Tag Archives: McFarlane Toys

#3805: Robin

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

ROBIN

SUPER POWERS (McFARLANE)

“Growing up in Gotham City can be…complicated. Especially when you’re a kid who’s obsessed with Batman and Robin. For Tim Drake, learning everything about his favorite superheroes eventually led him down the path of becoming one himself, after he deduced the identities of Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson.”

My last few McFarlane Super Powers reviews have all been re-hashes of characters that got covered in the original run.  But, the line’s actually got a solid run of new characters.  Today’s focus is *sort of* a mixed bag, since the name was in the vintage line, but it was actually a different guy.  That guy is Tim Drake, the third Robin.  Though his creation’s outside the window of Super Powers‘ vintage run, his first figure was a vaguely Super Powers-esque one, as part of Kenner’s Batman Returns line (which was largely built on re-worked SP molds).  But, now he’s got one (well, technically two) under the actual Super Powers banner, so let’s check that out!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Robin was released in Series 4 of McFarlane’s Super Powers line, alongside the updated classic Batman.  Since this assortment wound up being rather under-ordered, he’s gotten a subsequent re-release with a slightly changed up color palette, but the one seen here is the initial release.  The figure stands a little under 4 1/2 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  He’s more or less the same height and build as the vintage Robin, which is a pretty good set-up.  The sculpt is totally unique, and it’s…fine.  The body sculpt is decent enough, matching the style of the line, and also capturing his costume design pretty well.  I’m not super crazy about the head.  It seems a little wide, and the hair is…I don’t really know what’s going on there.  It’s certainly not the worst thing, though, and it does still feel more like authentic Super Powers than the earlier McF stuff.  Robin’s color work is rather on the bright side.  It’s not strictly speaking a match for Tim’s costume (which was usually a little darker), but it works well within the context of the line.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

One of the things I’ve been looking for in my Super Powers collecting is characters that feel authentic for a continuation of the original line.  It’s what kept me off the earlier stuff, but I’m willing to make something of an exception for Tim.  Of course, neither of his releases was *super* easy to find, so I kind of had to wait.  Thankfully, I was able to snag this one when he got traded in at All Time.  He’s not one of the stronger entries in the line, but he’s a respectable enough entry.

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.

#3801: Batman

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

BATMAN

SUPER POWERS (McFARLANE)

“As a child, Bruce Wayne watched as his parents were brutally killed in Gotham City’s Crime Alley. Traumatized by their deaths, he devoted his life to becoming the world’s greatest weapon against crime-the Batman!”

The gift that just keeps on giving here is McFarlane’s Super Powers re-launch.  Boy do I love it, to, like, an absurd degree.  Especially given it’s McFarlane.  How much do I love it?  It got me to buy a Batman.  And I pretty much never buy a Batman these days.  Other tangental characters?  Absolutely.  Batman, not so much.  So, um, here’s Batman.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Batman was released in Series 4 of McFarlane’s Super Powers line, under the DC Direct branding.  Series 4 was noteworthy for being the first not to be a Walmart-exclusive, which wound up being sort of late change-up.  The result?  The assortment was kinda under ordered and under produced, so they’re generally a bit rare.  The figure stands a smidge over 4 1/2 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  Though he was only the line’s second Batman, he didn’t re-use the initial mold, instead introducing an all-new one (courtesy of sculptor Owen Oertling), this one more closely patterned on the vintage mold.  While the later Superman revision changed things up a little to differentiate, this one’s more a direct imitation.  There’s some minor differences in exact details, of course, but it’s very, very close.  I can’t say it’s bad, because it absolutely isn’t.  And it’s emphatically better than the mold that preceded it (which makes it somewhat baffling how many times the original mold got re-used afterwords; it’s just not very good), so I can’t blame them there.  It does seem a little odd that it’s *such* a close match, and I feel like it’s maybe a missed opportunity to do something unique, like the Superman, but I really can’t actually fault it.  I still don’t love the cape clip shape, but that’s minor.  One thing I *do* love is the color work.  This is where they actually do work to set him apart from the vintage figure.  The blue has just a little more saturation, so it pops a bit more, and he’s also got the black shading at the front of the cowl.  I like the original, but the black is the one major thing missing, so I like taking the opportunity to fix that here.  The application’s also quite clean, and he’s just got a nice, vibrant feel to him.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like GL, this was before the line had won me over, and I missed this assortment entirely.  I didn’t *need* another Batman, because the vintage one serves me just fine.  But, having gotten the updated Superman, I did sort of want the revised Batman to match.  Unfortunately, he’s gotten pricey, again like that GL.  Thankfully, the same collection that had the GL also had this guy, so I was able to work out an okay deal on him, meaning I didn’t have to feel *too* silly about what I paid out to get a figure I effectively already own.  I don’t love him quite as much as GL or Supes, but I will admit he’s pretty nice.

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.

#3796: Green Lantern – Hal Jordan

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

GREEN LANTERN — HAL JORDAN

SUPER POWERS (McFARLANE)

“Hal Jordan’s life was changed twice by crashing aircraft. The first time was when he witnessed the death of his father, pilot Martin Jordan. The second was when, as an adult and trained pilot himself, he was summoned to the crashed wreckage of a spaceship belonging to Abin Sur. Abin explained that he was a member of the Green Lantern Corps, an organization of beings from across the cosmos, armed with power rings fueled by the green energy of all the willpower in the universe. Upon his death, Abin entrusted his ring and duties as the Green Lantern of Earth’s space sector to Hal Jordan.”

I’m angling a lot more towards “comfort” reviews these days, so expect more of that, I guess.  That manifested in a Toy Biz Marvel review yesterday, because I’ve got plenty of those, and they make me happy.  Continuing on things that make me happy, I’ve got a whole stack of McFarlane Super Powers figures, and I genuinely can’t believe that’s where we are, but it is.  My favorite vintage Super Powers figure was Green Lantern, whom I’d already reviewed, but McFarlane did a remake of that one, so, you know what, here’s that one!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Green Lantern – Hal Jordan was released in the sixth assortment of McFarlane’s Super Powers line.  It was the first assortment of 2024, and he paired off with the previously reviewed Sinestro.  He was the line’s second GL, and the first under the “new” style that is actually the old style.  The figure stands about 4 1/2 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  In a departure for this line, Hal is actually slightly *shorter* than his vintage counterpart.  Not by much, but it’s there.  Hal’s sculpt, courtesy of Owen Oertling, is designed as a replica of the vintage Kenner one.  It’s actually a pretty close match.  If anything, it takes him a little closer to the Jose Garcia-Lopez illustrations than the original.  I quite like it.  It’s a good, solid update.  In terms of coloring, he’s completely painted, which is an interesting set-up.  His color scheme is the same general look as Kilowog, with the more muted shade of green.  It’s got more of that Super Friends shading, which is a vibe I can certainly appreciate.  Hal is packed with his power battery, which, like the main mold, is modeled on his original, while being slightly different.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Obviously, I’m a bit of a late convert on the McFarlane Super Powers, so I wound up missing this guy at retail.  A lot of people did, as it turns out, which means that this figure is currently more expensive than his vintage counterpart, which is quite an interesting turn of events.  I was thankfully able to get a good deal on a loose one through All Time, which was a good thing, because I really do like this one a lot.  I loved the original, and I love this one too, and I love them for similar, but different reasons.

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.

#3791: Nightwing

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

NIGHTWING

BATMAN ’66 (McFARLANE TOYS)

Perhaps the most recurring moment of “didn’t see that coming” for me as of late has been the successes of McFarlane Toys with their handle on the DC license.  I mean, yeah, they had a rocky start, and there are still plenty of very iffy choices abound, but there’s also been a surprising amount of success.  I mean, of all the companies working on the Batman ’66 license, who would have guessed McFarlane would be the ones that would actually get a decent run of it?  They even ran out of actual show-based figures and expanded into other media, which is how we wound up with the opportunity to get a Nightwing figure!  Oh yeah!  Nightwing!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Nightwing was released in Series 10 of McFarlane’s Batman ’66 line.  He’s one of the line’s comics-based figures, coming from the revival comic series launched when all the licensing opened up.  Specifically, he’s from the crossover with Wonder Woman ’77, which moved the Batman cast 11 years into the future, hence the aged up Dick Grayson, sporting a “live action” version of his original Nightwign get-up.  The figure stands 6 inches tall and he has 18 points of articulation.  One of the neat things about the McFarlane Batman ’66 line is that, in contrast to the main McFarlane DC line, it’s 1/12 scale, meaning the figures can still fit in with the Mattel figures, if you’re so inclined.  That said, they’re stylistically a little different, which is to say they don’t suck.  Obviously, with this being adapted from a comics design, there’s a bit of adaptation here to make him fit in more with the actual live-action figures.  There’s a bit of a half-step there; it’s not 100% realism, so there’s something of a flair to it.  It’s honestly, pretty solid.  A little stiff, but the details are sharp, and the design looks good in figure form.  The likeness is also an okay match for Burt Ward circa the ’70s, so there’s a nice feeling of continuity.  The paint work on this guy isn’t bad.  There’s a little bit of slop on some of the changeovers, and the yellow’s a little thin in some spots, but generally things are good.  Nightwing is packed with two different punch effects, one that says “VRONK!” and another that says “CRUNCH!”  What’s “VRONK?” No idea, but I kinda dig it.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I have thus far avoided the McFarlane Batman ’66 line in its entirety largely because Mattel just really burned me with their line, and I’ve not been able to really get back into it.  That said, I do really have a soft spot for Nightwing figures and I really like this particular design.  That said, I drag my feet on it a little bit.  I wound up swinging past a GameStop after lunch a couple weekends ago, and they had him, and I was feeling the need to buy a figure, so that worked out pretty well.  He’s honestly pretty fun, and I kinda want more of this line now, because it’s a lot better than the Mattel stuff.

#3786: Plastic Man

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

PLASTIC MAN

DC MULTIVERSE (McFARLANE)

It would seem I haven’t reviewed a single Plastic Man figure here on the site since my first year, where I had a veritable surplus of a whole two of them.  That’s quite a hiatus, huh?  I blame my need to really project that Elongated Man-stan site energy.  Is that the right use of “stan?”  Should I even be using “stan?”  Probably not, but I’ve gone and used it anyway, about Elongated Man.  I mean, if I’m gonna cross that line, Elongated Man’s a good reason.  But, I’m not supposed to be talking about Elongated Man, now am I?  Right, it’s Plastic Man.  He’s okay, I guess.  Anyway, here’s a Plastic Man figure.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Plastic Man is the Build-A-Figure from the ’90s JLA-themed assortment of DC Multiverse from last year (you know, the one that inexplicably included a not even remotely ’90s John Stewart as its Green Lantern).  The figure stands a little over 7 inches tall and he has 35 points of articulation.  With the exception of the slightly changed up neck joint, his articulation is more or less the same as your average DC Mulitverse figure.  On my figure, the standard arms are quite loose at the shoulders, but I don’t know if that’s an across the board thing or a just my figure thing.  Aside from the John Stewart, this set is supposed to based on the team’s late ’90s depictions.  For Plas, that keeps his general classic look, but results in him being more exaggerated in his proportions and appearance. Plas makes use of the arms and upper legs of the Blue Beetle base body, along with a new head, torso, pelvis, and lower legs.  In general, he feels maybe a touch bulky for Plastic Man, who is usually a little skinnier than others.  I can’t help but feel that maybe the body used for Ambush Bug might be a better starting point?  The new parts are okay, though.  I do like finally getting a set of shins for this body without the sculpted boot cuff.  The feet are a bit freaky and grotesque, and the head’s giving me slight Elvis vibes, but on a whole, it works okay.  Plastic Man’s color work is serviceable.  Nothing too crazy.  I do dig the reflection in the goggles, so that’s certainly a plus.  Plas is packed with an alternate head and arms, which are more stretched out.  Generally, I prefer them to the standards, with the head in particular just feeling more true to the character.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

While I liked the general look of this guy when he was shown off, I didn’t exactly want to buy a whole set of figures just to get him.  And, honestly, I didn’t really expect to get the chance to get one, because I haven’t really seen many of the McFarlane BaFs resurface.  I was proven wrong on this one, because I actually had a loose complete one land in front of me at work, in a relatively short span of time from release.  Every time I’ve passed on a figure of Plas in the past, I’ve wound up regretting it, so I tried to avoid running into that here.  He’s okay.  He’s got some slight issues, but at the same time, he’s still worth the time.

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.

#3771: Green Lantern, Starman, & Hourman

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

GREEN LANTERN, STARMAN, & HOURMAN

SUPER POWERS (McFARLANE TOYS)

Hey!  It’s Super Powers!  Hooray!  I love Super Powers!  …I’m kinda running out of things to say about it, though.  I mean, I expected a little over 30 of these reviews at the outset, and then, there were, like, more.  Not that I’m complaining, mind you.  It’s a good problem to have.  While the vintage line did have an impressive coverage of the JLA, it featured only a single member of the JSA, Dr. Fate.  And he was very lonely indeed.  But, it’s okay, because 40 years later, he’s finally getting some team mates!  And it’s not just one: it’s a whole three-pack!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Green Lantern, Starman, and Hourman were released as part of McFarlane’s Super Powers continuation in a three-pack.  This marks the second “standard” three-pack, following up on the Peacemaker set from earlier.  There doesn’t really seam to have been a specific theme to the three chosen beyond “let’s do JSA.”

GREEN LANTERN — ALAN SCOTT

If you’re jumping into the JSA, it’s hard to not go for Alan Scott.  He’s pretty obvious, and alongside Jay Garrick, he’s one of the central and most consistently depicted members of the team.  He’s also my favorite, so you’ll definitely hear no complaints from me.  The figure stands about 4 1/2 inches tall and has 7 points of articulation.  He’s got an all-new sculpt, and it’s on par with a lot of the more recent offerings, which is to say it’s quite good.  It captures the vibe of the line, while also getting down Alan as a character.  Perhaps the only slight oddity is the lack of a collar on the shirt, but with the cape it’s not too distracting.  Compared to the rather horrid 7-inch figure, though, this is a breath of fresh air.  They even gave him the proper ring shape!  He’s got a cloth cape, which is a little more complex, having the collar and also being two-toned.  I definitely dig it, and it’s avoiding some of the issues of the other capes from the line.  The paint work here is slightly on the messy side, but not terribly so.  The color work is at least pretty nice, and they’ve again got the proper lantern shape for his logo, which I do like to see.  He gets no accessories, even though the hand posing seems like he’s begging for a power battery.  I’d guess that was probably a budget thing.

STARMAN

It’s Starman!  There’s actually been a lot of Starmen at DC.  This is the orginal, Ted Knight.  But not *that* Ted Knight.  Even though that one narrated for Super Friends.  Do you think the real Ted Knight knew about the fake Ted Knight?  Makes you think, right?  The figure stands almost 5 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  Okay, so, you see the height? Yeah, that ain’t right.  Here’s why: he’s on the old Superman mold.  Not the nice, new, improved one we just got before the end of the year.  No, the McFarlane Series 1 version, which is too tall and too bulky, and has its feet too close together.  I totally get re-using Superman for a Starman; they’re costumes are quite similar.  But why not use the new one?  It’s right there.  Now Ted’s really tall, and looks out of place with the other JSA-ers.  He gets a new head, which I also don’t love, because it feels like an earlier run head, as well as a new belt piece and an updated right arm with a new gripping hand.  He gets a cloth cape, which is okay.  I do particularly like the printed star on the back.  The paint on this guy is fine.  Decent, and it gets the job done, but it’s not much to write home about.  Starman gets the only accessory in this set, which is his Cosmic Rod, which fits nicely in his right hand.

HOURMAN

It’s drug use, but as a super power.  You know, for kids!  Like Starman, there have been a few Hourmen, but this is Rex Tyler, the original.  He’s built on a smaller base body, shared with Vigilante.  Rex has been up and down in terms of sizing and scaling, so the shorter at least adds some variety of scaling to the set.  He’s got a new head sculpt, which is…fine.  I can’t say I love it, but it’s alright.  Passable.  I’ll discuss it more in the paint section.  He’s also got a new belt and necklace, both of which work pretty well.  It’s topped off with a cape, which has a pretty impressive printed pattern on it and its own collar as well.  The paint work, especially on the head, is iffy.  The mask is missing the black section, which I always feel throws off the general look.  The DCUC figure did it the same way, and it bugged me there too.  The eye holes also feel like they’re painted up far too high, and the nose coverage feels like it goes too low.  And the eyebrows are just…I don’t know.  Don’t love them, that’s for sure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Obviously, there was no way I was missing this one.  I’ve been waiting a long time for more JSA-ers in the line, and I honestly never really expected to see them.  So, I jumped right on the pre-orders for this one.  Of the the three, Alan is by far the stand out, and by far my favorite.  The whole set’s worth it just for him.  Which is good, because the other two…well, they’re less than stellar.  That was a bit of a letdown.  I mean, they’re not awful.  Still better than the earlier figures from the line, but maybe not quite as good as the more recent stuff.  But, I’m not gonna knock more JSA Super Powers.

#3757: The Riddler

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

THE RIDDLER

SUPER POWERS (McFARLANE TOYS)

“Riddle us this: what cerebral criminal with an affinity for purple and green loves challenging the Dark Knight with cleverly calculated crimes and puzzling plots?”

The Riddler is a character notable in the context of the vintage Super Powers line in an interesting fashion that hinges on him *not* being in the vintage Super Powers line.  He’s not even one of the scrapped figures from after the line ended.  However, after the line ended in the US, it was picked up by two companies in Argentina, Pacipa and PlayFul, who released the figures under the Super Amigos branding.  They added a single new character to the line, and it was, you guessed it, the Riddler (called El Acertijo), who was just a straight repaint of Green Lantern.  Toy Biz’s re-purposing of the Kenner molds also resulted in a Riddler (this time a re-worked Flash), and all this time later, McFarlane is getting in on the Riddler fun too.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Riddler is part of Series 9 of McFarlane’s Super Powers line.  He’s designed to pair off with the Batman in the assortment (who’s the “classic” mold, but in black and grey this time).  The figure stands 4 3/4 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  Like the Argentinian figure, which this one is clearly meant to be emulating, he’s a total parts re-use.  However, it’s not strictly Green Lantern this time around.  The head’s still GL, re-purposed from the McFarlane update to Hal, which I actually haven’t yet gotten.  It’s different from the Kenner one, but not in any major way; just different.  Instead of re-using the body from that figure, this guy is instead on the Nightwing body.  It’s a bit of a bummer, since the Nightwing body’s an older one, and therefore too large for the proper scaling the line’s moved into more recently.  Also, while I *get* not re-using the GL body, since it has the ring and such, and is therefore inaccurate for Riddler, it’s weird to be clearly referencing the old figure while not actually recreating the old figure.  Even the early renders of the figure on the back of the box are using the GL mold, so they got it at *some* point in the process.  As it stands, this one exists in a strange middle ground.  In terms of coloring, they’ve aimed to recreate the original Amigos version, and not done a terrible job of that.  I mean, the original is actually a bit terrible, with the lesser plastic quality and all, so this one’s even a touch better.  Riddler is without any accessories or extras.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve always been fascinated by the Amigos Riddler, and it’s one of those figure’s I’d love to own at some point, but never gotten the chance to.  This one represented a nice runner up, especially based on the early renders with the different body.  Ultimately, I don’t like it as much as I’d hoped to.  Instead of being a quirky reference figure, he winds up as more of a middle of the road standard figure.  Not bad, but not much to write home about.  In terms of a Riddler that fits with the vintage line, the Toy Biz one might actually be a bit better, since he’s a more unique offering.  Still, this one’s a perfectly serviceable figure on his own.

#3755: Bizarro

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

BIZARRO

SUPER POWERS (McFARLANE TOYS)

“Bizarro is an imperfect clone of Superman created by Lex Luthor to destroy the Man of Steel, but the defective duplicate has never succeeded.  And, as a superpowered being with very low intellect, Bizarro is a brute known for his childlike and dangerous temper tantrums.”

Wow, would you look at that?  I haven’t even gone a whole week, and here I am, reviewing another McFarlane DC figure.  They just keep getting closer and closer together.  Well, this particular figure is Super Powers, so I give myself a little more leeway on that front, at least.  To follow-up on the updated Superman I looked at last month, here’s his opposite number of sorts, Bizarro.  Bizarro’s notable in the realm of Super Powers, having been one of Kenner’s proposed figures from the scrapped post-Series 3 line-up, meaning he’s not really new, he’s just really, really overdue.  He also keeps to the Legion of Doom theme, much like Sinestro and Black Manta from prior assortments.  Also, I’m doing this entire review without the backwards talking gimmick because I just don’t hate myself enough to do that sort of thing anymore.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Bizarro is part of Series 9 of McFarlane’s Super Powers continuation under the DC Direct banner.  He’s the counterpart to the Superman from the same set, following McFarlane’s recurrent theming of good guy/bad guy pairings.  The figure stands a little over 4 1/2 inches tall and has 7 points of articulation.  Bizarro is, unsurprisingly, re-using a lot of Owen Oertling’s updated Superman sculpt.  It’s a great sculpt, and it’s very likely Kenner had planned to re-use a lot of their own Superman mold when they got to Bizarro, so it adds up.  He gets a new head sculpt, which is slightly more modernized, but not crazily so.  Honestly, Kenner’s proposal for Bizarro had some more contemporary art mixed in with the “classic,” so this isn’t that far out.  It’s sharp, clean, and sufficiently different from the Superman sculpt, so I dig it.  He also gets his “Bizarro No. 1” sign, which looks the part and hangs well on the body.  He also gets the cloth cape, with that same neck connector I’m iffy on, but beyond that it works fine.  Bizarro’s color work generally matches Superman, which is good.  The application’s not too bad, but the red seems a little thin in some spots.  He’s got some decent accenting on the face, which isn’t strictly authentic to Kenner’s style, but is exactly the sort of thing I’m willing to give McFarlane a pass on, because it just looks so nice here.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As has become my very surprising standard operating procedure for this line, I wound up preordering this guy through GameStop, along with the rest of the set.  He was particularly high on my list from this set due to his spot as one of the proper Kenner continuation figures.  I was happy to see him included.  He’s got a slightly more unique spin than some of the others, but in a good way, and certainly in a better fashion than the early run “unique” spins from the line.  He’s a good match not only for the updated Superman, but also the vintage one, making him a great use of the line’s status.

#3751: Superman – Our Worlds at War

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

SUPERMAN — OUR WORLDS AT WAR

DC MULTIVERSE (McFARLANE TOYS)

Man, the McFarlane DC toy reviews are becoming an almost monthly occurrence here on the site.  Am I okay?  I honestly don’t know, guys.  Look, I like DC, and my collecting options are limited there, and Todd’s made enough figures that even with a low percentage of hits, there’s still a fair amount of okay stuff.  That being said, one figure that seems to evade Todd is a solid, basic Superman.  There jus always seems to be something off.  At best, there are some very dialed-in and specific looks, which is kind of what we’re dealing with today.  Yes, today’s entry comes of the early ’00s crossover “Our Worlds At War,” a storyline that was a big deal at the time of its release, but has generally had minimal impact moving forward.  I mean, I guess in introduced Imperiex?  You know, that guy that everybody loves?  He was in the second season of the Legion of Super Heroes cartoon?  Another thing that people consistently talk about?  Right?  Well, if nothing else, they made a tweak to Superman’s logo for a bit, and the toy companies do like reminding us of that.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Superman is part of the second assortment of “Digital” figures from McFarlane’s DC Multiverse line, released under the DC Direct banner, alongside Atom and “Longbow Hunters” Green Arrow.  As noted in the intro, he’s patterned on “Our Worlds At War,” or more specifically Superman’s altered look from the year following the event’s conclusion.  The figure stands 7 1/4 inches tall and he has 35 points of articulation.  As with a lot of the McFarlane figures, the articulation count may be high, but actual range is rather restricted.  The elbows don’t get a full 90 degrees, and the neck and mid-torso are also very stiff, so he’s mostly gonna be doing standing around poses.  Superman is largely making use of the DKR Superman mold, which is one that they keep returning to for some reason.  It’s based on Miller’s very bulked-up Superman, so it’s a very specific sort of mold, that’s not as all-purpose as they seem to think it is.  All that said, the two primary artists for Superman’s post-OWAW look, Ed McGuinness and Mike Wieringo, both depicted him as rather bulked up, so it’s not terribly far off.  Chalk it up to all that extra energy he picked up when he flew through the sun.  He gets a new head sculpt, which appears to be sort of an averaging of McGuinness and Wieringo’s styles.  They’re not completely incompatible, so it’s alright.  It’s definitely got McGuinness hair (or at least the front of it) and a Wieringo chin, that’s for sure.  He also gets a modified insignia piece, making it a little more classic and all-purpose than the more Miller-inspired piece from the original mold.   In terms of color work, he’s got a lot of molded colors, but what paint’s there isn’t bad.  The logo gets the black background, so it’s proper to the source material, and they’ve also given him a more artistic take on the shorts, being black with a red highlight rather than just red.  It honestly looks pretty decent.  Superman is packed with two sets of hands, a display stand, and an eagle.  The eagle is a re-use of the one included with Beast Boy, and notably has no way of interacting with the included figure, so you just sort of have to set him somewhere and hope he doesn’t fall over, which is kinda weird.  The figure also includes the weird NFT thing, but I ain’t messin’ with that.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve been rather displeased with the McFarlane Superman figures up to this point, and have been looking for a good one.  This one didn’t look *awful* and was even better than I’d expected when I finally saw him in person.  Unfortunately, I hesitated on snagging him, and he sold, so I missed him.  At least, until I found him at Cosmic Comix while picking up my comics a month or so back.  My daughter Aubrey, still in the midst of her obsession with “Man” helped me open him, and she had a wonderful time flying him back and forth, which has certainly helped to cement him as one of my favorite Superman figures, even if he may not be strictly “standard.”

#3737: Superman

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

SUPERMAN

SUPER POWERS (MCFARLANE)

You know what’s a line that I’m surprisingly excited to collect right now?  McFarlane’s Super Powers.  I did not see that coming.  I mean, sure, I’m a huge fan of the Kenner line, so I was an easy mark in that capacity, but McFarlane’s handling of DC has been pretty rocky, and I was really turned off by this particular set’s first few rounds of figures.  Of the earliest figures, his basic Superman and Batman were definitely some of the worst.  Batman got a ground up rework relatively quickly, but it’s been a wait for a corresponding Superman mold.  But, the wait’s finally over, and we’ve got another go at the Man of Steel!  Let’s check it out!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Superman is part of the ninth series of McFarlane’s Super Powers, which is officially under the DC Direct banner.  This is the line’s seventh Superman, and the first to use anything other than the initial mold.  He’s also the line’s second “classic” Superman, following the first series release.  The figure stands just a bit over 4 1/2 inches tall and he has 9 points of articulation.  He’s sporting a brand-new sculpt courtesy of Owen Oertling.  It’s patterned on the original, but not a direct copy, with some slight updates here and there.  The most notable change-up is the head, which gets a grinning expression, which works very well, and is still very much in keeping with the character.  In general, it’s a very strong update to the Kenner mold, which feels different enough to justify its existence, but also not so different as to feel out of place with the line.  I like that.  The only thing I don’t love is the cape, specifically the clip used to attach it to his neck.  It’s not a traditional C-clip, and is instead sort of oblong and flatter on one side.  It seems to be patterned to the necks of the earlier, more angular figures, and it doesn’t quite sit right on the new mold.  Todd’s gotta Todd in some way, I guess?  At least the cape doesn’t have a hole punched through it.  The color work on this guy’s not bad.  The colors aren’t far from vintage, which is good.  Application’s not bad.  There’s some smaller spots of slop, but I think it generally looks okay.  Superman doesn’t get any extras, but he’s at least got the cape, so it doesn’t feel too lacking.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

With the line sort of drying up at retail, pre-ordering seems to be my best option.  This round in particular seemed to sell out quickly at most online retailers, so I was back to ordering him on GameStop’s site.  He’s the first of the latest set I’ve gotten, which is honestly a nice little preview.  He’s quite fun.  And, as an added bonus, my daughter Aubrey, who’s been consuming a steady diet of Superman cartoons recently, got to help me open him, because she’s downright obsessed with “Man”, as she calls him.  We opened this one while watching the Filmation show, and she kept taking his cape off and swinging it around, which is really just too cute to contain.