Tag Archives: Super Powers

#3690: Green Lantern

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

GREEN LANTERN

SUPER POWERS (MCFARLANE)

“John Stewart is a former U.S. Marine who uses his military training and discipline to protect Earth, and the rest of Space Sector 2814, as a member of the intergalactic peacekeeping force known as the Green Lantern Corps. As Green Lantern, John wields a power ring, which creates a protective shield around him, allows him to fly, and generates hard-light energy constructs in the form of anything he imagines. Fueled by willpower, Green Lantern’s power ring is one of the mightiest weapons in the universe!”

Introduced as the second back-up Lantern of Sector 2184 (which makes him the back-up back-up, I guess), John Stewart’s introduction under Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams provided DC with their first African American super hero. John subsequently took over as the primary Lantern from Hal Jordan on and off, and was notably chosen as the central Lantern for the Justice League animated show, which elevated his status tremendously, placing him more or less on the same level as Hal Jordan.  He’s had quite a number of figures over the years, but his first *would* have been a Super Powers figure, had Kenner gotten a fourth year out of the line.  Instead, he had to wait for McFarlane to revive the line…to mixed results.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Green Lantern was released in Series 2 of McFarlane’s Super Powers line under the DC Direct banner.   He’s from that early era of the line where it was still just a Walmart-exclusive.  It’s also the era of the line where the figures are all using modern designs, hence John using his post-return, animation-inspired costume.  It’s not the design that Kenner was going to use (as they were more than likely just going to do a straight repaint on Hal), and it’s not a look that quite vibes with the rest of the line.  The figure stands 5 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  As with all of the early line figures, he’s scaled about 1/2 an inch too tall, and is just generally too round and puffy to fully fit in with the Kenner figures.  The sculpt’s a bit on the soft side, and the shaping of the face is…I don’t know exactly how to explain it, but it’s off, that’s for sure.  In general, I find he looks not like a Kenner Super Powers figure, but rather like a Toy Biz DC Super Heroes figure.  Even the right hand is held vertically, rather than horizontally, much like the TB Hal.  This is further continued with the coloring, as the green in particular is a very close match to the TB GL.  Otherwise, the paint work is fine.  Fuzzy on the edges, but generally fine.  John is packed with his power battery, which he can hold in his left hand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I saw this figure a number of times, and couldn’t bring myself to buy it.  It upset me, because it’s a John Stewart Green Lantern for Super Powers, which is something I very definitely wanted.  Why finally buy it?  Well, a loose one landed in front of me, right in the midst of me buying all of the more recent figures.  And, I mean, it’s one of the lost Kenner figures, in a continuation of the line.  What’s not to love?  Well, honestly, everything about the execution.  I mean, he just manages to get every possible detail wrong, and is quite possibly the most demonstrative of the core problems of the line’s beginnings.  It’s gotten a lot better since then, but if anything, it makes me more frustrated that this is the John we got, rather than a figure that’s more thematically appropriate with the rest of the line.

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.

#3685: Metamorpho

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

METAMORPHO

SUPER POWERS (MCFARLANE)

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

THE FIGURE ITSELF

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

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

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

#3682: Black Manta

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

BLACK MANTA

SUPER POWERS (MCFARLANE)

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

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

THE FIGURE ITSELF

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

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

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

#3680: Booster Gold

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

BOOSTER GOLD

SUPER POWERS (MCFARLANE)

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

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

THE FIGURE ITSELF

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

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

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

#3677: Kilowog

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KILOWOG

SUPER POWERS (MCFARLANE)

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

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

THE FIGURE ITSELF

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

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

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

#3675: Sinestro

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SINESTRO

SUPER POWERS (MCFARLANE)

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

THE FIGURE ITSELF

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

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

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

#3667: Blue Beetle & The Bug

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BLUE BEETLE & THE BUG

SUPER POWERS (McFARLANE)

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

THE FIGURE ITSELF

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

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

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

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

#3665: Peacemaker, Vigilante, & Judomaster

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PEACEMAKER, VIGILANTE, & JUDOMASTER

SUPER POWERS (MCFARLANE)

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

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

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

PEACEMAKER

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

VIGILANTE

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

JUDOMASTER

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

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

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

#3524: Shazam!

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

SHAZAM!

SUPER POWERS (KENNER)

Fun FiQ Fact #0003:  The character that would eventually become Shazam was originally intended to be called “Captain Thunder” and “Captain Marvelous” before Fawcett Comics landed on “Captain Marvel.”

Kenner’s Super Powers has a very hard link to Christmas for me.  As a kid, for a good stretch of time, I got one every Christmas, and, in recent years, it’s a trend that’s returned.  I’m actually very close to the end of the line, which also means that I’ve gotten to the point where all of the ones I need are nearer the more expensive side of things, and also all hail from the line’s last year.  That includes today’s focus, a Captain Marvel named Shazam!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Shazam was released in 1986, as part of the third and final year of Kenner’s Super Powers line.  While the character wouldn’t actually take on the name “Shazam” in-universe until 2011, since by 1986, the Captain Marvel trademark was firmly in Marvel Comics’ possession, so whether he used the name in the books or not, no toys could use it.  Rather amusingly, Marvel themselves didn’t really do much with it either, with their first figure based on any of *their* Captain Marvels not seeing a release until the late ’90s.  But, I’m getting side-tracked.  The figure stands about 4 1/2 inches tall and he has the line’s standard 7 points of articulation.  Shazam sported a unique sculpt, based specifically on his later DC design, which moved him more into the traditional spandex set-up.  His sculpt is a little stiffer than the others, which is especially notable in the straightness on the arms.  His head seems a bit soft compared to others in the line.  They’re clearly trying to capture the character’s more unique facial features, while keeping him in-line with the house style of the rest of the figures.  The end result is sort of middling.  Definitely not the strongest the line had to offer.  His cape was cloth.  On my figure, it’s a repro; the original had a unique plastic clasp piece, as well as some rather nice printed details.  Shazam’s paint work is minimal, but it’s decent enough.  There’s a little wear on mine, but nothing crazy.  Shazam gets no accessories, but he gets the usual action feature.  In his case it’s a “Power Action Thunder Punch;”  squeezing the legs makes the arms swing in opposite directions.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

As has been the trend on the last few of these, Shazam was my main Christmas gift from my parents this year.  While Mister Miracle was one of the line’s finest, and a great send-off from the final year, Shazam is definitely more middle of the road.  He’s okay, and I’m sure glad to finally have him, but he himself isn’t much to write home about.  And now I’ve got four left.  This is getting very exciting!

#3425: Deathstroke

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

DEATHSTROKE

SUPER POWERS (MCFARLANE)

Hey, remember a week ago, when I was talking about McFarlane’s Super Powers. Well, I don’t. No, seriously, I don’t. That was a fill in review that I wrote back in March. Hang on, let me refresh myself…

…okay, I’m back. Boy, that was a wild ride, huh? Well, umm, I got another one. It’s Deathstroke this time. So, uhh, let’s look at that?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Deathstroke is part of the third series of McFarlane’s Super Powers line, which wound up being the last assortment to be Walmart-exclusive. Deathstroke was the one truly new character in the assortment (since Dick Grayson was in the vintage line as Robin), and is honestly one of the best choices for a continued line, since he was amongst the figures in the works when the original line ended. More over, he’s actually seen here in the proper attire of the era, which he would have been wearing had the vintage figure been released. The figure stands about 5 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation. Deathstroke is, like the rest of this line, about half an inch too tall to truly fit with the vintage line, which remains a baffling choice. At least with Deathstroke, the height isn’t quite as glaring an issue as it was with Nightwing. Slade has in the past been depicted as a larger guy, so you can just pretend that’s the case here, I guess. Deathstroke has an all-new sculpt, and, I can’t believe I’m gonna say this: it’s actually really good. Most of the issues I had with the Nightwing sculpt are not present here. The legs have the proper stance (making him a more stable figure as well), and his detailing feels far more authentic to the vintage line. The only issue that really still remains is the knee joints, but I guess I just have to let those go.  Deathstroke’s color work is generally pretty well handled, but it winds up with a quirk; the light blue that should be at his mid-section is instead on his shoulders.  It’s a mix-up, but one that sort of works, and feels like the sort of on-brand mix-up for the Kenner line.  Deathstroke is packed with his sword, which he can hold in his right hand.  As with the rest of the line, he’s without an action feature, but it’s not the end of the world.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Nightwing and Deathstroke were the only figures from this line I had any interest in.  Nightwing had issues, but he was honestly better than I was expecting, so when I found this guy marked down, he was an easy sell.  I’m still annoyed by the scale issue, perhaps even more so, because other than that, this guy is really, really good.  It just showcases that Todd *could* be making a really strong line, but just doesn’t, which is honestly even more frustrating than when it seemed like he was just bad at toys.