Tag Archives: Super Powers

#3931: Cyborg

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

CYBORG

SUPER POWERS (McFARLANE)

“Though Vic Stone’s body was destroyed in an accident, science gave him a new one, which he’s used as a both a Teen Titan and a member of the Justice League.”

Kenner’s Super Powers line had a three year run in the ‘80s, during which time they released 33 standard release figures, and 1 mail-away.  By far the rarest of the figures are those that come from the final assortment of the line, with the grail of the original collection being the first figure of the then family recently created Cyborg.  McFarlane’s revival of Kenner’s line clocked 64 new single release figures, and an additional 8 figures offered through multi-packs and the like.  And wrapping up (at least as far as we know) the McFarlane run, much like the original Kenner one, is Cyborg!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Cyborg is the final figure in Series 11 of McFarlane’s Super Powers line, a “Gold Label” release that was exclusive to McFarlane’s online store.  Of the four figures offered, he’s the only one that’s a direct recreation of a vintage release.  The figure stands 5 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  He’s definitely on the larger side, which in some ways makes you wonder if this was an earlier sculpt that was shelved for a while.  That said, given Cyborg’s robotic nature and the usual depictions of his scale, it’s not really out of place for him to be this size.  This release notably gives Cyborg the standard assortment of articulation, which means he gets the knee joints that his vintage counterpart lacked.  Yay for knees!  Cyborg’s sculpt is a unique one.  Clearly, it’s meant to be patterned on the vintage version, in terms of styling and in pose, but it’s not a direct copy.  It’s generally good.  The technical details on the cybernetic parts are very clean and crisp, and follow his look from the style guide well.  I’m not sure about the head; the human half seems a little bit soft in its detailing.  It’s far from the worst thing, and at least he doesn’t have the “McFarlane face” that the earlier figures did, so I can’t complain too much.  Cyborg’s color work marks the largest departure from his original, a figure defined by it’s super cool chrome finish via vac-metalizing.  This one doesn’t do that, instead just using a flat silver molded plastic.  It’s not a shock, since none of the the figures in the McFarlane line have done the chrome.  It’s a bummer that they didn’t at least go for painted silver, but ultimately, it’s not awful, and looks better than I expected.  Cyborg is without any accessories, meaning he’s also lacking the original’s swappable hand attachments, which is a real bummer, but again not a shock.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Since I started collecting the vintage Kenner line, I knew Cyborg would be the Everest of that particular collection.  As I get nearer and nearer to the finish line, that’s only become amplified.  So, there’s just sort of this empty spot on my shelf, where a Cyborg might *eventually* go.  If I *HAD* one….  I’ve long hoped for some sort of Super Powers continuation that might include a Cyborg so that I could at least put *something* in that spot.  For most of McFarlane’s run, I wasn’t really sure I’d be getting it, but I was happy to be wrong.  Like the other three, I jumped on the order for this right away.  He’s not perfect, and I’m kind of kicking myself for not snagging a second set so that I could chrome one of the Cyborgs, but he’s a decent stand-in for the real thing, at least from a far, and I didn’t have to break the bank to get him.

And that is, near as we can tell, a wrap on the McFarlane Super Powers.  It’s been an interesting ride, if nothing else.  At the start of this line, I despised its very existence, feeling like it was a poor formed product that would just serve to ultimately rob me of the product I’d actually wanted for so many years.  But then, slowly, after a difficult path, the line morphed into essentially exactly what I’d wanted.  Sure, more than half the line was repaints and rehashes of stuff that we already had.  I do also find it darkly humorous that the one major complaint I have about the original run, which is that in a set of 34 figures, Wonder Woman was the only female character, is made even more prominent by McFarlane’s run, where in an additional 72 figures, we got….four more Wonder Women.  I’ve got a whole list of figures I wish we’d seen before the end.  But, at the end of the day, I personally got 35 new figures for my Super Powers collection, and I do honestly love them all.

#3927: Animal Man

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

ANIMAL MAN

SUPER POWERS (McFARLANE)

“Able to connect with The Red, the morphogenic field that connects all animal life, Buddy Baker juggles his duties as a husband and father, and the superhero who can mimic the abilities of any animal, Animal Man!”

Much like Hank Pym’s introduction in 1962’s “Man in the Anthill,” a sci-fi story that proved successful enough for its lead character to return later that same year, now as the costumed hero Ant-Man, Buddy Baker’s first turn in Strange Adventures’ “I Was the Man with Animal Powers,” a sci-fi story where a man is encounters an alien spacecraft, giving him his titular abilities, was followed up with Buddy’s return ten issues later as a costumed hero, first “A-Man”, later Animal Man.  Though he remained obscure for most of his original run, post-Crisis, the character was given his own title under the helm of Grant Morrison, who re-vamped him to fit better into the post-Crisis world, expanding on his life outside of being a super hero, playing up the aspects of his role as a family man, as well as his crusades for animal rights.  The series also had a substantial metatextual element, as it examined directly the changes being made to the character’s backstory, as well as the toll that “shock” storytelling elements were having on him, culminating in a direct confrontation between Buddy and “The Writer,” who was directly modeled on Morrison.  Morrison’s run ended with Buddy’s life being restored to a more status quo place, allowing him to be better worked into the main DCU, but the influence of the run has still informed a lot of the character’s later appearances, and also serves as a nice little focus for an otherwise still somewhat obscure character.  His presence as a fan-favorite has made him fortunate enough to get several figures over the years, the latest as part of McFarlane’s Super Powers revival.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Animal Man is part of what is, near as anyone can tell, the final assortment of McFarlane’s Super Powers.  He and the other three figures are all exclusive Gold Label releases, available only through McFarlane’s online store.  Buddy’s an interesting choice for the line-up; he existed when the vintage line was in swing, of course, but wouldn’t be revived truly until 1988.  He’s also always remained somewhat on the fringe, and none of the characters he tends to be paired off with were part of either version of the line.  But, at the same time, Kenner was prone to throwing in the occasional odd-ball, so who can say for sure.  The figure stands just shy of 5 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  For whatever reason, Buddy is back on one of the older base bodies, specifically the one used for John Stewart, so he’s bulkier and a little larger than the others in the assortment, and not quite the right scale.  Honestly, I’d have expected him to just be another use of the Flash-style body, but perhaps they felt that was getting over played?  The GL sculpt is too bulky, and sort of puffy, and not one of my favorites, but…I don’t hate it here?  Maybe I’m getting nostalgic as we get closer to the end.  It does still feel a touch too large for Buddy, and I get a chuckle out of the fact that he’s still got the ring on his right hand.  But, the new head sculpt is quite nice, and, goofy though it may be, the cloth jacket piece is pretty fun.  Animal Man’s color work is pretty solid.  I love the crisp work on the “A”, as well as the full detailing under the jacket, if you’re more interested in a classic Buddy.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve always dug Animal Man, as sort of a quirky side character.  That said, it was far too long before I actually sat down and read the Morrison run (I picked up the trades from Cosmic Comix, rather appropriately I suppose, shortly after Jess died, and read through them during a period of having far too much time on my hands), and when I did, it elevated Buddy from a character I already very thoroughly enjoyed to a character that is genuinely one of my favorites.  While I can think of lots of other characters I might have liked to see crop up in this final line-up, I am nevertheless very happy to see Buddy join the line, and I like how the final figure turned out.

#3923: Deadman

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

DEADMAN

SUPER POWERS (McFARLANE)

“Given an eerie afterlife as the spectral superhero called Deadman, he has the power to possess the living in order to fight for justice… and find his own killer.”

Today’s review poses a very important question: are there enough crazy high collars in the Super Powers line-up?  The answer is probably not, but have no fear, today’s entry helps to bolster those numbers, right under the wire.  There’s certainly an interesting juxtaposition of the final assortment of a line including amongst its members a guy with “dead” in his name.  Is it a bit on the nose?  Perhaps, but if it gets me another Deadman figure, I suppose I can’t complain too much, now can I?  So, without further ado here’s the aforementioned Deadman and his aforementioned collar.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Deadman is the second figure in Series 11 of McFarlane’s Super Powers continuation line, which serves as the wrap-up to this line before the rights transfer back to Mattel next year.  As with the rest of the assortment, he was a “Gold Label” figure, available only through McFarlane’s online store.  This is Boston Brand’s first time in this style, but it’s pretty fitting, given he was a well-established character at the time of the vintage line’s run.  The figure stands 4 1/2 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  Deadman has a fair number of parts in common with the Nightwing figure from this same assortment.  The sculpt was definitely designed for Nightwing first, though, because it’s still got his distinctive glove shape at the back.  He does get a new head, as well as a new collar piece, because you gotta really go all out on that collar.  Boston Brand simply will not be outdone on that collar, certainly not by some other acrobat crime fighter.  So, behold the unbridled glory that is his collar.  Hell yeah.  Honestly, it’s a pretty fun sculpt.  The Deadman specific parts work well, and the base body is pretty neat, apart from the ever so slightly too small feet.  It’s too bad it arrived too late for a little bit more usage.  His paint work is relatively clean, and to the paint.  The dual tone reds work well, and the white makes for a good clean contrast against the other parts.  Deadman has no accessories, but when you really get down to it, aren’t all of the other figures really just his accessories?

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Deadman’s a bit of a left field choice.  I was definitely a bit surprised to see him turn up.  That said, I get why, since he’s a pretty easy way to parts share with the Nightwing.  I also won’t complain about getting a Deadman figure, because he’s just pretty cool.  He translates well to this style, and I really do like how he turned out.  He’s a decidedly apt figure for the line to go out on.

#3919: Nightwing

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

NIGHTWING

SUPER POWERS (McFARLANE TOYS)

George Lucas once said of his telling of the Star Wars story that “it’s like poetry; it rhymes.”  I’m gonna be just as sanctimonious as he was for just a moment here and apply that to a set of my own reviews here at the site.  Back in 2023, I reviewed my first McFarlane Super Powers figure, which was the Series 3 Nightwing.  Last year, in the full swing of the line’s run, I reviewed the second Nightwing.  And now, in 2025, I’m kicking off my reviews of the final series of McFarlane’s Super Powers with a look at, you guessed it, Nightwing!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Nightwing is, as noted above, the first figure in the final series of Super Powers from McFarlane.  Interestingly, however, though they are the last set released, they are numerically Series 11, as billed by McFarlane themselves, putting them ahead of the Superman movie figures.  Whatever the case, they are indeed the last set, and they are all of them “Gold Label” figures, exclusive to McFarlane’s online shop.  This is Nightwing’s third go at a figure in this line, which is quite an accomplishment, especially given that Dick already had a figure in the vintage line, albeit as Robin.  We’ve been getting progressively further and further back on the costume designs, so this one finally puts him in his original Perez attire, which is the costume he actually had during the original line’s run.  The figure stands 4 1/2 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  The last two Nightwings both used the same mold, but this one is all-new, and far more accurate to the aesthetic of the vintage line.  I do generally like it.  The head in particular feels pretty on the mark, in terms of looking like Dick as Nightwing, and also feeling at home with the original run.  The neck does end up with some odd flashing at the spot where it joints the toros, which I don’t love, and I also feel like the feel seem a little too small for the rest of the body.  That said, the stance is spot-on for Kenner styling, and I like the slightly sculpted elements of this costume.  His paint work is rather basic, but it works well enough for the most part.  The changeovers on the outfit in particular are pretty cleanly handled.  Nightwing is without accessories, but given the amount of new parts, and the lack of any real obvious extras to include, it’s not too big a deal.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I love Nigthwing.  I love Super Powers.  A Nightwing Super Powers figure is something that should bring me joy.  The last two weren’t *bad*, but the costume choices and general design aesthetic really bugged me, and made it difficult to really enjoy either of them.  I also felt like it was increasingly unlikely that we’d get a Nightwing that was actually supposed to go with the rest of the line.  Needless to say, I was very happy to be proven wrong when this figure popped up.  He’s not perfect, but he’s what I wanted from the start.  If the line’s going to end, I’m happy to have finally gotten this guy for the line-up.

#3915: Guy Gardner

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

GUY GARDNER

SUPER POWERS (McFARLANE)

“Hot-headed, unruly, and prone to breaking the rules, Guy Gardner isn’t always the most likable hero but he’s proven time and again to be a worthy Green Lantern.”

I can’t believe I’m going to have reviewed three whole Guy Gardner figures this year on the site.  I…like, how does that happen.  I mean, sure, one of them was a movie tie-in from my favorite movie of the year, so that’s a lock, but the other two?  Guy?  Really?  Yeah, I guess it’s just a thing that’s happening.  Well, I looked at one of Guy’s two Super Powers figures from the last 12 months, I suppose it’s only fair to look at the other one, especially with it being the actual comics one and all.  So, without further ado, another Guy Gardner.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Guy Gardner was released in Series 8 of McFarlane’s Super Powers continuation line, alongside the previously reviewed Booster Gold, Black Manta, Metamorpho, and Fleischer Superman, as well as a Dark Knight Returns Batman I didn’t get…yet.  He was the fourth Green Lantern to join the line, after John, Hal, and Kilowog.  I guess fifth if you count Sinestro.  The figure stands 4 1/2 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  Guy’s sculpt appears to be totally unique.  In terms of build and posture, it’s definitely patterned on the vintage Hal (and his subsequent update in the McFarlane line), which is far from a bad thing, as that’s always been my favorite of the Kenner Super Powers sculpts.  His head sports his signature Moe Howard cut, and is notably not shared with the later movie style figure. He’s got a more prominent jaw on this one, and a slightly rowdier expression.  The body gets all of the appropriate costume elements that Guy’s supposed to have, all sculpted right on him.  It’s really a strong set-up, and everything is very sharp and feels really solid; not as tacked together as some of the earlier figures from the line.  His paint work is decent enough.  His green matches all the later GLs, leaving poor John out in the cold.  I do think it really works well, though, and his general set-up is very clean and hits all the appropriate notes for the character.  Guy is packed with nothing.  Not even his power battery.  I feel like they could have just re-used Hal’s here, but at the same time, I kind of respect the move to go for all the new sculpting, so it’s a trade-off I’m willing to accept.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve never been classically much of a Guy Gardner fan.  I’ve made that no secret around here.  I blame it on my first exposure to the character being the aborted live-action Justice League TV pilot, if I’m honest.  Whatever the case, he’s never quite struck a chord with me, so I tend to pass up figures of him if I can.  Which is exactly what I did when this guy rolled around back at the tail end of last year.  I focused on the other figures in the set, and just let him slip by.  Once the movie figures were out, and I got him that way, I figured that was good enough.  But, I was picking up my comics (from my go-to spot, Cosmic Comix) a couple of weeks ago, and this guy was one of the small handful of Super Powers they happened to have, and…I just felt compelled to own him.  He’s really good.  Like, I don’t like Guy, but this is just a good figure.  Top marks for McFarlane on this one.  It makes me even sadder we never got a John of the same quality as this figure and the Hal update.  But, at least this one’s pretty darn cool.

#3899: The Fortress of Solitude with Superman Robot

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

FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE with SUPERMAN ROBOT

SUPER POWERS (McFARLANE)

Economies of scale and drifting interests in the world of action figures have almost entirely robbed us of playsets in this day and age.  They just can’t justify themselves most of the time.  Sure, we still get the odd TMNT lair, and there’s a bat cave every so often, but that’s really about it.  McFarlane’s Super Powers continuation has aimed to recapture a lot of the vibes of the vintage line, which has included a decent helping of vehicles to go with the figures.  The only thing they *hadn’t* gotten to was playsets, but they’re swinging for the fences on their last run before handing the license over at the end of the year.  Taking advantage of the hype from the new Superman movie, we’ve gotten a new Fortress of Solitude playset, which I’m taking a look at today!

THE TOYS THEMSELVES

The Fortress of Solitude Playset is part of the Superman movie tie-in portion of McFarlane’s Super Powers line.  There are two different versions of the set available: a standard release and a McFarlane-exclusive Gold Label release that includes an exclusive Superman Robot figure.  The one seen here is the Gold Label version.

The Fortress is a rather large thing, both in the movie and the comics, so there’s obviously a scaled down approach taken here.  We get sort of a slice of the Fortress’s main area, as seen in a number of the movie’s key sequences, mostly focusing on the computer area.  There’s a mixed media approach, with some sculpted elements and some cardboard pieces mixed in.  While the bulk of the crystalline structure is just cardboard, a surprising amount of the rest of it’s sculpted.  The whole central console, the base it plugs into, the chair, the two free-standing columns, and the two end crystals are all plastic.  The central console is certainly the coolest part of the whole thing, with is various buttons and screens all detailed.  The chair just sort of sits there, not actually attached, but I suppose that gives you a little more variety in how exactly you set it all up?  There’s nothing gimmicky or particularly play-related about the set, though.  It’s really just a large display for your figures, but it does that well enough.

Available only with the Gold Label release is the Superman Robot figure.  Specifically, it’s “4”, the Alan Tudyk-voiced robot that serves at the lead robot in the movie.  He’s certainly a noteworthy character, and is present in all of the film’s Fortress scenes, so his inclusion makes a lot of sense.  The figure stands just over 4 1/2 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  His sculpt is all-new, and it’s a decent recreation of the general vibe of the design from the movie.  He’s definitely a little bit clunkier than the in-film design, but it works with the overall style of the line.  The design lends itself to toy form quite nicely, and I love how sharp the detailing is.  His paint work leans heavily into the metallic side of things, which is perhaps not truly “vintage,” since he would have almost certainly been vac metalized blue like the original Brainiac, but it does look pretty nice.  I dig that there’s a variety of different shades of blue, and I quite like how the robotic eye has been rendered.  His only extra is his little blue half-cape, which fits the vibe of the line well.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I don’t do much with playsets these days, because space is a premium and all, but I’ll admit the standard Fortress *almost* got me when they showed it off.  I came very close to pulling the trigger, but held off.  I was pretty glad about that when the Gold Label version got leaked, because I absolutely needed a 4 figure, and this let me get him in my preferred style.  The Fortress set-up is neat.  Perhaps a bit pricey for what it is, which is just a large accessory, but that’s kind of where we are.  4 is super cool, though, and I’m glad to have him.  Perhaps the only thing that could have made this set better is if they’d also included a Krypto.

#3895: Ultraman

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

ULTRAMAN

SUPER POWERS (McFARLANE)

While a lot of Superman’s plot and character choices were pretty straightforward and without any crazy surprises, early set photos showed a figure clad entirely in black, with a full-face mask, whose identity was unknown.  It was eventually revealed that the character’s name was “Ultraman,” a name associated with Superman’s evil Earth-3 counterpart from the Crime Syndicate in the comics.  Rumors about the identity of the person under the mask flew about, with lots of ideas, some straightforward, and some far-reaching.  At the end, his identity is pretty straight-forward and probably the most obvious choice.  Anyway, he did get some toy coverage, so let’s look at a bit of that.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Ultraman is the final single-release figure in Series 12 of McFarlane’s Super Powers line, which is an entire movie-based assortment.  Ultraman is slightly quirky in his release, as he wasn’t actually shown off or put up for order at the same time as the other four figures, but he did end up shipping in the same case as the rest of them.  Perhaps it was a secrecy thing.  The figure stands just shy of 5 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  He’s built on the first Superman base body, which I usually have issues with the sizing on, but Ultraman had some definite bulk going on, so it doesn’t seem to out of place here.  Still not crazy about how it makes him pigeon-toed, but I’ve made my peace with that.  He gets a new head and belt.  They’re both on the simpler side, as is the style of the line, and it helps keep them batter matched up with the base body they’re placed on.  It means he’s definitely a lot more streamlined from the movie’s design for the character, which had a lot more padding, pouches, and stitching.  It makes him a little less visual interesting, and a bit more plain-Jane, but it also ends up a bit more in-style with the rest of the line.  His paint work is rather on the simple side.  In terms of coloring, they play up the slightly purple hue of his costume in the movie, which does read a bit better for vintage design than going more for black.  There’s a some minor paint detailing for the broad stroke elements of his costume design.  He gets no accessories.  An alternate head would have been cool, but also feels like it would have been impossible for a pre-film release.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I ordered the other four when they first dropped, but Ultraman didn’t go up with them, so I didn’t get him immediately.  I actually forgot about him until the other four arrived, at which point I double checked and saw he was in stock and jumped on him then.  He’s…fine.  He feels more like a space filler than anything.  The character in the movie is more a plot element than anything, and I would have liked to see just about any other major character take his place here.  But, I can hardly say I dislike the figure, and I’m at the point of being happy to get any additional Super Powers, especially from a movie that has become one of my favorites in the genre.

#3891: Metamorpho – Movie

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

METAMORPHO — MOVIE

SUPER POWERS (McFARLANE)

Have I mentioned how much I liked the new Superman movie?  Well, I’m gonna mention it again, because it bears repeating.  It was really, really good.  Just start to finish.  Few films have understood the DC characters the way this one did.  That extends to the quirky odd-ball characters, which includes Metamorpho, who makes his live action debut in the film, portrayed by Anthony Carrigan in his third live action DC role.  He gets to be sufficiently cool and likable, to the point that he was a favorite of both my wife and son, neither of whom knew the character prior to the movie.  I guess maybe the guy that made Rocket Raccoon a household name might have a way with quirky odd-ball characters.  Metamorpho’s been getting a definite marketing push from the movie tie-ins, which includes getting a Super Powers figure.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Metamorpho (Movie) was released in Series 12 of McFarlane’s Super Powers line.  He’s the fourth of the five single-carded movie tie-in figures.  Like Guy, this is Metamorpho’s second Super Powers figure, following up on a comics release from last year.  The figure stands just over 5 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  He uses a lot of parts from the comic Metamorpho, specifically the torso, arms, and lower right leg.  He gets a new head, upper legs, and lower left leg, as well as a new belt piece.  The movie’s design is ultimately pretty faithful to the classic comics look, so the re-use is pretty sensible, and the new parts help to bring him more in line with the movie’s adjustments.  I actually find myself preferring the head sculpt on this one to the comics version; it’s just got a little bit more character.  As with all of the head sculpts from these figures, the likeness isn’t really a match for Carrigan, but it’s close enough to sort of suggest him.  Perhaps the oddest part of the mix of old and new parts is that the texturing on his face disappears when you get to his neck, but other than that, things work pretty nicely.  The color work on this Metamorpho is notably a bit more desaturated than his comics counterpart.  It still very much reads as Metamorpho, though, and I’m glad that this time they did a better job of consistent paint versus no paint on similarly colored sections.  There’s a little bit of slop on the change-over from his right leg to his shorts, but otherwise the application is pretty clean.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was ultimately a little bit let down by the comics Metamorpho.  Like, he wasn’t bad, but he felt a bit more middle of the road than I’d expected.  I wasn’t sure if I was going to go for this one, since he’s a bit similar, but I opted to get the whole set, and he was along for the ride.  I’m glad I did, because not only did I thoroughly enjoy the movie’s take on Rex, but I also think this figure turned out a little bit better than the prior one.  And here I live, in this world where I have two different Super Powers Metamorphos in my collection.  Who’d’ve thunk?

#3887: Guy Gardner

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

GUY GARDNER — MOVIE

SUPER POWERS (McFARLANE)

I’m writing this review from the…well, okay, it’s not the distant past, but it’s a few days removed, at the very least.  What it mostly means is that I’m writing this review just a few hours after having seen Superman at the theatre.  It’s good, guys.  It’s really, really good.  The film boasts a truly impressive supporting cast, and the most colorful of that cast is the Justice Gang, which includes James Gunn regular Nathan Fillion finally in the role of Green Lantern in live action.  Of course, it’s not Hal Jordan like we’d all campaigned for, but rather Guy Gardner, making his live action debut.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Guy Gardner (Movie) is part of Series 12 of McFarlane’s Super Powers line, the third of the five movie-based figures in the assortment.  This is Guy’s second time in the line, following up on his comics version from last year.  The figure stands just over 4 1/2 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  Structurally, he’s very similar to last week’s Mr. Terrific figure, using the same smaller base body and jacket piece.  The two definitely have rather different builds in the movie, and Guy should ideally be on a larger body.  But, of course, then he wouldn’t be able to share the jacket with Terrific, and that would be extra difficult, I suppose.  He gets a new head and belt as well.  They’re not bad.  The head is like the others in this set, where it doesn’t have a direct likeness, but it also doesn’t look *unlike* Fillion, so it works well within the established style and also looks unique from the non-movie Guy.  The new belt gives him his Lantern insignia belt buckle, which is a fun little touch.  Guy’s paint work is actually pretty decently handled, capturing all the main elements of the costume design, while also giving him a pretty sharp application on all the painted elements.  Guy is without any sort of accessories; the traditional extra for this line is a power battery, but he doesn’t have one in the movie, so the omission’s understandable.  That said, he does still feel rather light, especially given how heavy he is on the parts re-use.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As much of a GL fan as I am, I’ve never been much for Guy Gardner, who I am on record as stating is my least favorite Earth Lantern.  So, I didn’t get around to snagging his standard comic figure from this line.  But, I do like Nathan Fillion, and I do think Guy works in the appropriate setting.  The movie certainly put him in the appropriate setting.  The figure’s not anything tremendously ground breaking, but he’s still pretty fun, and I really have no major complaints.

#3883: Mr. Terrific

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

MR. TERRIFIC — MOVIE

SUPER POWERS (McFARLANE TOYS)

“Mr. Terrific wields his trademark T-spheres – small, multi functional metal orbs the size of tennis balls which he controls with complex hand signals.”

The JSA’s coverage in the vintage Kenner Super Powers line consisted of exactly one figure, but McFarlane’s continuation’s done a really good job of getting those numbers up.  Today’s figure is *technically* a continuation of that, in the sense that it’s Mr. Terrific, who *is* a JSA member, but also he’s a movie figure, and a modern JSA member, contrasting the otherwise Golden Age membership up to this point.  Personally, I’m taking what I can get.  I’m hard-pressed to complain about getting any version of Mr. Terrific.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Mr. Terrific (Movie) is part of Series 12 of McFarlane’s Super Powers line, which is a whole assortment based on the Superman movie hitting at the end of the week.  Terrific looks poised to be a notable part of the movie, so he’s a very sensible choice.  He’s also one of two movie figures to not have a comics-equivalent already in the line, but his costume design is close enough that you could certainly use him as a comics stand-in, were you so inclined.  The figure stands about 4 1/2 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  Terrific’s using the smaller Flash-based body, which is a decent enough match for him, at least in terms of just basic build.  It’s not a bad base body, so I can’t really knock it.  He gets a new head, jacket, and belt.  The head, much like the Superman head, has a resemblance to Edi Gathegi, but not really a proper likeness.  It’s a bit on the large side again, and I do wish that there was any sort of texturing on the hair, but it’s generally an okay sculpt.  The jacket and belt are more on the basic side, but both sit well on the body.  In terms of coloring, the figure’s got a fair bit going on.  It’s a bit of a mixed bag in terms of how well things work.  I do like the logos and writing on the torso, jacket, and arms.  An unfortunate downside of this figure’s assembly, namely the visible pins at the knees in contrast to the way Kenner did it, means he winds up with rather obvious black pegs on the inner knees, which isn’t great.  I was initially going to complain about just painting over the boots as if they weren’t there, but that’s accurate to the movie, so good for them on that one, I suppose.  Accessories aren’t standard with these guys, but a T-Ball would have been cool.  As it stands, if you want anything to go with him, you’ll have to buy the T-Ship for him.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’m a fan of Mr. Terrific in general, regardless of which version.  While I was low-key hoping for a Terry Sloane to go with the other classic JSA-ers, I also don’t mind getting Michael in the slightest.  He was definitely one of my primary interests jumping into this set.  He’s perhaps not the most outwardly showy and impressive figure, but he’s still fun, and he’s a more unique design for the line.