?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Blue Beetle is part of Series 7 of McFarlane’s Super Powers line, which was released early summer this year.  Beetle is one of the two figures in the set that’s not a variant on a prior figure, and if you’re counting Kilowog as a Green Lantern, he’s the only truly new character entirely.  Ted is seen here in his classic attire, which is the absolute correct choice for such a release.  The figure stands a hair under 4 1/2 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  I’ve been talking a lot about scaling with this line, and I’m going to continue to do so.  Ted’s scaling is by far the best I’ve seen from the line.  He’s actually just exactly the size he should be, with no issues at all.  He’ll fit right in with the vintage stuff.  Aiding with that is the sculpt, which is…well, it’s just really nice, you guys.  Everything about it feels just very genuine and on the mark for Super Powers.   The build, the detailing, the slight preposing, the stance of the legs.  Sure, there’s the visible pins, which aren’t quite right, but everything else works well enough that I just don’t notice them.  His costume elements are all sculpted, it should be noted, with raised edges for the darker blue sections.  Kenner didn’t lean on purely painting for much of the detailing on their figures, so this just helps to further push the authenticity.  The goggles are a separate piece, fitted into the head, which keeps the lines sharp, and the face gets a nice, friendly, slightly whimsical that fits the character so well.  The paint work is generally clean, with very minimal slop, and it’s a good match for his comics appearances.  He’s got no accessories, which isn’t the end of the world, but it’s a shame he didn’t get his BB gun.  It’s really the only thing I can note as an issue here.

Of course, if you’d still like to accessorize your Blue Beetle, there’s always the option of going for The Bug, Blue Beetle’s Mobile headquarters.  McFarlane’s been keeping up with doing a few vehicles to coincide with the figures, and The Bug hit right alongside Ted.  It’s pretty great timing, not just for tying in with the Ted figure, but also since the Bug was quite prominent in last year’s Blue Beetle movie.  The vehicle measures 11 1/2 inches long by 12 inches wide.  It’s sporting an all-new sculpt, which, like Ted, is a good match for the vintage line’s work.  Having handled the vintage Batmobile, the Bug has a very similar feel to its construction, right down to the polished exterior with the cool transparent windows.  It’s even got its own action feature!  The’s a grapple on the bottom, which Ted can hang from.  It pulls out, and can spring back when the hatch on the bottom is pressed.  Accessing the interior of the ship is really easy; the “wings” on the back are spring loaded and pop up when you press the button on the back.  Inside, there’s two seats at the front, one for Ted, and one for that Booster Gold figure that got shown off on the back of this box.  There’s also a whole little space set-up in the back for the mobile HQ bit, which is certainly nifty.  There’s not paint on the Bug, but it does get a few decals.  The inside gets the most of them, with coverage for all of the consoles, and even a mock-up of the internal hatch to match the sculpted one on the bottom.  Outside, there’s a fun little “I heart NY” sticker on the back, which is a great little character touch.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This pair right here is the thing that truly broke me on the McFarlane Super Powers.  I’d seen others that looked cool enough, but nothing I *needed*.  Then they showed off these two and I just had to have them.  They haven’t been the easiest items in the line to get.  I found the Bug at the same time as the Peacemaker three-pack, but there was no Ted in sight.  I almost passed, but my Dad insisted on getting it for me, which gave me the push to track Ted down online.  I’m glad I did, because I haven’t been happier with a McFarlane offering.  Honestly, I haven’t been happier with a DC offering in a very long time.  I’ve wanted a Super Powers continuation since I was a kid, and this right here is exactly what I wanted.

#3665: Peacemaker, Vigilante, & Judomaster

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PEACEMAKER, VIGILANTE, & JUDOMASTER

SUPER POWERS (MCFARLANE)

It’s been a year since I’ve discussed McFarlane’s revival of Super Powers here on the site.  My previous venture into the line was…mixed.  I’m a huge fan of the vintage line, and the idea of revival *should* excite me, but McFarlane’s output was…well, it was McFarlane output.  There might have been some good ideas, but they were saddled with the strangeness that Todd seems intent on injecting into everything he does.  But, Todd just keeps dragging me back in, because even if it’s mixed results, there’s limited options for DC, and it’s not like anyone else is doing a Super Powers continuation.  So, here I am, going back to the well on McFarlane, specifically looking at the Peacemaker multipack!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Peacemaker, Vigilanter, and Judomaster were released late last year as a three-pack in McFarlane’s Super Powers line.  The set is loosely designed to tie-in with the Peacemaker show, though the characters are obviously in their comics attire.

PEACEMAKER

Peacemaker, whose main contribution to the world of comics was inspiring the Comedian in Watchmen, has gotten a real elevation in his recognition in the last few years, thanks largely to John Cena’s turn as the character in The Suicide Squad and its follow-up Peacemaker.  As a result, he got this figure, his very first comics-based figure.  Pretty nifty.  The figure stands just under 5 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  So, first and foremost, let’s address the number one issue with this line: scaling.  The previous figures were all scaled a bit too large, typically running about half an inch too tall to properly fit with the vintage line.  Peacemaker, however, is, like, pretty much spot on.  Since he’s under 5 inches, and Smith’s always been depicted as a slightly bigger guy, he fits in pretty much perfectly with the actual proper Kenner figures.  He’s got an all-new sculpt, and it’s a marked improvement on prior offerings itself.  His stance definitely feels more proper Super Powers in its nature. The weird pigeon-toed issue’s gone, and the proportions are a solid match for how Kenner tended to handle things.  His head uses a separate assembly for the helmet, which is really sharply detailed.  In general, the sculpt is pretty clean and slick.  I have two minor complaints, the first being the continued presence of visible knee joints (which, honestly, bug me a lot less here than on earlier figures), and the belt assembly being just a touch sloppy on my figure.  Beyond that, though, he’s really great.  He’s even got a gripping hand, should you want to arm him with some sort of weapon.  His color work is appropriately bright and eye catching.  The application is pretty clean, and it again matches well with the style.  I like that he’s not totally painted up, which also feels more authentic.  The only slight oddity is that he’s got no paint on his eyes, so there’s just flesh-tone visible under the helmet.  It’s a very small area, but it looks strange.

VIGILANTE

Vigilante is a fun choice here.  Obviously, he was included thanks to his increased visibility thanks to Peacemaker, but getting further into the Super Powers lore, Vigilante was one of the proposed characters for Kenner’s 1987 line-up, had there been a fourth year of the line.  So, it’s nice to see him finally get his due.  The figure stands 4 3/4 inches tall and he has 6 points of articulation.  Scaling wise, Vigilante is just a *touch* too tall for proper fit with the vintage line, but he’s so very close that it works fine in most settings, and it’s certainly better than earlier figures.  His sculpt is decent enough; his toes point inward a little too much, but his proportions are pretty decently handled.  He seems to be at least somewhat inspired by the original Flash figure, which isn’t the worst fit.  Generally, it’s more basic sculpt than Peacemaker’s, but it does pretty well with the source material.  Vigilante’s paint work is decent enough.  Nothing too fancy, but the application’s pretty clean, and the colors are well chosen.

JUDOMASTER

Judomaster is the most obscure of the three figures included here, though we did at least see a version of him in Peacemaker alongside the other two.  Like Peacemaker, he started out as a Charlton character, before getting folded into DC.  He’s mostly filled in the background of big crossovers since then, which honestly is effectively his role in Peacemaker, too.  Judomaster is new to the world of action figures, and this one is based on his original incarnation.  The figure is a little under 4 3/4 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  Scaling wise, Judomaster is probably the most off of the set, since he should really be the shortest of the three, but isn’t.  Of course, he’s still better than the early run figures, so it’s still a win.  Judomaster’s sculpt is totally unique, and it’s honestly pretty impressive how much work they put into this guy.  Like, I mean, it’s Judomaster, and here we are getting a sculpt that details all of his individual costume elements.  It’s a character I wouldn’t be shocked to see phoned in, and yet, it’s absolutely not.  He even gets his own pretty unique pose, which is fun.  The paint work is nice and bright, and pretty cleanly handled too.  The red and yellow feels particularly on-brand for Super Powers.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This set was announced after I’d gotten the two prior figures I had from this line, so I was already aware of the ups and downs.  I was interested, but still kind of put off by the scaling thing, so I didn’t jump on it right away.  That said, I’d been hearing really good things about the course of the line since I’d dropped it.  A few weeks back, Matthew really wanted to stop into the Gamestop next to where we were grabbing lunch, so we obliged, and there was one of these sets there.  It looked really good in person, so I went for it.  I’m glad I did, because they’re all quite good.  Peacemaker is the best of the set, for sure.  He hits all of the marks he needs to.  Vigilante was the one I was looking forward to, and I think he’s probably the weakest in terms of execution, but still pretty solid.  Judomaster wasn’t a figure I really needed, but he’s better than I’d expected.  In general, a very fun set.

#3649: Aquaman

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

AQUAMAN

TOTAL JUSTICE (KENNER)

“Born in the underwater world of Atlantis, Arthur Curry leads a dual life as Aquaman, protector of the world’s oceans. He is able to “breathe” water, swim at speeds up to 100 miles per hour, and communicate with most sea life. Though his strength diminishes after prolonged exposure out of the water, Aquaman’s Fractal Techgear allows him to remain on land and battle villains with his blasting hydro spear for extended periods of time.”

Aquaman seems like he’s in this perpetual state of bouncing back and forth between everyone thinking he’s lame and the people responsible for his stories trying overcompensate for the perceived lame-ness by making him super edgy.  Perhaps the earliest instance of this was Peter David’s revamp of the character in the ’90s, a run which, amongst other things, had Arthur lose a hand and replace it with a hook.  Don’t ask how he lost it.  It’s really important that you don’t.  Because it made him very edgy and serious, and you don’t want to risk upsetting that.  To aid with the edginess, Arthur also grew a beard and long hair.  Edgy!  It was the ’90s, so there were toys abound, meaning this new Aquaman got coverage pretty darn quickly.  Let’s look at him today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Aquaman was released in 1996 as part of the first series of Kenner’s Total Justice line.  This was Kenner’s second time doing an Aquaman, following their Super Powers offering in the ’80s.  That one was, of course, in his classic attire, while this one was, as noted above, all edgy.  The figure stands just shy of 5 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  Well, 5-ish.  The neck joint’s pretty my useless, what with the hair, and the range on the hips is also pretty restricted.  You can spin those shoulders all the way around, though.  Total Justice figures are, of course, defined by their extreme posing.  Aquaman follows suit, and has perhaps one of the most extreme poses the line had to offer.  So extreme that he can barely even stand most of the time, which is a bit frustrating at times.  Why the pre-posing?  What exactly is the pose?  I have no clue.  The sculpt is…well, it’s also extreme.  There’s certainly a lot of detail going on there, with all those flexing muscles and everything.  It matches well with the typical depictions of Aquaman from the time, so I’ll certainly give them that.  Aquaman’s color scheme came in two set-ups; the standard had the shoulder armor in an off-black, while there was a variant that did it in gold, presumably in reference to his classic costume.  Beyond that detail, the paint work remains the same on the two figures.  It’s not a bad set-up, and all the major details are present and pretty cleanly handled.  In addition to the odd posing, one of the other signatures of Total Justice was the “fractal armor.”  Aquaman’s is a sort of purple-ish asymmetric set-up.  It’s very goofy, and it’s very ’90s, and I very much enjoy it.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

So, I may not be the world’s biggest Aquaman fan myself, but he’s one of my dad’s favorite characters, which does give me a bit of a link to the character.  My first figure exposure was my dad’s old Mego, which he had on display in my parents’ living room.  I wanted my own Aquaman, and this was really my only option at the time.  I got the standard one pictured above, I want to say from an Ames near where my family vacationed?  I might be totally off on that, but it’s what I’m visualizing.  He was well-loved, and my only Aquaman for a bit.  He lost the hook not terribly long after I got him, and it was never fixed.  I snagged the gold variant more recently, when a loose one came through All Time.  He’s oh so much a product of his time, more so than just about anything else in this line, and, honestly, that’s pretty fun.