Tag Archives: Super Powers

#4061: Parademon

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

PARADEMON

SUPER POWERS (KENNER)

“Although the Parademons of Apokolips wear protective armor and can fly, their true strength is in their numbers.  There are literally thousands of them, and, the acting together, they can overcome even the most powerful heroes.”

After the first year was really focused in on the heavy hitters, in terms of both heroes and their antagonists, subsequent years of Kenner’s Super Powers run would dial in a bit more on the weirder side of DC.  Jack Kirby was brought in to do some work on the line, and a focus was placed on his creations the New Gods, who would serve as a notable backbone for the antagonistic side of the line.  It also gave us I believe our earliest instance of an army builder in a super hero line, in the form of the Parademon!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Parademon was released in the second series of Super Powers, as one of the six Fourth World figures added to the line-up that year.  The figure stands a little over 4 1/2 inches tall and it has 7 points of articulation.  Most of the Fourth World characters got some degree of redesign for the line (only Darkseid and Mr. Miracle kept their originals), and the Parademon is pretty much the most divergent design of the bunch.  Steppenwolf and Mantis both got pretty hefty re-works, but the Parademon winds up sharing no elements with its original comics look.  Perhaps there was a feeling that there was too much green amongst the villains?  Or maybe that the proper Parademon look, with its more ogre-ish features, might not be as kid friendly?  It’s hard to say.  I’m hard-pressed to say this is a bad design, mind you.  It’s actually pretty decent, and feels like a respectable take on a retro-inspired alien design.  It just doesn’t really read as a Parademon.  That said, the sculpt is fun.  It’s more cartoony than the rest of the line, but maintains the same level of detailing and general stylizing, so it doesn’t feel out of place with the rest of them.  The color scheme, heavy on reds and oranges, feels a bit more like Firestorm than anything else from the line, but it’s generally unique, and certainly stands out on the shelf.  The Parademon was packed with a yellow blaster pistol, which is easily lost (especially since the hands don’t really grip it all that tightly), so there’s reproductions available.  The Parademon also featured a wing-flapping action feature, triggered by squeezing the legs.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I purchased the Parademon for myself, more than two decades ago.  I’d gotten $20 to Cosmic Comix for Christmas, and used $15 of that to buy an Elongated Man, so I had $5 left, and that ended up going towards this guy, mostly because I didn’t have it.  He lacked his accessory, bit in more recent years I’ve “completed” it with a replacement gun from Made Like Old.  It’s a kind of weird figure, in that it’s got pretty much no connection to the comics, but it’s certainly not a bad toy, and it’s memorable for it’s sort of out there nature.

#4057: Green Arrow

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

GREEN ARROW

SUPER POWERS (KENNER)

“Green Arrow uses an arsenal of ingenious trick arrows in his war against crime.  These weapons, combined with his keen eyes and steady hands, make him feared by criminals everywhere.”

A lot of Kenner’s inspiration for their Super Powers line was drawn from Super Friends, understandable, given the show was the defining take on most of the characters for a lot of people at the time.  They ultimately went deeper on the Justice League line-up than the show ever did, but even some of their deeper cuts, like Green Arrow, who had a guest appearance in the show, were still banking on that tie-in.  Though not as big a name as others (at the time; he’s certainly a lot more mainstream now), Green Arrow had a tendency to be one of the nicer figures of any line he occupied.  Was this one an exception?  Let’s find out.  Okay, no, I won’t string you along, that’s just cruel.  He’s not an exception; he’s very nice. Let’s get into the specifics.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Green Arrow was released in the second series of Kenner’s Super Powers line, one of four new JLA members added that year.  All of them built on the Satellite era line-up, which was still fairly current at the time.  This was Arrow’s second time as an action figure, following up on his debut during Mego’s run.  Both figures used his second, far more distinctive look, which is really a classic.  The figure stands 4 1/2 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  He’s got pretty much the standard articulation for the line, with the standard set-up, and the frequent “squeeze the legs” gimmick, which in this figure’s case is a “Power Action Archery Pull”, raising his arms up as if he’s taking aim with his bow.  His sculpt is on par with the quality of the rest of the line, which is to say it’s very good.  Proportions are generally well-balanced, and there’s plenty of costume details to keep things interesting.  Things like the little “G” buckle and the wrinkles in his boots are very cool, and give the whole thing quite a nice flair.  Everything below the neck on this guy was later re-used (with some light re-tooling to remove the knee joints) for Kenner’s Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves tie-in line’s take on the original emerald archer, albeit with a rather ill-sized Kevin Costner head shoved on the neck joint.  But, at the time, it was all unique to Ollie, and it looked really good.  He’s got a bit of pre-posing on the arms, to better work with a bow and arrow set-up.  The figure’s paint is pretty solid; there’s three whole shades of green, which gives him some decent variety.  Application is basic but clean, and he really does look the part.  Green Arrow was packed with his bow and three arrows, which are very nice pieces, but also very, very easily lost, which is why mine has a set of reproductions.  The bow is held securely in his left hand, and the arrows can either go in his quiver, or one of them clips to the bow, to aid in this “Archery Pull” gimmick.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

When I was a kid, I got at least one Super Powers figure each year for Christmas.  This guy is one of the very few I specifically requested.  The year prior I’d gotten Green Lantern, and I really wanted to have this guy to go with him.  In order to make sure I got him, my dad actually bought me a rather sizable lot of Super Powers, which included my Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, and Superman as well, and accessories for a few others I already had.  Green Arrow was certainly the star, even without his accessories.  As with Aquaman, I recently “completed” him with a set of repro parts from Made Like Old, though he thankfully didn’t need the extensive paint work that Aquaman did.

#4053: The Joker

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

THE JOKER

SUPER POWERS (KENNER)

Last week, I dove back into the world of Kenner’s Super Powers, and I’m keeping that whole business going this week.  In prep for this review, I discovered that I haven’t reviewed a Joker figure since 2021, which does seem kind of crazy, given he’s a rather prominent character.  Honestly, I chalk it up to my general feeling that he’s become a bit overplayed, but I digress. Curiously, despite Todd’s focus on the Batman side of things, Joker was a notable omission from the McFarlane revival of Super Powers, so we have to go back to the vintage Kenner days for him.  Let’s take a look at him now!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Joker was released as part of the first series of Kenner’s Super Powers line in 1984.  He was one of two different Bat-Rogues included in the line-up, pairing off with Penguin.  This was Joker’s third figure after his Mego World’s Greatest Super Heroes and Comic Action Heroes figures from the ‘70s.  The figure stands just over 4 1/2 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  Joker has the line’s standard articulation set-up, which works well enough for him.  His sculpt was totally unique at the time (though it would be retooled for Kenner’s World of Batman line for a Nicholson-inspired Joker in 1991), and like the rest of the line, it’s based on his Style Guide entry.  It’s a nice, polished classic Joker design.  He’s notably a lot skinnier than the other figures in the line, in keeping with his usual depictions, as well as nicely distinguishing him from the others. The suit’s well-defined, with lots of folds and texturings, and even etched-in lines for the pin-stripes on his pants.  The paint work is rather basic, but covers the basics.  It matches his usual depictions at the time, though it’s maybe a bit washed out compared to the other figures in the line.  Joker is packed with a large green mallet, which is hollow on one side, and can fit over his head to look like a larger version of his face?  Because, that’s a thing?  It’s weird, but also somewhat endearing.  I do kind of dig it, in an odd way.  His action feature is when your squeeze his legs, his right arm swings down, so as to smash things with his hammer.  

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I honestly don’t really recall much about getting this guy.  He was one that just was sort of added to my collection in the shuffle.  I wanna say I got him at the same time as Penguin, at a Comic Con?  He had neither his accessory, nor his coat tails.  I got the mallet first, with a larger lot that also netted me Penguin’s coat tails, and a Batmobile.  The coat tails were actually really recent, only in the last couple of years.  Nothing about getting this guy is particularly notable, and, if I’m honest, after so many Joker figures, it’s hard to find anything notable about this guy in general.  But, he’s certainly not a bad figure.

Friday Figure Addendum #0075: Aquaman

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Flashback Friday Figure Addendum and tagged with , , , ,

AQUAMAN

SUPER POWERS (KENNER)

When is a Friday Figure Addendum not a Flashback? When it’s for a review I only ran three days ago.  I mean, I guess that’s still a flashback.  Right?  But it doesn’t feel like it, and I’m writing this literally right after the proper review, so I’m just gonna drop the “Flashback” for this one.  So, let’s talk a little more about Aquaman!

In Tuesday’s review, I discussed my Super Powers Aquaman, who was a rather cheap addition to my collection, which came to me in rather rough shape.  Further more, I was seven when I got it, so it only got more played with from there.  For the fullest extent of what I’m talking about, here’s what my Aquaman looked like in March of this year:

As you can see, he took quite a beating.   Since my Super Powers are something I’m rather proud of, with a pretty prominent display spot, I wanted him to be a bit better.  I used to do a fair bit of customizing, and even some restoring from time to time, so I decided to break those skills out again, and get this guy back up to his fullest potential.  I think I did pretty well, and I’m very happy with the end result.  And, I threw in a repro trident courtesy of Made Like Old, so he feels all polished and complete.  For a beater figure I bought for $2.50 almost three decades ago, I think he’s doing pretty well!

#4049: Aquaman

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

AQUAMAN

SUPER POWERS (KENNER)

“Aquaman, King of the Seven Seas, can remain underwater indefinitely, can swim tremendous distances, and can communicate telepathically with sea creatures and have them obey him.”

Hey, it’s Super Powers!  I haven’t talked about Super Powers since January, after a whopping 25 Super Powers reviews last year.  I blame Todd McFarlane.  I mean, for, like, a lot of things, but in this case, he’s responsible for the upswing and then downswing in new Super Powers figures after a 40 year break, which gave me a bunch more to review.  I’ve decided to finally get myself together and take a look at the remaining unreviewed Kenner Super Powers in my collection, so, you know, here’s that.  We’re starting off with Aquaman, swift and powerful monarch of the seas!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Aquaman was released in the first series of Kenner’s Super Powers in 1984.  He was no stranger to the toy world at this point, with multiple figures from Mego, and even a Captain Action set from Ideal.  As one of the heroes to receive his own Filmation cartoon, as well as maintain a presence for the whole run of Super Friends, Aquaman’s a pretty logical pick, especially for this era.  Perhaps the most curious thing was that, for all his prominent placement early in the run, he never got any of his own antagonists in the line (McFarlane did at least give us a Black Manta).  The figure stands 4 1/2 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  His movement is standard for the line, with the caveat that, unlike most of the line, his action feature is in his legs, triggered by squeezing his arms, rather than the usual reverse.  It’s worth noting that Flash, also in the first series, had the same set-up, though.  It makes him slightly less stable on his feet, but ultimately, it’s not a major shift.  Aquaman’s sculpt was unique to him, and certainly up to the line’s high standard.  He’s clearly working closely towards that Jose Garcia-Lopez style guide look, even moreso than some of the others in the line.  There’s a ton of work going into the texturing, especially on the scaled shirt.  The head is also quite a spot-on Aquaman, in a way that I think a lot of later figures would miss; he feels like the same general character seen in Super Friends, but also doesn’t look quite as silly.  There’s a slight goofy charm still there, though, and you do love to see it.  I particularly love that swoop to how his hair falls, which just feels very natural and expressive.  His posing is more understated for this line, which tended to at least somewhat bend the arms.  Since he was meant for swimming, though, Aquaman’s got straighter arms, and a particularly well sculpted flat hand on the left side.  Aquaman’s color work matches well with his classic design, covering all the basics, but not getting too crazy.  Aquaman was packed with a trident (Tim would note that it’s technically got five points, though, so it’s really a “quintdent”), which is quite prone to both loss and breakage, but there are thankfully a lot of pretty decent reproductions out there, if one were so inclined.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Aquaman is, I think, my second Super Powers figure.  He was purchased during one of many trips to Ageless Heroes, a comic shop that closed down at the end of the ‘90s, and liquidated all of its inventory.  He was behind the counter, tied to a backer board, and wound up being, like, $2.50?  It was a very low price.  Admittedly, he was in very rough shape, and remained that way for my entire childhood.  At the time, it was pretty much the only way I was getting a classic Aquaman, though, and I wasn’t much for the hook-handed look, so I was pretty thrilled.  Over the years, I’ve contemplated getting a replacement in better condition, but more recently I decided to give my original some TLC, and get him a bit closer to his former glory.  I love every Super Powers figure, but Aquaman is certainly one of the nicest, in a decidedly understated sort of way, that I can really dig.

#3985: Tyr

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

TYR

SUPER POWERS (KENNER)

Last year, I reviewed 25 Super Powers figures here on the site, which is a crazy metric for a line that was three decades dead and only had 35 total figures when I started the site.  McFarlane running a revival certainly helped bump those stats.  The main point I’m getting at here is that the rarity of a Super Powers review wasn’t really a thing last year.  Unfortunately, we’re going back to more standard operating on such things this year.  But, let’s at least start off on a good note, with a proper vintage figure review!  Today, we’re looking at that true classic of a DC character, Tyr. ….What, you don’t know Tyr?  I can’t believe you don’t know Tyr!  He’s only….wait, hang on, sorry, let me check the wiki…oh, darn, there’s no wiki.  Right.  So, like, the before times.  Tyr, despite indications to the contrary, was *not* a Kenner original creation like so many others in the final year of Super Powers, but rather a fairly minor Legion of Super Heroes villain.  He’d resurfaced not terribly long before his toy, but again as a minor player, making his inclusion odd to say the least, especially given that the Legion themselves wouldn’t get any sort of action figure coverage for another decade and a half.  But hey, that’s Kenner.  And this is Tyr.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Tyr was released in the third and final series of Kenner’s Super Powers line in 1986.  As with many of the characters contained within, this was Tyr’s first figure, and would also remain his only figure until DC Universe Classics released him as an expressed homage to Super Powers in 2010.  The figure stands just over 4 1/2 inches tall (not counting his mohawk) and he has 6 points of articulation.  Tyr’s articulation scheme is the same as all of the line’s standard figures, which is good and sensible.  He had a unique sculpt, which remained so, thanks largely to the end of the line.  He was based on Dave Cockrum’s design for the character from the comics, and honestly it’s a design that meshes pretty darn well with the established aesthetics of the later run Super Powers figures, which only further added to him feeling like a Kenner original character.  The sculpt is, honestly, not the strongest work from this line.  While the proportions and general build are okay, he feels oddly devoid of smaller details, and generally just very basic and kind of geometric. The head’s certainly the best part, with a lot more texturing, notably on the hair, as well as a little more definition in his face.  The body, on the other hand, is weaker.  His posing is very stiff and flat, and it’s not helped by the rather boxy nature of the right arm, which also feels like it sits too low?  I don’t know.  Said right arm is also home to the figure’s action feature.  Squeezing his legs raises the arm and shoots the missile portion.  It’s a basic feature, but more nuanced in how it works, since it doesn’t use any exposed buttons of levers.  Honestly, this part’s actually really cool, so props to Kenner on that.  His color work is pretty much point for point what he looks like in the comics.  It does what is needs to.  There’s a bit of bleed over on some of the smaller line-work, but it generally looks good.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I, like many other people, only know of Tyr’s existence because of this toy.  And that’s pretty crazy, because my dad’s a pretty huge Legion fan who absolutely owned Tyr’s earliest appearances when I was growing up.  I remember seeing him in the line-up on the Super Powers Archive, and, well, I can’t say he ever impressed me terribly.  He was one of those far away figures I don’t know if I ever really saw myself owning.  And then, suddenly, he was one of the last three I didn’t have.  And, now, here he is.  My dad got him for me for Christmas, as has become the tradition, and he got here a little late (as has also become a tradition, I guess), so he was officially my first figure of the new year.  He’s, like, fine.  That’s really it.  Fine.  Like, it’s cool to own him, and he’s the first Legion toy, so I guess that’s neat.  And, admittedly, the missile firing bit is fun.  So I’ll give them that.  But the actual figure is sort of just fine.  Still, I’m glad to own him, and he’s cool on the shelf.  And now I just need two more, with the caveat that my visual line-up is complete, because I do have stand-ins for Cyborg and Mr. Freeze.

#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.